Xia Xian curled her lips with a sarcastic smile, refusing to bicker with them, knowing full well that this mother and son were masters at twisting logic.
"You! Xia Xian!"
Unable to endure the insult, Chu Sheng's expression shifted as he shouted angrily once more.
"Are you going to keep walking, or do you need me to borrow a loudspeaker for you two to argue until you're satisfied?"
Though Quan Ruifeng spoke little, his words were biting and relentlessly sharp whenever he opened his mouth.
Silence fell over Chu Sheng, his mother, and Xia Xian as the group resumed their walk toward the Chu family home. Along the way, Quan Ruifeng asked Xia Xian what time she had arrived home last night.
Meanwhile, Liu Jun lagged a step behind, questioning Lei Juan at the Xia family home. If their stories didn't match up, her suspiciousness would increase manifold.
Therefore, Xia Xian told no lies, and Quan Ruifeng instantly seized upon a loophole to press her with sharp questioning.
"Why did you arrive home so late? Where did you go in the meantime, and do you have any witnesses?"
With a taut jawline and dark eyes fixed upon Xia Xian, he adopted an aggressive stance, yet Xia Xian met him with neither servility nor defiance.
"A traveler feels timid as they approach home; I wanted to return, but lost my nerve along the way and didn't dare come back, so I wandered around the neighborhood. As it turned out, the timing of my return coincided with a family dispute."
"No one saw me. Having suffered such an ordeal, I was desperate to avoid people—how could I possibly dare to show my face?"
As Xia Xian spoke, her voice dropped lower. She bit her lower lip and lowered her gaze, her dark eyelashes resting motionless, projecting a subtly pitiful air.
Since ancient times, a widowed daughter wishing to return to her natal home was never an easy matter; even if her parents didn't mind, she would still fear the opinions of her siblings.
Her explanation was, at the very least, plausible.
However, Quan Ruifeng made no reply, merely casting an ambiguous gaze in her direction that made Xia Xian's scalp tingle.
This man was truly difficult to deal with, completely inscrutable. By comparison, shameless scoundrels like Chu Sheng and his mother, or even Liu Jun, were much easier to handle.
Xia Xian secretly clenched her fingers, forcing herself to remain calm. Yet she felt not a single shred of regret for what she did yesterday—she wanted the gold bars, and she wanted that money too! She would leave those two mother and son absolutely no room for maneuver!
Fortunately, after a brief silence, they arrived at the Chu family home. Liu Jun, who had caught up, went to fetch Mei Yanxia to provide testimony for Xia Xian.
"We left together, and when we did, the Chu family home wasn't in this state. The thief must be someone else; you can't just throw false accusations around simply because your money is missing! Besides, you've offended so many people, who knows who actually did it?"
Mei Yanxia pulled Xia Xian into an embrace, standing up for her as she narrowed her eyes and cast a suspicious look at Chu Sheng and his mother.
Before Director Mei, Xia Xian remained as frail as ever. With her dark hair cascading down, she looked even purer and more innocent. Clutching Director Mei's arm, she said in a delicate voice,
"Director Mei, I really didn't do it. I didn't even know where they kept their money. I was afraid they'd come back and grab me to keep me from leaving—how could I possibly have spent time searching for where they hid their money?"
"Only they know where they hide their money. No one told me where it was during the few days I was married into this family, and I even chipped in my own money to buy medicine for Eldest Master Chu..."
As if suddenly enlightened, Director Mei stomped her foot, pointed directly at Chu Sheng and his mother, and shouted loudly,
"You must be thieves crying 'stop thief!' You deliberately trashed your own house and claimed the money was stolen by Xia Xian, and when she can't cough up the cash, you try to force her to trade herself for it!"
"You lot really have some nerve! Every wicked idea under the sun is churning in your bellies!"
The more Director Mei thought about it, the more sense it made! She glared at the two of them with immediate fury. No wonder! They even claimed over two thousand yuan was missing—she'd eat her hat if the Chu family's total savings amounted to even a fraction of what they claimed!
Events proved her guess was not far from the truth. Having been hit squarely on the mark, Old Woman Chu leaped up in a panic-stricken guilty conscience.
"What kind of filth are you spouting out of your mouth? I've tolerated you enough just because you're the head of the women's federation, but you keep coming to my house to boss us around. Who do you think you..."
Itching for a fight, Old Woman Chu moved to throw her weight around again.
"Shut your mouth."
"The evidence for your claim that Xia Xian stole the money is insufficient. First, you need to prove that your family actually had such savings. Second, we will investigate this matter and notify you when there are results. If you continue making wild and baseless accusations, I'll have the lot of you locked up!"
Giving them a sweeping glance, Quan Ruifeng spoke with decisive authority. Accustomed to being forceful, he had no fear of shameless scoundrels; if pressed, he wouldn't mind locking them up to teach them a lesson.
"But..."
Tightening his lips, Quan Ruifeng gave him a cold, piercing stare, his eyes gleaming with a faint, chilling light that clearly meant: say another word and I'll lock you up.
Having spent a night locked up, Chu Sheng was already terrified. His body stiffened, and his voice died in his throat.
He figured that since reporting it to the authorities wouldn't work, he would just publicize the matter and hound Xia Xian directly—she wouldn't be able to escape him anyway!
His claimed sum of money had indeed been plucked out of thin air to fool the police; he shouldn't have gone to the authorities in the first place.
At that moment, regret washed over Chu Sheng, and he held back his mother, who still wanted to make a scene.
"Let's go."
Unwilling to waste time on such shameless people, Quan Ruifeng saw that Chu Sheng had stopped making a fuss, glanced at Liu Jun, and led the way out.
Liu Jun hurried to catch up. Heavens above, it turned out that you really had to be tough to keep these scoundrels in line; his previous strategy of being a man of the people had been completely wrong!
The two had only walked out a short distance when Xia Xian hurried after them.
"Wait, Quan..."
Officer Quan? That didn't sound quite right either, and calling him directly by his given name lacked politeness.
"Comrade Quan, wait! I have something to say to you!"
Xia Xian chose the safest form of address. Because she had run too fast, her breathing was shallow and she panted slightly, her curvaceous figure swaying as she moved, making her extremely eye-catching.
She was naturally quite striking.
Had it not been for the fact that she had been tricked into marriage and turned into a widow, one might easily have overlooked her beauty. Liu Jun glanced at Xia Xian, then back at Quan Ruifeng. A look of sudden comprehension dawned on him, and he couldn't help but wear a subtle smile.
"You two go ahead and talk. I'll head back first."
"There's nothing much going on at the bureau anyway, so take your time chatting—no rush."
With that, without waiting for either of them to react, he darted off like a flash of lightning, leaving the space entirely to the two of them.
It seemed that no matter how brilliant a young talent someone was, they could never escape the trial of beauty!
Seeing the way Liu Jun was smiling, Xia Xian knew at once that he had misunderstood.
"I'm sorry, I..."
Biting her red lips, she offered an embarrassed apology to Quan Ruifeng, never expecting Liu Jun to jump to such conclusions.
"What, have you thought it over? Decided to agree to a deal with me?"
Unbothered by any of that, Quan Ruifeng raised an eyebrow, staring straight into Xia Xian's eyes with the confident air of someone holding all the winning cards.
Xia Xian nodded silently, then spoke with hesitation.
"I agree to help you, but I haven't figured out the specific terms yet. Can I ask for anything? What if I say I want to go to Beijing, and I want you to help me transfer my household registration there and find a rental place for me?"
She wasn't sure if the two conditions she wanted to propose were too greedy in his eyes. After all, this was Beijing—the capital! Opportunities were everywhere, and countless people wanted to go but couldn't.
Quan Ruifeng's response caught Xia Xian completely off guard.