When Ajin heard the sound and turned around, the front hooves of the horse behind him were almost right in front of his eyes.
Zhegui was so scared that she closed her eyes tightly and threw herself towards Jiang Ci.
The next second, the rickshaw was pulled by a huge force and slid a long distance to the side of the road.
Then came a loud bang.
Zhegui trembled. It took her a long time to realize that she wasn’t hurt, so she plucked up the courage to open her eyes.
Jiang Ci withdrew her hand from the back of the rickshaw, stood expressionlessly beside the cart, and looked at the overturned carriage opposite.
This carriage was probably used for delivering goods. Several wooden planks of the cargo compartment were shattered, and several gunny sacks rolled down with a rumble.
A man in his forties or fifties, covered in dirt, scrambled to his feet. He glanced at Jiang Ci and then took off running.
Jiang Ci took out a silver dollar from her bag with two fingers. Before she could throw it, two tall young men rushed out from the crowd and pounced on the driver, pinning him down.
“Still trying to run!”
At the same time, the sound of hurried footsteps approached quickly.
“The police are here!”
Someone shouted, and the people on the road immediately moved to both sides.
Several uniformed officers ran up to the two young men. They said something, but their expressions and gestures seemed very polite.
“Take him away!”
As the driver was led away by the officers, the two young men walked up to Jiang Ci and asked worriedly, “Madam, are you alright?”
“Ajin! Your leg!”
Jiang Ci turned around at the sound and saw that Ajin’s trousers were torn, and there was a large scrape on his leg, bleeding profusely.
“These drivers! They don’t even look where they’re going! Madam, why don’t I take you back first, and let him take this brother to the clinic?”
Ajin waved his hand quickly and said, “No need for the clinic. I’ll just put some medicine on it when I get home.”
“Who are you?” Jiang Ci looked at the young man suspiciously.
The young man came to his senses and said with a smile, “You can call me Xiao Cao, madam. I work for Second Young Master. Don’t worry, I’m not a bad person.”
“Then please take Ajin and Zhegui to Longchang Jade Shop. I’m going to the police station to see what’s going on.”
“You’re going to the police station? But… that place is a mess. It’s not suitable for you to go there…”
“My people were hurt. I have to get to the bottom of this, don’t I?”
Cao Mengxuan met Jiang Ci’s gaze, and the words of protest died in his throat. He could only secretly signal his companion and follow behind Jiang Ci.
Two more men emerged from the shadows and took everyone left behind, along with the rickshaw and the jade materials, to Longchang Jade Shop.
When Jiang Ci arrived at the police station, the driver was being interrogated.
As soon as she entered, she couldn’t help but frown and waved her hand to disperse the air in front of her.
Cao Mengxuan looked at her with an “I told you so” expression and said, “This place is full of hooligans and troublemakers every day. Hardly anyone keeps it clean.”
“Oh! Brother Xuan, what brings you here? Such a small matter, you didn’t have to come in person!”
“Cut the crap. Did you get anything out of him?”
“Hey! He’s an opium addict. He just finished smoking in a den and can barely talk. He must have been high as a kite and drove off without thinking!”
As if to confirm the officer’s words, the driver looked up, his eyes vacant, glanced at Jiang Ci, and grinned foolishly, revealing a mouthful of broken, yellowish-black teeth.
Jiang Ci looked at the driver’s patched clothes and asked, “How can a mere carriage driver afford something like that?”
“There are expensive ones and cheap ones, madam. You see…” Before Zeng Juemi could finish, Jiang Ci interrupted him.
“If the Second Young Master wants to help me, how about lending me a few men?”
Zeng Juemi stopped short and looked at her suspiciously. “What do you need men for? You’re not planning to settle scores with that Yu guy yourself, are you?”
“Second Young Master, you’re joking. I’m just a woman. How could I possibly lead people to fight?” Jiang Ci said with a smile. “I’m just worried that my jade shop might be targeted. The staff there don’t know how to fight, so I want to hire some people to keep watch, in case anyone tries to cause trouble. After all, my shop is full of jade. If anything gets broken, the loss would be huge.”
Actually, when Cao Mengxuan and the other young man had stepped in earlier, Jiang Ci had noticed that they were professionally trained, unlike the thugs hired by gangs who only knew how to use brute force.
These people were calm and composed in a crisis, not just relying on fists. They would be perfect as security guards for the jade shop.
Apart from Zeng Juemi, she couldn’t think of anyone else who could provide such reliable men.
Hearing this, Zeng Juemi relaxed and said casually, “That’s easy. I’ll pick some men and send them over tomorrow.”
“I have time right now. Can the Second Young Master take me to choose them?”
Since Jiang Ci insisted, Zeng Juemi put aside the matter of dealing with Yu for the time being and took her to select the men.
But for some reason, Zeng Juemi had a vague feeling that something was off.
After Jiang Ci had chosen the men and taken them to Longchang Jade Shop, Zeng Juemi sat alone in the room, thinking hard. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and slapped the armrest of the sofa.
After such a big incident, Jiang Ci wasn’t scared or angry at all. The way she smiled… it was exactly like his Ninth Brother!
Just then, Cao Mengxuan came back after dropping everyone off. He walked up behind Zeng Juemi and said hesitantly, “Second Young Master, there’s something… I don’t know if I saw it wrong…”
…
The next day.
Jiang Ci went to school as usual.
As soon as several female classmates saw her, they waved her over.
“Miss Jiang, have you read today’s newspaper?”
“No,” Jiang Ci shook her head and walked over. “Is there any big news?”
“Of course there is! They say a notorious thief has struck!”
A fashionable girl with a perm spread the newspaper out in front of Jiang Ci and said, “Look! Something happened at Jubaozhai! Overnight, they lost hundreds of thousands worth of jade stones! But when the police arrived, they found that the stones were still there. But the people from Jubaozhai said that someone had broken in at night and swapped their high-quality jade for inferior bean jade! This newspaper just came off the press, the ink is still wet! It got all over my hand!”
The girl held out her hand to show Jiang Ci, then continued, “Now Jubaozhai is demanding that the police find the thief, but the police say the shapes of the stones match exactly those sold at the gambling houses, so they can’t file a case.”
Jiang Ci listened and said with a smile, “Hundreds of thousands worth of jade stones are not light. How could anyone swap them without being noticed?”
“Exactly! And the shapes match perfectly. The managers and staff from all the gambling houses have come to identify them, saying that Manager Yu bought them personally. If they really were swapped, that thief must be a genius! Where would he find so many stones of the same shape?”
“That’s true, but why would Manager Yu lie to the police?”
As the girls were discussing, the mailroom worker came in and said, “Miss Jiang, there’s a letter for you.”