Chapter Nineteen: Fury

At the entrance to the Upper City Security Bureau.

At dusk, a white SUV slowly came to a stop.

Lin Lei got out of the car.

At the same time, a burly man was already waiting outside the bureau’s gate.

"Captain Lin!"

It was Chen Ning.

"Captain Lin, you came to me for help, and you really chose the right person. I know this place inside out. My brother works here in the Upper City Security Bureau—"

Lin Lei nodded at him. "I may have to trouble you this time."

"No big deal." Chen Ning waved it off with a grin.

"Come on, let’s go in."

The two of them entered the bureau, gave their names, and before long a police officer led them into a room.

At a glance, Lin Lei saw Qi Fangyan sitting in a chair and sobbing.

Little Thirteen stood quietly to one side, holding Qi Fangyan’s hand.

The child’s wig was nowhere to be seen, and one side of her face had flushed a conspicuous, unnatural red.

The Concealed Mask, like real human skin, also reflected the body’s natural condition.

Beside Qi Fangyan sat a female officer, who was turned half around and speaking with a young man in sportswear standing nearby.

Across from them, however, sat a middle-aged man in a floral shirt and jeans. He wore an impatient expression, and beside him stood another man who looked very much like a thug.

Lin Lei forced down the anger rising in his chest and walked over. "Little Thirteen, Sister Fangyan."

"Big Brother!"

The moment the little girl saw him come in, she finally got up again and rushed over, throwing herself against Lin Lei’s leg.

"My hair... is gone."

As she spoke, Little Thirteen glared fiercely at the floral-shirted man across from them, her eyes blazing with hatred. "They’re bad people."

Lin Lei glanced at the two men, then stroked Little Thirteen’s head. "It’s all right. I’m here now."

"Brother Lei..." Qi Fangyan could no longer hold herself back when she saw Lin Lei arrive, and she burst into loud tears.

Her face was dusty and she looked deeply wronged, yet she did not seem to have suffered any serious injuries.

At that, the floral-shirted man snorted with contempt. "Crying loud doesn’t make you right."

Lin Lei narrowed his eyes. Beside him, Chen Ning cracked his neck with a series of pops and strides toward the floral shirt, raising a fist as large as a clay bowl. "Believe me, I’ll beat the crap out of you!"

At nearly two meters tall and built with hard muscle, Chen Ning was intimidating enough to make anyone hesitate.

This was part of why Lin Lei had called him here.

Among ordinary people, a man that tall was a giant; just standing there, he was enough to pressure anyone.

The floral-shirted man’s mouth twitched, and he instinctively leaned back, clearly rattled.

The female officer rose as well, exasperated. "Do you think this is a marketplace?"

Lin Lei patted Chen Ning’s arm and shook his head.

Then he turned, took Little Thirteen by the hand, and sat down beside Qi Fangyan. The handsome young man who had been talking with the female officer also nodded to Lin Lei.

"You must be Miss Qi’s younger brother, right? Hello. I’m Zhao Bing, the new tenant who recently moved into the apartment below hers."

A new tenant?

Lin Lei had never seen this man before, though he did look rather handsome.

Lin Lei nodded to him, then turned to the female officer. "May I ask... what exactly happened?"

The female officer gave a bitter smile. "Here’s the situation..."

After her explanation, Lin Lei finally understood.

It turned out that the three men in the floral shirts had come to Qi Fangyan’s place to collect a debt. Qi Fangyan insisted she had never borrowed any money from them, and the argument escalated into a quarrel and then into a conflict.

Zhao Bing, who lived downstairs, heard the disturbance and came up to help. He was also the one who had called the police.

Qi Fangyan was still sobbing. "I’ve never even seen those three before. How could I possibly have borrowed money from them?"

Lin Lei remembered that a few days earlier, Qi Fangyan had said someone had called her and demanded repayment. It seemed these were the same people.

The floral-shirted man stood up. "Your boyfriend Zhou Haoran borrowed the money from us... I’ve got your signature, your fingerprints, and your ID right here. And now you’re saying you don’t owe anything?"

Qi Fangyan sniffled and said, "Zhou Haoran is not my boyfriend, and my ID was lost for quite a while. I already reported it missing and had it reissued. The Security Bureau has the records. As for the fingerprints and signature... who knows what methods you used to get them!"

The floral-shirted man sneered. "I don’t care whether Zhou Haoran was your boyfriend or not. The IOU has your name on it, so I’m collecting from you!"

Lin Lei turned to the female officer. "And Zhou Haoran? You didn’t investigate him?"

The female officer shook her head helplessly. "We can’t get in touch with him."

A glint flashed in Lin Lei’s eyes. He looked at the officer. "Whether my sister owes them money or not, that still doesn’t give them the right to bully people. They even bullied a child?"

The female officer sighed. "According to these three, it was Qi Fangyan and the little girl who struck first. They were merely defending themselves..."

"Hey, hey, hey, we’ve got video evidence. This isn’t just what we’re saying!" the floral-shirted man said indignantly. He rolled up his sleeve and showed the clearly scratched wounds beneath. "This was self-defense!"

Little Thirteen lifted her head and looked at Lin Lei. "Big Brother, they started it."

Zhao Bing also shook his head. "A phone video that has the beginning and end cut off cannot be used as direct evidence."

When Chen Ning heard this, he could no longer sit still. "You two grown men are saying a woman and a child attacked you first. Do you even believe that yourselves when you say it?"

The floral-shirted man sneered. "One of you is angry out of embarrassment, and the other is blindly taking your own side. What, the weak are always right? If you’re going to talk, bring evidence. I’ve got a video on my side. What about you?"

Chen Ning’s face darkened. He rolled up his sleeves, only for Lin Lei to tug him back again.

At that moment, the female officer looked at Lin Lei and Chen Ning with helplessness. "Here’s the thing: there’s still no definite conclusion about the unpaid debt. As for the altercation, both sides did exchange words and even came to blows, but neither side’s injuries rise to the level of serious harm. We can’t determine who struck first, and dwelling on that won’t produce any result. My suggestion is that both sides go back for now. We’ll continue investigating Zhou Haoran’s whereabouts, and once we find him, I’ll notify both sides immediately..."

"Heh." The floral-shirted man gave a cold laugh. "So what you’re saying is, if you can’t find Zhou Haoran, I just lose my money? Then what good are the IOU, the fingerprints, and the ID?"

The female officer looked equally helpless. "We can’t rule out the possibility that Zhou Haoran deliberately committed fraud, so all we can do is find him first..."

"Understood." Lin Lei stood up. "Then let’s leave it at that for now... We’re free to go, right?"

The female officer nodded, visibly relieved. "Yes, yes."

Chen Ning frowned slightly. "Captain Lin, this..."

Lin Lei only shook his head at him.

The floral-shirted man also stood, then looked at Qi Fangyan. "Fifty thousand. Have it ready. If you don’t, then get ready to use your house as collateral!"

With that, he gave a cold laugh and stepped forward on purpose, avoiding Chen Ning as he came up to Lin Lei and tapped his shoulder. Lowering his voice, he said, "Kid, only smart people can live well for long..."

Then he turned to Little Thirteen beside them, reached out, and tried to pat the child’s head.

Smack.

Lin Lei’s hand gently closed over his wrist. He did not use force, yet the man could not move his hand any farther down.

The floral-shirted man pulled his hand back and grinned at the little girl. "Heh, little baldie, your big brother’s pretty bold."

Little Thirteen bared her teeth and glared fiercely at him.

Watching the three men leave with their noses in the air, Chen Ning dragged Lin Lei out of the room, baffled. "Captain Lin, why? That guy’s obviously extorting them. If we reveal our identities, we can make sure they pay for it..."

Lin Lei shook his head. "And then what?"

Because Lin Lei did not merely want them to pay a price. If he revealed his identity, it would instead become a restraint on his own actions.

"You don’t need to worry about this..." Lin Lei turned and went back into the room.

Chen Ning, however, was left standing there, stunned.