Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The question was direct and penetrating.

Wang Lan’s mouth fell open and she looked up with a startled expression. When her eyes met Qiao Lian’s, she looked down nervously once more. “I- I- I don’t know what you mean. You—”

Before she could finish, Qiao Lian probed aggressively, “Who made you switch the drug? Shen Liangchuan? Xia Yehua? Or was it Auntie Li? Or… Song Yuanxi?!”

Wang Lan was suddenly at a loss. “Madam, I really don’t know what you mean.”

Seeing that she wasn’t going to come clean no matter what, Qiao Lian narrowed her eyes. “Wang Lan, your family owed 200 000 to loan sharks. Where did you get that money to pay off your debt?”

Her words caused Wang Lan to squirm and hunch her shoulders. “I- I- I—”

“You got a hold of a huge sum of money out of the blue. If you don’t come clean with the truth, then I will have to ask the police for help.”

At this point, Qiao Lian picked up her cell phone and dialed 110. Just as she was about to hit the call button, Wang Lan panicked and grabbed her phone, crying, “Madam!”

Qiao Lian stared at her with a half-smile on her face.

Wang Lan was on the verge of tears and looked around nervously. Eventually she gritted her teeth and said, “Madam, come with me.”

Qiao Lian returned the cell phone to her pocket and followed Wang Lan, as the latter led her into the corner of the street.

It was a quiet spot and there were few passers-by.

When they went around the corner, Qiao Lian turned and looked at her in the eyes. “Who gave you the 200 000?”

Wang Lan bit her lip and just when Qiao Lian thought she was finally going to speak, the elderly woman fell to her knees with a thud, right before Qiao Lian.

Shocked at this unexpected response, Qiao Lian quickly took a step back and asked, “What are you doing?”

It was the twenty-first century, who knelt down this way?

Wang Lan’s eyes had turned bloodshot. She lowered her head and then deeply bowed three times to Qiao Lian.

With a red and swollen forehead, she looked up and said in between choking sobs, “Madam, please, let me go!”

Qiao Lian almost laughed in her fury.

She looked at Wang Lan steadily and said, “Wang Lan, you almost caused permanent damage to my health and ability to conceive. What makes you think I’d forgive someone who has done this to me?”

Wang Lan lowered her head with tears. “Madam, I really cannot say—”

Qiao Lian showed no sympathy. “Then I’ll see you at the police station.”

As soon as she said these words, a voice came from the side. “Mama, I’m hungry.”

Qiao Lian turned with surprise and saw a girl, eighteen or nineteen years old, with features marred by dirt. She came skipping and running in a strange way.

She blinked as she looked at Wang Lan and then plunked herself down on the ground. “Mama, I’m hungry.”

It was obvious that the girl was a little abnormal.

Wang Lan looked at the girl and suddenly burst into tears. Hugging the girl tightly, she looked at Qiao Lian. “Madam, Madam, I beg of you, please let this widow and her poor child without a father go. I cannot go to jail. My daughter went insane after she was taken away by the loan sharks, and now she can’t even take care of herself. I cannot go to jail, Madam, please, I beg of you…”

As she said this, she bowed to Qiao Lian repeatedly.

Qiao Lian pursed her lips tightly as she watched this pitiful scene unfold.

As she observed silently, she clenched her fists tightly. Eventually, holding her cell phone, she left without saying another word.

She could still hear them crying as she walked into the distance.

Taking a deep breath, she made a call to Shen Liangchuan. “Can you help me investigate Song Yuanxi’s recent bank transactions?”