The crafty old fox shook his head in mock regret, having set the stage, and didn’t want to waste any more time. He reached out and summoned a pawn for a killing move: Wang Daqing, a gaunt, haggard-looking man. He walked over with his legs clamped together.
After the effects of the sedative wore off yesterday, his screams nearly pierced the roof. When station staff found him, they were so frightened to see his pants soaked with blood that they hurriedly sent him to the hospital. But Wang Daqing was a vagrant, and in such a strict household registration system, he could hardly move around, let alone seek proper medical treatment. After much thought, he could only turn to the Sang father and son. After all, they were all in the same mess, and he had leverage over them—they wouldn’t dare leave him to die.
Sang Jiqing’s skills weren’t enough to cure anyone; he could only dispense medicine at the pharmacy. But even a broken ship has three thousand nails. Over the years, Wang Daqing had some standing in the factory hospital. Bringing someone for examination or treatment was easy. Sang Zhi had been ruthless enough to crush one of his testicles, but not completely—he had left one intact. With good luck and a skilled doctor, his fertility could still be preserved. But treatment cost money, and he didn’t have any.
The Sang family father and son wanted to get rid of Sang Zhi, tempting him with money in exchange for the crushed testicle. How could he resist? Enemies meeting, tempers flaring. Wang Daqing, seeing her show no remorse or fear, wanted nothing more than to tear her apart. Trembling, pointing at her, he yelled hysterically, “Officer, she deliberately hurt me! She tried to kill me! Arrest her, execute her!”
The two police officers had already been prepped by the Sang family. They didn’t investigate his vagrant status but looked at Sang Zhi, asking, “Where were you yesterday at noon? What did you do? Any witnesses?” They wore a guise of impartiality.
Normally, anyone, especially a young woman, would be terrified of such stern officers. Sang Yun and her mother didn’t dare even look at them. But Sang Zhi remained calm. The Liu Meili mother and daughter, anticipating revenge, were practically glowing with excitement, expecting her to fail.
But the poised, handsome Sang Zhi met them without fear and calmly asked, “Officer, whoever claims something should provide evidence. He says I kicked his testicle—so exactly when, who saw it, and where is the witness?”
“Ugh…” The officers exchanged glances, realizing they had no way to continue. She was perfectly reasonable. Seeing that she didn’t admit it, Wang Daqing went berserk. Injured, his vulnerability exposed, yet she played dumb! He lunged at her, only to be restrained again.
After a long wait and witnessing their amateur tactics, Sang Zhi lost patience. She decided to strike:
“Officers, factory leaders, since they are unjust, don’t blame me for being ruthless. I am reporting my uncle and eldest brother for abusing their power—using their positions to provide medical treatment to a vagrant, coercing him to eliminate dissenters. This behavior blatantly undermines socialism, damages collective interests, and shames the entire working population!”
Sang Jiqing’s smug smile vanished. He probably didn’t expect her to confront him like this in front of the leaders. His face twitched as he hurriedly claimed he had already disclosed Wang Daqing’s status to the police.
“Although he is a vagrant, life comes first. Our officers enforce the law with compassion; once treatment is complete, he will be returned to his registered residence. The medical fees were advanced by us, considering that he got into trouble because of you. Not a single cent of public money was taken by us!”
At this point, he no longer underestimated her. He had assumed Sang Zhi was still timid as before, expecting to strike a decisive blow—but things weren’t that simple. A confrontation that seemed routine revealed her cunning and ruthlessness. Some matters were spiraling out of control.
“Not taking a single cent of public money? Well said!” Sang Zhi had been waiting for that very line. She elegantly tucked stray hair behind her ear. Several young men in the crowd flushed at her composure.
Unfazed by her influence, she pulled out a tape and put it into a recorder borrowed from Aunt Su. She pressed play. The low, hushed voices on the tape said:
“Alright, use this name to register, say it’s a relative. They won’t check in detail. Once done, I’ll get you the medicine…”
“Bribe fee five yuan…”
“Too expensive?”
“Last time your mother had major surgery—without my falsification, could you have reimbursed 80%?”
“Alright, alright, I’ll pay…”
“That’s better.”
Each line recorded on the tape made the surrounding environment fall into silence. Sang Jiqing’s smug face drooped further. The tape captured the full extent of the crime, leaving no room for denial—utterly nailing him. Sang Jiqing wasn’t much better; his lips trembled, and he tried to remove his glasses to wipe sweat, but they fell to the ground.
Liu Meili’s teeth chattered, her face drained of color, teetering on the brink of terror.
“Isn’t that Big Brother’s voice?” the chubby Sang Weiguo asked, clueless why everyone suddenly went quiet.
“Shut up!” Sang Jiqing, dropping the pretense of being nice, kicked his foolish son aside.
The lumber factory was profitable, with good benefits and dedicated cooperative medical funds. Almost all employees had public healthcare. For major illnesses requiring hospitalization, with supervisor approval, 80% of medical expenses were reimbursed according to receipts. Prescription drugs and quantities were controlled within limits, but nearly all costs were covered.
However, the premise was that the patient had to be an employee of the lumber factory or a family member—“four types of people” (undesirable elements) could not participate. But where there are policies, there are workarounds. Some people—non-factory staff who couldn’t access public medical care—would resort to special methods. They could attempt a “hide it from everyone” trick, and who would notice?
Unfortunately for them, such crude tricks couldn’t fool Sang Zhi. She had already gone to the pharmacy early, intending to record evidence of the father and son’s crimes. Luckily, her cheap cousin was helpful, giving her the leverage she needed. And she had to thank her cheap uncle too—he cooperated and called in the police and factory leaders, or her grand performance couldn’t have taken place.
Earlier, he had been so righteous; now, he was utterly humiliated. His confident words still rang in his ears, only to be slapped down in an instant.
Sang Yun’s confused gaze swept over the crowd. She saw the looks of disgust and disdain, and also the serious expressions of the factory leaders and the officers flexing their fists. In this era, although everyone had their little schemes, they valued collective interests highly.
No matter how much evidence they produced to frame Sang Zhi—claiming she had bad character or lost her morals—it couldn’t compare to the impact of this one move.
Meanwhile, more and more people came to gawk. Someone pushed Sang Yun, knocking off her hat. Her charred, egg-shaped head was exposed to everyone. Sang Yun, already unsettled by her older brother’s incident, took a long moment to react. Although she had been embarrassed once last night, it had been in front of only a few people. Today, the factory leaders were all present!
She touched her head and, hearing the laughter around her, finally realized what had happened. Screaming, she grabbed her hat and ran off like a lunatic.
Wang Daqing not only witnessed Sang Zhi’s martial skill but also her ability to manipulate people’s minds. Meanwhile, the pain in his crushed testicle flared again. Previously, he had only heard cultured people say “chicken flies and eggs get broken,” but he didn’t understand. Now, with both the chicken and egg destroyed, he finally got it.
And the ancestors on the other side weren’t satisfied yet.
“Who knows how many doctors, out of respect for my uncle, treated similar patients before? If they were all ‘four types of people’ or non-factory staff, how many colleagues would be implicated…”
Now the onlookers couldn’t laugh. Many had family members working in hospitals—colleagues of the Sang father and son. As the girl said, in a society built on connections, who hasn’t bent the rules for relatives or colleagues? If the leaders conducted a strict investigation, who could guarantee they hadn’t been caught up? Feeling the knife cut one’s own flesh is what real pain is. Those close to the family were already picking up stones to throw.
Sang Zhi was clever; she had skillfully turned the villains’ own methods against them. At this point, no one cared about her kicking testicles.
The security office hadn’t expected the situation to reverse. Following the leaders’ instructions, they approached the stunned father and son.
“Please come with us for a moment.”
Sang Zhi finally felt some fear now, hearing them protest that it wasn’t their fault. Held by the police, they were like pigs about to be slaughtered at New Year, pants soaked.
“Mom, save me! I’m innocent! I don’t want to go to jail! I don’t want to be executed!”
The once proud and domineering man was now completely limp, like a heap of mud.
Wang Daqing, with his broken testicle, was so frightened he tried to flee, but as he turned, he received a pair of silver bracelets instead. The two officers grinned, showing their teeth.
“You’ll come with us too.” To distance themselves from the father and son, the officers had to show some action as well.
Sang Zhi smiled, quietly taking the credit. She knew that after the three “dogs biting each other,” even more interesting things would come out.
After the crowd dispersed, Sang Zhi was hungry. Not seeing the foolish mother and son around, knowing they wouldn’t be in the mood to cook for her, she decided to find food outside.
Liu Meili finally realized how formidable Sang Zhi was. Fearing for her husband and children, she tearfully begged her on her knees:
“Sang Zhi, it was Aunt’s fault before. Don’t hold it against us. Look, there’s no one left in your family. If your uncle and brother are taken away, outsiders will say you’re cursing your own family.”
Sang Zhi picked at her ear with her fingertip.
“None of your damn business.”
Liu Meili faltered, realizing the timing wasn’t right, and banged her head on the ground repeatedly:
“Your brother is still young; our family can’t be without a pillar…”
“None of your damn business!”