Chen Yao was taken aback. “I can allow it, but…”
Zhou You’s case was just a public disturbance, not a criminal offense, so he was only being detained.
“It’s nothing serious. It won’t harm him in any material way—I just want to say a few words.” Yi Qingzhuo understood Chen Yao’s hesitation.
Chen Yao thought for a moment, then nodded. Finally, he led Yi Qingzhuo to the detention room. He opened the door and said, “You have ten minutes.”
Yi Qingzhuo gave a slight nod and stepped inside.
The room was divided in half. One side had only a bench along the wall, while the other was empty, with a set of iron bars separating them.
Zhou You had been lying on the bench, legs crossed and swinging, humming a tune. He seemed to have lost all fear of the place, acting as comfortable as if he were at home. When he heard the door open, he squinted and saw it was Yi Qingzhuo. He immediately flipped over, jumped down, and walked to the bars. “Yo, Yi Qingzhuo, isn’t this my millionaire little sister? What’s the matter? Did you know I’d come looking for you after I got out, so you decided to save me the trouble and come apologize in person? I thought you weren’t going to wake up that day at the hospital.”
Yi Qingzhuo curled her lips, unmoved by his provocation.
Zhou You leaned casually against the bars, tapping his fingers against them, producing a dull clang. “But I am curious—are these detention room bars stronger, or the ones in prison? Didn’t you spend ten years in there? I never got a chance to ask—what was it like? Ten years, day after day, year after year. When you went in, I was still a little brat. Now I’m all grown up. Don’t you think time is really something?”
Yi Qingzhuo’s expression tightened, her eyes shooting cold glints. “Do you want to taste it? Taste what prison is like?”
Zhou You shrugged, pretending to be regretful. “Maybe. But slapping you twice only got me fifteen days in detention. If I wanted a taste of prison, how many slaps would I need?”
“Why don’t you try?” Yi Qingzhuo stepped forward and reached out, just catching Zhou You’s hand as it extended through the bars. Her face was expressionless, cold, and she secretly applied pressure with her hand. Immediately, Zhou You’s expression changed. He could almost hear the bones in his hand grinding against each other, pain draining the color from his face. Just as he was about to yell for someone, Yi Qingzhuo suddenly let go. Then she pulled a wet tissue from her pocket, slowly tore it open, and with a look of disgust, wiped each finger one by one.
“Shh, quiet.” She placed her index finger to her lips, her mouth curving upward into a sudden smile. From her pocket, she took out a piece of paper, aimed it at Zhou You, and shoved it within a millimeter of his face.
Zhou You was still shaking his wrist to lessen the pain. Suddenly hit with the paper from Yi Qingzhuo, he instinctively closed his eyes. He opened them, and before he could even make out the writing on the paper, he shouted, “What are you doing! Police! Is anyone there? Can’t you see she’s intentionally injuring me in the police station—”
But midway through his shout, Zhou You’s voice cut off abruptly. His expression shifted to shock. He finally saw what was written on it, and then his gaze moved incredulously to the red official seal at the bottom.
“Are you insane! Yi Qingzhuo, are you out of your mind? Eight hundred and ninety thousand—you donated all of it?” Zhou You could barely find his own voice.
The paper was clearly Yi Qingzhuo’s commitment letter. She pledged that all proceeds from the sale of the house that Yi Changhuan had transferred to her without compensation would, upon receipt, be donated without any return to the Social Women’s Welfare Foundation, specifically earmarked for aiding women who had suffered domestic violence.
Yi Qingzhuo had donated all the money, nearly a million, completely without compensation.
In Zhou You’s eyes, it was nothing short of a fairy tale. He couldn’t believe that so much money, right before his eyes, had been donated away by a single promise from Yi Qingzhuo. Yi Qingzhuo was aloof, Yi Qingzhuo was disdainful, but for Zhou You and Xu Jiangqin, that was a huge fortune that they had schemed for over a decade without ever obtaining. They lost face, and didn’t get the money either. How could that not be infuriating?
Zhou You ignored the pain in his hand, gripping the bars with both hands, and roared angrily, “Yi Qingzhuo, did prison rot your fucking brain? You didn’t want it, so you guarded it from us? If you didn’t want it, why did you fight us for it? You fucking protected that house with your life, and then you donate it all? Are you mentally ill? What right do you have to do this!”
Yi Qingzhuo’s eyes were cold. She folded the paper unhurriedly. “That’s right. The things I don’t want, you’ll never get. Zhou You, now all of you can settle down.”
“You have no right to do this!” Zhou You’s face twisted with rage.
“It’s my thing. Why would I have no right to do this? The ones without the right to take it are you.” Not wanting to look at Zhou You’s ugly face any longer, Yi Qingzhuo turned and pulled open the detention room door. She turned back. “From now on, if you see me, walk the other way. Otherwise, I’ll kill you.”
That incident where she was beaten up had blown up, and some people had been sentenced. Now, certainly no one would rashly help Zhou You to make things difficult for Yi Qingzhuo. And if it was just Zhou You and his family, Yi Qingzhuo could handle them with ease.
The detention room door closed, but Zhou You’s roars inside were still clear through the door. Chen Yao, standing outside, saw Yi Qingzhuo’s calm demeanor while Zhou You inside was driven mad with rage. He gave Yi Qingzhuo a complicated look, then walked in and tapped the bars with his baton. “Quiet down! What are you yelling for? Do you know where you are? Do you still want to get out?”
“Tsk tsk tsk, what did you do to him? Step on his weak spot?” Xia Qinyu crossed her arms, watching like she was enjoying a show.
Yi Qingzhuo turned her head, finding Zhou You’s howling annoying. She walked out. “Nothing.”
“Sis, sis, sis, wait for me.” Xia Qinyu quickly followed. “Tell me about it.”
“Didn’t say much.” Yi Qingzhuo walked with her hands in her pockets, moving briskly.
Xia Qinyu trailed behind her, pestering. “If you didn’t say much, then why is he so mad? Feels like his world has collapsed. What leverage did you get on him?”
Shen Chaoyi arrived home just as Shen Gan was heading out. It was the weekend, and Shen Gan had the day off.
“Sis, you’re back from the night shift.” Shen Gan, with a backpack slung over his shoulder, gave an awkward smile.
Shen Chaoyi was already so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. She answered softly, “Mm, so tired.” Looking up, she noticed he wasn’t wearing sportswear and didn’t have a basketball, so she asked casually, “Where are you going?”
“Going out to eat with friends. Today’s his birth… What happened to your face?”
Shen Chaoyi had been looking down, and Shen Gan, feeling guilty because there were girls in the group, hadn’t dared to meet her eyes. But now that Shen Chaoyi looked up, he immediately saw the injury on her face. He instantly forgot his guilt, leaned down, and got close to Shen Chaoyi to get a better look.
Shen Chaoyi stepped back, placed her fingerprint on the lock, and pushed the door open. “It’s nothing. I bumped into something. Already taken care of. Go have fun.”
Shen Gan quickly followed, pressing for details. “How did it happen? Someone hit you, right?”
“I ran into a rude family member. It was an accident. It’s fine. Don’t worry, it’ll heal quickly.” Shen Chaoyi bent down to change her shoes. When she looked up, Shen Gan was blocking the doorway like a wall of flesh.
Shen Chaoyi turned her head away and pushed Shen Gan’s shoulder. “Go on now. If you made plans with friends, don’t be late. That’s rude.”
But Shen Gan took the opportunity to grab her hand, examined it carefully, and a surge of anger rose in him. “Who? I’m going to find them.”
Shen Gan couldn’t stand seeing his sister wronged. Even when he was young and at his most unruly, he never said a harsh word to her. Now his sister had been hit—how could he let that slide?
