An Ning, looking innocent and helpless, naturally walked out of the police station without any trouble.

As for Zhu Jianshe, he was detained by the police. Words, once spoken, couldn’t be taken back so easily.

Walking out of the police station, An Ning gratefully thanked the officers.

"Thank you so much. I’m so glad you were here. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known what to do."

The few officers at the entrance told her not to mention it, their smiles not quite reaching their eyes. The key thing was, they hadn’t actually done anything at all!

An Ning finished her thanks and turned to leave. The smile on her face instantly vanished, replaced by a mysterious expression.

’It wasn’t that she didn’t know how to act; she just didn’t see the need to with certain people.’

But Zhu Jianshe had crossed a line. If someone from the An family lacked the skill and suffered a loss, she would accept it.

But to cheat first and then resort to violence... well, there was no need for reason anymore.

An Ning rode her bicycle to An Guoping’s school.

When he was called out to the high school entrance and saw An Ning, An Guoping was terrified.

’Don’t tell me Second Brother is... gone?’

You couldn’t blame An Guoping for thinking that. Who would come looking for him at school unless something had happened to his second brother?

"Sis—"

An Guoping’s voice trembled as he called out the single word.

"Did someone bully you?"

For a moment, An Ning didn’t connect his fear to An Guoming’s situation and thought someone had been bullying An Guoping again.

"No, no, Sis, nobody’s bullying me. Are you here because Second Brother is..."

"Oh—no. Second Brother is fine. Well, not exactly fine, but he’s alive. He’s injured and recovering at home."

After An Ning’s explanation, An Guoping finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had been so worried all morning that he couldn’t even focus in class.

"I came to drop the bicycle off at your school. Ride it home when you’re done with classes tonight. I have to go into the county for something."

After explaining, An Ning didn’t say what she was going to do in the county. She just reminded An Guoping not to forget the bicycle, then turned and left.

An Ning left and caught the afternoon bus to the county.

She arrived in the county just as the workday was ending. Many people in work clothes were riding by on bicycles or walking in large groups.

An Ning easily located the bag-making factory and squatted in a corner to wait.

As luck would have it, she soon spotted Zhu Jianshe’s cousin, Director Zhu.

An Ning rose and unhurriedly fell in behind Director Zhu, tailing him all the way to his home. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

An Ning silently memorized the address. Instead of leaving, she found a spot across the street from Director Zhu’s house and began her stakeout, a large steamed bun in hand.

’If you want to destroy someone, killing them is the simplest way. But this wasn’t the interstellar age; she couldn’t do that here.’

’The other method, then, is to find their weakness. And that was exactly what she was doing now.’

’She would start with surveillance.’

’First, gather intelligence. Then, strike.’

Director Zhu didn’t come out that night.

The next morning, An Ning followed Director Zhu to the factory. She waited until the end of his shift that evening, but he just went straight home. Nothing out of the ordinary.

An Ning wasn’t in a hurry. She had time.

She calmly took out another flatbread, devoured it in a few bites, and continued her watch.

She watched him for three straight days. His routine never changed: factory to home, home to factory.

On the fourth day, An Ning continued her surveillance. After Director Zhu went into the factory, he came out again by himself shortly before ten o’clock.

An Ning, still crouched by the wall, finally broke into a smile.

An Ning tailed Director Zhu as he walked, eventually arriving at a new address.

An Ning, following from behind, knew something was up. After turning into an alley, Director Zhu kept glancing left and right, looking over his shoulder with the furtive air of a guilty thief.

Sure enough, after Director Zhu knocked a distinct rhythm on the door, the wooden panel quickly opened a crack. A hand with a different skin tone grabbed his clothes and pulled him inside.

Once the door was shut, An Ning emerged from around the corner. After surveying the area, she scaled the wall and climbed onto the roof.

She extended her spiritual power, accurately pinpointing Director Zhu’s location. Then, she leaped from the roof, landing without a sound.

An Ning crouched beneath the window to eavesdrop.

Inside, a bout of vigorous activity took place first. When the sounds stopped, An Ning glanced at her watch and curled her lip.

"You scoundrel, so you finally remembered to come see me."

"How could I stay away? You have no idea how much I’ve missed you."

"Hmph!"

The woman inside feigned anger, and Director Zhu began to placate her. They quickly made up and started to talk.

Outside, a smile played on An Ning’s lips. She was hearing the information she wanted. ’Not bad at all.’

About half an hour later, the pair inside started getting dressed. An Ning immediately stood up, scaled the wall back onto the roof, and fled.

After she left, An Ning began to plan her next move.

Once she had a plan, she went to Director Zhu’s home. She didn’t go inside, but instead began observing his wife’s daily routine.

As night fell, An Ning departed. She didn’t check into a hotel, instead wandering the streets.

Around midnight, An Ning scaled the wall and entered the bag-making factory.

She found the accounting office and, after a thorough search, took the ledgers. From there, An Ning went to the director’s office and searched it as well, but came up empty.

Undeterred, An Ning took the ledgers, climbed back over the wall, and headed for the home of Director Zhu’s mistress.

She used her spiritual power to knock the mistress unconscious, found the private ledger the two had discussed, took it, and returned everything to its original state.

After leaving, An Ning resumed her watch on Director Zhu’s house.

At daybreak, Director Zhu left for work, and his wife emerged from the house again.

An Ning followed her for the entire day, getting a good sense of her schedule and the scope of her activities.

That evening, at closing time, An Ning didn’t continue her stakeout. Instead, she went to the bag-making factory to wait for Director Zhu’s secretary.

When he emerged, An Ning followed, pulling a prepared cloth from her pocket.

When they reached a certain alley, An Ning, her face masked, pressed a knife-like object into the small of the secretary’s back and spoke in a coarse voice.

"Don’t scream, or you die."

"Don’t! Don’t! I’ll give you money! I’ll give you money!"

An Ning jabbed him with the object. "I want to know about your Director Zhu," she said harshly.

Half an hour later, An Ning slipped out of the alley and quickly vanished.

The secretary, left alone in the alley, was a nervous wreck. But he didn’t dare tell a soul and, in the end, simply went home.

Meanwhile, An Ning went to the supply co-op, bought identical paper and notebooks, found a secluded spot, and began to transcribe the ledgers.

She made three copies in total: one for Director Zhu’s main rival, one for the Bureau of Industry and Commerce, and one for the Public Security Bureau. She kept the originals for the time being.

The content and handwriting of all three copies were perfect duplicates of the originals.

With everything prepared, An Ning lay low in the county for two more days. Then, that night, the three documents appeared in the homes of their intended recipients—in the most conspicuous place possible: on their pillows.

It was a place no one could possibly ignore.

After delivering the last document, An Ning looked up at the starry sky.

Wait.