CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 39 TOO DIRECT, RIGHT?

"Heh heh, it’s... it’s... it’s okay, I guess!"

Seeing Xia Liang’s foolish demeanor, Susu’s initial suspicion subsided. After all, only a clueless homebody would be so flustered in a situation like this. This made the viewers in the livestream green with envy.

[My God! Is this the power of a tall, rich, and handsome man?]

[Look at the surprise on Susu’s face! I’m so jealous!]

[Seeing Susu act like she’s hit the jackpot... she’s still so young.]

[Just waiting for the Anchor to turn on her!]

After her initial shock passed, Susu composed herself and didn’t hesitate to sling an arm over Xia Liang’s shoulder. "Brother Xia, where are we going now?"

While pulling Susu’s pink suitcase, Xia Liang walked ahead. "We’re going to the Protectors’ Hall first."

Hearing this, Susu stiffened. "You said... the Protectors’ Hall? W-Why?"

The viewers in the livestream burst out laughing at her reaction.

[HAHAHA! Look at Susu’s face right now!]

[Damn! Anchor, do you have to be so direct?]

[Holy crap! Anchor, aren’t you afraid she’ll bolt?]

[Scary! Are scams this blunt nowadays?]

Fortunately, Xia Liang wasn’t trying to scare her. He explained, "We’re going to collect some money."

A look of confusion crossed Susu’s face. "??? Huh? Collect money?"

Xia Liang nodded and gave a modified account of yesterday’s events. Listening to him, Susu’s eyes began to sparkle, though how much of her reaction was genuine was anyone’s guess.

After leaving the airport terminal, the two chatted as they walked to the parking garage. Although it was mostly Susu asking questions and Xia Liang answering, the atmosphere was pleasant. When Susu saw the stunning Lamborghini Veneno, her eyes lit up once again.

I really did back the right horse! It was worth all the money I spent cultivating my persona, not to mention turning down those other scammers to focus all my efforts on Xia Liang.

The thought that the car might be a rental never even crossed her mind. How could you rent a car when only a handful existed in the entire world? She was quite confident in her judgment. Well, that, and she’d caught a glimpse of the car’s purchase contract that Xia Liang hadn’t quite managed to tuck away.

As the car sped toward the city’s Protectors’ Hall, the livestream audience was in complete awe of Xia Liang.

[Master! My knees are yours!]

[Amen! Poor Susu is so naive, getting tricked just like that!]

[To the poster above: Susu is a seasoned scammer herself. The Anchor’s schemes just run way deeper.]

[Let’s all observe three minutes of silence for the beautiful Susu.]

[Amen...]

Before long, Xia Liang pulled up to the city Protectors’ Hall. As a scammer, Susu had a natural aversion to such places. She had wondered if Xia Liang was deceiving her, but during the drive, he’d taken a call, and the voice on the other end didn’t sound fake. Feeling dizzy and confused, she simply let Xia Liang lead her inside.

In a moment, they were at the entrance where Yang Tianyi was waiting. Xia Liang walked over with Susu. "Excuse me, are you Captain Yang?"

Hearing his name, Yang Tianyi’s eyes brightened. "You must be Xia Liang. That’s right, I’m Yang Tianyi. It’s good to meet you. Please, come with me."

Xia Liang nodded. Since the following events couldn’t be streamed, he instructed his "mosquito" camera to keep filming Susu while he followed Yang Tianyi into an interrogation room to give his statement. The official record omitted the truth about going to the back mountain. Instead, it claimed that he had witnessed Scarface abducting Qingxue and had rescued her. He explained that Qingxue hadn’t been able to come in because of a leg injury.

After Xia Liang finished recounting the revised story, Yang Tianyi extended his hand gratefully. "Thank you very much, Mister Xia. Without you, we would have had a hard time catching him."

Xia Liang waved his hands dismissively. "It was nothing. Eliminating criminals is everyone’s civic duty."

"Hahaha!" Yang Tianyi laughed heartily, then stood and clapped Xia Liang on the shoulder. "You’re pretty tough, being able to knock out a vicious criminal like that."

Xia Liang just gave a slight chuckle. "I’ve had some training. Besides, he underestimated me."

Yang Tianyi smiled at that and didn’t press further. After all, Xia Liang’s statement largely matched the other testimonies. He nodded to a subordinate at the door, who soon entered carrying two cases.

"Mister Xia, this is the bounty money. The case is closed, and this is what you’ve earned. Please, count it."

Seeing the cases, Xia Liang rolled his eyes speechlessly. "Captain Yang, are you kidding me? For one Yuan, couldn’t you just have given me a single bill, or a Jade Coin? What’s with all this?"

The corners of Yang Tianyi’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t think Xia Liang was just showing off. He had seen him get out of the sports car, after all, and had felt a pang of envy himself. "Not everyone is a tycoon like you. A large denomination like one Yuan is hard for most people to spend. If we’d known someone of your stature was coming to collect, we wouldn’t have bothered changing it all into one-mil bills. Want to count them?"

Xia Liang considered this and figured it made sense. Other than him, who would casually carry such a large denomination in their bag? Still, the suggestion that he count it himself made him roll his eyes again. "One Yuan is 10,000 one-mil bills. How long would it take me to count all that? It’s from the government. I trust you!"

He patted his chest confidently, picked up the cases, and walked out of the interrogation room.

Watching Xia Liang leave, Yang Tianyi’s subordinates sighed with emotion. "That guy really hit the jackpot. A one-Yuan bounty... how many years would a person have to work to earn that much money?"

"Yeah, I’m so jealous! And I never imagined one Yuan, converted into one-mil bills, would be so heavy!"

The Protectors were green with envy. But when they finished speaking, they noticed Yang Tianyi staring at them coldly. "What, you’re not convinced?" he asked indifferently.

The two men hurriedly shook their heads.

"Hmph!" Yang Tianyi snorted. "That was all him. Don’t let his clean-cut looks fool you; if it came to a fight, he could take both of you on. He subdued Liu Mo, and Liu Mo had a gun. If you two had gone, you’d have just ended up increasing the bounty."

With a dismissive wave of his hand, as if disappointed in them, he sent them away. The two men left quickly, sighing in relief.

Meanwhile, in the main hall of the Protectors’ Hall, Susu was a bundle of nerves. Her palms were sweating, but she had to pretend to be perfectly calm, smiling and nodding at the Protectors who walked by—a performance that earned her plenty of ridicule from her livestream viewers.