The shop was located on a pedestrian street bustling with people. A crowd blocked the entrance, shouting about food poisoning and a "black-hearted" owner. Before long, the entire storefront was packed tight, impossible to pass through.
Yulan gripped the web of her thumb hard; the sharp pain jolted her brain, forcing her to regain her composure.
"Yue Shi," she asked, "can I trust you?"
Chu Shi instinctively looked away. "Go ahead," he whispered.
Yulan had no room for sentimentality now; her eyes were useless, and he was the only person she could rely on.
"I’ll record a video for you. Go to the storage room, take samples of all the ingredients, and take them to the testing center right now."
Chu Shi glanced at the agitated crowd outside the glass door, then at the frail Yulan. His expression was heavy. "If I leave now, how will you handle this?"
"Just do as I said; I can handle things here," Yulan said firmly. "As soon as I open the door, they will surely crowd around me. Take that chance to leave."
The situation turned out to be even more chaotic than Yulan had expected.
With a violent crash, the shop’s glass door was smashed in.
A mob surged inside. Yulan, leaning on the iron rod she used to prop up the rolling gate, emerged from the back room, only to be shoved aside by a bearded man. Then came the spraying spit of insults and the sound of things being smashed to pieces.
"My daughter vomited bile and was convulsing! The doctor said it was toxic shock! You murderous wretch, you dare hide? Do you think this door can protect you?"
"You blind dog! You nearly killed my daughter!"
"Do you believe I’ll burn this dump of a shop down? Making money with such a cursed trade—you belong in the eighteenth level of hell!"
The insults continued unabated. Yulan’s hand, holding the iron rod, trembled more and more. She explained loudly, "Everyone! I only just learned that a customer was hospitalized for stomach pumping. Regardless of who is ultimately responsible, as the owner, I will fully cooperate to uncover the truth!"
"Responsibility? I already asked—my daughter only drank your milk tea today! Are you trying to deny it?"
Yulan was not swayed by his words, her tone remaining resolute. "All the ingredient samples in the shop have already been sent to the testing center. Once the results are out, if it is my fault, I will close the shop and pay damages immediately. I will even go to prison if necessary. But you smashed your way in like this—if something happens to me, who will take responsibility for the subsequent damages?"
At the mention of damages, the bearded man who had entered first let his eyes roll around in their sockets. He looked Yulan up and down. "A little blind girl has a big mouth. Many people are in the hospital now—can you even afford it?"
"Whether I can afford it or not is no excuse for you to lead a group to smash my shop."
The crowd suddenly parted.
Shen Zhixing arrived in a refined, cigarette-gray haute couture suit, his temperament elegant and gentle. He lifted his eyelids, his sharp gaze locking onto the bearded man.
He looked completely out of place in Yulan’s shop. The bearded man instinctively stepped back, but then, thinking he was in the right, puffed out his chest. "Who are you to this blind girl? Is it your place to speak?"
Shen Zhixing walked slowly toward Yulan and stood with his back to her, blocking out all the hateful and mocking stares before speaking calmly. "You are the family member of a victim; I, too, am a family member of a victim." His tone shifted. "However, I am the family member of the shopkeeper whose store was broken into. And you?"
"I... I... my daughter is still in the hospital. I have a legitimate reason to smash the shop."
Shen Zhixing let out a cold sneer. "Save your 'legitimate reason' for the police."
He ignored the bearded man after that and turned to the crowd. "Please leave your contact information. I will make the test results public as soon as they are out. Now, who is willing to come with me to the hospital to pay the medical fees?"
Shen Zhixing spoke with such composure and calm that it seemed to act like a sedative on the onlookers.
Once one person stepped forward to respond, several others followed.
As the onlookers and agitators left, only those with genuine grievances remained.
Shen Zhixing looked at Chen Fang. "You go to the hospital and handle it."
The bearded man, seeing that Shen Zhixing wasn't moving, refused to let it go and reached out to grab him. "You’re the one leading this, why aren't you going?"
His hand was grabbed by Chen Fang before he could finish, and a shrill scream erupted from his throat.
Chen Fang said expressionlessly, "I am Mr. Shen’s personal secretary. You all come with me."
The men looked at each other, eventually following Chen Fang.
The shop’s glass door was shattered, the iron frame of the rolling gate twisted, shelves were overturned, and goods were scattered everywhere. The floor tiles were covered in trampled food and glass shards. The footprints of the mob were stamped onto the overturned shelves; it was a scene of total devastation.
Xi Mingzhou, who had been frowning in silence, finally spoke. "Yulan, how could you not tell me about such a huge incident! If I hadn't wanted to give you a surprise, were you planning to hide it from me again?"
Shen Zhixing’s gaze darkened, and he looked at Xi Mingzhou with visible hostility.
"Is now the time for your complaints?"
Yulan stood quietly in the wreckage, leaning on the iron rod, appearing like a rootless duckweed—pitiful and fragile.
Xi Mingzhou’s mind cleared instantly. He pressed his lips together and took two steps forward to support her. "Little Yulan, I was just too anxious and spoke without thinking. Please don't take it to heart."
Yulan felt a stifling discomfort in her chest, though she wasn't sure if it was caused by the recent events or Xi Mingzhou’s reprimand.
This wasn't the first time he had acted like this.
When they had first gotten together, she had crashed while trying to avoid a tricycle driving against traffic. She had called Xi Mingzhou, and he had spent the moment he arrived scolding her for not driving carefully, for not knowing how to yield speed instead of the lane.
But after the scolding, he had still huffed and puffed as he climbed over the guardrail to retrieve her scattered things, one by one. In fact, ever since then, she hadn't had to haul goods alone as long as he was around.
Yulan knew his personality well, yet today, she felt exceptionally aggrieved and wounded.
Why was it that whenever something happened, his first reaction was always to blame her? Why couldn't he comfort her? Why was he never willing to stand on her side?
Tears welled up and spilled from Yulan’s eyes. Her legs went weak, and she crouched down, burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with sobs.
Xi Mingzhou looked anxiously toward Shen Zhixing, his mouth opening and closing.
Shen Zhixing shot him a glare and ignored him. Only when Yulan’s crying began to subside did he speak. "What’s wrong with your eyes?"
Yulan sniffled, sobbing as she replied, "Someone splashed paint on them. I can’t see clearly for the moment."
Xi Mingzhou’s eyes widened, and a surge of rage took over. "Fuck! Who the hell is looking for death? To bully you while I wasn't here—where are they? I'm going to kill them!"
Yulan: "At the police station."
Xi Mingzhou: "..."
Shen Zhixing rubbed his brow, his tone cold. "Get the samples to the testing center first, then call the police and report that someone is poisoning the products."
There were so many bombshells in his one sentence that not only Xi Mingzhou, but even Yulan stood there with her mouth agape.
Yulan reacted quickly. After a moment of stunned silence, she explained, "I’ve already had my friend take the items over. The report will take at least three days. As for the poisoning..."
Shen Zhixing explained, "The man who led the trouble earlier couldn't have been a parent; his age doesn't match. Have your friend bring the items back. If we send them to Beijing for testing, the results will come out very quickly."
Even though Yulan couldn't see Shen Zhixing clearly, hearing his words gave her an inexplicable sense of security. She hurriedly took out her phone to call Yue Shi.
...
Yulan’s face turned grim. "His phone is off."
She didn't want to believe it and tried calling a few more times.
It was still off.