When Yang Meifeng saw Gu Zhenyuan, she couldn’t help but tighten her grip on her daughter’s hand. This was the man who had come to their house yesterday with others to arrest Xiaoyong.

“Captain Gu,” Li Shuping tried to stand up upon seeing Gu Zhenyuan, but he knew she had an injury on her leg. He gestured for her to stay seated.

“Captain Gu, why are you here?”

Gu Zhenyuan’s sharp eyes swept across everyone in the room, finally resting on Li Shuping. “All the suspects have been apprehended. I’m here to inform you to come to the Public Security Bureau to identify them and handle follow-up procedures. However…”

He shifted his tone, “It seems like you’re a bit busy at the moment.”

Li Shuping replied, “No, I’m free, I’ll go with you as soon as they sign the severance agreement.”

“Severance?” Gu Zhenyuan glanced at the Lin and Liu family members.

Lin Yongnian sighed and explained, “One of the kids who smashed the stall yesterday is from our in-law’s family. The child didn’t do it on purpose. But Li Shuping, being so petty, insisted on having him locked up over some past disagreements.”

Gu Zhenyuan quickly understood.

This man was Li Shuping’s ex-husband.

The two young men who looked somewhat like him must be his and Li Shuping’s sons.

Lin Yongnian continued with a helpless expression, “We’ve said all we could, tried to persuade her, but she just refuses to drop the case. Officer, you’re a reasonable person, please help us talk to her. Should a kid from a relative’s family go to prison over something so small?”

He assumed Gu Zhenyuan, as a man, would understand.

“A small matter?” Gu Zhenyuan’s face hardened.

Lin Yongnian’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the expression change.

“Extortion, vandalism, robbery, and intentional injury—none of these are small crimes. Any one of them carries a minimum sentence of three years!”

“What does being a relative have to do with it? If a relative commits a crime and harms another relative, are they exempt from legal responsibility?” Gu Zhenyuan asked sternly.

“It’s exactly because so many people think like you that such crimes among youths have been increasing in recent years!”

Lin Yongnian’s face turned red from embarrassment, his lips twitching, clearly flustered but still trying to argue, “Well, it’s not like anyone got seriously hurt.”

Gu Zhenyuan frowned, staring at him. “No serious harm?”

That question made Lin Yongnian nervous again.

“A concussion, multiple soft tissue contusions all over the body, palpitations, arrhythmia, and high blood pressure due to the fright. And nearly 600 yuan in property damage. You call that no harm?”

“What do you consider real harm then? Broken legs and arms? Cracked skulls? Lying half-dead in a hospital?”

He looked at the three men of the Lin family with disgust.

They were truly outrageous—rather than caring about the harm done to Li Shuping, their closest relative, and standing with her against those who hurt her, they came here to pressure her into dropping the case.

Were they seriously out of their minds?

The Lin family trio was rendered speechless by Gu Zhenyuan’s questions, their mouths opening and closing without any words.

“The relative’s child you’re talking about should be Liu Yong, right?” Gu Zhenyuan glanced at Yang Meifeng.

“According to other suspects, it was Liu Yong who proposed going to extort money from Li Shuping’s dumpling stall. He even prepared the flies to throw into the bowls. Without him, they wouldn’t even have known about the stall in Lihua Alley, let alone crossed districts to commit the crime.”

“Liu Yong is the ringleader in this case.”

The Lin family looked at Yang Meifeng and her husband in surprise.

This wasn’t what they had been told.

Liu Yong wasn’t just involved—he was the mastermind.

That boy was rotten to the core.

Lin Guodong turned to Yang Meifeng. “Auntie Yang, this isn’t what you told us!”

Yang Meifeng lowered her head guiltily.

Even if Xiaoyong was the mastermind, shouldn’t Li Shuping drop the case out of consideration for family?

Gu Zhenyuan looked at Lin Jianshe. “I heard you just now, threatening Comrade Li Shuping to sever ties if she doesn’t drop the case.”

“Even if she wanted to drop it, it’s not up to her anymore.”

“Ten days ago, the city had a case where some youths extorted and beat up a street vendor, who ended up dying.”

“A directive came down—crimes like this must be strictly punished. Once discovered, they must be dealt with immediately and without leniency!”

Upon hearing this, Yang Meifeng and her husband felt the world spin.

Their Xiaoyong was definitely going to prison.

That damned Li Shuping—why did she have to report it?

She was going to destroy their son!

Clap clap clap.

Li Shuping couldn’t help applauding.

“Well said! That’s exactly how it should be—strict enforcement and zero tolerance!”

This was how it should be.

She’d heard of too many cases where perpetrators’ families pressured victims into dropping charges, letting criminals go unpunished.

Yang Meifeng, her husband, and Liu Qin glared furiously at her—but she cheered anyway.

Li Shuping said, “No use glaring. The police won’t let me drop the case even if I wanted to.”

“Lin Jianshe, sign the severance agreement already—what are you waiting for?” she urged him.

Liu Qin glared at her and turned to Lin Jianshe, “She’s sending my brother to prison. If you still consider her your mother, then we’re done!”

Lin Jianshe gritted his teeth, signed his name on the severance letter, and pressed his fingerprint onto it like Li Shuping had done.

“Lin Guodong.” Li Shuping nodded at her eldest son, signaling him to sign too.

Lin Guodong didn’t want to.

He never intended to sever ties with his own mother.

What kind of person would he be if he didn’t even acknowledge his birth mother?

His wife, Zhang Jiao, nudged him and whispered, “The second one already signed. No ties, no obligations. If you don’t sign, you’ll be the only one left to take care of her when she’s old.”

Lin Guodong: True, I didn’t think of that.

“Sign it, son! I want to see who cries later!” Lin Yongnian shouted, annoyed by Li Shuping’s smug look.

She assumed they wouldn’t dare go through with it and relied on that to act so arrogantly.

Fine, let’s have the eldest son sign too—let’s see who regrets it.

Lin Guodong picked up the pen.

Lin Yongnian warned, “Li Shuping, you signed this yourself. Don’t come crying to my sons when life gets hard.”

Li Shuping looked at her sons. “You two chose to abandon your mother over an outsider. Once this severance letter is signed, don’t come near me again. If I see you on the street, don’t call me Mom. Anyone who does, I’ll slap them!”

Lin Guodong & Lin Jianshe: “…”

She said it herself—whoever calls her “Mom” again is scum.

Gu Zhenyuan frowned at Li Shuping.

He really couldn’t understand why she had to go this far.

Li Shuping picked up the severance letter, blew the ink dry, folded it, and tucked it into her pocket.

She’d keep it well—if those two ungrateful brats dared come near her again, she’d slap it right in their faces.