Lin Wan said coldly, “Speak. Names, ages, addresses, native places, and who’s in your families!”
“They already confessed. If your statements don’t match theirs, I’ll hand all of you over to the police!”
“Robbery plus hooliganism—enough to get you executed!”
Zhou Jun trembled violently and spilled everything immediately.
Lin Wan took out a small notebook and recorded it.
After finishing, she gagged Zhou Jun, then slapped another one awake and asked the same set of questions.
Zhou Jun: “!!”
Damn it—she tricked him!
All three were interrogated in the same way.
Everything matched.
Lin Wan was very satisfied and wrote their names into the case report.
Then she showed it to them.
The three men immediately collapsed in despair, shaking uncontrollably.
After trembling enough, they knelt down and begged for forgiveness, promising to hand over all their savings if she would let them go.
Lin Wan looked down at them coldly.
“I don’t want your money.”
“Do you know Liang Qianjin?”
“The one whose uncle is the factory director of Hongxing Machinery Plant.”
The three looked at each other and shook their heads desperately.
“No… no, we don’t know him.”
Lin Wan chuckled.
“What a shame. Then just stay here and wait for the police.”
They immediately cried out in panic.
“Grandma, we don’t know him personally, but we’ve heard of him!”
“If you want us to do something, just say it!”
“Don’t send us to the police station!”
Lin Wan crossed her arms.
“Since you’ve heard of him, then you should know what kind of dirty things he’s done.”
“You have one week.”
“If he doesn’t go to jail this time, then you will.”
“Only one week.”
Whether they knew him or not didn’t matter. If they didn’t want to end up in prison, they had no choice but to investigate Liang Qianjin.
A few thieves investigating another thief—and with clear instructions at that—they might even be more efficient than the police.
She smiled brightly and beautifully, like a blooming flower.
But in the eyes of the three criminals, she looked like a female ghost from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio wearing a painted human skin.
Terrifying.
After speaking, Lin Wan turned and left.
The little system couldn’t help but pop out.
[You’re just letting them go like that?]
Lin Wan: “I agreed to let them go this time. I never said I’d let them go next time.”
The system fell silent.
As expected—this woman’s heart was pitch black. Her hand weighed a thousand pounds; she never lifted it lightly.
Just as Lin Wan stepped out of the alley, her smile froze.
She saw a familiar military jeep.
She quickly turned around and tried to slip away.
“Get in.”
Huo Xiao rested his arm on the car window, his gaze fixed on her. His tone left no room for refusal, forcing her to stop in her tracks.
Lin Wan froze as if someone had pressed a point on her body. She forced an awkward laugh.
“Haha… it’s you!”
“What a coincidence!”
Huo Xiao tapped his fingers lightly on the steering wheel. A faint, mocking curve appeared on his lips.
“No coincidence. I came from the residential compound of the machinery factory.”
As he spoke, his cold gaze swept over her—and then landed on the three men in the alley who had been stripped down to their underwear.
This woman… every time he saw her, there was a “surprise.”
Lin Wan: “…”
Killing intent.
So much killing intent.
She stiffened.
“Ahem… that… I can explain.”
Huo Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at her leisurely.
Under that gaze, Lin Wan froze.
His eyes were too penetrating. It felt like no matter what she said, he would see straight through it.
In the end, she gave up.
Forget it.
No explanation.
She was already the villainous female supporting character anyway—what was wrong with doing villainous things?
“I’ve already written the situation report,” she said.
She didn’t get into the car. Instead, using her military bag as cover, she pulled out two folded sheets of notebook paper from her system space and handed them over.
Huo Xiao took them and placed them on the steering wheel to read.
The handwriting was unexpectedly beautiful.
But it didn’t look like a girl’s writing—sharp, forceful, almost aggressive.
Every stroke carried weight.
And between the lines… there was an unmistakable sense of suppressed resentment.
“Well then, I’ve given you the stuff. I’m heading off now!” Lin Wan tried to slip away.
Huo Xiao’s voice suddenly rose. “Get in the car!”
“Home visit!”
Hiss—
She almost flipped the table.
Are you serious?!
Does he think he’s a discipline teacher?
A home visit?!
Lin Wan clenched her fists, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and forced out a completely insincere smile.
“Is that really necessary? I just told my mom you’re my boyfriend to bluff her. If you actually go to my house, how am I supposed to clean up the mess afterward?”
But in Huo Xiao’s emotionless gaze, there was a very clear message: what does that have to do with me?
Cold. Ruthless.
Helpless, Lin Wan got into the car.
【System, can I rollback and restart?】
She regretted it.
Truly.
She never should have pulled Huo Xiao into her lie just to save face.
Now that she was stuck with him, the more painful it was, the more she wanted to slap her own reckless mouth.
The system was even colder than Huo Xiao:
【No.】
She tried to reason with it. “You systems should also consider the masses, you know!”
“If I show up empty-handed, what will the neighbors think of me? Of my family?”
“And if you don’t come to my house later, everyone will think I’ve been dumped, and I’ll become the biggest joke in the entire machinery factory…”
Huo Xiao ignored her completely, eyes fixed straight ahead as he drove.
His profile was even more striking than his face.
Unfortunately, that handsome exterior was wrapped in a heart made of steel.
He was completely unmoved by her complaints.
“Write a detailed report of today’s incident,” he said after she gave up struggling. Then he glanced at her coldly. “Guo Xuyang is a military officer. Stay away from him.”
Lin Wan quickly explained, “I only asked Zhang Qin for money, not him! I’m not stupid—I know extorting a military officer means jail time!”
Asking Zhang Qin was different—it was family business.
This man really had the ability to shut down anyone’s thoughts just by saying a few words.
Huo Xiao didn’t respond. Instead, he stepped on the accelerator and shot forward, driving the jeep like a plane taking off.
Lin Wan tightly grabbed the handle above the door, her heart jumping into her throat.
At the residential compound.
Huo Xiao parked by the roadside.
After getting out, he walked over to open the door for her, then took several bags of items from the back seat.
Bananas, apples, Moutai liquor, Zhonghua cigarettes, malted milk, and canned oranges.
Lin Wan widened her eyes.
“You—you—”
Even when visiting a real father-in-law, no one would be this generous!
Huo Xiao glanced at her. “When we handle matters, we first consider the masses.”
Fine!
She got shut down again!
But still—
If they were really “considering the masses,” why use Moutai and Zhonghua cigarettes?
Something felt off.
If it were any other man, she would definitely think he was interested in her.
But Huo Xiao?
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
He came from a good family; Moutai and cigarettes like that were probably just lying around at home—he likely just grabbed them casually.
That explanation made sense.
So he was just using personal supplies to handle official matters—look at that dedication, that spirit of service!
Sigh…
If only she wasn’t the one being “served” here.
“Hey! Lin Wan, you brought your boyfriend home!”
“Wow, your boyfriend is so handsome—he suits you perfectly!”
“Oh my… is that Moutai?!”
“Your boyfriend is really generous! What does he do, young man?”
“Aunt Huang, your Wanwan’s boyfriend brought Moutai home!”
People from the residential compound, seeing Lin Wan return with a man, immediately abandoned their cooking and rushed out holding spatulas, potatoes, cabbages, and sweet potatoes, surrounding them in an instant.
Their burning gazes locked onto Huo Xiao, as if they could burn holes straight through him.
Huang Guixiang, who had been out all day trying to scavenge a bit of sweet potato, also rushed out waving a spatula.
“Make way! Make way!”
“Oh my, Xiao Huo is here!”
“Quick, come inside, come inside!”
Ah, the mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law—more she looked, the more she liked him.
Especially someone like Huo Xiao—tall, handsome, with an unmatched presence, and a bright future ahead.
As expected of her daughter—her taste in men was just like hers!
But—
The problem was…
There was nothing at home to cook with!!!!