All the suspicious signs made the five security officers at the checkpoint even more certain that the man before them was a criminal.
They closed in from all directions.
At their leader’s command, all five lunged forward—
“Don’t move!”
Fang Ming was slammed to the ground.
The foul, sour odor rising from him made the officers wrinkle their noses and further convinced them that he was the suspect mentioned in the report.
Fang Ming couldn’t help but struggle.
What was happening?
Why were they arresting him?
Did they have any idea how urgent his situation was? The plane was about to take off! If Tang Ran left, what would happen to his money—his life savings?
“You’ve got the wrong person! I didn’t do anything!”
Pinned to the ground, Fang Ming was desperate.
The airport broadcast overhead was announcing boarding for the very flight that was likely taking Tang Ran home.
“I’m here to find someone! I haven’t done anything wrong!”
“Stay still!”
The officers were clearly unhappy with his resistance. Following standard Western police procedure, after issuing two warnings with no compliance, they naturally drew their guns.
Fang Ming wanted to cry.
He still didn’t understand—why?
“Show us your ID!”
That line almost broke him.
“I don’t have it. I’m a foreign student. I’m a law-abiding citizen!”
“Passport?”
Fang Ming shook his head.
“Student ID? Driver’s license?”
“…”
“So you have no documents proving your identity?”
Fang Ming wanted to die.
He wanted to tell them that his wife had set him up—but he didn’t dare. He feared that explaining too much would only make things worse, afraid of losing face, afraid of losing everything. He didn’t know what he could say. The source of this chapter is novelping.com.
Pinned to the floor, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers, he was searched.
“You’ve got the wrong man, please! Let me go! I need to find someone—she’s about to leave! Let me find her first, then I’ll explain everything!”
“Shut up!”
Fang Ming thought that once they finished searching him, they’d realize the mistake and let him go.
After all, he had nothing on him.
But then the officers’ expressions grew even grimmer, and the gun barrels drew closer.
What? Why?
He soon understood.
One of the officers had just pulled a small transparent bag from the back pocket of his pants. Inside was a fine white powder—barely a gram or two.
Honestly, he hadn’t even noticed it was there.
Then, from his jacket pocket, they pinched out traces of the same powder.
Two officers sniffed it, exchanged a look, and sealed the evidence bag.
When the cold metal handcuffs snapped around his wrists, Fang Ming finally realized what was happening. They thought he was carrying drugs.
“How could that be? You’ve made a mistake—really!”
No one listened.
To the officers, his appearance and behavior matched the profile perfectly.
“We’ll have this tested. You have the right to remain silent—but you’re coming with us.”
The handcuffs locked tight.
The pistol stayed trained on him.
Shaking uncontrollably, Fang Ming was led away.
It was over.
He knew it.
Given this country’s bureaucracy, Tang Ran’s flight would probably land before his test results were even processed. He was going to jail—over something so ridiculous!
Tao Ran’s flight took off smoothly.
Nothing unusual happened.
Which meant she knew it worked—the scumbag had been completely crushed. He hadn’t dared to say a word.
The powder found in Fang Ming’s pockets? Her medicine. She had simply crushed a few tablets into fine dust—just convincing enough to fool the police.
She couldn’t send him to prison for real, but she could certainly let him taste what it felt like.
She smiled in satisfaction.
No phone, no ID—once he entered a police station, he’d basically vanish. And if the local authorities worked slowly, he might not get out for two whole days!
That disappearance would trigger another delightful chain reaction.
Because right before boarding, Tao Ran had done two more things.
First, she called the landlady to sincerely apologize.
She said tearfully, “Fang Ming cheated on me with another woman. They took all my money, and a few days ago they forced me to have an abortion. I was desperate—that’s why I borrowed money from you…”
She went on and on, her tone heartbreakingly sincere. She promised that even if Fang Ming refused to pay it back, she would repay the debt herself once she returned home, even if she had to sell everything she owned. She also said she’d never forget the landlady’s kindness and would repay her double someday.
Thoughtful as ever, Tao Ran mentioned she had handwritten a recipe book and tucked it beneath a flowerpot on the balcony—a collection of her signature dishes, each carefully illustrated. Her words and gestures were so touching that the landlady was deeply moved, her anger dissolving completely.
Tao Ran also “confided” that the woman who had tried to unlock the door a few days ago was none other than that “mistress.”
Most of what she said was true—so there was no guilt at all.
Her award-worthy performance worked perfectly. The landlady went from sympathetic, to furious on her behalf, to righteously vowing:
“Don’t worry, dear. Auntie will make sure that bastard pays every cent back! And that woman—if I see her again, I’ll make her regret it! You go home and don’t worry about a thing.”
Landlady, handled.
Not only did that ease Tao Ran’s guilt, it also meant Xiao Ai and Fang Ming were about to face another round of trouble. Once the landlady couldn’t reach Fang Ming, she would surely go to the university next.
The second thing Tao Ran did was call Fang Ming’s mother.
This time, she didn’t bother pretending.
“Fang Ming’s in trouble, he’s been arrested. I don’t know the details, but I’m trying to help him. I might need bail money. I just paid one fee, so I’m short on cash. You need to transfer at least 100,000 yuan right away—the more, the better. And quickly! His account is frozen, so you’ll have to send it to mine. Hurry!”
She said this in one breath and hung up.
Then she turned off the phone.
That was the real goal behind her trap—to make them hand over the money.
She couldn’t be certain whether Fang’s parents would immediately transfer the funds, but with Fang Ming completely unreachable, she knew she’d just become their only lifeline—their “savior.”
She figured the odds of them taking the bait were at least ninety percent.
And she felt no guilt whatsoever.
Without some scheming, those people would never willingly open their wallets.
Fang Ming’s parents were just like him—selfish, cold, calculating, and despicable.
From the very start, they had seen Tang Ran as a free maid, a cook, and a willing cash machine for their son.
Once money went into their pockets, it was welded shut. If Tao Ran didn’t peel off their skin a little, how else could she get anything back?