The old man was instantly choked into silence.
Chen Shu strode away, leaving behind only a dashing silhouette.
"Interesting," the old man muttered, shaking his head before dozing off again.
Chen Shu made a detour to the herbal medicine shop, purchasing the remaining ingredients. His modest savings were instantly depleted. It was as if he had returned to square one.
He returned to his apartment complex, preparing to finish concocting the potion.
"Huh? Why is it so lively here?"
He saw over a dozen people gathered at the entrance of the complex. His innate curiosity drew him towards the crowd.
"Excuse me, why is there a thousand yuan missing from my bag? And how did my phone get broken?"
A girl with elaborate makeup, but a sharp, disdainful expression, questioned. Opposite her stood a small girl with slightly red eyes, on the verge of tears, stammering, unsure what to say.
The onlookers murmured amongst themselves, but none stepped forward to intervene.
Chen Shu pushed through the crowd, reaching the small girl. "Niu Niu, what happened?"
Chen Shu picked up the little girl. She was the daughter of his downstairs neighbors, so he naturally knew her.
"Brother Chen Shu..."
The little girl's chubby face crumpled with grievance. It was as if she had found a pillar of support, and she began to cry uncontrollably.
"You must be her guardian?" the girl opposite him said impatiently, furrowing her brows.
"Tell brother what happened," Chen Shu asked gently, completely ignoring the other girl.
Niu Niu finally stopped crying and recounted the events. She had been playing at the complex entrance and found a small bag. Not knowing who it belonged to, she waited at the spot for two hours until the owner arrived. Niu Niu, who had been happy about doing a good deed, never expected the owner to turn on her. Instead of expressing gratitude, she insisted Niu Niu had taken the money from the bag and broken her phone.
"Brother Chen Shu, did I do something wrong?" the little girl asked, her eyes full of sorrow. In her young mind, she couldn't comprehend why doing a good deed would lead to such an outcome.
"Mother of pearl? This sort of thing happened?" Chen Shu clenched his fists, struggling to restrain himself from lashing out.
At that moment, the girl said with extreme impatience, "How do you plan to resolve this? My time is limited!"
Chen Shu's expression turned to anger, and options immediately appeared before him.
[Option One: Compensate the other party for the lost money. Reward: Gain the title "Legendary Scapegoat." Effect: Increased chance of encountering misfortune.]
[Option Two: Ignore the other party and leave with Niu Niu. Reward: Mid-grade Frost Potion.]
[Option Three: Argue the case, and if necessary, use special means to make the other party apologize. Reward: Large amount of Beast Taming Power.]
"Is there even a choice?" Chen Shu scooped up Niu Niu and asked with a cold smile, "How do you want this handled?"
The girl's impatient expression flickered with greed. "Give me back the missing Chinese yuan, and replace my phone and bag with new ones."
Chen Shu grinned, "Heh, you're ugly, but you have grand ambitions."
"What the hell do you mean by that?! Just tell me if you're going to pay! If not, I'll call the police." The girl's expression turned cold as she took out her phone, threatening to call the authorities.
Chen Shu looked at her dismissively and said, "You yourself said there was a thousand yuan and a good phone in your bag. This bag has nothing in it, so of course, it's not your bag. Why should I pay?"
Hearing this, the onlookers felt that it made sense.
With that, Chen Shu's right hand shot out, forcibly snatching the bag. "Your bag? Hand it over!"
The girl, unable to anticipate Chen Shu's sudden move, watched as her bag was taken. Her anger surged, and she shrieked, "Nonsense! If the bag isn't mine, whose is it?"
Chen Shu shook the bag in his hand and said, "How can you prove it? The contents don't match now."
"My ID card is in there. My name is Hao Meili. You can take it out!"
Chen Shu produced an ID card and compared it. "Big sister, are you serious? Are you sure this isn't your mom's ID card? The photo on the ID card looks completely different from you!"
Hao Meili's face flushed. She knew he was mocking her. "Just look at the name!"
"What does the name prove? You can be called Hao Meili, he can be called Hao Meili, and I can also... cough, cough, of course, I wouldn't use that name." Chen Shu said calmly, then suddenly thought of something. "How about this? I'll ask you one more question. If you answer correctly, I'll admit the bag is yours."
"What question?"
Chen Shu took out the girl's ID card, covered it with both hands, held it flat, and extended it. "Which one is the front, the top or the bottom?"
Hao Meili's teeth itched with anger. What kind of question was this? What did it have to do with proving her identity?
"Not answering? Then there's nothing I can do." Chen Shu shrugged, preparing to take the bag and leave.
"Wait!" Hao Meili gritted her teeth and randomly guessed, "The top one is the front!"
Chen Shu nodded, flipped his hands, and revealed the back of the ID card.
"Are you messing with me?!" Hao Meili's eyes widened. She felt completely played. With this method, wasn't the answer entirely up to him?
Unexpectedly, Chen Shu nodded with utmost seriousness. "Clever! You saw through it!"
The others burst into laughter. When it came to infuriating people, Chen Shu was an expert. In the entire Nanjiang City, if he claimed to be second, no one would dare claim first.
Hao Meili: "You're a grown man, bullying me, a little girl. Is that amusing?"
"Auntie, that's enough! I'm just a student," Chen Shu waved his hand, feigning humility. "I didn't see you being so soft when you were causing trouble for others."
"What exactly do you want?" Hao Meili began to waver, not expecting Chen Shu to be so troublesome.
Chen Shu said with ease, "It's simple. Apologize first, then we can talk about other matters!"
Hao Meili lowered her head, falling into silence. After a long moment, she said softly, "I... I'm sorry."
Niu Niu wasn't wearing her glasses and couldn't hear clearly.
"You?!" Hao Meili felt incredibly frustrated. She took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry!"
"That's more like it." Chen Shu looked at Niu Niu in his arms and asked, "Do you forgive auntie?"
"I... I forgive her." Niu Niu was a child, after all, kind-hearted and didn't want to make things too difficult for the other party.
"Reward gained: Large amount of Beast Taming Power!"
Chen Shu nodded and said, "Did you hear that? Niu Niu didn't forgive you. I'm taking the bag then." With that, he hugged Niu Niu and walked into the complex.
"???" Hao Meili felt a surge of anger rush to her head. It was unbearable! "Are you deaf? She already forgave me!"
Hao Meili pointed at Chen Shu, her hands trembling. She was clearly furious. "You can't prove the bag is yours. Go call the police yourself! Let them prove it!"
Chen Shu paid her no mind, holding the bag and leading Niu Niu away.
"Damn you!!" Hao Meili panted heavily, her body twitching slightly as if having a fit.
The surrounding crowd pointed and whispered, finding Chen Shu's actions incredibly satisfying. It truly was a case of "the wicked have their own wicked to deal with."