Gong Yang had already told Liu Fen about what happened at Jiang City University that afternoon.

Now hearing Zhou Cheng mention it, Liu Fen hesitated to speak.

But she remained silent.

Liu Fen knew how to distinguish between outsiders and family.

Why should she speak up for Nie Wei Guo instead of supporting her daughter?

Nie Wei Guo was bullying Xiao Lan by taking advantage of his seniority, which greatly angered Liu Fen.

She had seen the flyers too. If Nie Wei Guo did what was written on them, he deserved to be exposed. Don’t talk to Liu Fen about principles – like other parents, her love wasn’t universal but narrow. Even if her daughter did something wrong, her first instinct would be to protect her. Her conscience might trouble her, but that was her own business. She would never voluntarily turn in Xia Xiao Lan. Parents would even take the blame for their children…

So Liu Fen asked nothing.

The ostrich approach – not asking meant not knowing. When the police questioned her, she wouldn’t say anything wrong!

Xia Xiao Lan would have been surprised to know her mother’s thoughts.

Even honest people’s life wisdom shouldn’t be underestimated.

When Zhou Cheng said not to worry about Nie Wei Guo, Xia Xiao Lan happily went out to dinner.

Jiang City’s cuisine, besides snacks like Hot Dry Noodles and Mian Wo, was famous for “Wuchang Fish.”

“Just drank from the Yangtze River, now eating Wuchang Fish.”

This poetic line made Wuchang Fish renowned.

Whether braised in oil, red-braised, stuffed with flowers, or steamed – there were many ways to prepare it.

Gong Yang was initially hesitant to eat, but soon forgot himself and ate until oil dripped from his mouth corners.

Comrade Gong Yang found another motivation to stay at Yuan Hui – there were so many delicacies across the country. After satisfying his primary pursuit of filling his stomach, he could also show his family around.

Eating well and having fun wasn’t a difficult goal to achieve – it just required earning more money!

…

Zhou Cheng was attentive to his future mother-in-law. Even eating Wuchang Fish could make both mother-in-law and wife happy, and even Gong Yang relaxed his restraint.

In the Provincial Architectural Design Institute’s staff quarters, Nie Wei Guo couldn’t swallow his food.

He was truly going mad.

Mao Kang Shan was right – not just Jiang City University, but every street and alley in Jiang City was distributing the same flyers.

Looking at the scale, it must have been tens of thousands of copies!

Printing isn’t cheap nowadays. Printing tens of thousands of flyers cost a lot of money. Someone spending much effort to target him must want to destroy him.

Even worse than when he used to post big-character posters about others.

Big-character posters were just posted within the workplace, but these flyers were scattered throughout Jiang City.

Unable to collect the flyers himself, Nie Wei Guo reported it to the police. As a leader of sorts, he had some connections in Jiang City. Moreover, such large-scale “rumor-spreading” warranted police attention by any measure.

The police caught two flyer distributors, both with the same story:

“Someone paid us to distribute them. We can’t read, so we don’t know what’s written on them!”

Both were illiterate.

Twenty yuan a day to stand at intersections distributing flyers – plenty of people would jump at such work.

When asked about the person who paid them?

“They wore a hat that covered half their face. With the sun so bright, who could see clearly?”

The police were frustrated and could only detain the two temporarily.

They couldn’t hold them long since they genuinely didn’t know anything and, being illiterate didn’t realize it was illegal. After two days of criticism and education, they’d have to be released. The distributors didn’t mind – they’d already earned their money, and the detention center provided meals. Not bad at all.

Nie Wei Guo was furious at home.

“It must be that Xia Xiao Lan targeting me. Arrest her and question her – everything will become clear!”

“Director Nie, we can’t arrest people without evidence. She’s not some timid factory worker who’ll confess everything after a few scary words. She’s a Huaqing University student – wrongfully arresting her would cause huge trouble.”

Elite university students were indeed troublesome.

Better not to touch students without solid evidence.

With so many watching, failing to take Xia Xiao Lan the first time made a second attempt even harder.

Nie Wei Guo’s face turned purple:

“So what if she’s a Huaqing student? Who isn’t? I graduated from there too!”

Sigh, how many years ago did you graduate? Can you still use student status to intimidate people?

The police couldn’t understand why Director Nie was so agitated, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

They couldn’t comprehend his sensitive pride.

Breathing heavily, Nie Wei Guo continued, “She’s here for the conference, and that man with her was always at the venue. Didn’t you say she had another boyfriend? Maybe he’s the one who printed and paid people to distribute the flyers!”

The police officers exchanged glances.

Director Nie’s thinking was novel enough to write fiction.

The man was a young battalion commander – they’d never seen one so young. Would someone throw away such a promising career to do something so trivial?

Arresting Zhou Cheng without evidence would cause massive trouble.

“Director Nie, please think carefully about who you might have offended. We’ll continue investigating, but we need helpful clues. You can’t just suspect people based on imagination!”

Tens of thousands of flyers must have left traces somewhere in Jiang City’s printing shops – that would take time to investigate.

The operation was executed cleanly and efficiently – the police believed it was done by someone skilled in counter-surveillance. Whoever Nie Wei Guo had offended wasn’t simple. If it was just for revenge, it wouldn’t have been done so meticulously.

Could it be Xia Xiao Lan?

With today’s fierce college entrance competition, unlike the former worker-peasant-soldier student recommendation era, anyone who could enter Huaqing University must be intelligent.

If Xia Xiao Lan planned it, it was possible.

But again, there was no evidence.

Xia Xiao Lan had a perfect alibi – her call from the guesthouse to Peng City was verified by the police.

Moreover, someone spending so much money to target Nie Wei Guo… what level of hatred was that? The police suspected this was long-planned revenge, waiting for the conference in Jiang City to ruin Nie Wei Guo’s reputation among industry peers.

Nie Wei Guo collapsed onto the sofa, his gaze dark.

Who had he offended?

Could it be Little Cui from the institute?

No, Little Cui was getting married, seeking a peaceful life – he wouldn’t dare.

Could it be Little Zhang, who always resented him and threatened to teach him a lesson?

Impossible – Little Zhang was now Old Zhang, tamed by his treatment these years. Besides, where would he get the resources and money? People disliked the institute and did more work for less pay. As deputy director, Nie Wei Guo knew exactly how little money Old Zhang had.

Ring ring—

Nie Wei Guo’s phone rang.

“Hello! Who… Sorry, didn’t recognize your voice. Yes, yes, yes, there’s been some trouble. You’ve heard about it? No problem, absolutely can handle it. You say it looks bad, I won’t get promoted, and we shouldn’t contact for now? Let me explain—”

Beep beep beep.

The line went dead.

Nie Wei Guo gripped the receiver, shivering despite the heat, alternating between hot and cold flashes.