No words can persuade a ghost that is hell-bent on dying.
During the years she had spent running her shop, to save money she not only hauled in every shipment of goods herself, but she had even designed and renovated the milk tea shop with her own hands. Her core philosophy was simple: human strength is inexhaustible, but money is meant to be spent.
Facing these pampered, delicate young socialites, Yulan dealt with them one wine bottle at a time. She played a ferocious game of whack-a-mole, striking whoever popped their head up, specifically targeting the fleshier, more painful spots.
Each swing of the bottle was followed by a miserable scream.
Before long, everyone had retreated to the doorway, cowering behind Li Chuchu.
Li Chuchu's expression gradually shifted from fury to terror. She shrank her arms, pressed her handbag against her chest, and put on a fierce front as she blurted, "You... you... are you even a woman?"
Yulan spread her hands and puffed out her proud chest. "Genuine and guaranteed."
Her gesture infuriated Li Chuchu all over again. Gritting her teeth and stamping her foot, she shouted toward the inner room, "Chu Shi, you've been played! This woman acts all innocent and pure just to trick you! Look at how violently she fights! She's not your type at all!"
There are times when people are left so speechless they can only laugh.
Yulan asked with helpless amusement, "My dear, my room is only this big. Even if your eyes were planted on top of your head and you've been in here this long, you should've scanned the place by now. Does this look like there's a man anywhere around here?"
As her anger subsided slightly and her reason returned, Li Chuchu began to actually look around the room. There was a bar, a single table, and not even a wardrobe in sight. Feeling a bit guilty, she nevertheless kept up a bold front. "Heaven knows if Chu Shi got wind of something and ran off, accidentally leaving his phone behind with you! Anyway, you've got the face of a home-wrecker!"
Listening to Li Chuchu's unreasonable and absurd retort, Yulan wore a smile at the corner of her mouth, weighing a wine bottle in her hand as she stepped closer.
Panic flickered in Li Chuchu's eyes as she backed up several steps. Flustered, she dug several stacks of cash out of her bag and hurled them at Yulan like scattering paper talismans. "When I was outside the door, you were the one who didn't explain yourself clearly! Now you've even hit my people—if you know what's good for you, take the money and get lost!"
A rain of banknotes fluttered down across the room, but Yulan didn't stop walking.
Li Chuchu had already squatted down, raising her bag to protect her head. The other women beside her were doing no better. But Yulan simply brushed past them, yanked the door wide open, and flashed a sinister, toothy grin. "Next time you can't guarantee your own safety, don't close the door, you idiots."
With that, she executed a hundred-and-eighty-degree attitude shift, crying out pathetically toward the hallway, "Police officer, help! These crazy people broke in and beat me up! I was just acting in self-defense!"
Mid-wail, she froze when she looked at the person standing right in front of her.
...
Would someone please tell her why her boyfriend's uncle had shown up at her hotel room in the middle of the night...
She had specifically come to open the door after seeing several shadows through the crack. Instead of the light of justice, why had she welcomed something so bizarre instead?
"Mingzhou's uncle..."
Shen Zhixing wore a smile at the corner of his lips, one eyebrow raised.
"Pui, pui, pui! Tongue slipped! Little Uncle, what brings you here?" Yulan was so awkward she wished she could immediately slide down the drainpipe.
Shen Zhixing looked her up and down carefully before stepping into the room. With a sharp gaze, he swept his eyes over the few young women cowering on the floor, then asked Yulan, "Are you hurt?"
"No... no."
Li Chuchu, who had been turtling her head like a quail, hurriedly looked up upon hearing that familiar voice. The moment she saw Shen Zhixing, her eyes instantly turned red. "Brother-in-law! Sob, Brother-in-law, this woman hit me, sob, sob."
Yulan swallowed hard. Wait, her mind was a bit tangled...
What did she just call him? Brother-in-law?
Shen Zhixing let out a cold snort. "Utterly disgraceful. Shut up."
He turned his gaze back to Yulan, his tone softening considerably. "Let's go to the hospital first."
"We didn't even touch her! She was the one chasing us around and swinging a wine bottle!" Li Chuchu protested with extreme indignation upon seeing her brother-in-law show concern for a complete stranger.
"Has Chu Shi eaten your brains too? Didn't you hear what she just called me?"
"Ding-dong!" The doorbell rang, cutting off their conversation.
"Did you call for reinforcements?"
He directed this question at Li Chuchu.
Yulan, who had remained silent for a long time, slowly raised her hand.
"I think I was the one who called..."
Shen Zhixing looked surprised. "You have friends in Beijing?"
Yulan replied, "The people's friends—the police."
At two in the morning, with no one asleep, a whole group of people appeared in neat formation at the Sanlitun Police Station.
Yulan had actually been ready to cancel the police report. Both sides were acquaintances, and not only had she escaped injury, but she had also vented several days of pent-up frustration. As long as she didn't pursue charges, the matter was entirely an administrative infraction.
However, Shen Zhixing refused to drop the case.
When the police asked what relation he was to the complainant, before Yulan could speak, he answered first: "Her little uncle."
Well, now nobody was getting any sleep in the middle of the night; they were all stuck at the police station getting lectured.
"Yulan, you can state whatever compensation you require." Shen Zhixing's figure was tall and slender. Even dressed casually as he sat on the iron bench of the police station, he somehow managed to exude an aura of proud, aloof isolation.
Yulan cast her gaze over the young women one by one. Each of them looked more wretched than the last—anyone passing by would have thought they were the victims.
With a hint of guilt, she shook her head. "We crossed paths and cleared the air, plus she's Sister Xiwei's biological sister. Let's just drop it; I don't need any compensation. Just make her pay for the damaged hotel facilities."
"You don't need to worry about them retaliating later. If they ever come looking for trouble with you again, since the offense happened tonight, I'll have them shipped abroad for advanced studies tomorrow."
At those words, Yulan clearly saw Li Chuchu shrink her neck. It made her rather curious: where did this little rat get the nerve to block her door and start a fight?
"I'm serious. Once misunderstandings are cleared up, it's fine. The person truly to blame in all this is that Chu Shi. If he didn't have such a long history of bad behavior, Li Chuchu wouldn't have been driven out of her mind with anger."
Before Yulan's voice had even faded, Li Chuchu jumped right in: "Don't blame Chu Shi! I did this myself, don't go wrongly accusing people."
Good grief...
Yulan sighed helplessly. "Brainless romantic obsession really ought to be classified as a major medical condition."
"Who told you that you don't even know how to explain yourself? If you had just spoken properly from the start, would I have gotten so impulsive?"
Yulan was utterly speechless.
This girl would still be drooling even if you cured her.
Shen Zhixing pressed a hand to his temple and asked, "Does Chu Shi smear superglue on your lips every time he sees you?"
Yulan understood this sarcastic remark completely, but apparently, some people didn't.
"No, he doesn't! Chu Shi isn't that bad!"
The Chu Shi who supposedly wasn't "that bad" was strolling leisurely out of Yulan's room at that exact moment, tossing a mobile phone back and forth in one hand while holding a call with the other.
"What was the name of the guest in room 2803 again?"
"Brother Shi, why don't you just go back the way you came and stop tormenting me? You've dragged the local beat cops right to my doorstep. If the old man finds out about this, I'll be the one getting chewed out again."
"Such a chatterbox. Spit it out."
A long sigh came from the other end of the line. "Yulan. Native of Chuanshi."
"More details."
"Opening accounts is against the law, big brother. I'm a law-abiding citizen."