The next morning, Lu Fan slept in until he woke up naturally.

He had unleashed all his strength on that drunkard yesterday. If he didn’t make a habit of working out, at 40 years old, he would definitely be sore and aching all over.

After he got up, while he was washing up, Jiali came to his side to report, "Boss, the higher-ups at the Public Security Bureau have replied. They said they will increase the severity of the charges."

"Good," Lu Fan nodded. "Scum like that are a menace to society if they’re out. It’s better for them to eat prison food and work the sewing machines behind bars."

Then, he motioned to Chen He. "He, get ready. We’re going to the pastry shop."

"Yes, Boss."

Before long, Lu Fan arrived at the commercial street.

As he got out of the car, he noticed the flower shop’s door was tightly locked.

After a quick glance, Lu Fan walked to the entrance of the dry cleaning shop.

When Sister Li, the owner of the dry cleaning shop, saw Lu Fan, her face immediately lit up with a smile. "Brother Lu, you’re here."

"Sister Li, did Yixia not open the shop today?" Lu Fan asked.

It was only then that Sister Li realized. She checked the time and said, puzzled, "That’s not right. She should be here by now. I just had a customer, so I wasn’t paying attention."

Seeing this, Lu Fan suggested, "Sister Li, why don’t you give her a call and ask?"

"Right, right, I’ll call her now." Naturally, Sister Li didn’t dare to delay.

After all, that incident had just happened last night.

If Jiang Yixia didn’t open her shop today, it was bound to make people worry.

As she spoke, Sister Li immediately dialed Jiang Yixia’s number.

But the phone just kept ringing and ringing on the other end, with no one picking up.

This started to worry Lu Fan as well.

"That’s strange. What’s wrong with Sister Xia? Could something have happened?" Sister Li said anxiously.

When the call remained unanswered, Lu Fan turned to Jiali and said, "Take me to Yixia."

"Yes, Boss." Jiali immediately turned, ready to give Jiang Yixia’s home address to Chen He.

But just then, a familiar figure slowly approached on an electric scooter.

Seeing her, Sister Li instantly let out a sigh of relief and waved. "Yixia, you’re here!!"

Jiang Yixia was a little curious. ’Why is everyone gathered at my flower shop’s entrance?’

’And there’s someone here I’d rather not see.’

Lu Fan looked at Jiang Yixia and saw that she was in bad shape. Her eyes were a little red and swollen, as if she had been crying. He asked, "Yixia, are you okay?"

"I’m fine," Jiang Yixia replied, as cold as ever.

But Lu Fan didn’t mind. As long as he could be sure she was okay, that was all that mattered.

He said cheerfully, "Alright, as long as you’re okay. By the way, have you had breakfast? Would you like to try one of the pastries from our shop? They’re delicious."

"No, thank you." Jiang Yixia then bent down to pull up the rolling shutter door.

But for some reason, the shutter wouldn’t budge.

Seeing this, Lu Fan immediately went forward to help.

Jiang Yixia was about to refuse, but the man was just too fast. He had it fixed in an instant.

She couldn’t help but look at him with a resentful gaze.

’This guy is fast at everything he does.’

’But I guess that’s the only way to get things done effectively.’

On this point, Jiang Yixia had admired him even nineteen years ago.

However, she still ignored Lu Fan, busying herself with tidying up the flower petals in the shop.

Lu Fan then returned to his pastry shop and carefully selected a few exquisite pastries.

This time, however, he didn’t go to the flower shop. Instead, he went to the dry cleaning shop and said with a smile, "Sister Li, I have some pretty good pastries here. Would you like to try one?"

Upon hearing this, Sister Li was naturally delighted. "Oh, yes! Your shop’s baker is really skilled. I had one of your buns last time, and it was super delicious."

"Haha, well, if you like them, have some more." Lu Fan then tentatively asked, "Sister Li, could you take some to Yixia for me? I don’t think she’s had breakfast yet."

"Yes, yes, yes, I’ll take them to her right away."

As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

If Sister Li wanted to eat these pastries with a clear conscience, she first had to do this favor for Lu Fan.

Of course, even if she didn’t get any pastries, Sister Li would have helped anyway.

Just based on the two-year contract for dry cleaning factory uniforms that Lu Fan had signed with her, this was a favor she had to do!

Sister Li walked over to the flower shop with a smile and asked, "Yixia, have you had breakfast? Let me tell you, this pastry is really delicious. Why don’t you try a bite?"

Before Jiang Yixia could react, Sister Li had already held a pastry to her lips.

Jiang Yixia had no choice but to open her mouth and take a small bite.

"See? It’s delicious, right? Let me tell you, you have to eat a good breakfast, especially us women. If you want to have good energy and spirit, breakfast is a must." Sister Li took the opportunity to praise the pastry further. "This pastry, you can tell it’s made with high-quality ingredients. It’s definitely nutritious."

Lu Fan, meanwhile, was listening in from the dry cleaning shop as Sister Li sang the pastry’s praises. He thought to himself that asking Sister Li for help had been the right choice.

With a silver tongue like hers, she could talk the dead back to life and convince anyone that crooked was straight.

’If she were in ancient times, she’d be a gold-medal matchmaker for sure.’

Jiang Yixia knew Lu Fan had deliberately asked Sister Li to bring her the pastry, but she didn’t refuse the kind gesture. After all, Sister Li had already put it to her lips; rejecting it now would be too heartless.

"Oh, right, I just heard from Brother Lu that the drunkard who was bothering you yesterday is going to prison for a long time. I hear there’s a recent crackdown on public order, and he’s being made an example of."

Sister Li said angrily, "If you ask me, people like that deserve it. Let him get a good re-education in prison."

Jiang Yixia, for her part, had no sympathy for such dregs of society.

She was no bleeding-heart saint. Even if the drunkard’s family came to her flower shop, got on their knees, and begged for forgiveness, Jiang Yixia would never forgive him.

If that drunk knew there would be consequences for his actions, then why did he do it in the first place?

To put it bluntly, he just wasn’t afraid.

And since he wasn’t afraid, Jiang Yixia naturally wouldn’t let the matter rest.

On this point, her thoughts happened to align perfectly with Lu Fan’s.

A short while later, Jiang Yixia took fifty yuan from the counter and handed it to Sister Li, saying, "Please give this fifty yuan to that person."

"To who?" Sister Li was a bit puzzled.

"The owner of the pastry shop," Jiang Yixia replied. "I know he asked you to bring these pastries over. I don’t want to take advantage of him. This fifty yuan is for the pastries. I’m buying them myself."

"Oh, come on, I bought these pastries myself," Sister Li fibbed. "Just consider it my treat, okay?"

"Sister Li, if you insist, then I definitely won’t accept anything from you in the future," Jiang Yixia said, sticking to her principles.

Sister Li gave an awkward smile and finally took the fifty yuan.

She then walked out the door, went over to Lu Fan, and took out the fifty yuan.

Just as she was about to explain, Lu Fan said with a smile, "Sister Li, I heard everything. Thank you."

"I’m sorry, Brother Lu. I feel like I wasn’t much help," Sister Li said guiltily.

"You did help, a lot. Thank you," Lu Fan affirmed.

He then picked up a nearby broom and began to quietly sweep the area in front of the flower shop.

Jiang Yixia watched him, but this time she didn’t tell him to leave. She simply let him continue his pointless efforts.