"Qin Chuan, what's wrong now?"
Li Ya also sat up from the side of the bed, a thin quilt covering her chest, revealing only her fair shoulders and arms, her skin smooth as snow, shimmering with a crystalline glow.
Qin Chuan replied as he put on his clothes, "Zheng Chengdao just called to say he caught the culprit!"
"What?!"
Upon hearing this news, Li Ya's pretty face was filled with surprise, and she quickly got up to find her clothes.
"What are you doing? It's late at night, I'll go alone!"
Qin Chuan said as he saw Li Ya's movements.
"That won't do!"
"I have to go too!"
Li Ya's attitude was firm, and she gritted her teeth, "I want to see, which scoundrel has such a deep grudge against me behind my back!"
Seeing this, Qin Chuan said nothing more. A few minutes later, the two of them had quickly gone downstairs, started the Santana, and headed straight for Ximen Street.
Ximen Street was a remote alley in the county town.
In the beginning, there was a cannery here, but due to poor management, it had long gone bankrupt. The factory had been empty for years and had become extremely desolate.
It was midnight, the night was dark, and one could not see their hand in front of their face.
The entire abandoned factory, like the terrifying old houses in novels and movies, exuded a deep and chilling aura.
Occasionally, the calls of crows or other birds could be heard, adding to the sense of dread.
"Qin... Qin Chuan, I'm scared!!"
Li Ya followed behind, feeling the deep and chilling aura around them. She couldn't help but tightly grab Qin Chuan's sleeve, her face pale.
"What are you afraid of? There are no ghosts here!"
Qin Chuan said casually.
"Ah!!"
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Li Ya suddenly hugged his arm tightly, her slender body pressed against him, trembling all over.
"Please, stop talking!!"
"I'm really scared!"
Feeling the tremor from the delicate body beside him, Qin Chuan realized Li Ya was truly afraid. He quickly reached out an arm and hugged Li Ya's waist.
"I'm sorry, I was just talking nonsense. Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid!!"
Qin Chuan comforted her.
Li Ya, in his arms, gradually calmed down but still held Qin Chuan's arm tightly, unwilling to let go, urging Qin Chuan to hurry.
"Brother Dao?!"
"Brother Dao, where are you?"
Qin Chuan walked towards the abandoned factory, holding a flashlight in one hand and Li Ya's small hand in the other.
It was truly desolate here, with weeds and garbage all over the ground.
In the darkness, a flashlight beam suddenly shone from the factory opposite. Qin Chuan quickened his pace upon seeing it.
As they approached, Zheng Chengdao's figure emerged from the darkness in a corner of the factory, a cigarette dangling from his lips, its tip flickering on and off.
"Brother Dao!"
Qin Chuan called out.
Zheng Chengdao grunted, "Come with me, the person is this way!"
He then led the way, and Qin Chuan, holding Li Ya's hand, quickly followed.
The three of them turned left and right, finally arriving in front of a dilapidated bungalow inside, from which a dim light emanated, accompanied by voices.
Zheng Chengdao pushed the door open, and the voices inside immediately stopped.
Qin Chuan and Li Ya, following behind, saw two other men inside the bungalow. They were about the same age as Zheng Chengdao, in their thirties, and both were tall.
One was fair-skinned but very thin, while the other had a bushy beard and thick hair.
However, they both had a swaggering, defiant demeanor, clearly involved in underworld activities.
"Yo, so this is our God of Wealth? I didn't expect him to be so young!"
Seeing Qin Chuan and Li Ya enter, the fair-skinned man spoke first, his tone laced with flirtatiousness.
"And Director Li, indeed a beautiful woman. With this looks and figure, there's no one else in the entire county who can compare!"
Qin Chuan, unsure of these two men's origins, immediately looked to Zheng Chengdao for an explanation.
"Let me introduce you, these two are my brothers!"
Zheng Chengdao understood Qin Chuan's gaze and pointed to the fair-skinned man, "This is Paigu, and this is Heizi!"
Qin Chuan felt a pang of amusement. The names were quite descriptive, perfectly embodying the characteristics of the two men.
"Hello, Brother Paigu, hello, Brother Heizi!"
However, he spoke sweetly.
Paigu and Heizi heard the address and grinned together.
"Little brother has a sweet tongue, no wonder you could woo such a beauty like Director Li at such a young age!"
Heizi said, his eyes full of ambiguity.
Li Ya couldn't stand the gaze and shrank behind Qin Chuan, a blush rising on her fair cheeks.
Few people knew about her and Qin Chuan's relationship, so being pointed out like this made her shy.
"Can't be helped, I was born with this kind of mouth, so I have good relationships with women!"
Qin Chuan smiled nonchalantly, quite freely.
Then, he changed the subject and asked, "Where is the scoundrel who smashed my shop?"
"Here!"
Zheng Chengdao suddenly lifted his foot and kicked open a door beside him. Instantly, a "whimper" sound rushed out.
Under the dim light, Qin Chuan saw three dark figures in the corner of the adjacent room.
These three men were all bound tightly with ropes, and their mouths were covered with tape. Upon seeing the room door open, fear flickered in each of their eyes.
Qin Chuan turned on his flashlight, and the dazzling beam shone on the faces of the three men, forcing them to lower their heads and evade the strong light.
Qin Chuan strode closer, extended a palm, grabbed one man's chin forcefully, and twisted it, asking, "Do you recognize him?"
This question, of course, was for Li Ya, who was standing beside him.
Li Ya shook her head, "No, I've never seen him before!"
Qin Chuan released his hand and, in the same manner, grabbed another man's chin and forced it to turn.
"This one?"
"Don't recognize him either!"
Li Ya frowned and shook her head.
As for the last person, Qin Chuan directly grabbed his hair this time and pulled forcefully, causing the man to let out a groan of pain.
"This... this person looks familiar, wait! Let me think!"
Upon clearly seeing the face of the last person, Li Ya immediately exclaimed with surprise.
"No need to think, they are all Guo Bao Kun's lackeys!"
At this moment, a voice rang out, and Zheng Chengdao walked over.
"Yes! They are Guo Bao Kun's people, I remember now!"
Li Ya added. Guo Bao Kun had pestered her before, and he had brought several lackeys with him; this was one of them.
"So, the mastermind behind smashing our storefront was the Guo family?"
Qin Chuan's voice lost its warmth.
Li Ya's pretty face was also filled with frost.
In fact, they had already speculated about who the mastermind behind the smashing of their shop was, and the Guo family was the biggest suspect.
This was because, in the entire county, the Guo family was the biggest competitor to Butterfly Apparel Factory. If Butterfly Apparel Factory collapsed, it would be most beneficial to the Guo family.
The opening of the Golden Butterfly Apparel flagship store this time undoubtedly affected the Guo family the most.
Seeing the booming business of Golden Butterfly Apparel, the Guo family must have been jealous.
However, what they didn't expect was that the Guo family's actions would be so despicable, sending people to smash the storefront of Golden Butterfly Apparel that very night, causing Golden Butterfly Apparel to be unable to operate after only one day of opening.