Xia Xiaolan chuckled, “Why won’t I let you see Third Brother directly? Don’t you know why, Jiang Yan? How many underhanded moves has your Jiang family made? And your cousin Jiang Wu, just like you, doesn’t feel alive unless he’s causing trouble. With his lame leg, he’s like a mad dog that won’t let go of Third Brother Pan… You have high ideals, willing to go against the family for justice – I may despise other things about you, but I admire this. Don’t disappoint me – if the materials are genuine and help Third Brother Pan clear his name, whether you see him or not won’t matter, your friendship will be restored!”

Not just restored, but strengthened.

After all, choosing justice over family, willing to betray her cousin and family to help Pan Baohua – such a weighty favor would instantly make Jiang Yan Pan Baohua’s closest friend.

Even Zhou Cheng couldn’t continue being cold to her.

From Xia Xiaolan’s perspective, it would benefit her if Jiang Yan’s materials were fake.

She was actively helping now because Third Brother Pan had stood up for her twice, and she considered him a friend!

Moreover, as she’d just said, if anything went wrong between her and Zhou Cheng, it would only be because either she stopped liking him or he stopped liking her… if Zhou Cheng’s heart wavered, without Jiang Yan, there would be others.

Xia Xiaolan was confident she could withstand Jiang Yan’s “attacks”!

Provided that Jiang Yan was telling the truth and providing genuine materials.

Jiang Yan stared at her intently.

Even as an outstanding recruit, she’d never been scolded like this.

Yet Xia Xiaolan, whom she looked down upon, had left her speechless.

Anger burned in Jiang Yan’s chest.

Should she hand over the original documents to Xia Xiaolan?

Xia Xiaolan met her gaze, showing no sign of backing down. Under Peng City’s scorching sun, the two beautiful girls stood by the roadside, drawing curious glances from passersby.

But no one dared intervene – they could feel the deadly pressure before even approaching.

Neither would yield.

Neither seemed to mind the sun.

Jiang Yan was spirited and well-trained.

Xia Xiaolan appeared delicate but showed remarkable resilience.

After what seemed like ages, Jiang Yan finally yielded! Disregarding their roadside location, she lifted her shirt and pulled out rolled documents from her waist holster.

The light papers had burn marks on their edges.

“I rescued these from the fire. They were meant to be burned, and I don’t know what I was thinking when I secretly kept them. I know once Zhou Cheng or Third Brother Pan get these, they’ll become weapons against my cousin, even against the Jiang family!”

Jiang Yan lowered her head and smiled, looking at the evidence in her hands with a complex expression:

“…Someone like you wouldn’t understand.”

Xia Xiaolan resisted rolling her eyes and held out her hand: “I don’t want to hear this nonsense. If you don’t want to give them today, I guarantee that when you finally want to, Zhou Cheng won’t accept them.”

In their standoff, Jiang Yan finally gave in, stepping forward to hand the documents to Xia Xiaolan, but didn’t let go immediately:

“You’re overreaching by getting involved in this. If you read these documents, you’ll become an insider. If my cousin finds out, neither your beauty nor sharp tongue will help you.”

Xia Xiaolan did feel tempted to read them.

But hearing Jiang Yan’s words, she smiled:

“I’ve already met your cousin.”

Jiang Yan’s eyes showed a trace of pity, seemingly for Xia Xiaolan’s misfortune.

She finally let go.

Xia Xiaolan resisted the urge – she wasn’t suited to read these documents. Curiosity killed the cat, and she valued her life. Besides, she couldn’t judge their authenticity; now that she had them, they should go to Zhou Cheng and Third Brother Pan.

While Xia Xiaolan could infuriate Jiang Yan to her core, she could not investigate the grudge between Third Brother Pan and Jiang Wu.

Jiang Yan spoke sarcastically, “So your courage only goes this far.”

Xia Xiaolan retorted, “I don’t measure heroism by courage, only by wisdom. Come on, didn’t you want to see Third Brother?”

She walked toward the hotel.

Jiang Yan’s expression changed:

“Don’t tell me Third Brother Pan and Zhou Cheng are in this hotel?”

Xia Xiaolan nodded matter-of-factly, “Of course. Did you think I randomly parked here just to argue with you roadside? We’ve reached our destination!”

Jiang Yan’s chest heaved with anger.

Xia Xiaolan was so cunning!

Even without handing over the documents, she could have seen Third Brother Pan and Zhou Cheng!

Their location was less than 10 meters from the hotel entrance.

Realizing that during their confrontation, Zhou Cheng and Pan Baohua might have been watching from a window, veins bulged on Jiang Yan’s forehead.

No matter how eloquent this woman was, Jiang Yan couldn’t bring herself to like her!

But Zhou Cheng did.

Why did Zhou Cheng like her?

A glib-tongued, cunning little person.

Jiang Yan’s feelings were incredibly complex.

She had lost the initiative from the moment she agreed to come to Peng City after Xia Xiaolan’s call.

Jiang Yan had used the documents as bait to get close to Zhou Cheng.

Xia Xiaolan had used Zhou Cheng as bait to make Jiang Yan voluntarily come to be scolded… Watching Xia Xiaolan’s back, Jiang Yan wanted to hit a woman for the first time.

Xia Xiaolan went straight to the sixth floor and knocked on a door.

Zhou Cheng opened it.

Xia Xiaolan handed him what she’d gotten from Jiang Yan:

“With a sincere attitude, how could Comrade Jiang Yan not cooperate? I told you, you just hadn’t talked to her properly.”

Xia Xiaolan was smug after gaining the upper hand, leaving Jiang Yan speechless.

In front of Zhou Cheng, she showed a bitter smile: “Zhou Cheng, I really can’t bring myself to like her—”

“It’s fine, as long as I like her.”

Zhou Cheng interrupted, stepping aside, “Third Brother is waiting for you inside.”

Jiang Yan’s shoulders trembled slightly.

This would be her first time seeing Third Brother Pan since his discharge.

Pan Baohua sat on the sofa.

The scar from where Jiang Wu had nearly blinded him was visible.

Third Brother Pan had shaved his head, and his skin had darkened, but his build remained unchanged.

“Third Brother…”

The typically spirited Jiang Yan, who could match any man, spoke with a choked voice.

Pan Baohua nodded at her, “My grudge against Jiang Wu has nothing to do with you. Come sit down and talk – I don’t eat people, what are you afraid of?”

Indeed, Third Brother Pan didn’t eat people.

He just liked to squeeze soft bread into balls before eating it – such a peculiar habit that even Xia Xiaolan found strange.

Regardless of Jiang Yan’s feelings for Zhou Cheng, Xia Xiaolan could see her genuine respect, guilt, and timidity toward Pan Baohua – Jiang Yan might have her schemes, but she wasn’t entirely bad.

She gave Xia Xiaolan a very different impression from Jiang Wu.

Of course, everything she’d said while scolding Jiang Yan had been right!