“Pay protection money?”
Xu Kai stared at Jiang Yan, looking amused.
So the first drawing had been meant to lure him here, and now she was trying to persuade him with her skill.
This woman had never intended to pay protection money. She didn’t want to pay now, and she certainly wouldn’t want to later.
That was beside the point. Who was she?
Xu Kai couldn’t believe that someone who remembered his face so clearly had absolutely no connection to him—not even having met him before.
He neither agreed nor refused. One of his underlings immediately tried to guess what “the boss” wanted and barked at Jiang Yan:
“Dream on! If every stallholder acted like you, what would happen to our rules? Enough talk. Pay up!”
Xu Kai kicked him before he could finish.
“Shut up!”
Then he tilted his head and scrutinized Jiang Yan again, trying to remember something.
“Be honest. Do we know each other? If we had a history, then we’d be friends. Set up your stall wherever you like. I wouldn’t even charge you protection money!”
Jiang Yan hadn’t expected him to say that. They couldn’t exactly be called friends.
But in her previous life, when she’d been a porter carrying a shoulder pole and someone came to collect protection money from her, Xu Kai had said one word—and they’d charged her half as much.
The people who collected protection money from porters weren’t the same ones who collected it from shops. Each group had its own turf.
It was illegal, and certainly nothing to encourage, but that was the reality of society.
When it came to profit, you couldn’t even pick through trash beyond someone else’s turf, let alone set up a stall.
Xu Kai was one of the better sorts among the bad guys.
“We don’t know each other!”
Jiang Yan smiled and shook her head. “It’s getting dark. Thanks for looking out for me today, Brother Kai. See you tomorrow!”
As she spoke, she started packing up to leave. She hadn’t earned the six yuan she needed yet, but the market after nightfall wasn’t a safe place for a woman alone. She had to get home quickly.
Just then, a commotion erupted in the distance, followed by a chorus of screams.
Before Jiang Yan could look toward the noise, a gust of wind rushed past and knocked over the advertising board she’d set up at the corner.
“Damn it!”
The person had run into the board through his own carelessness and tripped, yet he still had the nerve to curse.
He’d smashed the sign, too.
Only after the man had run off did Jiang Yan bend to pick up the pieces. That was when she spotted a gold earring flecked with blood, with a bit of flesh still stuck to it.
Startled, she quickly dropped it.
“Well, aren’t you lucky? Money from heaven!” Xu Kai joked, crouching to pick up the earring. He examined it in his hand. “One this big has to be worth at least a hundred yuan!”
Jiang Yan ignored him and hurriedly packed her things.
The commotion flared up again. Two police officers came running over, and as soon as a woman identified Xu Kai, they seized him.
“That’s him! He’s holding my mother’s earring!” the woman cried, her voice breaking.
It turned out the incident in the distance wasn’t just a robbery. Someone had used a knife, and there might have been a death.
“It wasn’t me! I just picked it up!”
No matter how much Xu Kai tried to explain, it did no good. The officers twisted his arms behind his back and pinned him to the ground.
Several of his underlings looked from one to another, unsure what to do.
There weren’t many police officers, and the gang could certainly overpower them and get Xu Kai away. But if they attacked, the whole situation would become something else entirely.
Once the troops arrived, none of them would get away.
“It wasn’t me!” Xu Kai struggled violently. He couldn’t go to prison; otherwise, they might well pin the crime on him.
But he was already restrained, his face pressed out of shape. How could he possibly break free?
“Officers, it really wasn’t him!”
Since Jiang Yan was a woman, the officers gave her a little time to explain. She recounted everything from beginning to end, then added:
“I saw the robber. I can draw him for you.”
She immediately took out paper and a pen. In less than a minute, a few quick strokes were enough to sketch the man.
“The one who robbed you just now—this is what he looked like, right?”
Jiang Yan showed the drawing to the victim and described the suspect’s clothes and their color.
“Every crime has its culprit. You want the real perpetrator caught, too, don’t you?”
After hearing her, the woman nodded.
“I think… he looks like the person she drew.”
In truth, she was so terrified she couldn’t remember what the culprit looked like. But Jiang Yan’s explanation was reasonable, and the drawing so lifelike, that she believed it without thinking.
The two officers exchanged glances. They didn’t immediately release Xu Kai. Instead, they took the sketch and eyed Jiang Yan suspiciously.
“Even if the suspect fell while running away, he would have been down for only an instant. What makes you so sure you drew what he looked like?”
The police had to question everything. No one could rule out the possibility that the criminals had accomplices working together.
If the woman in front of them had simply drawn a nonexistent person to divert their attention, wouldn’t that jeopardize the investigation?
A violent robbery and a life taken—this was a serious case!
Faced with their doubts, Jiang Yan said nothing. She turned away, drew another portrait, and handed it to the officer.
“Good grief! You…”
The officer was stunned. In the short time it had taken to speak, the woman had memorized his features and reproduced them exactly.
“Do you have a photographic memory?”
People had only ever heard of such a talent in legends. Anyone who witnessed it in real life would be amazed.
“Not really. I have a mild memory compulsion. I remember unpleasant things especially well.”
Jiang Yan’s mouth twitched into a bitter smile.
“I’ll take legal responsibility for what I’ve said and done. The man you arrested really did just pick up the earring. And there are plenty of people here who can testify. Someone in the shops nearby must have seen it, too.”
She spoke clearly and methodically, and the officer finally realized they had arrested the wrong man.
After a brief apology, they released Xu Kai.
The commotion gradually died down as the police left. Night had fallen at last, and the streetlights came on.
“Um… thanks.”
Xu Kai shifted awkwardly, looking embarrassed and a little sheepish.
“You’ve got a lot of guts. Anyone else would’ve been afraid to speak up. Let me buy you dinner.”
After years of getting by on the streets, Xu Kai knew better than anyone how rare what Jiang Yan had just done was.
A man with a criminal record like his, once arrested, would probably be convicted if the victim insisted he was guilty.
Robbery and murder in broad daylight? He’d be executed for sure.
And Jiang Yan wasn’t a fool. She must have known that if she came forward and drew the suspect, the criminal might come after her if the police failed to catch him.
Most people wouldn’t take such a thankless risk, especially one that could cost them their lives.
“Thanks, but I should get home. My family will worry if I’m late.”
Jiang Yan slung her belongings over her shoulder and strode off before Xu Kai could say anything else.
She moved so quickly, just like a porter rushing to grab a job.
Xu Kai tilted his head and curled his lips into a smile.
“That woman’s interesting.”
After a moment’s thought, he decided to follow Jiang Yan. At the same time, he tossed his men an order:
“Find that bastard for me! He robbed someone on my turf. I’ll make sure he pays!”