Ren Xia’er, beside them, was shocked. Looking at the siblings, she silently went upstairs too. But halfway up, she heard her husband utter a “No.” She breathed a sigh of relief, yet her heart remained uneasy.

Yang Li still didn’t believe him, continuing to point to heaven with glaring eyes, “You dare swear to Mom? Swear!”

Yang Xun was forced into a corner by his little sister and finally lost patience, slapping Yang Li’s hand away. “Someone who cost me three to four million – taking his head would be letting him off easy. Are you hurt?”

“So it was you who did it. You’re still denying it. I knew it was you all along – that gang spoke in our hometown dialect. I knew it, and Liu Jun knows it too. I never thought you’d do such a thing. This is gangster behavior, low-class tactics. I never imagined you’d do such a thing – so despicable, so shameless. Only thugs would do such things…”

Upstairs, though Ren Xia’er avoided the siblings’ conflict, she kept her ear turned to listen. Hearing this, she was shocked. She’d been abroad giving birth, then came home with the baby – it had been many days since she’d gone to work, and she didn’t know what had happened at the company. She hadn’t expected such serious trouble.

“I didn’t know you were with him. No matter what, I would never hurt you. Alright, don’t get excited. I apologize – I wasn’t targeting you. Are you hurt? I’ll take you to the hospital…”

Yang Li screamed, interrupting him hoarsely, “You acted like a thug! I never thought you’d stoop to thuggery. If Mom knew, you’d anger her to death, you damn thug. You’re a father, too, yet you’re so vicious. Fine, now Liu Jun is hospitalized and disabled. Are you satisfied? Are you happy?”

Yang Xun glanced upstairs and saw his wife’s feet on the stairs. But he couldn’t worry about that now, still calmly saying to his sister, “Have you fallen for Liu Jun? Didn’t you dislike him before?”

“I’m only asking why you acted like a thug. Don’t evade the question. Tell me, tell me!”

“No one acted like a thug. He was ruthless, so I was unrighteous. Now we’re even.”

“Even? If you wanted to get even, you should have used schemes against him, too. Why didn’t you? Who are you afraid of? You only know dirty tricks. I despise you.”

Yang Xun remained calm. “Your phone has been ringing for a while.”

Yang Li wanted to continue relentlessly, but suddenly thought the call might be from Qian Hongming. She quickly rushed over to grab her bag and pull out her phone. But the police officer’s words immediately quieted her, leaving her dumbstruck. After ending the call, she stared at Yang Xun viciously, “The police want me to come in for questioning. Just you wait.”

Yang Xun remained silent, watching his sister grab her bag and rush out. He had someone more troublesome to deal with – his wife, the mother of his two children, Ren Xia’er. Yang Li was like a sudden storm, but his wife was like a needle hidden in cotton – never compromising.

“Here’s what happened. Liu Jun’s product had a great market response, so I invested in having our technical department develop it too, planning to make good money. But Liu Jun deliberately opposed me, first selling the technology everywhere at low prices, making it so the whole country could produce this product. They sold at low prices to compete with my high-cost developed product, causing my inventory to surge recently. Later, he had lawyers threaten my overseas buyers, so my goods were already floating on the high seas when the buyers refused to accept delivery. Tell me, isn’t his thinking vicious? What couldn’t be discussed? He had to make me take such a big fall, lose so much in shipping costs, tie up capital for so long – was he happy? What could he possibly gain from this? Can’t tell that someone who studied abroad would be so unreasonable. I estimate my brothers couldn’t stand watching and went to settle scores with Liu Jun for me. From what Fourth Sister said, that seems to be the meaning. Fourth Sister has fallen for Liu Jun? How can she never change this habit – once she likes someone, her head gets muddled and she immediately turns against me.”

Yang Li’s track record wasn’t great, so Yang Xun’s calm explanation made Ren Xia’er half-believe, mostly believe. “Why would Liu Jun threaten our overseas buyers?”

“He said he applied for a patent. When I said we invested in research and developed it ourselves, he struck first. Of those two shipments, only one batch just reached shore. I’ve already had people get visas to handle return procedures in both places. Sigh, don’t know how much more shipping costs. Damn it, thinking about this makes me want to kill someone.”

“The patent issue… If he applied for a patent, even if you later developed everything yourself, as long as the final product is the same as his, you’re infringing. You should discuss this properly with a lawyer later – I remember that’s how it works. Legally speaking, you were wrong first. But Liu Jun’s methods were too vicious – couldn’t he have raised objections before shipping? Can’t tell…” Ren Xia’er still had doubts, but upstairs the older child wouldn’t sleep, and the baby was crying for milk, making a mess. She could only run up to attend to them, adding as she went, “Control your brothers – acting like thugs is very low-class.”

Yang Xun waited for Ren Xia’er to go upstairs and get busy, then began calling friends.

Yang Li was called back to the police station for questioning. Having encountered more troublesome questioning in Shanghai over a year ago, this time she was experienced. She said everything she should say, but still didn’t mention the attackers’ hometown accent. Even though she wanted to punch and kick Yang Xun, she clearly understood the difference between internal contradictions among the people and external contradictions. Tired and hungry, she returned home. Not daring to go to the hospital to see Liu Jun, she hoped Qian Hongming would give her news immediately.

After driving Dr. Bao home, Qian Hongming remembered his promise to Yang Li. He wasn’t in a hurry to make this call. Parking by the roadside, he held his hand to his lips and thought for a while before dialing Yang Li’s mobile. “Miss Yang, reporting to you. Liu Jun’s surgery is finished, but he’s still under anesthesia. His father is watching over him.”

Yang Li quickly asked, “What did the doctor say?”

“The doctor said we still need to watch the next two days – the next two days are most critical. Liu Jun’s father is furious about this. Fortunately, Liu Jun has German citizenship and is a foreign national. His father plans to immediately contact the German consulate to assist in solving this case. If the case rises to involves foreign nationals, the Public Security Bureau won’t be negligent. Rest assured, the shock you suffered will also quickly receive a fair and just resolution.”

After Yang Li ended Qian Hongming’s call, she dialed Yang Xun’s mobile. Hearing Yang Xun answer with complaints about her disturbing his sleep, Yang Li said angrily, “Listen, Liu Jun has German citizenship – he’s a foreigner. Tomorrow, his father will go to the German embassy for backing and pressure. This is called a foreign-related incident. Just wait. His father has gone crazy.”

“Are you certain?”

“Qian Hongming revealed it – he’s been by his side the whole time. Liu Jun hasn’t woken up yet, and he’s missing a finger. The problem is serious.” Yang Li paused, then asked, “Why didn’t you ask if I was hurt, whether I said anything at the police station?”

“I know their instructor. Give me Qian Hongming’s phone number.”

Yang Xun couldn’t sleep anymore. He snuck to the study, didn’t turn on the lights, and smoked alone in the darkness.

At midnight, Ren Xia’er got up to feed her son, born in America. Seeing no one in her husband’s bed, she became suspicious, put on her clothes, and left the bedroom to search. Yang Xun saw her from inside and called out, “Xia’er, I’m here. Come sit for a while.”

“What happened? The fighting incident?”

“Right, the fighting incident. Got a call – the brothers originally just wanted to vent for me, didn’t expect Liu Jun to be good at fighting. The brothers suffered losses and, in anger, cut off one of Liu Jun’s fingers – the finger that wears a wedding ring. Things got serious. I’m thinking about how to calm this down. We’re at a disadvantage once blood is shed.”

“Civil case escalating to criminal case?”

“Right, I’m worried these brothers suffered big losses.”

“Are you worried about them, or worried about yourself? Yang Li accused you of being the mastermind.”

“Yang Li doesn’t understand. But they’re my brothers, and they fought because of my affairs, so I can’t escape responsibility. I’ll have to bleed some money.”

“As long as you weren’t the mastermind. You’re now a father of two children. Whatever you do now, you must think thrice. You must let our children freely and safely stroll the streets and parks in the future. Only those without family or dependents dare do things like fighting and brawling – you must not get involved. Besides, injuring someone’s finger… no matter how frustrated you feel, this time you must handle it so the Liu family is completely convinced.”

Yang Xun nodded, told his wife to go back to sleep, and that he’d think a bit more. But Yang Xun could sense his wife understood everything tacitly – she just wasn’t exposing him, but had thrown all the words at him. More effective than Yang Li’s approach.