The lawyers on both sides, clearly acquainted, were still hoping for a settlement on behalf of their respective clients.
Shu Yan was certainly unwilling. She berated her lawyer, "Who exactly are you employed by? Don't you understand what I mean? Not only do I want to sue her, but I want her to go to jail!"
"Miss Shu, but this won't put her in jail. If we get a medical examination, your injury is considered very minor. She might be detained for a few days." the lawyer explained.
Shu Yan threw a tantrum, glaring at the lawyer. "If you're this useless, what right do you have to be our family's chief legal counsel!"
"Miss Shu..."
"Yanzi, let's just let this go. We're going back." Shu Yan's mother arrived at the police station office and saw her daughter lecturing the lawyer.
Upon seeing her mother, Shu Yan immediately hugged her and whined, "Mom, look at my face, my head. That bad woman hit me."
Shu Yan's mother patted her back. "Yanzi, you've been wronged." As she spoke, she signaled for the lawyer to leave.
The lawyer, understanding, retreated, heaved a sigh of relief, and gently closed the door.
As he walked out of the police station lobby, he saw the lawyer Yang Sijie had hired packing up his things, while Yang Sijie and his friend who had done the hitting had already left.
"Where is your client?"
"They've left. Madam Shu just came over, met Mr. Yang, they talked, and reached a settlement. We're no longer needed."
Shu family's lawyer sighed. "Mr. and Mrs. Shu are very reasonable people. How could they have such a spoiled daughter? It's quite something."
"It's the same everywhere." The other lawyer patted his shoulder. "Rich people are hard to please. Come on, let's go for a drink."
The two lawyers also left the police station.
After finishing her act with her mother, Shu Yan realized the lawyer was gone and quickly asked, "Mom, you let the lawyer go? Why? Someone bullied your daughter like this, and you're not going to sue her? Don't you love me anymore?"
"Of course, I love you. It's just not appropriate to escalate this matter." Shu Yan's mother reasoned with her. "That woman is detestable, but Mr. Yang is backing her now. We can't fall out with Mr. Yang. Making such a powerful enemy for your father would be bad for him and for our Shu family."
Shu Yan couldn't swallow her pride. "Our family has power and influence. Are we afraid of him, Yang Sijie! Are you just going to let me be beaten by this woman for nothing?"
"I just reached an agreement with Mr. Yang. We won't sue that woman, and Mr. Yang has agreed to transfer two percent of the equity in an overseas project to us. Your father will be very happy when he knows." Shu Yan's mother gently stroked the wound on her forehead. "My dear, how could you be so careless? Don't provoke those bad women outside anymore."
Shu Yan, however, angrily pushed her mother's fingers away. "All you care about is projects, equity, and money... When have you ever truly cared about me! For your benefits, you let me get hurt! After all this, I was beaten, and it was quite meaningful, wasn't it? You made a lot of money from it!"
With that, Shu Yan forcefully pushed open the door and ran out. Shu Yan's mother hurried after her, "My dear, it's not like that. Listen to your mother... If we don't maintain our position in your father's heart, we'll be devoured by your covetous brothers and sisters..."
...
The night air outside the police station was chilling. Gu Susu was about to take off her jacket and return it to Yang Sijie, but Yang Sijie pulled it tighter around her.
"Don't take it off. If you catch a cold and get a fever, I don't want to take care of you all night again."
Gu Susu looked up at him and asked, "When I had a fever last time, did you take care of me all night? You didn't..."
"Yes, I used the old method we had in the orphanage, which is medically called physical cooling. I kept changing the towels and ice packs on your forehead."
Gu Susu was touched. "Thank you. Thank you for today too. I was too impulsive tonight. I shouldn't have made the first move, or I wouldn't have gotten into this trouble."
"You were right to fight back. If it were me, I would have stepped in too. You did nothing wrong." Yang Sijie smiled at her.
Hearing him say that, Gu Susu couldn't help but smile back.
Yang Sijie gazed at her. "That's more like it. You should smile like this often. It's so beautiful."
Gu Susu felt a little embarrassed by his words. "It's getting late, and I've taken up a lot of your time. Please take me home."
As they spoke, they reached the car. Yang Sijie opened the door for her. "Why don't we go for some late-night snacks? I'm starving after a whole evening of socializing. Come with me. I know a place that makes excellent desserts. Let's try it."
Gu Susu remembered she had eaten and drunk a lot at the banquet herself and didn't feel hungry. However, Yang Sijie hadn't eaten anything since the awards ceremony, probably only having a few cocktails.
He was now looking at her with an expectant, earnest invitation, and she couldn't refuse, nodding her head.
Getting into the car, Gu Susu noticed that Mark, the driver in the front, was taking small roads and alleys instead of the main roads. She was curious about where the dessert shop Yang Sijie mentioned was.
"That's strange. You haven't been in Lancheng for very long, have you? I've lived in Lancheng for many years, so why is it that you know about good dessert shops here, and I don't?"
Yang Sijie smiled playfully, keeping her in suspense. "You'll know when we get there."
Mark parked the car at a narrow intersection. "Mr. Yang, we can only drive this far. The road ahead is too narrow to drive through."
"It's fine, we'll walk a bit."
Yang Sijie said, pushing open the car door, and led Gu Susu out. He pointed to the alley ahead. "It's just a few more steps."
As Gu Susu walked with him, she suddenly remembered a reporter asking him about his cooperation with the Ai Corporation that evening.
"Why are you cooperating with the Ai Corporation? Do you know that Ai Corporation is related to me and want to help me? Actually, you don't have to. They have nothing to do with me..."
Yang Sijie seemed to know nothing and said with some surprise, "What relationship do you have with Ai Corporation? I'm not very clear about that. I just think they have an advantage in online sales platforms, so I thought of cooperating with them. If you don't like it, I won't cooperate with them."
"No, I don't understand your business matters. I was just asking casually. Don't mind what I said. Do as you should." She thought Yang Sijie probably knew nothing, and she had been overthinking.
"We're here." Yang Sijie stopped walking.
Gu Susu looked up curiously and saw a small shop with its lights on. The sign read "Wonderful Little Shop."
She and Yang Sijie walked in. A tall, thin man came out from the back kitchen. As soon as he saw Yang Sijie, he gave him a big hug. "Frank, long time no see! You're finally in Lancheng."
Yang Sijie also patted his back. "Alan, your little shop is quite nice."