Chapter 146: Can I Be Your Friend
Chapter 146: Can I Be Your Friend
When the police appeared, the middle-aged woman's eyes lit up. However, she didn't dare to speak recklessly and could only seek help with her eyes.
Su Yuke, being very experienced, quickly observed the restaurant's environment.
Wasn't there a report of a murder? This doesn’t look like a murder scene.
She walked up to the middle-aged woman and, after confirming the light core signal code, asked, "Are you Ms. Kong? Did you call the police? Where is the murder?"
"Yes... ah, no, no..."
The middle-aged woman stammered, wanting to speak but not daring to. She kept glancing towards Li Xiaofei, who was eating hot pot nearby.
Su Yuke frowned. She began to carefully observe the mother and daughter in front of her. The mother looked flustered and somewhat guilty. The little girl in a pink princess dress seemed on the verge of tears. Her eyes were filled with fear as she looked at the boy eating hot pot.
Could the murderer be this boy eating hot pot? But the boy doesn’t look like a vicious criminal.
Su Yuke was starting to get suspicious as she turned to the restaurant manager standing nearby and said, "You are the manager, right? Can you tell me what exactly happened?"
The restaurant manager was taken aback, as her expression grew unnatural.
"Ah, this... actually, I don't know either. It seems like this lady had some conflict with that gentleman. You should ask them directly."
She finally came to her senses and dared not offend Li Xiaofei.
Su Yuke frowned again. She hesitated for a moment and walked over to Table 12. "Sir, sorry to bother you, but could you cooperate with the investigation?"
Li Xiaofei put down his chopsticks.
"Little Jie, help Little Aunt with the vegetables." He instructed as he stood up with a smile. "Of course, it's every citizen's duty to cooperate with the police."
Su Yuke's eyes brightened instantly. She had only seen Li Xiaofei's profile earlier and already thought he had an extraordinary demeanor. Now that he was facing her directly, she felt an overwhelming masculine energy. The boy in front of her was strikingly handsome, causing her heart to race.
"Ahem..." Su Yuke instinctively cleared her throat, her tone becoming much more polite. "Can you explain what happened?"
Li Xiaofei succinctly replied, "That little kid dropped her own toy and falsely accused my sister of stealing it. When they couldn't get compensation, her mother started a fight. Since she couldn’t beat me, she made a scene and called in thugs from the Dragon Claw Gang to threaten and harm a law-abiding citizen like me."
"Is that true?"
Su Yuke turned to look at the middle-aged woman.
"I... this... no, it's all a misunderstanding."
Her previous arrogance had completely disappeared. Now, she just wanted the police to protect her and ensure she could leave safely. After all, she couldn’t provoke someone that even a ruthless person like Snake Seven feared.
In the end, she was merely Tiger's mistress. Although she was favored, Tiger would never go against this mysterious young man for her. Since she had hit a brick wall this time, she could only admit her bad luck.
"Where are the Dragon Claw Gang members now?" asked Su Yuke, turning back to Li Xiaofei.
"Officer, you arrived too late." Li Xiaofei replied earnestly, "They were quite ferocious at first, but fortunately, I was very clever. After I patiently reasoned with them, the Dragon Claw Gang members sensibly went back."
Reasonable? Sensible?
Su Yuke was speechless. As the newly appointed police captain in this area, she had thoroughly researched the Dragon Claw Gang and knew it was a gang that, under the guise of legality, committed numerous heinous acts.
The gang members were a group of vicious and desperate criminals. They’re the type to resort to violence at the slightest disagreement. Would they reason with you? Who would believe that?
But now, the Dragon Claw Gang members were indeed nowhere to be seen.
Su Yuke turned to the middle-aged woman and asked, "Is this true?"
The middle-aged woman forced a smile. "Yes, yes, officer, it's actually all a misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?" Li Xiaofei said calmly, "I don't think so. Our issue is not completely resolved yet."
He looked at the restaurant manager and politely asked, "Excuse me, is the surveillance system fixed?"
"Oh, I'll go check," said the restaurant manager as she hurriedly left.
She soon returned, panting, and said, "It's fixed, it's fixed. Indeed, it was the little girl who broke her own toy. Your sister was falsely accused..."
She then showed them the surveillance footage. In the video, Kong Xinyue deliberately walked up to Little Jie, flaunting her toy. When Little Jie showed no interest, Kong Xinyue angrily smashed it on the ground and, like a little drama queen, furiously accused Little Jie.
Afterward, the middle-aged woman approached and slapped Little Jie without a word.
After watching the footage, Li Xiaofei asked, "Officer, in our country's laws, how should such matters be handled?"
Su Yuke glanced at Kong Xinyue.
This little girl is only about ten years old, but she’s such a good actress. Why would she falsely accuse others out of nowhere?
"You must apologize to the victim and compensate for the damages." The policewoman looked sternly at the middle-aged woman and said, "You are suspected of assaulting a minor. According to our country's Public Security Administration Law, this constitutes picking quarrels and provoking trouble, which warrants detention for three to seven days."
"No, please don't..." The middle-aged woman panicked and pleaded, "I'm the only one at home. If I'm arrested, no one will take care of Xiaoyue. It will be very dangerous for her. Officer, please, don't arrest me."
"You can replace the detention with a compensation payment." Su Yuke said seriously, "But you must first obtain the victim's forgiveness."
The middle-aged woman immediately turned to Li Xiaofei and said, "Sir, please be generous and forgive us this time. I am willing to pay compensation."
Li Xiaofei said calmly, "I am not the victim. You must apologize to my sister."
The middle-aged woman hurried to Little Jie and repeatedly begged for forgiveness.
Li Xiaofei added, "And your daughter, the one who started all this, should be the one to apologize the most."
Tears and snot was running down Kong Xinyue’s face as she said, "Li Jie, I'm sorry. I was wrong. I won't dare to do it again. Please forgive me. I don't want my mom to go to jail. I'll listen to you from now on."
Little Jie looked a bit bewildered. She looked up at Li Xiaofei, her eyes pleading for help.
Li Xiaofei smiled gently at her. "It's your matter; you make the decision."
Little Jie thought for a moment and then said earnestly, "Kong Xinyue, you often bully classmates at school, and that's wrong. The teacher also said that knowing your mistakes and correcting them is a great virtue. So, I hope you can correct these mistakes, study hard, and unite with your classmates. I can forgive you."
Kong Xinyue, wiping her tears, said, "I will change, I promise."
The middle-aged woman painfully took out 100 star coins as medical expenses and cautiously asked, "Is this enough?"
The amount was small. But Li Xiaofei wasn't after money. Li Xiaofei signaled for Little Jie to accept it.
He added, "Spoiling a child is like harming them. I hope you remember today's lesson."
"Yes, yes, I'll definitely remember." The middle-aged woman nodded repeatedly.
Kong Xinyue looked at Little Jie and cautiously asked, "Li Jie, if I stop bullying people, stop giving classmates nicknames, work hard in cultivation, help others, actively clean the classroom, and assist teachers in organizing training equipment, can I... can I be your friend?"
Little Jie thought for a moment and said, "If you really can do all that, of course, you can."
"I will definitely do it," Kong Xinyue said earnestly.
The events of the day had left her deeply shocked. The middle-aged woman had never imagined that her unruly daughter would say such things. Her eyes suddenly welled up with tears.
"Officer, can we leave now?"
"Input your fingerprint on this electronic record file... Alright, you can go."
The middle-aged woman left with her daughter. Police officer Su Yuke looked at Li Xiaofei with a newfound sense of admiration. She had seen many examples of people being unforgiving or overly lenient. But someone like Li Xiaofei, who handled situations with just the right balance, making both sides accept and learn from the outcome, was rare.
After signing the electronic record, Li Xiaofei asked, "Officer Su, can I go back to eating my hot pot now?"
Su Yuke nodded. But, driven by an inexplicable impulse, she took out her light core device and said, "Add my number. If anything like this happens again, call me directly."
Li Xiaofei was slightly taken aback.
Is this woman attracted to my looks? Asking for contact information on our first meeting.
At that moment, a young male police officer approached and whispered something in Su Yuke's ear. Su Yuke's expression suddenly changed drastically. She looked at Li Xiaofei with a sharp, intense gaze.