An Ning brought the police to the town’s supply and marketing cooperative. When Zhu JianShe was led downstairs by the officers, his heart skipped a beat the moment he saw her.

’How is she here?’

An Ning had simply left too deep an impression on him.

"Zhu JianShe, correct? We’ve received a report that you’ve committed fraud. Come with us to the police station."

"How is that possible? I’m the manager of the supply and marketing cooperative. How could I possibly commit fraud!"

Of course, Zhu JianShe couldn’t admit it. He flatly denied the accusation, his voice booming, showing no sign of guilt.

"Officers, there must be some misunderstanding. I’m willing to cooperate with the investigation, but you can’t make accusations like that."

Zhu JianShe spoke with such earnestness that for a moment, a few of the onlookers were actually convinced.

An Ning, who was standing to the side, stepped forward with a smile. "It’s fine. Just cooperate with the investigation for now. If you’re guilty, you can’t escape. If you’re innocent, you won’t be wrongly accused."

"There’s no need to look for sympathy here. We’ll find out the truth once we get to the station."

What An Ning said made more sense.

Zhu JianShe’s expression darkened, but he forced a laugh and said he would certainly cooperate. He made a show of arranging things at the supply and marketing cooperative before finally following the police out and heading toward the station.

Along the way, Zhu JianShe constantly tried to cozy up to the police, hoping to gain some kind of advantage.

But the police were no pushovers. They just made small talk the entire way, not revealing a single substantive detail.

In fact, they even gave Zhu JianShe a stern warning.

"Behave yourself. And stop with the petty schemes."

Zhu JianShe gave an embarrassed laugh. "Just nervous, that’s all. Just nervous."

The moment he lowered his head, his expression turned grim.

Soon, the group arrived at the police station, and the interrogation of Zhu JianShe began.

Zhu JianShe denied everything. He adamantly insisted he was an honest, law-abiding citizen and that the backpacks had been legally purchased from his older brother’s bag factory.

Meanwhile, An Ning was also being questioned, but the scene was completely different.

The interrogation room: three walls, no windows.

There was a table in the middle. An Ning sat on the side near the door, facing two police officers—one asking questions, the other taking notes.

"How do you know Zhu JianShe?"

"I don’t. My second brother, An Guoming, was the one handling the business deal. I don’t know how they met."

Before the officer could ask another question, An Ning laid out everything she knew.

"My second brother was beaten so badly his ribs were fractured. He was treated last night by Dr. Lin in the orthopedics department of the town hospital. He’s now recovering at home."

"If you officers go to question my second brother, you can also take the opportunity to inspect the fabric we have at home, as well as the six sewing machines we bought. There are witnesses for all of this in the village."

"Finally, this is the phone number for Director Li of the county textile factory. You can contact him to verify our fabric purchase."

"Of course, you can also check with Director Zhu at the bag factory to see if he has any record of purchasing this batch of fabric, or if his factory has ever even made backpacks in the same style."

An Ning took a few sheets of paper from her pocket, unfolded them, and laid them on the table.

"These are the design schematics for our backpacks. No one has them but us. Even if they tried to copy our bags, their design would be different from ours."

When she finished, An Ning leaned back in her chair and asked, "Any more questions?"

The young officer across from her, who was taking notes, had been scribbling furiously. When he finally finished, he looked at his senior partner, his eyes asking, ’Do we ask anything else?’

It was the first time the senior officer had ever met someone so clear-headed and well-prepared, someone who was practically giving them a step-by-step guide on how to investigate the case.

"Ahem—alright, that’s all for now. We’ll contact you after we’ve investigated."

An Ning didn’t move. She asked, "What about Zhu JianShe?"

"If you let him go, what’s to stop him from contacting Director Zhu in the county and fabricating evidence?"

The senior officer across from her actually nodded in agreement. "That’s not impossible."

"Alright, I’ll call the county police department and have them coordinate on this."

An Ning stood up, the chair letting out a CREAK.

"Thank you."

An Ning, ever so polite, then walked out.

"Sir, she’s gone."

"I can see that!"

The senior officer shot his rookie an exasperated glare. ’He really needs to work on his perceptiveness.’

As An Ning stepped out, she saw Zhu JianShe emerging as well. His expression was ugly, though she didn’t know what had been said during his interrogation.

The corners of An Ning’s mouth curved up into an undisguised smile.

"Little girl, you’d better come clean. I haven’t done anything wrong."

Even now, Zhu JianShe refused to back down. He believed the plan he and his brother had concocted was flawless. All the paperwork was in order; no one could touch them.

"Your biggest mistake was hurting my second brother."

There was no trace of a smile in An Ning’s eyes as her spiritual power instantly invaded Zhu JianShe’s mind.

"I’ll beat your brother to death! What can you do about it!"

"A bunch of country bumpkins trying to play businessman! Do you people even know how to read? You’re a laughingstock!"

Zhu JianShe’s sudden outburst made An Ning "jump" in fright.

"I knew it was you! You tricked my second brother! You knew perfectly well those were our backpacks. Not only did you steal them for yourself, but you also beat up my brother!"

A savage grin spread across Zhu JianShe’s face.

"So what if it was me! What can you do about it? Taking your backpacks was me doing you a favor."

An Ning covered her mouth, a look of disbelief on her face. With tears welling in her eyes, she looked at the nearby officers.

"Officers, he confessed."

The officers thought the day’s events were utterly bizarre. In the interrogation room, Zhu JianShe had been completely airtight, no matter what they asked.

His paperwork was all in order, and he had even counter-accused An Ning’s side of stealing their idea.

In short, they had gotten nothing out of him.

’But what just happened? How did he spill everything in the blink of an eye?’

At An Ning’s urging, an officer snapped a pair of handcuffs onto Zhu JianShe’s wrists.

The cold touch of the metal finally snapped him out of his frenzied state. He frowned repeatedly. ’What just happened?’

’He clearly remembered every word he had just said, but he shouldn’t have said any of it.’

In a flash, Zhu JianShe remembered the last time at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative. It had been just like this, and this same girl had been there.

"It’s you! It’s you!"

Zhu JianShe tore himself free from the officers’ grasp and lunged at An Ning, looking as if he wanted to take her down with him.

An Ning looked utterly terrified. Seemingly not knowing what to do, she dodged left and right around the office until she was finally backed into a corner.

She squeezed her eyes shut, grabbed a wooden board from a nearby table, and swung it with all her might.

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

She rained a flurry of blows down on him.

"Stop! Stop it!"

The officers rushed forward, but An Ning, trapped against the wall, seemed to be lost in a fearful frenzy, her eyes still shut as she swung the board wildly.

"Stay back! Stay back!"

When An Ning finally stopped, she was trembling in fear, looking at the officers with innocent eyes.

"I... I didn’t mean to."