Jiang Cheng successfully “persuaded” Sister Kong.

Not only did Sister Kong not request a reduced sentence for Dongzi, she even demanded a harsher punishment, hoping he would be sent to the most strictly controlled facility.

In short, it was safer inside. Coming out could cost him his life.

With Sister Kong’s cooperation, Uncle Zhong obtained crucial information and hurriedly left the police station.

There was nothing left for Jiang Cheng to do, but she approached Chief Tang with a newspaper in hand.

The front-page headline of the newspaper featured a story about a major murder case solved by a certain police bureau.

“Chief Tang, isn’t this about our bureau?”

Chief Tang glanced at it and replied with a hint of discomfort, “No!”

Jiang Cheng let out a surprised “Ah!”

She put down the newspaper somewhat apologetically and said, “My mistake, my mistake! I just assumed such an impressive feat must have been done by our bureau!”

“Mainly because you all are so capable. Solving such a major human trafficking case in such a short time—you’ve saved so many people, so many families!”

Chief Tang, who had been feeling uneasy, suddenly felt a boost of confidence.

Comrade Jiang had a point—they really were impressive.

“After cracking such a big case, you’ll definitely make the news too.”

Chief Tang frowned at her words. “We focus on doing our job diligently. We don’t need all this flashy attention.”

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng’s expression shifted, as if she was holding back but couldn’t anymore.

“Chief Tang, I can’t agree with your perspective.”

Chief Tang looked up at Jiang Cheng, his brow furrowed under the pressure, but Jiang Cheng remained unfazed.

“Chief Tang, how was my science lecture at the school that day?”

“It was excellent!”

“In that case, imagine if such a lecture were published in the newspaper. How many people would see it? If it were adapted into a play, how many more could learn from it? Wouldn’t those who see it become more vigilant and better equipped to guard against human traffickers?”

Jiang Cheng’s words opened a new door for Chief Tang.

She was right—why hadn’t he thought of that?

But…

“It’s a good idea, but we don’t have the time to handle all that.”

“True, your energy should remain focused on solving cases. But these tasks could be delegated to other units, right? For example, our night school would be more than willing to help.”

Jiang Cheng gestured subtly behind her back, and Principal Wang immediately stepped forward. It was his time to shine.

“Comrade Jiang is right. Our night school is very willing to assist the police in their publicity efforts.”

Chief Tang: I suspect this was your goal all along!

But Jiang Cheng’s points were undeniably valid.

Prevention was always better than dealing with the aftermath.

After some discussion, the matter was tentatively settled. Principal Wang and Chief Tang would report the plan to higher authorities the next day.

By the time Jiang Cheng and Principal Wang left the police station, it was already late at night. After walking a considerable distance, Principal Wang finally couldn’t hold back his question.

“Why are we doing this?”

Jiang Cheng didn’t even turn her head. “Do good deeds need a reason?”

“Others might not need one, but you? That’s debatable.”

Jiang Cheng suddenly stopped.

“Principal Wang, I need to tell you something serious.”

Her solemn expression made Principal Wang focus entirely.

“Go on.”

Jiang Cheng spoke with heartfelt sincerity, “I really am a good person.”

Principal Wang’s cheek twitched, and he rolled his eyes so hard they almost didn’t come back down.

“Jiang Cheng, I almost believed you!”

“I knew you would!”

Jiang Cheng’s selective hearing left Principal Wang speechless as he gritted his teeth and followed her.

In truth, Jiang Cheng’s reasoning was simple: human traffickers deserved to die.

She wanted to contribute by bringing forward future awareness campaigns to reduce such tragedies.

When they returned to the night school, one went to the office, and the other to the classroom.

Back in the classroom, Jiang Cheng noticed that He Dan had returned to class.

Of course, the wound on He Dan’s forehead, accidentally inflicted by Mother Lin, had mostly healed.

He Dan had missed several days of class but had studied on her own at home. Given the night school’s usual pace, she didn’t think she’d have any issues catching up.

But she was wrong.

In the few days she was absent, the night school’s progress had skyrocketed, and every student had improved significantly.

He Dan struggled to keep up, and there was still much she didn’t understand.

And why were there so many practice problems?

Why was everyone silently working on problems during breaks instead of chatting?

Why were they all going to Jiang Cheng for help?

Even Zhang Cuijuan was asking Jiang Cheng questions!

And Sun Jiandong, who usually looked down on everyone—why was he smiling so kindly?

In just a few days, He Dan felt as if she had entered a completely different school.

After night school ended, Jiang Cheng quickly ran out of the classroom and handed Principal Wang the materials she had compiled on human trafficking prevention.

“Principal, take these with you when you meet with Chief Tang tomorrow. Think about it—once the awareness campaign is in place, how many families will you have saved!”

“In the past, such an achievement would’ve earned you a separate page in the family genealogy!”

“And if this is done well, our night school is guaranteed to be named an Advanced Unit by the end of the year.”

With Jiang Cheng’s motivational speech, Principal Wang nodded seriously for the first time. “Alright!”

Jiang Cheng smiled brightly, turned, and ran downstairs. She hopped on her bicycle, the iconic gong hanging from the handlebars, and sped off.

Back in the office, Principal Wang held the thick stack of materials in his hand.

“This girl must have been planning this since the first time we caught those traffickers.”

The materials were incredibly thorough.

There were instructions on how to serialize the human trafficking story in the newspaper and how to adapt it into a script.

It was all handwritten and very detailed.

Fueled by the thought of “earning a separate page in the family genealogy,” Principal Wang opened the first page and began familiarizing himself with the content.

…

The next morning, Jiang Cheng woke up early and realized she didn’t need to go to Old Xu’s for class today.

After sitting on her bed in a daze for two minutes, she took out the book Teacher Lü had asked her to translate. She read it from start to finish once, then a second time.

Only after two full readings did she begin translating.

At seven, Jiang Cheng was startled by Shen Yue’s knocking, pulling her out of her focused translation work.

“Sister, are you okay? It’s time for breakfast!”

Shen Yue’s concerned voice came from outside. Normally, Jiang Cheng would already be up by this time.

“I’m fine, coming now!”

Jiang Cheng responded, but Shen Yue still waited worriedly at the door.

With a creak, Jiang Cheng emerged and smiled at Shen Yue. “As expected, Yueyue is the one who cares about me the most.”

“Of course! I’m the best!”

Shen Yue eagerly claimed the title, while Shen Xing watched helplessly as Shen Yue, brainwashed and manipulated by Jiang Cheng day after day, seemed ready to agree even if Jiang Cheng claimed the sun rose from the west.

The four of them ate breakfast together, the atmosphere warm and pleasant.

Jiang Cheng went to work at the recycling station as usual, but today was destined to be unusual.

The recycling station had caught fire, the four sorters were dead, and Sister Kong was in custody.

Old Sun, the night watchman, hadn’t been involved, but he had been unknowingly drugged by Sister Kong every night, leaving him sound asleep.

The recycling station director was tempted to fire him, but with no one else available and the complexities of firing someone in this era, he was stuck.

Just as the director was fretting, Jiang Cheng arrived.

“Director, why don’t we borrow some staff from other recycling stations? We’re all brother units—helping each other out makes sense.”

The director waved his hand dismissively. “Forget it. They’d rather watch us struggle than lend a hand.”

“Really? I thought they’d be fighting to help. After all, we have five job openings here!”

At Jiang Cheng’s words, the director’s eyes lit up.

That’s right!

He had been so focused on the lack of workers that he hadn’t considered the five job positions he now controlled!