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Chapter 22
The area with chain burger shops and convenience stores a ten-minute walk away was lively, but here behind the antique street where the old houses were, it had become quite quiet at this hour.
Better to be paranoid than to encounter bad people and be unlucky.
Shen You held her breath and focused on the movement behind her, quickening her pace to hurry back. The other person’s steps also quickened.
Only then did she confirm that someone was really following her. What was worse, near her shop entrance where the street lamp was broken, there seemed to be a figure standing vaguely.
The lighting was too dim to see clearly.
Was she being targeted and surrounded?!
The footsteps behind grew closer and heavier. Shen You turned around somewhat panicked.
A plain, rough square face appeared before her, looking to be in his forties.
He was holding a knife!
A flash of viciousness crossed the man’s face. However just as he raised the knife and before the words “be quiet” could leave his mouth, he was struck by blinding light and cried out loudly.
“Ahh—”
He hurriedly raised his hand to cover his eyes, while directly in front of him stood Shen You holding an ultra-bright flashlight.
When this thing lit up, it could illuminate like daylight. Not just people – even ghosts couldn’t open their eyes.
Shen You had specifically bought this, choosing an imported brand.
Living alone, she had to be careful. She couldn’t skimp on self-defense tools.
Sensing someone approaching, she decisively threw down the food and pulled out her equipment from her bag.
The other person had a knife – she wouldn’t rush forward.
She shouted at the top of her lungs, “Murder! Murder!”
At the same time, she wielded a telescopic baton in one hand and an electric shock flashlight in the other, stunning the man until his whole body shook.
These legal self-defense tools didn’t have much current – the deterrent effect was greater than the damage, but it still hurt when shocked.
On the other side, the person standing in the shadows clicked his tongue, originally intending to come out and help.
Unexpectedly, what he saw was the knife-wielding man getting hit several times in succession.
He stood there stunned.
When Shen You heard another set of unhurried footsteps, she quickly turned and swung her baton in that direction.
She missed, and an extremely handsome face came into view.
He was wearing a simple shirt, unhurried and completely relaxed.
His skin was like white porcelain, with dark hair falling across his forehead. Those eyes were beautiful but carried a somewhat eerie, bewitching quality.
“Are you two working together?” Shen You asked warily.
The man’s eyes filled with incomprehension as he laughed in anger. “Could I possibly be working with someone like that?”
His voice was also pleasant, but who knew if they were partners!
He lifted his long legs and walked toward the square-faced man with the knife who was trying to charge forward, his expression disdainful.
Immediately, something seemed wrong with the square-faced man. It was as if someone had grabbed his throat, his eyes bulged wide as he collapsed to the ground, dropping his knife.
“Are you Shen You, the owner of that shop up ahead?”
“Who are you?”
Shen You didn’t lower her guard. This square-faced thug looked wrong, as if he was about to die.
The man smiled lazily. “That set of Great Qi porcelain in the museum collection was yours.”
Hearing this, Shen You’s pupils shrank in shock.
This person was coming for her. What was his background? How could he know about Great Qi?
“What exactly are you here for?”
She neither confirmed nor denied, but changed the subject.
“Xie Guan Rong, who passed the imperial examination after three years and reached the pinnacle of power after fifteen years.” The man continued. “His fate had another possible ending – starving to death while fleeing disaster.”
“No wonder his calligraphy is so valuable.” Shen You suddenly understood. “So who are you?”
Before she could get his answer, police rushed in, along with concerned neighbors who were carrying hoes and rolling pins. Then someone took obvious advantage of the chaos to hit that person a few times.
Someone had called the police immediately upon hearing the commotion, and the police station was only a seven or eight-minute walk away.
“Shen You, are you okay?” Uncle Zhang asked with concern.
“I’m fine. Thank you all for calling the police for me.” Shen You thanked them sincerely.
The knife-wielding man was handcuffed and put in the police car. After Shen You’s emotions calmed down, seeing the scattered food on the ground made her feel somewhat regretful – she hadn’t gotten to eat even one bite.
“Is this your boyfriend? The young man is really handsome.” A neighbor praised.
Both of them frowned at the same time.
“Then you two come give statements together.” The police officer spoke up at this moment.
“No, we don’t…” Before Shen You could say “know each other.”
The police officer said seriously, “Witnesses also need to give statements.”
“It’s fine, you go. I’ll clean up the food on the ground.” Uncle Zhang nodded to Shen You.
In the end, the two sat together in the police car, sitting stiffly in the back seat – one unhappy, the other observing and guarding the entire time.
At the station, the knife-wielding man ranted dejectedly.
“I was originally lying in wait outside her shop, planning to wait for her to return before making a move, going in to control her and take some valuable things.”
“I don’t know her. I used to live nearby doing odd jobs. Why should I live so miserably! I can’t even afford rent or money for medical treatment, yet they live so well. I just refuse to accept it!”
Shen You was speechless and slammed the table.
“Good what good?! My parents were tricked by relatives into guaranteeing a loan. He took the money and ran. My family still owes debt. Who can I go to for justice?”
Hearing this, the man was stunned, and his malicious tone weakened.
Of course Shen You wasn’t doing this for nothing – she also wanted to reduce the possibility of being targeted in the future.
“I came looking for Shen You. I got lost in this area and searched for a long time before finding her shop. I didn’t expect to see someone robbing her, so I helped out.”
“She said she doesn’t know me? Well, we indeed don’t know each other.”
The police officer taking statements looked at the young man’s appearance with some speechlessness.
If he hadn’t verified the identity and knew this person had so much property that there was absolutely no need for him to be an accomplice, his presence there would have been very suspicious.
“The statements are done. You can go now.”
Shen You asked worriedly in a low voice, “That person won’t come after me again when he gets out, will he?”
“Armed robbery is a serious crime. Since you live alone, you can set up some defensive measures at home.” He then praised her alertness and successful self-defense.
Outside the main entrance, Shen You and Wen Zhi both stood on the street outside the police station.
She looked toward the direction of the bean curd dessert shop. “How about we go eat something? My treat.”
She still wanted to ask clearly about this person’s intentions.
“That noisy place? No.” He crossed his arms, showing some arrogance.
Ten minutes later, at a table outside the dessert shop, two empty bowls sat across from Shen You.
She looked around, and seeing no one nearby, asked quietly, “What did you come to find me for?”
He wasn’t here to steal her shop, was he?
That absolutely wouldn’t work!
“Are you sure you want to talk about this here?” He ate quickly but elegantly.
Shen You smiled. “When you spoke in front of that robber, he seemed not to hear.”
Wen Zhi put down his spoon. “It’s nothing major. I just wanted to see the shop that can connect different worlds. I found it quite unexpected.”
“I repaired Great Qi’s rules, yet your shop wasn’t affected at all.”