At that moment, inside Jiang Yixia’s flower shop.

A drunken young man was fiddling with a rose from the table.

Seeing this, Jiang Yixia, though a little nervous, maintained a calm smile. "Sir, a single rose is five yuan. If you’d like it, I can wrap it up for you."

She’d seen all kinds of customers over the years, so it was impossible for her not to have a good read on people.

It was obvious this drunk wasn’t actually here to buy flowers.

She was already prepared to call the police.

The drunkard, however, just looked at Jiang Yixia and laughed. "Sure. Oh, by the way, you charge five yuan to wrap a rose? So how much would you charge to wrap me up?"

The drunken man narrowed his cloudy eyes, staring fixedly at Jiang Yixia as his gaze roamed greasily over her body.

He thought the shop owner was gorgeous.

Her floral apron was wrapped around a slender waist, and beneath the hem of her skirt, her fair, shapely calves were exposed. That ripe figure was more alluring than any young girl on the street.

The upward tilt of her eyes, in particular, was like a hook tugging at his heart, making it ache with desire.

He hadn’t expected this woman, who was in her thirties, to still have such a girlish delicacy, yet her body was perfectly curvaceous—the kind of ripe-peach charm that made the alcohol rush straight to his head. He couldn’t help but rub his hands together as he started to move closer.

Jiang Yixia knew the drunk had no intention of buying flowers, so she raised her voice and called out, "Sir, if you’re not going to buy anything, please move on to the next shop!"

Her main goal was to attract the attention of the neighboring shops.

In her heart, she was desperately screaming for Sister Li to appear.

But it was evening now, and there were many people coming and going.

Perhaps Sister Li was busy with customers in her own shop right now.

"I never said I wasn’t buying. I just want you to help me pick out the prettiest rose."

The drunk took another step forward, smirking. "Hey, I’ve got a rose tattooed on my chest, too. Don’t believe me?"

Jiang Yixia knew she couldn’t back down any further. She immediately pulled out her phone and warned, "I’m warning you, don’t come any closer. I can call the police at any moment. The police station is right at the end of this commercial street. They’ll be here in a minute once they get the call. I suggest you leave right now."

"Ooh, little lady." The drunk seemed unfazed by the threat. In fact, after hearing Jiang Yixia’s warning, he became even more arrogant. "Believe it or not, I could smack that piece of crap phone right out of your hand with one slap."

As he spoke, the drunk lunged forward, reaching out.

Terrified, Jiang Yixia scrambled backward.

She snatched up a nearby vase and held it in front of her, warning him again, "Stay back! If you come any closer, I’ll smash it on you." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Smash it on me? Hmph, I don’t think you have the guts."

The next second, the drunk suddenly lunged at her.

Just then, Lu Fan burst into the shop. Seeing what the drunk was doing, he roared, "Motherfucker!"

He closed the distance in two steps, grabbed the back of the drunk’s collar, and violently threw him backward.

The drunk hit the ground like a sack of potatoes and, before he could even get up, Lu Fan planted a foot on his back, pinning him down and making him scream in pain.

Then, Lu Fan kicked him hard again and continued to curse, "Damn it, you dare to touch my woman?"

"AH! It hurts! Ow!" The drunk clutched his stomach, dry heaving repeatedly.

Lu Fan, still not satisfied, looked like he was about to kick him a couple more times.

Jiang Yixia stood frozen, only snapping back to her senses at the sound of the drunk’s pitiful screams.

She quickly stopped him. "Don’t kick him anymore! You’re going to kill him!"

"He tried to assault you. I’ll teach him a lesson even if it kills him." With that, Lu Fan raised his fist to strike again.

Worried that Lu Fan, in his rage, might actually kill the man, Jiang Yixia quickly grabbed his arm and held onto it tightly, saying, "Don’t hit him anymore! We’ll call the police. Let’s call the police."

Then, she pulled out her phone with a trembling hand. Her fingers fumbled several times before she successfully dialed the police. Her voice shook, and she could barely form coherent sentences. "Hello... police? Someone’s... drunk and disorderly in my shop... trying to get violent... The address is..."

After hanging up, a cold sweat had already soaked through her knit top, and her legs were so weak she could barely stand.

The moment the drunk had lunged at her, her heart had nearly jumped out of her chest.

A wave of delayed fear washed over her. Her eyes instantly reddened, the bridge of her nose tingled, and tears welled up, threatening to fall at any moment.

But when she looked up and saw Lu Fan’s face, the sense of grievance and fear in her heart was instantly suppressed by a more complex emotion.

Jiang Yixia bit her lower lip hard, forcing her tears back.

Her face still showed traces of her lingering tension and fear, but she deliberately turned away, trying her best not to meet his gaze.

Seeing that he’d taught the man enough of a lesson, Lu Fan turned to Jiang Yixia and asked, "This piece of trash didn’t touch you, did he?"

"No," Jiang Yixia said in a small voice.

The commotion had quickly attracted the attention of the surrounding shop owners.

Li Li was the first to arrive on the scene. When she found out a drunk had been causing trouble, she furiously grabbed a nearby broom and started whacking him with it. "You damn pervert! I’m going to beat you to death today!"

Jiasheng, the owner of the convenience store, also rushed over. After hearing the full story, he clenched his fists as well.

But since Lu Fan was already there, he didn’t feel it was his place to step in and land a few punches.

As more and more people gathered, the drunk seemed to sober up a little.

He knelt and quickly begged Jiang Yixia for mercy. "I’m sorry, ma’am! I was drunk out of my mind! I didn’t mean to harass you, I swear! Please, let me go! Don’t take me to the police station!"

"You don’t know you were wrong. You just know you’re headed to the station," Lu Fan said coldly.

Terrified by Lu Fan’s words, the drunk started crying. "I’m sorry! I really wasn’t in my right mind! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry..."

Just as he was on his knees apologizing, the police arrived.

They quickly got a handle on the situation.

The officer then said to Jiang Yixia and Lu Fan, "Both of you will need to come down to the station to give a statement. You’re the one who inflicted his injuries, right?"

Lu Fan nodded. "I did it."

"Alright. You can explain what happened in a bit."

After they arrived at the police station, Jiang Yixia quickly gave her account of what happened and came out of the interrogation room.

She saw that Lu Fan still hadn’t come out and grew anxious. She explained to the officer who had just taken her statement, "He was acting heroically! He saw me being harassed by a drunk and stepped in to help. It absolutely wasn’t a brawl, and it wasn’t intentional assault. Officer, you have to investigate this clearly."

"Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of it," the officer said with a nod. "You can wait outside for now."

And so, Jiang Yixia had no choice but to sit on a bench in the hallway, feeling anxious and uneasy.

She was worried Lu Fan would be locked up because of this.

Although Jiang Yixia truly did hate Lu Fan, it wasn’t the kind of hate that made her want to see his life ruined. She just didn’t want to have anything to do with him.

If he went to jail because of her, Jiang Yixia would feel guilty and upset.

「Not long after.」

Lu Fan came out of another interrogation room.

As soon as Jiang Yixia saw him, she rushed forward. She was about to ask anxiously what happened, but then she seemed to remember something, gritted her teeth, and asked coldly, "What did the police say?"

"The police said it was a premeditated fight and that I’ll be detained for fifteen days," Lu Fan explained.

Hearing this, Jiang Yixia immediately grew tense. "I’ll go talk to the officer!"

With that, she started to walk away quickly.

But Lu Fan grabbed her by the wrist and said with a smile, "I’m kidding. I’m fine. In fact, the officer even praised me for my actions. I’m a good Samaritan, you know."

After hearing this, Jiang Yixia frowned and complained, "Then why did you just lie to me?!"

"I just wanted to see if you cared about me. Looks like you still do," Lu Fan replied with a grin.

Jiang Yixia coldly shook his hand off and said, "I don’t care about you at all. I just don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me. I’m not like you."

With that, she walked away quickly.

Lu Fan called out to her retreating back, "I have a car. Want a ride back to the shop?"

"No."

Lu Fan watched her storm off, unable to help but smile.

’Still beautiful when she’s angry, just like all those years ago.’

Just then, Jiali and Chen He appeared.

Lu Fan looked at Jiali and said, "See if you can contact a director in the Yangcheng Public Security Bureau. Have that drunk’s sentence increased. I think harassment and indecent assault are too light. Ask if we can get him for attempted rape."

"Understood, Boss. Leave a small matter like this to me," Jiali replied.

Chen He, however, clenched his fists and said in a low voice, "Boss, do you need me to physically eliminate him? For a nobody like this, you don’t even need to worry about it. I can handle it."

"I’ve told you a million times, no physical elimination unless it’s absolutely necessary. What do you think this is, America?"

Lu Fan shot him a look, then sighed, shook his head, and walked away.