offend

In the simple consultation room, the doctor carefully applied medicine to Qu Shiyao's swollen arm and bandaged it to immobilize it.

"Immobilize it like this for now to reduce the pain and prevent further injury."

The doctor gave instructions while packing up the instruments:

"After this is over, remember to go to the hospital for an X-ray. It looks like you might need a cast."

Qu Shiyao nodded obediently.

After the doctor left, she was left alone in the interrogation room.

She lay listlessly on her side on the cold table, her injured left arm resting on the other side.

The door was pushed open, and two policemen walked in.

An older officer with a calm demeanor, Officer Wang, was in charge of the questioning.

The other, younger officer, carrying a notebook and pen, was Officer Li, who was in charge of taking notes.

Officer Wang pulled out a chair and sat down, his gaze falling on Qu Shiyao's bandaged arm.

Officer Li also opened his notebook and picked up a pen.

Qu Shiyao immediately sat up straight, looking like a well-behaved law-abiding citizen.

He was completely different from the image of a man who single-handedly took on a group of strong men and kept talking back in the video.

"Ms. Qu, we have already reviewed the video footage from the scene," Officer Wang said calmly.

"I need to verify a few things with you now. First, that time should have been after get off work hours, so why were you near the garbage dump at the company's back gate?"

Qu Shiyao sighed, took out her phone, found the text message, and handed it to the police:

"Officer, I was on my way home on my electric bike. But when I got off, I found that my seat had been slashed in a big hole."

"I was feeling down when I received this text message saying that they wanted to apologize and make peace, so I thought I'd go over and see what was going on."

Officer Li took the phone, read the vaguely worded text message with Officer Wang, and then handed it back to her.

"Who sent the message? Do you know them?" Officer Wang pressed.

"I also want to know who it is," Qu Shiyao shook her head helplessly.

"That's why I went over to take a look, but..."

She changed the subject: "I can roughly guess which group of people were behind it."

When Officer Wang first heard her say that she didn't know the sender, he frowned slightly, but when she said that there was room for suspicion, he thought it made sense.

To provoke such a large-scale attack, there must be some deep-seated grudge.

"Officer," Qu Shiyao suddenly stood up and spun around, "what do you think of my outfit today?"

The two police officers then focused their attention entirely on her clothing.

The lighting was dim and the situation was chaotic, so they didn't pay much attention.

Under the bright lights, after seeing the prominent words and high-definition photos on the T-shirt, the two police officers fell into a brief silence.

"Was someone forcing you to wear this outfit?" Officer Li paused, his brow furrowed.

His first reaction was that someone had threatened her by dressing like that; he never imagined it would be her own choice.

"I wore it myself!"

To make it easier for them to see, Qu Shiyao subconsciously tried to smooth out her clothes with her hand, but accidentally pulled on her injury and gasped in pain.

"Don't move! Just sit there and talk!" Officer Li quickly stopped her.

Officer Wang's expression was complicated, and the corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly: "So it's because someone is spreading rumors?"

"That's right!" Qu Shiyao suddenly felt like she had found a kindred spirit. She sat down angrily, picked up her phone, opened her chat history with Gao Huixin, and handed it over.

"Officer, look at this! These people have nothing better to do than say I'm our boss's secret love! Do I look like that to you?"

The two police officers took the phone, swiped the screen, and looked at the chat history and so-called analysis posts.

His expression gradually changed from serious to subtle, as if he had just heard a shocking piece of gossip.

The plot is even more dramatic than a TV series.

"So you just went to the company dressed like that?" Officer Wang took a deep breath after reading it, trying his best to maintain a professional demeanor.

"Did anything unusual happen at the company today?"

"Yes, I have!"

Qu Shiyao counted on her fingers, "There were people trying to stage an accident, people trying to steal my job, and people who tried to splash water on me in the bathroom..."

"But I had a friendly talk with them and told them to tell them to go back and stop causing trouble. Who knew this would happen after get off work this afternoon..."

As she spoke, she wore a wronged and innocent expression, as if she had been greatly wronged.

"So, when you were surrounded by them, why didn't you call the police immediately, but instead chose to record a video?" Officer Li asked while taking notes.

While I admire her composure and awareness of evidence gathering, this behavior is indeed somewhat illogical.

"Officer!" Qu Shiyao suddenly lowered her voice, her eyes becoming deep. She flicked her bangs, revealing a confident, radiant smile:

"You can understand, right? Being invincible is so lonely! I thought back then, I could take on ten more!"

The system was too ashamed to look at its host.

This is because the host will inevitably fall into this state at some point.

Officer Wang looked at her bandaged arm, then at her white teeth, and remained silent for several seconds before slowly asking, "Is that really what you think?"

Qu Shiyao immediately wilted, and her tone became much more normal:

"Sigh, the situation was just too sudden. There was no time to make a phone call; they just rushed in. I thought it was important to record a video to preserve evidence..."

"Who knew they were so ruthless, they just grabbed iron bars and beat me to death..."

She cleverly downplayed the initiative to confront the enemy, emphasizing instead the enemy's brutality and her own passive defense and helpless counterattack.

Given that the other side outnumbered her and was armed, her counterattack might be more easily defined as legitimate self-defense under the law.

The two police officers exchanged a glance. Although Qu Shiyao's explanation was exaggerated, it was logically plausible.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and another policeman poked his head in and whispered a few words.

Officer Wang and Officer Li stood up:

"Ms. Qu, we have a general understanding of the situation. Please go to the reception room next door to rest for a while. We will have a conclusion soon after we have combined all the testimonies and evidence."

Qu Shiyao cooperated actively, nodded, stood up, and followed the police to the reception room.

As soon as I entered, I saw that baby-faced young lady was still there.

The bench she was sitting on was polished to a shine, and the table in front of her was spotless.

She was holding an elegant porcelain cup, sipping tea. The air was filled with an indescribable aroma of tea, like orchids and musk, rich yet refined, clearly not an ordinary tea.

The bodyguard remained standing behind her like an iron tower.

When the young lady saw Qu Shiyao come in, she raised her chin and pointed to another cup of steaming tea on the table: "Try it."

Qu Shiyao readily agreed, walked over and sat down next to her, picked up her teacup and took a sip.

The tea soup has a long-lasting sweet aftertaste and is truly of the highest quality.

But being a common person, she could only say "it tastes good" and couldn't really appreciate any further nuances, so she silently took another sip.

"Have you offended someone?" The young lady sipped her tea, looked up at her, and asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Sigh, maybe I'm just too charming." Qu Shiyao put down her teacup, sighed with feigned melancholy, but her face clearly showed her helplessness.

"You?" The young lady actually looked her face over carefully, then nodded.

"You're fairly good-looking, but what does that have to do with you getting ganged up on?"

“You don’t understand,” Qu Shiyao said, taking another sip of tea. This tea was truly addictive.

"Being good-looking makes it easier for people to see you as the boss's ideal woman!"

"The boss's white moonlight?" The young lady put down her teacup, propped her elbow on the table, rested her chin on her hand, and showed great interest on her face.

"So your boss really has a 'white moonlight' he can't have?"

"Yes!" Qu Shiyao said seriously, "She's just as stunningly beautiful as me! But I don't think our boss is good enough for her at all!"

"Oh? Why?" The young lady's curiosity was completely piqued.

"Our boss clearly still loves that 'white moonlight' (his first love), but after the breakup, he keeps finding various substitutes and playing with people's feelings!"

Qu Shiyao's face showed disgust. She got angrier and angrier as she spoke, and slammed the cup back onto the table.

【Host! Be careful!】The system screamed in her mind and quickly scanned the cup. Fortunately, it wasn't broken.

[I just scanned this teacup! It's a Ming Dynasty Jiajing period official kiln sweet white glaze teacup with an incised dragon design! It's an imperial item! Auction houses estimate it could fetch over 100 million!]

Qu Shiyao's hand trembled almost imperceptibly, her heart pounded wildly, and a thin layer of sweat instantly broke out on her back.

She tried her best to keep her facial expression calm, even managing to force a nonchalant smile as she looked at the young lady.

Fortunately, the young lady's attention was completely drawn to the gossip, and she didn't pay attention to this matter.

She pressed on with interest, "That sounds like workplace harassment! Haven't you considered quitting?"

“It’s so hard to find a job these days,” Qu Shiyao immediately put on a distressed expression.

"Let's talk about it after we find a suitable new partner."

The young lady's eyes lit up, and she immediately brought up the old topic again: "My previous suggestion is still valid, you can come to me anytime."

She added, "I absolutely do not have this kind of messy surrogate literature or workplace harassment here."

"No, no!" Qu Shiyao refused again, feeling as if her heart was bleeding.

Just then, her phone rang.

When I took it out, I saw that it was from Yi Yu.

As soon as the call connected, Yi Yu's anxious yet cautious voice came through:

"Sister Shiyao, are you done with your work over there? Hot pot..."

He seemed to be chopping vegetables, and there were subtle sounds in the background.

"Me?" Qu Shiyao glanced around, trying to sound relaxed. "I'm at the police station."

"What?! Police station?! Which police station? Are you alright?" Yi Yu's voice rose instantly, filled with panic.

I heard the sound of a cutting board being slammed on the phone, followed by hurried footsteps, as if he was rushing out the door, then suddenly turned back to turn off the stove and untie his apron, all in a flurry of activity.

Qu Shiyao gave him the address, and then added:

"It's okay, don't worry, it's just that there might be a slight fracture in your arm. You'll have to go to the hospital to get it checked out later."

"A bone fracture?!" Yi Yu's voice changed, and on the other end of the phone came the sound of a keychain clinking but failing to fit into the keyhole several times.

"Wait here! I'm coming right away!" His voice was filled with barely concealed panic and heartache.

After hanging up the phone, Qu Shiyao put her phone back in her pocket.

"Is he your boyfriend?" the young lady asked, raising an eyebrow. She vaguely heard a young man's voice, filled with undisguised concern.

She was thinking that if she couldn't persuade Qu Shiyao, perhaps she could try approaching her boyfriend?

Qu Shiyao immediately showed a wary expression, like a mother hen protecting her chicks:

"Him? Although he's quite handsome, cooks incredibly well, and has a gentle and considerate personality, he's definitely not your type!"

She finished speaking in one breath, looking at the young lady warily.

The system was speechless: [Host, it's obvious this young lady isn't interested in that fish.]

"Oh?" The young lady was amused by Qu Shiyao's reaction, leaning forward slightly, her eyes showing even more interest.

"Then tell me, what type do I like?"

Qu Shiyao looked into the young lady's eyes—eyes so different from her cute, doll-like face, eyes filled with ambition and a desire for control—and slowly spoke:

"You... you should prefer a man who is obedient, won't interfere with your decisions, and can help you in your career. In other words..." She paused,

"You may be more inclined to find a partner rather than a lover in the traditional sense."

Upon hearing this, the young lady was slightly taken aback, then laughed. Her laughter was clear and crisp, but she neither denied nor confirmed it.

She picked up the priceless teacup again, gently blew on it, and amidst the wafting aroma of tea, her expression was somewhat inscrutable.