Thud—!
A heavy crash echoed through the room.
It was the camera, slamming onto the floor and rolling at high speed toward the staircase.
Shen Li reacted with lightning speed. Before the camera could strike his calf, he instinctively dodged, swiftly shifting his body and using the box in his hand to block it.
At the same time, his gaze pierced toward the foyer.
There stood the burly Jiang Nan, who had grabbed a vase and was jabbing his finger at the staff members, clearly itching to smash it. His mouth spewed vicious threats:
“Hand over my phone right now, or else?”
“You’re the ones breaching the contract. Don’t blame me if I sue the pants off you. I make millions a minute—pay up!”
Smash!
Another vase shattered against the floor.
The staff members retreated step by step, pleading, “Mr. Jiang, please calm down first.”
No one dared step forward.
Jiang Nan turned sideways toward the door, a sinister cold smile spreading across his lips. He flexed his wrist, the one he’d just used to hurl the vase, like a man addicted to the destruction. He snatched up a porcelain ashtray next, raising it high to smash it toward another staff member—
Crack!
But it wasn’t the ashtray hitting the ground. It was the sound of Jiang Nan’s wrist bone snapping.
In an instant, Jiang Nan felt his wrist clamped from behind by an iron grip. He couldn’t budge it an inch!
He whipped his head around, ready to unleash a torrent of curses, only to see Shen Li frowning slightly. A pair of calm, stern eyes stared coldly back at him.
“…You.”
Jiang Nan had barely grunted the word when excruciating pain shot through his wrist. An unimaginable force nearly twisted his joint apart, forcing his right hand to release its hold. The pain felt like his bones were cracking!
The porcelain piece tumbled from his grasp, but Shen Li caught it steadily with his other hand without so much as blinking.
Jiang Nan grimaced in disbelief, staring at Shen Li.
Shen Li wore a spotless white T-shirt and jeans. His slender frame looked frail and sickly at first glance, the kind that couldn’t withstand rough handling. Yet his face showed no sign of strain.
Jiang Nan couldn’t fathom it. How could this sickly-looking guy muster such strength?
“…Your mom’s aching, let go! You tired of living? Release me, you bastard!”
The staff members Jiang Nan had been berating earlier gathered around, gaping at Shen Li in stunned silence, unsure how to assist.
But Shen Li showed no intention of accepting help. With one hand, he calmly returned the ashtray to its original spot. With the other, he kept his vise-like hold on Jiang Nan’s wrist, twisting and pressing until he forced the man’s arm behind his back.
His tone was even and composed: “Still wanna smash things? You’re already on the hook for at least three hundred thousand.”
Jiang Nan froze, glancing at the camera. He sneered. “What, you think I can’t afford it?”
“Oh.”
A faint mocking smile crossed Shen Li’s strikingly handsome face. His sharp gaze flicked over. “You made that sneaky phone call this morning, and you still think you’re loaded?”
His words hung in the air, leaving everyone in the room momentarily stunned. A few who knew the inside story looked at Shen Li in surprise.
Indeed, that morning, Jiang Nan had secretly borrowed Yang Zhiqi’s phone to make a few calls.
Due to the rooms’ “functional restrictions,” Jiang Nan and Li Weiwei’s suite banned phone use. Zhao Yunzhi’s room, like Shen Li’s, required co-sleeping video calls with exes.
So it was the second night Yang Zhiqi and Zhao Yunzhi had linked up for sleep. The program group hadn’t collected their phones after midnight.
Thus, that morning, Jiang Nan had seized the moment when the staff weren’t watching. He’d cut a deal with Yang Zhiqi and used his phone to dial the only three numbers he could remember.
The first went to his best buddy—no answer.
The second to his lover—no pickup.
The third finally connected: his parents.
That’s when he learned the Yellow Donkey Club had been raided, with over five hundred people carted off in the past two days. WCC Corporation, top to bottom, was under investigation and liquidation.
Panicking, Jiang Nan demanded his own phone back to check messages and make more calls. When the follow-cam director refused, he grabbed a camera, went berserk, and started smashing everything in sight while threatening the staff.
However…
Hadn’t Shen Li gone out? And hadn’t he skipped staying in the cabin last night?
How did he know about the phone calls? And why did he seem more clued in on Jiang Nan’s mess than the staff themselves?
The onlookers stared wide-eyed, holding their breath as they watched.
Jiang Nan’s neck flushed red with rage.
This man, a half-head taller than Shen Li, struggled furiously to break free. But Shen Li’s grip was tighter than a handcuff, the angle viciously precise with just enough leverage to hold him. Despite his bulk, Jiang Nan couldn’t budge an inch. Even turning to face Shen Li head-on proved impossible.
“—You, what’s that supposed to mean? How do you know if my family has money or not? So I didn’t meet your asking price—you flipping out over that?”
Smack!
Shen Li struck without mercy, intercepting Jiang Nan’s other fist as it swung back for a sneaky attack.
Now both of the man’s hands were pinned behind his back, wrists pressed tight together like they were shackled.
The move was flawlessly executed.
Jiang Nan reeled in shock, a cold sweat breaking out on his back!
As he twisted his head in stunned alarm, Shen Li’s beautiful phoenix eyes locked onto him. Before he could process it, agony exploded in his knee!
Thud!!!
His left knee slammed into the floor—
Shen Li had kicked him from behind without hesitation, the force carrying a clear warning: stay put. His icy voice drifted down from above, light but laced with menace:
“Behave yourself. And watch your mouth.”
By then, the cabin supervisor, Cao Sheng, had finally rushed in, eager to play peacemaker.
Before he could utter a word, Shen Li’s cold tone cut him off without mercy:
“—He’s still smashing. Find something to restrain him first.”
Cao Sheng had been grilled by Guan Ning just two days prior and knew the dynamics at play.
With a sigh, he promptly directed his team to fetch a long yoga strap.
Jiang Nan kept spewing curses: “You seriously don’t see how ridiculous you look? You think you’re a cop now? This is illegal…”
“Oh, you wanna talk illegal?”
Shen Li’s voice was chilling. Somehow, those few words sent goosebumps racing across Jiang Nan’s skin. “You’ve deliberately destroyed program equipment. That’s criminal damage to property.”
“…Y-you’re bluffing!”
Shen Li’s narrow eyes flashed. But his next words were directed at Cao Sheng:
“Get someone to drive. Take him straight to the station.”
–
Forty minutes later.
Jiang Nan, who’d spewed curses the entire frantic drive, sat in the car outside the police station. His hands bound with the yoga strap, he stubbornly refused to budge from the back seat, no matter how the staff yanked or hauled at him from outside:
“I want my lawyer! Give me back my phone! The contract says I get thirty minutes a day—someone’s gonna sue you all!”
No one paid him any mind.
“—Shen Li, this is false imprisonment! I’ll charge you with assault!”
Still, silence.
Shen Li sat stone-faced in the passenger seat, absorbed in his phone, chatting with someone.
“—You bastard! Why do you get to use a phone? Backdoor privilege, you ass-selling whore—”
Before he could finish—
Rapid footsteps approached.
Followed by a furious shout from nearby:
“—Fuck you! Who the hell are you talking to?”
Jiang Nan startled at the voice. As he turned to look, a massive force yanked his collar from behind. Several hands hoisted him up like a chick and dragged him bodily from the back seat!
His neck jerked awkwardly. Behind him, three uniformed officers swiftly slipped a simple silver cuff over his hands, already bound by the yoga strap.
Jiang Nan truly panicked now:
“Hey? Hey! What the hell? What’s this about?!—What grounds do you have to grab me? I’ll sue you for police brutality!”
The cops ignored his bluster. Glaring fiercely, they closed ranks to haul him inside.
Just then, Shen Li pocketed his phone and stepped out of the passenger side.
He stood tall and straight as a bamboo stalk, cool and detached, watching the scene with cold eyes.
The next moment, the uniformed officers halted their push on Jiang Nan. Instead, they snapped to attention and saluted Shen Li one after another:
“—Captain Shen!”
“Captain Shen!”
“Greetings, Captain Shen!”
Jiang Nan’s eyes bulged in shock, his pupils contracting as he stared at Shen Li.
Shen Li’s gaze was clear and icy as he met the look, and Jiang Nan’s brain sluggishly pieced together what “Captain Shen” could possibly mean.
Shen Li straightened his posture further, his casual demeanor instantly sharpening into precise uprightness. He raised his right hand, fingers together, fingertips precisely touching his temple in a fluid, powerful salute.
A perfect military salute in return…?!
Only after lowering his hand did he speak: “…I told you not to call me that anymore. Take him in first.”
The officers hauled Jiang Nan away. An older one who hadn’t joined the grab trailed behind with a young rookie, grinning at Shen Li: “Shen Li, long time no see. Captain Xing said to invite you in!”
Shen Li shook his head, his voice still flat: “Not this time. Let Xiao Chen handle the statement with you. She witnessed the whole disturbance from Jiang Nan.”
“Ah! You sure you won’t come in? Da Wang used to love you most. It’s been sick lately, won’t even touch bones. Maybe seeing you’ll perk it right up,” the rookie officer urged.
Shen Li declined again: “Next time.”
Watching the scene unfold, Jiang Nan finally grasped the full picture.
Holy shit…
Shen Li really was a cop?!
And apparently… some kind of officer too…
That shooting champion thing…
Sending disciples to scope out the club…
Expert deduction and evidence handling…
And that slick takedown maneuver just now…
Fuck!
Wait, hold up!
—No way?!
Who the hell called him some no-name model?!?
Jiang Nan was completely stunned, taking a long time to recover his wits before several officers grabbed him by the arms and hauled him away. Before he left, he couldn’t resist shouting back at Shen Li, “You think you can hold me for long?! It’s just a damn camera! I’ll pay for it! I’ll get a lawyer! I’ll be out in no time!”
With that, even his shadow vanished.
Shen Li was about to turn away when he paused and called out to Lao Sun. “Lao Sun, can I ask one more thing? What’s the status on the evidence against Jiang Nan? You can tell me anything that doesn’t violate regulations, right?”
Lao Sun and a rookie officer Shen Li didn’t recognize both stopped and smiled.
“What are you saying? Since Qian Xingzhi reported the case, you’re practically a co-reporter. Under Article 52 of the Criminal Procedure Law, as an associated party, you’re entitled to know non-confidential progress. What do you want to hear? Ask away.”
“The organized prostitution case at the Yellow Donkey Club,” Shen Li said, his knuckles rapping rhythmically against the metal frame of the car door. “This morning, economic crimes took away over five hundred people. How deep is Jiang Nan involved?”
Lao Sun sighed again. “Eh, from what we’ve got so far, Jiang himself didn’t directly organize the prostitution. It was mostly his buddies doing the work. At most, he was just a customer enjoying the services.”
Shen Li’s gaze darkened. “What about the drowning case from three years ago? Any progress?”
Lao Sun shook his head, and the rookie chimed in. “That case is tough. It’s only been a few days since we opened it, Shen. I heard you handled a bunch of big cases back in the day. An old cold case like this with no autopsy done? No way it’s cracking that fast.”
Lao Sun added, “Based on Xiao Ting’s statement, that girl who fell in the water probably wasn’t an accidental drowning. Negligence leading to death is the likely bet, and the perp’s tied to WCC somehow. But it probably wasn’t Jiang himself.”
Shen Li’s eyes grew heavy, and he nodded once.
