"Are you still going to deny that the two of you stole from this store?"
The auntie pointed at Zhou Yun with a stern voice, "Pretending to be innocent, you didn't even think to spend a little money. If I were you, I'd put some of these Hermes bags in your hired actor's car and have him deliver them."
Zheng Hongxiu's eyes reddened. She knew her daughter would never do such a thing, but looking at the name card in her daughter's hand, she knew that if it hadn't been for the man who claimed to be her daughter's brother coming over today, her daughter would have jumped into the Yellow River and still not be able to clear her name.
But soon Zheng Hongxiu trembled slightly.
She thought of the place where Zhou Yun had met with Ye Xiao.
It was her husband's grave!
When the Tang Family was robbed years ago, she was worried about her daughter being implicated, and never told anyone the location of her husband's tombstone.
Even if her daughter wanted to pay respects, she definitely wouldn't call out her husband's name at the grave.
But...
That person knew her husband's name! And he called him Uncle Zhou!
"Could it be..."
An image formed in Zheng Hongxiu's mind: a young face with a natural commanding presence that even someone like her who couldn't read faces would instantly know was destined to be exceptional.
"Is his name... Ye Xiao?"
Her mother's question made Zhou Yun pause for a moment. She didn't understand how her mother knew the name of that brother, but still nodded, "Mhm."
"He's alive, he's still alive..."
With the answer, Zheng Hongxiu murmured, already sobbing uncontrollably.
Many acquaintances had vanished that night years ago, their fates unknown.
Ye Xiao might not have been someone she watched growing up, but occasionally her husband would bring Ye Xiao over for a meal.
Back then, Zhou Yun was just a child, frail and living with her grandparents in the countryside. Just like Tang Tianhao and his wife, Zheng Hongxiu treated Ye Xiao as one of her own.
"Mom, you know him?"
Zhou Yun saw her mother's tears and knew it was tears of joy.
"Yes, he really could be your brother. But let's not let him spend on these things. We'll keep one or two and return the rest together tomorrow."
"I don't know how that child has been these past years. Given that he can buy these things, he mustn't be doing too badly. But the hardships he must have experienced... sigh!"
"Let's not talk about it any further. I'm going to cook. He'll be here soon, and it'll be just in time for him to have a hot meal."
As she spoke, Zheng Hongxiu wiped away the tears on her face and trotted into the house.
Since the person her daughter met today was Ye Xiao, no matter how outlandish the events, nothing would surprise her now.
The relatives were confused, still trying to process everything when they saw Zheng Hongxiu enter the house, her expression changing constantly.
The Zheng Hongxiu they had known before was nothing like this.
In front of them, Zheng Hongxiu was always timid like a quail, fearful of displeasing anyone, always cautious in everything.
But now, Zheng Hongxiu didn't even glance at them before she entered the house, seemingly no longer worried about Zhou Yun's safety.
"Sister-in-law, what is this performance about?"
Zhou Yue frowned. There had been too many odd events today, and if he hadn't made arrangements for people to come to his support before he arrived, he probably wouldn't have stayed.
"..."
Zheng Hongxiu ignored him and started tidying up the groceries she had just bought on the living room floor.
Zhou Yun and Wang Qian were also quite puzzled by Zheng Hongxiu's quite out-of-character behavior today.
"Miss Zhou, you should take good care of these three name cards. If you run into any trouble in the future, just call the numbers on them. No matter what it is, they will help you handle it."
Xie Jun'an pondered for a moment, "Instead of calling them three name cards, it's more like three wishes. As long as you speak up, no matter what it is, they will make it happen for you."
Dragon King Hall.
These three characters might just seem like a name to ordinary people, but to those of a certain status, they represent a forbidden existence.
The ignorance of these three characters is not out of unawareness, it's because their status is not yet qualified to comprehend the weight these three characters carry...
"Any wish?"
Wang Qian glanced at the relatives of Zhou Yun, testing the waters as she asked, "Including making these people disappear forever?"
Xie Jun'an smiled slightly, "Forgive me for being blunt, but using those three wishes on these people is too much of a waste. Miss Wang, it's better for Miss Zhou to think it through carefully."
He wasn't lying; just like what the aunt had said, dealing with these people didn't even require Xie Jun'an's intervention—a manager could dispose of them easily.
Compared to the three wishes promised by the Dragon King, his own capabilities were hardly worth mentioning.
"What do you mean?"
Zhou Yue's face darkened.
It was not only because of what Xie Jun'an had just said, but also because he saw a group of people coming their way from a distance.
The one leading was a young man with a scorpion tattoo on his face, followed by over a dozen underlings.
The appearance of this group caused the faces of the surrounding neighbors to change slightly, turning pale.
"Isn't that Scorpion? Why has he come over?"
"Could it be that for the sake of that Zhou girl, those beastly relatives of hers have called Scorpion here?"
The neighbors speculated.
And the situation was exactly as they had guessed.
Scorpion, leading a group of underlings, walked directly over to Zhou Yue and said lazily, "You need to add fifty thousand to the money for greasing palms, no room for negotiation."
"Didn't we already settle on a price before? Why are you suddenly changing terms now?"
Zhou Yue's face changed.
"My boss has washed his hands of the underworld; without his connections, I can't reach the upper ranks, can't smooth things over, so we have to use money. But, come on, I'm doing the work, the cash shouldn't be coming out of my pocket, should it?"
Scorpion's face was filled with displeasure.
Initially, he was set to make a tidy sum from this job, but his boss, Liu Biao, suddenly decided to go straight, and without that connection, he could discount the money he was about to pocket even if he managed to complete the job.
"Brother Biao has washed his hands of the underworld?"
Zhou Yue's expression was very grim.
The reason he had dared to come here so brazenly today was precisely because he had connected with the boat of Brother Biao through Scorpion.
His money was spent not just on Scorpion, but on the assurance that if anything went wrong with the deal, Brother Biao would undoubtedly step in to save Scorpion.
But now, Brother Biao had gone straight?
"What? Did my boss have to submit a resignation application to you when he decided to wash his hands of the underworld?"
Scorpion raised an eyebrow, visibly irritated. His mood was already sour, without Brother Biao's protection, he would have to be much more restrained in all his future dealings.
"This... Of course not,"
Zhou Yue awkwardly smiled, glancing at Zhou Yun who was holding three business cards, looking perplexed, and nodded, "Then let's add another fifty thousand."
If the job could be done, paying an extra fifty thousand in "tip" wasn't really a big deal.
"Move in."
Without another word, Scorpion gestured and his men started approaching Zhou Yun.
"What are you trying to do?! Is there no law left?!"
Wang Qian shuddered and stood in front of Zhou Yun.