Liu Yong and the others ran far away.

Only when they saw no one chasing them did they finally stop.

“Yongzi, do you think your sister’s mother-in-law will report us to the police?” Liuzi asked, worried.

He remembered what the old lady had said before they smashed her stall.

Liu Yong was taken aback.

She probably wouldn’t… right?

Brother Hu said, “Are you stupid? That old lady is Yongzi’s in-law. Why would she report us to the police? Unless she doesn’t want that family relationship anymore, doesn’t want Yongzi’s sister to stay married to her son.”

“Exactly,” Yangzi chimed in. “Besides, who wants to deal with the police nowadays? We’ve mugged people and stolen things before, but how many ever called the cops?”

“That old hag probably doesn’t even know where the police station is. And she’s just a street vendor—no business license or anything. She’d be the one hiding from the police, not reporting to them.”

Liu Yong said, “Brother Hu and Yangzi are right. That old hag wouldn’t dare report it. Even if she wanted to, my brother-in-law wouldn’t let her.”

Liuzi finally felt at ease after hearing that.

“Dammit, my hair!” Brother Hu was still grieving over his hair.

“Is the bald spot on the top of my head really obvious?” He lowered his head for the others to see.

Liu Yong and the rest: “…”

The bald spot on Brother Hu’s head was about the size of an egg—pretty noticeable.

“If I brush my hair back like this, does it hide it?” Brother Hu smoothed his hair backward.

Liuzi hesitated. “…It’s not that obvious.”

In truth, it was still pretty obvious—brushing it back did nothing to cover it.

“Yeah, it’s not obvious. You can’t see it anymore.”

The others quickly agreed.

Brother Hu’s mood improved.

He grabbed the metal cash box from Liu Yong’s arms, reached in, frowned, and pulled out some money.

“What the hell? Only this much? Damn, there’s a bunch of one-cent coins.”

He shoved the cash box back into Liu Yong’s arms and counted the money in his hand.

Liu Yong tipped out the box—it was true, not a single large-denomination bill left.

Brother Hu counted: everything together was only ninety cents.

“Damn, just ninety lousy cents!”

“No way! We worked our asses off, got scalded, and Brother Hu even got beat up—for just ninety cents?”

“Wasn’t this all for nothing then?”

Everyone glared at Liu Yong, full of complaint.

Liu Yong didn’t expect the cash box to contain so little either. “I didn’t think her business was that bad. She was out here all afternoon and only made ninety cents?”

Actually, Li Shuping had made more than that—this was just the money she collected after lunch. She had already pocketed the earlier earnings.

“How do we split ninety cents?” Liuzi asked, eyeing the small bills in Brother Hu’s hand.

Brother Hu shoved the money into his pocket. “Split what? I got hurt the worst today. I’m taking it all to cover my losses. That’s it, we’re done here.”

With that, he patted his butt and walked off.

The others were unhappy but didn’t dare say anything.

They scattered and went home.

…

Jing City Public Security Bureau, Branch No. 2

“Someone reported an incident on Pear Blossom Lane, Anning Street—gang of punks extorting, robbing, and assaulting people. Who’s free to check it out?”

From his office, Guo Zhiyuan heard the words “Pear Blossom Lane” and got up to open his door. “I’ll go.”

Officer Xiao Mu, who had answered the phone, was surprised. “Captain Guo, it’s just a bunch of punks extorting and roughing someone up. The security patrol can handle that. There’s no need for the criminal investigation team.”

Cases like this were usually handled by the local security squad. Sending the criminal unit would be overkill—like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Guo Zhiyuan replied, “It’s fine. The security team’s been swamped lately. We haven’t had any cases on our end, so we can help ease the load.”

There had been a spike in home burglaries lately, and the security team had to patrol day and night. They were short-staffed and overworked.

“Alright, thanks for the help then.”

..

After reporting the incident, Li Shuping sat at her stall and waited.

The broken dumplings and filling on the ground had been cleared—someone said they’d feed it to their chickens and ducks.

Qin Ye came back from delivering vegetables and saw the wreckage.

His eyes turned red when he noticed that Li Shuping was injured.

“Aunt Li! Who did this?”

“Just a few punks. I’ve already called the police. Don’t worry about it. Just take the vegetables home. I’m waiting for the officers.” She handed him the kitchen key.

Qin Ye clenched his teeth, took the key, and ran home with his basket.

Everyone in Courtyard 23 had already heard her stall was smashed.

When they saw Qin Ye return, they made some snide remarks—like how he couldn’t earn money from her anymore since her business was done for.

..

When Guo Zhiyuan arrived with two detectives, he found Li Shuping sitting dejectedly by the wrecked stall.

So it was a dumpling stall incident.

“Comrade Li Shuping?”

She looked up and was surprised. “Captain Guo?”

Why was he here? A man of his rank handling such a small case?

When he saw the bruise on her forehead, Guo Zhiyuan’s pupils narrowed.

“Please tell us what happened. Xiao Zhao, take the statement.”

“On it.”

Li Shuping recounted everything to Guo Zhiyuan, answering all his questions clearly.

Zhou Cuilan also gave a witness statement, and they took inventory of the damages.

Li Shuping listed the highest possible prices for all her second-hand items. She also claimed the metal box that was stolen contained fifty yuan. In total, her reported losses were 600 yuan.

“Comrade Li Shuping, are you sure the cash box had fifty yuan?” Xiao Zhao asked skeptically.

Even with great sales, she couldn’t have made fifty yuan in a day—especially since she only operated over lunch.

And that beat-up tricycle? She claimed it was worth a hundred yuan.

And those cheap porcelain bowls? She reported them as 0.8 yuan each.

“I’m absolutely sure!” she nodded seriously.

She had actually thought about claiming 200, but figured that might be too much. So she settled on 50 for the box.

Smash her stall? She was going to bleed them dry!

Guo Zhiyuan said, “Alright. Xiao Zhao, take her to the hospital for an injury report. Xiao Wang and I will head back to the station to arrange arrests.”

“We’ll notify you when they’re in custody so you can come to the station,” he told her.

Li Shuping replied, “Alright. Thank you, Captain Guo.”

Guo Zhiyuan and Xiao Wang drove off. Xiao Zhao took Li Shuping to the hospital by bus.

Qin Ye wanted to go along, but Li Shuping told him to stay and salvage anything still usable or sellable and bring it home.

..

As soon as school let out, Lin Xiaoyu rushed home, eager to get to the stall and help her mom.

But when she got to the alley entrance, the stall wasn’t there.

“Aunt Zhou, where’s my mom?”

Zhou Cuilan replied, “Xiaoyu, your mom was hurt. She—”

Mom got hurt!

Xiaoyu’s face went pale, and she took off running for home.

Zhou Cuilan sighed, “This kid, I wasn’t even finished talking and she’s already gone…”

Li Jie went to the hospital—she wouldn’t be home anyway.