Yingying's parents came in aggressively, and Shuyan was almost intimidated by their imposing manner, taking a step back. But then she realized she couldn't back down. She straightened up, her face grim, and asked in a cold voice, "Who are you? What are you doing in front of my shop?"

The two who were originally so aggressive were instead overwhelmed by Shu Yan. Their momentum weakened, and they were no longer as intimidating as before.

"You must be this girl's boss? We've been so grateful for your care these past few days, but we're here today for personal business," Yingying's mother said to Shuyan with a smile.

Shu Yan glanced at her watch and said half-jokingly, "It's almost nine o'clock. She has to go to work. Can't we talk about this after get off work? You guys are making such a fuss that I thought you were going to smash up the shop. I almost called the police."

"No way, we would never smash up a shop. We only get two days off a month, right? Today counts as taking a day off," Yingying's mother said with a smile.

Shu Yan frowned. "You need to tell me in advance if you want to take leave. I have something to do today. How can there be only one employee in the store? What's so urgent that you can't leave after get off work?"

The two exchanged a glance. They didn't believe Shu Yan didn't know that Yingying hadn't gone home last night and had come with her this morning, so she must have slept at her place. Why didn't she ask anything?

"Boss, is it alright if we don't come to work? We don't want our previous wages, and we won't come back." At this moment, a man slowly walked over with a cane, his tone quite arrogant.

Shu Yan looked him up and down. He was about 40 years old, with thinning hair and dark skin. Most importantly, his eyes were darting around, making him look particularly sleazy. Yingying's parents really didn't care about her future at all, all for money.

"Who are you? Yingying is an adult. She signed a contract when she started working here. What right do you have to make decisions?"

"My name is Li Weiguo, and I'm Yingying's fiancé. Don't I have the right to make decisions for her?" Li Weiguo acted as if he were Yingying's husband.

"You're talking nonsense. I never agreed to marry you. When did you become my fiancé?" Yingying was extremely agitated.

The man grinned, revealing his yellow teeth. "Your parents have accepted the wedding gift, which means they agree. Wife, come home with me now. You don't need to go to work anymore. Just stay home, do housework, and take care of the kids."

“What era are we living in? There’s still this talk of arranged marriages. Her parents have accepted her, so go find them. Anyway, our Yingying isn’t going to marry him.” Zhang Huaxiu pulled Yingying aside.

“What era are we living in? Children are born of mothers and raised by fathers. Children have to listen to their parents. We gave birth to her and raised her. Would we harm her?” Yingying’s mother stepped forward and tried to pull Yingying away.

Shu Yan pulled Yingying back a step, "Don't touch me, or I'll call the police."

Yingying's mother paused for a moment, but Li Weiguo remained unfazed. "Go ahead and call the police. We didn't do anything wrong. What right do you think the police have to interfere in our family matters?"

Yingying's parents were no longer afraid.

“That’s right, we haven’t committed any crime, why would the police arrest us? This is our family matter, aren’t you being too nosy? We don’t want the wages, Yingying, come back with me.” Yingying’s mother reached out to pull Yingying.

Shu Yan turned to look at Yingying, who was trembling, and asked, "This is ultimately your problem. What do you think?"

They didn't smash the shop or do anything wrong. As an outsider, Shu Yan couldn't make the decision for her. Ultimately, she had to make the decision herself.

Yingying took a deep breath. "Call the police."

Shu Yan raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

“I’ll beat you to death, you unfilial daughter! You actually dared to call the police and have us arrested.”

Yingying's parents rushed forward to hit her, and Shuyan, who was standing in front, was the first to be affected. Just as she was thinking about how to fight back, someone blocked her way and grabbed Yingying's mother's hand.

Are you alright?

What's Fang Zeyu doing here?

Shu Yan shook her head blankly, "It's nothing."

"I've already called the police, and I believe they'll be here soon." Fang Zeyu had some business to attend to nearby, and since he was already here, he came over to check on Shu Yan, but he didn't expect to encounter something like this.

"Thanks!"

When the tall and burly Fang Zeyu stood in front of Shu Yan and the other two, with that intimidating scar on his face, Yingying's parents and Li Weiguo no longer dared to be fierce.

The police did arrive quite quickly. Shu Yan asked Zhang Huaxiu to open the shop, while she and Yingying went to the police station together. Before getting into the car, she said to Fang Zeyu, "Thank you for today. I'll treat you to dinner later."

In the car, Shu Yan leaned close to Yingying's ear and whispered, "When you get to the police station, cry and tell all the grievances you've suffered since you were a child. The more you cry, the better."

People have compassion, and the more Yingying cried and the more aggrieved she seemed, the more likely the police would side with her.

Yingying looked at Shuyan blankly, then hugged her and burst into tears.

"I'll let you cry at the police station later, not now." Shu Yan's heart softened, and she hugged her and patted her shoulder. Perhaps her words had touched her.

"I...I can't hold back anymore."

The police had a general understanding of the situation. When they arrived at the police station, they saw Yingying crying all the way there. Her aggrieved cries really broke everyone's heart, especially the female police officers. They knew that some families favored sons over daughters, but such an extreme case was truly rare.

“You two are both workers, both proletarians, yet you still have such outdated ideas. Men and women are equal. How can you sell your daughter for your son? Your daughter wasn’t born of you. Especially you, you are a woman yourself, you should feel more empathy.”

At the police station, the two who had been so defiant were now somewhat frightened, while Li Weiguo remained particularly arrogant.

“I did pay, a full 50,000 yuan, which is most of my life savings. What crime did I commit?”

"Let me tell you, you've actually committed a crime. Her parents agreed, but did the girl agree? The state prohibits arranged marriages, buying and selling marriages, and any other behavior that interferes with the freedom of marriage. You and her parents have all committed crimes and will go to jail." The policeman said, banging on the table.

A policewoman poured Yingying a glass of water and, noticing the lingering bruises on her face, around her eyes, and at the corners of her mouth, asked, "Did your parents beat you like this?"

"I... Yingying hiccuped. I disagreed, and my dad beat me. They locked me in the house, and I deliberately lied to them and said I agreed before I ran away. I don't want to marry that cripple. He's almost 20 years older than me, about the same age as my dad, and I've heard he's violent." Yingying became more and more upset as she thought about it, and cried uncontrollably.

"Don't worry, no one can force you to get married if you don't want to." The policewoman felt particularly heartbroken seeing Yingying like this.

On the other side, Li Weiguo and Yingying's parents were clearly panicked. Yingying's father said in a desperate manner, "She is my daughter, and I raised her. She has to listen to me. Besides, I didn't ask her to do anything. I just want her to get married. What's wrong with that? Don't all girls have to get married when they grow up?"

“A girl can get married, but that requires her consent. What you did was coercion. Just because you gave birth to a child doesn’t mean she’s your private property. A child is an independent individual, and she’s over eighteen years old. She has her own right to personal freedom.”

Although Yingying's parents accepted money from Li Guowei, Yingying has not yet married him, so it does not constitute a real crime. However, as a warning, the police decided to detain Yingying's parents and Li Guowei for five days.

When they came out, they saw Yingying crying there. Yingying's mother wanted to rush over and hit her, saying, "You unfilial daughter, how dare you call the police to arrest your parents! If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have given birth to you."

"What? You want to hit someone in the police station?"

"No, no, the child's mother was just too emotional. As a mother, it's understandable that she would be emotional when her own daughter reports her to the police station, even if we were in the wrong." Yingying's father pulled his wife aside and spoke gently, but the look in his eyes when he glanced at Yingying was somewhat creepy.

Shu Yan saw the struggle in Yingying's eyes. It was normal for her to struggle; no matter how badly they treated her, they were still her parents.

Just as Shu Yan was about to say something, a man rushed in. When he saw Yingying, he raised his fist to hit her, but was subdued by the police officers nearby.

"Are you even human? Your parents raised you and you actually called the police to have them arrested."

"I also want to ask you, are you even human? You want to get married and buy a house, but instead of working hard, you want to use your sister's money from selling herself. Don't you feel guilty?" Shu Yan defended Yingying, "No, someone like you has no conscience at all."

"This is my family matter, what's it to you? If my sister hadn't gone to work for you, she wouldn't be like this." The man glared fiercely at Shu Yan.

"Behave yourself, do you want to be locked up too?" The policeman slapped him on the head.

Yingying's younger brother finally calmed down, but the way he looked at Yingying wasn't particularly friendly.

The two were silent when they got back. After she calmed down, Shu Yan said, "Your parents probably still think they're right. They might calm down a bit after this lesson, but they'll probably cause some trouble again if this goes on for too long. Do you want to move your household registration out?"

"Of course I want to, but the problem is I'm not married and don't own a house, so I can't transfer my household registration." Besides, her mother has hidden her ID card.

"To be honest, it's not a good idea for you to continue working for me." Seeing her nervousness, Shu Yan said, "Especially your younger brother, I don't think he'll let this go easily. Why don't you move to another place? For example, leave Nancheng."

"I've never left Nancheng in my entire life, where can I go?" Yingying asked, bewildered.

“My friend and I started a company, and we’re planning to open branches in Beijing and Guangzhou. If you’d like to go, you can choose a location, and I’ll have someone arrange for you to go. However, with only a junior high school education, we can’t give you a very high-ranking position. You have two options: you can continue selling clothes at the Qianxue Lingerie store across the street. The monthly salary there might be higher than your current one, and the benefits are good too. With some effort, you could become a store manager, then a regional manager, and so on. The other option is to work as a human resources specialist at the company. The salary there might not be as high as at the store, but you’ll learn more, and there’s more room for promotion. You could become a human resources supervisor, a human resources manager, and eventually a human resources director. Of course, working at the store doesn’t necessarily mean you have to become a store manager; you could also open your own store.” Shu Yan thought this young girl was hardworking, ambitious, and now willing to be independent and self-reliant, so she decided to give her a chance.

Yingying looked at Shuyan with tears in her eyes, sniffed, and said, "I'm going to Guangzhou. I'll go to the store to sell clothes and be the store manager. Then I want to join your company and become your franchisee."