After finishing their tea, Liu Yutong took Yun Cheng and the others for a stroll through the streets. She also planned to pick up a few small trinkets to bring back as gifts for Yaya.
As she stepped into a silver jewelry shop to browse the ornaments, a burst of heated arguing suddenly erupted from up ahead.
"You people are trying to rip me off! This bracelet snapped on its own—why should I have to pay for it?!"
"Little miss, don't talk like that. The bracelet was sitting just fine on the counter, and the moment you put it on, it broke. If you didn't break it, who did? According to our store's rules, anyone who damages merchandise must pay double!"
"This is a scam! I'm calling the police!"
"..."
Liu Yutong followed the sound with her eyes.
At the entrance of a handicraft shop across the street, a crowd of onlookers had gathered in a circle.
In the middle of the crowd, a girl in her early twenties was arguing with the shopkeeper, her face flushed red.
The girl had straight bangs, delicate features, and wore a pair of black-framed glasses. She was dressed in a T-shirt bearing the name of some university.
Standing opposite her was a man with a sharp, weasel-like face—the shopkeeper himself. Behind him loomed two young punks with dyed yellow hair, cigarettes dangling from their lips, looking smug and shiftless.
"Oh, you're going to call the cops? Go ahead and call 'em! Even the police would side with me on this one!"
The sharp-faced shopkeeper was emboldened: "You break it, you pay for it—it's only fair! That's the rule anywhere you go. You damaged my merchandise, so pay up!"
"I... I just tried it on, and it broke by itself. Clearly, your product is defective."
"Enough of your nonsense! Whether it's defective or not, if you break it, you pay! And look around—my store has a sign right up there that says intentional damage requires double compensation. This bracelet sells for two thousand five, so double is five thousand. Hand over the money!"
"You... that's completely illegal! According to regulations, businesses can't use terms, notices, declarations, or in-store signage to add extra burdens on consumers. Even if I compensate you, I only owe the cost price, not double the retail price. You're literally trying to extort me!"
"Oh, the little miss knows her law, huh? Fancy that, quoting regulations at me."
"Boys, what do you think we should do with her?" the sharp-faced shopkeeper said, shooting a glance at the yellow-haired punks behind him.
The two thugs immediately stubbed out their cigarettes and advanced on the girl with hostile expressions.
"You... what are you trying to do? I'm telling you, this is a society ruled by law, don't you dare do anything rash!" The girl stepped back in fright.
Then, as if trying to muster her courage, she raised the books she was holding: "I'm warning you, I'm a law student at BS University. What you're doing is illegal!"
"A law student? Hahaha..."
The sharp-faced man burst out laughing: "Little miss, you've been watching too many TV dramas. You think quoting some laws will scare us? I'll tell you, your laws mean nothing here. In this shop, I am the law! Pay up quietly, and we'll call it a day. Refuse to pay... and don't even think about walking away!"
In the crowd, the murmurings began.
"Poor girl, that shop is notorious for scamming tourists and students."
"Yeah, last time some out-of-towner got shaken down here and had to cough up three thousand before they let him leave."
"The boss is supposedly connected to gangs. He's bold and ruthless—calling the police is useless. If you try, they'll come after you for revenge."
"Really? That brazen?"
"You bet..."
"Ugh, she looks like just an ordinary student. How is she going to come up with that kind of money?"
"..."
The girl bit her lip, holding back tears, and stubbornly retorted to the shopkeeper: "I'll pay for the damage, but I won't pay a single cent more than what's fair. If you keep blocking my way, I really will call the police and shout for help!"
"Shout for help? Go ahead and shout! See if anyone dares to step in!"
The sharp-faced man waved his hand, signaling his two thugs to move in.
The crowd on the sidelines kept growing, but no one stepped forward to speak up for the girl.
Considering the kind of thugs these were, the best anyone might do was call the police—no one wanted to court trouble.
Standing outside the crowd, Liu Yutong had been watching for a while. But when she got a clear look at the girl's face, she froze.
The girl looked familiar.
Not from this life.
From her past life.
She racked her brain for a long while before it came to her: Xu Yi.
Her university classmate from her previous life, a law student one year ahead of her. When Liu Yutong had first gotten into university in Jincheng, Xu Yi had been a volunteer at the freshman welcome, helping her carry luggage and walking her through registration. Later, they'd joined the debate club together. Their relationship wasn't particularly close, but they were definitely acquaintances.
To think they'd meet again in this life under such circumstances.
A law student, being extorted and cornered by a shady shopkeeper right on the street.
Liu Yutong couldn't help but shake her head.
This world—sometimes, knowing the law just isn't enough.
Like when you're dealing with these kinds of scum.
Without hesitation, she pushed through the crowd and stepped forward.
"Hey, boss."
The sharp-faced shopkeeper instinctively turned around, only to see a stunning girl in a white shirt walking out from the crowd.
When he laid eyes on her, he froze for a moment, and then his eyes gradually lit up.
Damn, this girl is beautiful.
"Well now, isn't this a pretty miss? Here shopping? Come on in! We've got everything you could want—guaranteed you'll love it."
Liu Yutong walked straight up to the girl and held out a hand: "Let me take a look at that bracelet."
The girl was taken aback, then instinctively handed over the bracelet broken into two pieces.
Liu Yutong took it and examined it carefully, turning it over in her hands.
The red string was cheap acrylic. The beads were recycled plastic. The glue at the joints hadn't even been spread evenly.
This kind of thing cost a few yuan at the wholesale market, max.
"This bracelet of yours—did you even pay more than ten yuan for it?" Liu Yutong asked the shopkeeper after finishing her inspection.
"What nonsense are you talking about?! That's our store's premium bracelet. No way the wholesale cost was under ten yuan!"
"But judging from the material, it doesn't look premium at all. Just looks like cheap plastic beads. How dare you hang a two-thousand-five price tag on something like this? Are you trying to scam your customers?" Liu Yutong said.
The sharp-faced shopkeeper flew into a rage: "So what if I am? So what if I'm not? You break something, you pay for it—that's the rule! I'm warning you, don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong, or you'll get what's coming to you too!"
Liu Yutong smiled at his words: "Alright, then let's play by your rules."
She tossed the bracelet back at him, walked over to the shop entrance, and reached up to pull down the wooden sign hanging on the door that read: [A Century-Old Establishment, Run with Integrity].
The sharp-faced shopkeeper's expression changed: "What do you think you're doing! That's our shop's sign!"
Liu Yutong ignored him. Turning to the crowd gathered around, she said: "Excuse me, everyone. Please make some room."
Although the onlookers had no idea what she was about to do, they instinctively stepped back a few paces, clearing an open space.
Liu Yutong placed the wooden sign on the ground, then raised her foot.
CRACK!
With one stomp, the sign bearing the words 【Century-Old Shop】 snapped clean in two.
The entire crowd fell silent in an instant.
The sharp-faced shop owner froze for several seconds before snapping out of it, then erupted in fury: “You damn brat, you dare smash my sign!”
“So I smashed it. What about it?”
Liu Yutong glanced down at the broken wooden board and put on a look of feigned innocence: “Oh dear, how did it just break like that?”
“Boss, what shoddy material is this sign of yours made of? It broke way too easily.”
The sharp-faced owner’s face turned green with rage: “What material I used is none of your business! Now that you’ve smashed my sign, how are you going to settle this?”
“If you don’t give me a proper explanation today, you’re not leaving this place!”
“I’ll definitely give you an explanation. Damaged goods must be compensated—that’s the rule, right?” Liu Yutong asked.
The sharp-faced owner nodded: “That’s right!”
Liu Yutong pointed again at the two broken pieces of wood on the ground and said: “Since your sign says ‘Century-Old Shop,’ that must make it an antique, right? It must be worth a lot, right? Well, I won’t ask for too much. Let’s just go by the price of your bracelet here, times ten. I’ll count this sign as twenty-five thousand, and double compensation means fifty thousand.”
After doing the math, she held out her hand: “Boss, pay up.”
Sharp-faced owner: “???”
Wait, did I hear that right?
You broke my sign, and now YOU want ME to pay?
And you expect fifty thousand?
Why don’t you just rob a bank?!
The two blond punks were stunned too—they’d never seen such an arrogant girl. They said to the shop owner, “Boss, she’s messing with you!”
“No kidding! You think I can’t see that?!”
The sharp-faced owner’s face darkened as he glared at Liu Yutong: “Little girl, looks like you really came here to pick a fight. If I don’t teach you a lesson today, you won’t know who runs this street!”
“Get her!”
The two blond punks immediately grinned, cracked their knuckles, and lunged at Liu Yutong.
Then... Yun Cheng and Lan Die suddenly appeared right in front of them.
The next second, all three men fell neatly onto their knees, clutching their heads and wailing.
“Wahhh...”
“You... you people... assaulting others in broad daylight like this—is there no law anymore?!”
