The eldest son of the Xu family had endured humiliation for many years and had fantasized about this day more than once. In his mind, he had tortured his younger brother, who was trying to seize the family property, to death by a thousand cuts no less than a million times.
So he thought it through very clearly. Given his younger brother's influence in the Xu family, the best outcome would be for the Xu family to resolve this matter themselves, and for his younger brother to simply go back to his remote mountain village.
He needs a powerful external force to intervene and expose everything his brother has done over the years—along with his cronies.
Even if he can't be sentenced to death right away, he should stay in prison forever.
Only then can he feel at ease.
After hesitating for three seconds, he nodded. "How are you going to take me away?"
Ruan Chen leaned against the window, the cool moonlight enveloping her. "I can take you out, but you only have one chance—are you sure the evidence you have is enough to destroy the other side?"
The eldest son of the Xu family fixed his gaze on the group photo on the table, as if saying to the gentle, smiling girl in the photo, "If we have to fight to the death, we'll fight to the death."
Ruan Chen handed the phone to the eldest son of the Xu family, raised her chin, and said, "Call the police."
He didn't answer, waving his hand, "There's no signal inside."
"My phone can make calls, even though I'm not using a civilian line."
“I can’t make the call. I’ve tried many times. He’s blocked all signals on the third floor,” the eldest son of the Xu family said with a wry smile, looking out the window and murmuring softly, “Perhaps… you can take me away from here.”
That's bullshit.
Ruan Chen didn't even bother to pay attention to his absurd idea.
With a cold and impatient expression, she connected to the emergency call center and forcefully shoved the document into the hands of the eldest son of the Xu family.
On the other end of the phone, the operator gently greeted him twice, and it wasn't until he asked, "Is it inconvenient for you to speak?" that Young Master Xu seemed to snap out of his daze.
His voice trembled, "My name is Xu Qingjing, my address is Nancheng Manor, I want to report someone for illegal detention, intentional poisoning, deliberate injury, murder..."
Sitting by the window, Ruan Chen then learned that the young master's name was Xu Qingjing.
Police cars silently surrounded the South City Manor. Ruan Chen lazily reached behind him and took his phone. "I'm leaving. I won't get involved in your Xu family's affairs."
Xu Qingjing reached out his hand towards Ruan Chen, "What's your name?"
Ruan Chen's cool fingertips touched his and then parted. She scratched the back of her head and said seriously, "My name is Helpful Citizen."
After saying that, she turned and disappeared out of the third-floor window. Xu Qingjing, being disabled, was naturally unable to get up to see her off.
So all that remained in his view was the empty, wide-open window. The wind swirled the moon-white curtains, casting bizarre and fantastical shadows. Everything that had just happened seemed like a dream.
The protagonist of the dream was an unbelievably beautiful girl.
The South City Manor was already cordoned off. Xu Xiaolan leaned against the police car and saw Ruan Chen walking over in the distance. She went over and personally lifted the cordon for her. "I knew it was you. If what Xu Qingjing said is true, then it may be the most shocking case in our branch in the past six months."
Ruan Chen reached into the police car to get the late-night snack Xu Xiaolan had brought her, and laughed, "Is this really so shocking?"
Under the moonlight, her smile was somewhat cold.
Xu Xiaolan then remembered that Ruan Chen's family wasn't much better off.
"I'm leaving now, Sister Xiaolan." Ruan Chen took a bite of her beef burger.
“Hey, there’s something,” Xu Xiaolan grabbed her arm, “Our Deputy Director Lü asked me to ask you… if you’d be interested in being our external specialist?”
Deputy Director Lü actually wanted to use this opportunity to tie Ruan Chen to the Municipal Bureau.
Seeing that Ruan Chen was destined for a bright future.
"What's an external specialist?" Ruan Chen blinked in confusion, wiping a crumb of bread from the corner of her mouth with her index finger. "Are they paid?"
"Give."
Ruan Chen nodded thoughtfully, "That works too."
Xu Xiaolan breathed a sigh of relief. "Then I'll go back and enter your personal information into our system. If you need our help in the future, just mention my name... or Deputy Director Lü."
Ruan Chen was not very energetic the next day and didn't get up until midday.
Her face was a little pale.
Ye Huanhuan was working on her computer when she saw her get up. She said, "Your uncle was going to take you and Yu'er to Riyue Bay today, but Yu'er knocked on the door twice and didn't wake up, so I stopped him from waking her up. Do you want to go? I'll drive you there, and we can still make it to lunchtime."
"No need, thank you, Mom." Ruan Chen yawned, listlessly slumped over the table, and casually turned on the TV.
Jingzhou Legal Channel.
"In the early hours of this night, our city cracked a major criminal case. The individuals currently identified as involved include Xu Guoqiang, Chairman of Shengming Group, and Xu Xu, General Manager of the Human Resources Department..."
Ye Huanhuan casually remarked, "No wonder he was called away by the group in the middle of the night. The Ye family started selling off shares of the Xu family's group as soon as the market opened today. The Xu family has run into trouble without a word. I wonder what happened."
Ruan Chen held the fruit knife, the peel slowly sliding off her fingertips in a continuous line—her hand didn't tremble at all. "Who knows? We'll see the official report in a couple of days."
Ye Huanhuan's heart skipped a beat, and she looked at Ruan Chen, "You really don't know?"
Ruan Chen shrugged innocently, "I really don't know. Where's Ruan Yunhan?"
"The first college started reporting for dormitory assignments today, and she moved out," Ye Huanhuan reminded her. "Chenchen, the No. 1 Middle School will start military training next Monday. Will you stay at home or in the dormitory? I don't think your schedule is convenient for living in the dormitory."
Ruan Chen was still sleepy and absentmindedly munched on an apple.
“I’m renting a place nearby. Grandpa Wenlou helped me find an apartment. It’s a five-minute walk.” She finished the apple in a few bites and threw the core into the trash can from five meters away. “Mom, I’m going to my painting class. Don’t save me lunch. I’ll eat at Teacher Yu’s house.”
Ruan Chen has been studying painting with this teacher named Yu Lei for some time now, but she doesn't know where she met this teacher.
Ye Huanhuan was still worried, so she did some research on it privately. This teacher was indeed quite famous internationally, and people in the industry called her Master Yu. She was very strict about accepting students, and it was said that she had only accepted two students in total. She didn't know how Ruan Chen was so lucky to catch her eye.
In the art studio.
"Chenchen," the gentle and elegant female painter said, looking at Ruan Chen's submitted work with satisfaction, "the Venice International Painting Competition is about to begin this year. I'll put your name on the list, shall we give it a try?"
Ruan Chen was somewhat taken aback. "Teacher, I haven't been learning for very long."
Yu Lei has no children. She is over forty years old but looks like she is in her early thirties. Her voice is gentle like warm jade. "Give it a try. You are really talented. You can learn technical skills after being taught once. Your imagination is also outstanding. You should become famous as early as possible. Take advantage of your current talent and try your best. When I won my first award, I was only one year older than you."
"The submission is due at the end of November, Chenchen. If you can manage the time, we can start preparing. There are less than four months left."
“Alright then,” Ruan Chen mixed colors, spreading a splash of indigo on the drawing paper. “Let’s give it a try. Thank you for your hard work, teacher. By the way… is there a bonus?”
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