"You're asking for so much money right off the bat? Can she handle it? Won't she feel like we're making things difficult for her?" Zhang Min asked curiously.

"Of course not. Only if we ask for more will people think we are money-grubbing people, and also easy to deal with."

The Wang family.

Wang Jianbing, the father, sneered, "Want money? Wanting money is a good thing, otherwise, if we keep harping on this, Changzhi won't be able to get out."

Wang Jianjun, the younger brother of Wang's father, said speechlessly, "Brother, Changzhi's temper needs to be controlled. He's been spoiled rotten. If this matter is minor, we can still handle it. But if it gets out of hand, given his history of committing crimes, I'm afraid even we won't be able to help him."

“He has to listen to me. Alright, now that he’s back, I’m going to keep a close eye on him.”

And so, Wang Jianbing, Wang's father, gave Zhou Ping 2,000 yuan.

"You too, go home and keep an eye on Changzhi. If those people are not to be trifled with, then don't mess with them. Why don't you just focus on your work? He's only been settled for a short while, and he's already causing all this trouble."

Zhou Ping accepted the money meekly, and after receiving a few words of scolding, she immediately left the Wang family.

The next day.

With the consent of the three families, Wang Changzhi was released from the police station.

Seeing them sign the letter of understanding, Wang Changzhi still had a smug look on his face.

"After all this commotion, I still got out. How interesting."

Zhou Ping slapped Wang Changzhi's arm, "Stop talking."

"Why should I? I've been locked up for days, I'm so frustrated."

"Alright, that's enough."

Under duress, Wang Changzhi was taken out of the police station.

Only when they were all alone did Zhou Ping tell him the truth about his release: "These three families demanded 2,000 yuan before they agreed to let you out."

"How much do you want?" Wang Changzhi's face was full of disbelief. "They asked for it and you gave it to them. Are you saying we'll starve if you give them the money? It's just a few days in jail. If they're locked up, they're locked up. No, I'm going back now to keep them locked up and get the money back as soon as possible."

"No. If it's just locking me up, I won't care. I'll let you eat and drink well inside. But if your workplace finds out about this, and it leaves a criminal record, you won't be able to continue working."

After saying that, Zhou Ping whispered, "Listen to me, my job doesn't qualify me for such a big house. The housing management department told me that if you don't work at the wool factory, our house will be taken back. If that weren't the case, I wouldn't be in such a hurry to ask your parents for money."

"So my parents know about this?"

"Not only that, your uncle was there yesterday too, everyone knows that."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Lin, Su, and Gao families walked out of the police station in a cheerful and harmonious manner.

Turning around, the group went to a private room on the second floor of the restaurant next door.

The resentment in Wang Changzhi's eyes was impossible to hide, and in the end, he was only able to be dragged away by the helpless Zhou Ping.

However, the atmosphere in the private rooms on the second floor was clearly completely different.

"My God, I really didn't expect them to give me the money, and I didn't expect them to raise 1,500 yuan so quickly." Zhang Min smiled and took the teacup that Lin Wei handed her.

"Have some tea first."

After pouring tea for everyone, Lin Wei placed the 1,500 yuan she had just received on the table, saying, "This is the money you asked me to keep. It's not appropriate for me to keep this money here."

Moreover, how to divide the money is not something she can easily decide.

The money was placed on the table, but no one dared to touch it.

Lin Xiaomeng said fairly, "This money was originally for the five children. All five children were injured, so I won't refuse. Yuanyuan was the least injured, so I'll take 100 yuan."

Zhang Min immediately added, "My two children aren't seriously injured. How about this, 100 each, I'll take 200."

If that's the case, the remaining 1200 yuan will all belong to the Gao family.

Gao Huifang refused, saying, "No way! If the three children only get 300 yuan, even if my two children are badly injured, they won't get 1200 yuan. It's fine if the five children split it equally."

“This can’t be split equally,” Lin Xiaomeng said. “Your two children were more seriously injured, and Hongye’s ear and Xiaoling’s clothes should be counted separately. Even if our three children are more seriously injured, 100 yuan is enough.”

Zhang Min couldn't stop smiling. "100 yuan is not enough. The Wang family paid for the hospital check-up. My two little rascals are always getting hurt. This is the smallest injury they've ever had. I feel a little embarrassed to accept 200 yuan for nothing."

In short, this amount of money is already more than enough; they would be embarrassed to ask for more.

After a struggle between the three families, Gao finally paid for dinner, bringing the matter to a close.

But when Wang Changzhi came out and found out that his family had vomited so much blood, how could he not cause trouble for them?

"No need to rush. We'll deal with whatever comes our way. It would be best if he couldn't hold back and came quickly, but remember one thing: the bigger the commotion, the better. The bigger the charge, the more people will pay attention. Even if he has powerful connections, we'll see if he can shake the power of the masses."

This approach is similar to that of the internet in later generations.

Of course, if the person behind them really has a powerful background, they probably wouldn't choose to settle for 1,500 yuan.

So they have connections, but in reality, they're just so-so.

But no matter how Lin Xiaomeng listened to this routine, it felt somewhat familiar.

After returning, Lin Xiaomeng said, "Weiwei, I took a day off tomorrow and plan to go back to Xin County to ask about the house. I'll be back the day after tomorrow."

She didn't ask Lin Wei if she wanted to go back together, since Ni Fang had already sold the house, and Lin Wei probably wouldn't want to go back anyway.

Lin Wei frowned upon hearing this, "The house has already been sold. With the situation in Xin County in such a state, I'm afraid it's not safe for you to go back at this time."

Lin Xiaomeng paused as she put her things down. She turned to look at Lin Wei, and after hesitating for a long time, she finally asked, "Weiwei, is there something you're hiding from me?"

Seeing that Lin Wei wanted to refute, Lin Xiaomeng stopped pretending and voiced her doubts from the past few days.

“After you arrived, I called Brother Liu. I felt something was off and wanted to ask him more questions, but Brother Liu wouldn’t tell me anything and told me not to ask, saying it wouldn’t be good for me.”

"A lot of things and methods have happened recently, and they all seem similar to me, which has led me to make many more guesses. You've been here for a while now, and I think we're getting along pretty well, Weiwei. Even if you were hesitant to tell me before, are you still hesitant now?"

Lin Wei felt a little guilty. "Aunt, it's not that I don't want to tell you, but there are some things that we can't solve right now. I think I can guess what you're worried about, so what I want to tell you is that I'm worried that you might be in danger if you go back at this time."

"Could it be...?"

“Aunt, that’s my dad.” Lin Wei interrupted, “You know how good my dad is to me. I can’t just ignore it. But I don’t think my dad would want anything to happen to me and Yuanyuan because of this. He certainly wouldn’t want you to get into trouble because of me and Yuanyuan’s arrival.”

"Auntie, things are too chaotic in Xin County right now. How about we wait a bit longer and I go back with you later?"