A Woman Who Never Forgets a Grudge

“Young man, harder, put more strength into it!”

“Yes, that’s it! Much better now!”

The crowd listened to the recorded audio, their faces filled with confusion.

That was unmistakably the store manager’s voice.

Lan Ruoxi’s face flushed red as she stared at An Yi in disbelief.

An Yi cleared his throat awkwardly. “This is about wiping off production dates—don’t get the wrong idea. Keep listening.”

“Manager, isn’t this illegal?”

“Changing production dates and re-stamping codes is illegal? Well, not paying wages and selling unlicensed products are illegal too, but I’ve done all that. What consequences have I faced?”

“But these are expired goods—they could kill people!”

“Nonsense! Don’t mess things up, and don’t you dare breathe a word of this, or I’ll ruin you!”

“Do a good job, and I’ll pay you properly. I’m going out to tend the store—make sure you wipe all the production dates off these unlicensed products!”

“……”

As the recording ended, Yan Zhi’s eyes turned icy cold.

The store manager was truly terrified now, her face drained of color. “I’ve been wronged! This is a setup!”

“The evidence is undeniable. What more do you have to say for yourself?”

Yan Zhi crossed her arms, her voice low and authoritative.

Admittedly, though this woman had a bizarre way of thinking, her sheer presence was enough to intimidate the manager into silence.

“Captain Yan, this supermarket is definitely shady. Many of the products on the shelves are counterfeit, and some are even banned goods that were supposed to be pulled from circulation. Some of these foods clearly have altered production dates.”

A law enforcement officer, wearing white gloves, carefully snapped photos with a camera.

“You’re still selling this toxic baby formula?! The government has already banned it!”

Yan Zhi walked into the storage room and pulled out a can of formula, her brows furrowed in anger.

The formula contained excessive levels of harmful substances and had already caused multiple cases of deformed infants. Yet this supermarket had the audacity to hoard and sell it!

The store manager’s face was ghostly pale.

Baby formula wasn’t cheap, and she had plenty of stock. She had planned to discard the original packaging and sell it under a new label, slipping it past regulations and into unsuspecting households.

After all, deformed babies were just rare cases—she had gambled on no one finding out. But who could’ve guessed that because of An Yi, her entire stash had been exposed?

Now, the manager wished she could slap herself. What had she been thinking, trusting this guy with such work in the first place?!

“Cuff her! Take her to the car first!”

Yan Zhi ordered coldly.

As she was hauled away, the manager felt nothing but despair. With these charges stacked against her, she was likely heading to prison.

“Um… she also owes us back pay!”

A chubby employee raised his hand timidly.

“She bullies the staff too! And withholds bonuses!”

“Oh, and I’ve seen her sexually harass male coworkers!”

“……”

When the wall crumbles, everyone pushes. In an instant, accusations against the manager poured out like a flood.

An Yi and the others could only watch in amazement.

Lan Ruoxi quietly sighed in relief. At least she had just started—otherwise, she might not have gotten paid at all.

Qiu Xu opened his mouth but hesitated, unsure what to say.

What was going on?!

Suddenly, this supermarket witch had become the center of attention!

Shouldn’t the real topic be how to punish the guy who trashed the store?!

“Officer, even if they were expired, those were still private goods. This guy destroyed so much—surely he can’t just walk away without consequences?”

Qiu Xu sneered, his eyes fixed on An Yi.

Let him off?

No way!

As the young master of Hongtu Real Estate, he had plenty of ways to make An Yi’s life hell.

Lan Yihe chimed in, “Exactly! This is downright villainous! He mustn’t be let off!”

Yan Zhi frowned. “Explain yourself. Why did you do this?”

Why?

Ask the damn system that gave me this mission!

An Yi kept his composure and declared righteously, “Because these were expired goods that could harm people! I couldn’t let the manager resell them and endanger the public. So I chose to destroy them! Officer, if I’ve done wrong, punish me. But even if time turned back, I’d do the same thing again!”

His words rang with noble conviction, delivered with fiery passion.

At that moment, An Yi seemed to glow with divine righteousness.

The onlookers were stunned. This guy was actually… heroic?

“Oh? So you admit you’re the one who smashed everything?”

Yan Zhi stepped closer to An Yi, smiling sweetly.

Why was her logic fixated on this?!

Shouldn’t she be praising him as a righteous vigilante, a model citizen?!

An Yi broke into a cold sweat. “W-Well…”

Miscalculation. There were no cameras in the storage room—with his cunning (ahem, wisdom), he could’ve easily denied it.

Compared to the few shelves he’d wrecked in the front, the goods in the storage were nothing.

But damaging property? The penalty depended on the value of what was destroyed!

“What’s wrong? Nervous?” Yan Zhi leaned in, scrutinizing his face.

With her this close, An Yi could even feel her breath.

“Uh… I’m lactose intolerant.”

An Yi glanced downward and stated gravely.

The room fell dead silent. A few officers even turned green.

This guy had a death wish—flirting with their iron-fisted captain?!

Yan Zhi’s cheeks tinted pink, but she didn’t seem angry. Instead, she pinched An Yi’s cheek. “Quite the smooth talker. Hope you’re just as charming in custody! Cuff him!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

An officer carefully slapped the silver bracelets onto An Yi’s wrists, shaking his head in awe.

This guy was the first to ever flirt with their boss. He was doomed.

“Officer, An Yi didn’t mean any harm! He just destroyed some expired products to protect customers from being scammed…”

Lan Ruoxi stepped forward, pleading.

Yan Zhi looked at her gently. “You’re very pretty, but if you obstruct justice, I’ll have to detain you too.”

Lan Ruoxi bit her lip. “But—”

“It’s fine, Ruoxi. Don’t say anymore.”

An Yi stopped her.

He knew all too well how stubborn—and petty—Yan Zhi could be.

Their minor clash before had made her fixate on him. Changing her mind now would be harder than teaching a pig to climb trees.

Yan Zhi grinned and patted An Yi’s head. “Good, good. You’ve got spirit. I like that. Take all the cuffed ones away. Squad, move out!”

Qiu Xu smirked. “Thank you, Captain Yan. Make sure this troublemaker gets what he deserves!”

“Don’t worry, that tall guy won’t get off easy.”

Qiu Xu: “…”

Then, Yan Zhi suddenly turned back, smiling brightly at Qiu Xu. “Oh, one more thing. Hongtu Real Estate’s reputation is already in the gutter. If I catch wind of you targeting anyone, you’d better think hard about your company’s future. Your father isn’t getting any younger, you know.”

Qiu Xu broke into a cold sweat.

He understood—this officer was shielding An Yi, warning him against retaliation.

Why was she protecting this guy?!