You owe me money for damages.

Lin Yu rode at a gallop all the way, hurrying the donkey cart to the police station.

As soon as he stepped through the gates, he looked around anxiously, searching for Xu Weiguo.

Finally, he spotted Xu Weiguo inside an office. Xu was sitting at his desk organizing some paperwork. Seeing Lin Yu return, he looked surprised, put down the documents, and asked, "Hey, kid, why are you back? Weren't you supposed to be selling fish?"

Lin Yu’s face turned bright red, and his eyes flashed with anger. He hurried over to Xu Weiguo and said indignantly, "Uncle Xu, you have to stand up for me! I was selling my fish just fine at the vegetable market when some man came over and overturned all my fish!"

With that, Lin Yu recounted everything that had happened at the market from start to finish.

He described in detail how the man had picked a fight, claiming Lin Yu was stealing his business, and how he then arrogantly overturned the fish baskets, stomped on them fiercely, and even threatened him. The more Lin Yu talked, the more agitated he became, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

As Xu Weiguo listened, his expression grew increasingly dark. His brows furrowed deeply, and fire seemed to flash in his eyes.

When Lin Yu finished, Xu Weiguo slammed his hand down on the desk with a loud *bang*, stood up, and declared angrily, "That's going too far! How dare someone bully people like this in broad daylight? Come on, take me to him!"

With that, he strode out of the office in long strides, with Lin Yu hurrying closely behind.

Meanwhile, back at the vegetable market, the man who had wrecked Lin Yu's stall was boasting triumphantly to two other vendors.

His fleshy face beamed with smug satisfaction, his eyes narrowed into slits, and a cigarette dangled from his lips as he shook his head and said, "Hah, I told you that kid was just a punk. What could he possibly do? He was definitely scared off by me and won't ever dare come back. If he shows up again, I'll trash his stall every single time. Let's see what he can do about it!"

The other two vendors chuckled along, offering flattering compliments.

"Exactly, it takes a guy like you! That kid didn't know his place, trying to steal business right here from us. He really overestimated himself," one vendor said with a servile, bootlicking grin.

"Ha, absolutely. Let's see who else dares to cause trouble around here," the other vendor chimed in.

As they were chatting away happily, they completely failed to notice that Lin Yu and Xu Weiguo had arrived at the market.

Fuming, Lin Yu pointed straight at the burly man and said to Xu Weiguo, "That's him! He's the one who wrecked my stall. It's too much bullying!"

Xu Weiguo was still in civilian clothes. The man looked him up and down. While Xu Weiguo looked solidly built and athletic, compared to his own thick-set and bulky frame, the policeman seemed far inferior. A look of disdain crossed the man's face, his mouth curling in utter contempt.

With a dark expression, Xu Weiguo looked at the man and demanded, "Are you the one who bullied a child and smashed his stall?"

From the side, Lin Yu quickly chimed in, "Not only did he overturn my stall, he crushed my fish too! Make him pay for the damage!"

Upon hearing this, the man burst into loud, mocking laughter. He sneered at Lin Yu, "Make me pay? In your dreams! I honestly didn't think a little punk like you would dare come back. But the guy you brought with you isn't much to look at either. Looking like that, did he really think he could beat me up?"

With that, he turned his gaze to Xu Weiguo and shouted arrogantly, "That's right, I smashed his stall and ruined his fish! What are you going to do about it? Let me tell you, from now on, he's not allowed to sell fish here. If he dares show his face again, I'll trash him every time! Let's see who dares stop me!"

Seeing the man's extreme arrogance, Xu Weiguo was so angry he laughed, his eyes cold as ice. He retorted, "Do you think you're some kind of big shot?"

"What kind of skill is it to bully a kid?"

The man didn't care in the least. He stuck out his neck and replied with a shameless sneer, "I bullied him, so what? Who told him to steal my business?"

As soon as those words left his mouth, the surrounding onlookers could no longer stand by. People began to frown, chiming in with indignant criticism.

"The kid is earning an honest living with his own effort. What business is it of yours?"

"You're clearly just bullying someone! Your conscience must be rotten. I doubt the fish you sell are any good either. From now on, nobody's buying from you!" an older woman declared, standing with her hands on her hips in fury.

"Exactly! Such a grown man picking on a little kid, aren't you ashamed? Absolutely disgraceful!" a middle-aged man echoed, his face full of scorn for the vendor.

"Go on, go on! What business is it of yours? Get lost!" Hearing the crowd's reproaches, the man's face turned a mottled shade of red and white. Yet refusing to back down, he resorted to behaving like a rascal, shouting at the top of his lungs, "I smashed it, so what can you do to me? Even the Jade Emperor himself couldn't touch me!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Xu Weiguo calmly pulled his identification badge from his jacket, flashed it before the man's eyes, and said coldly, "The Jade Emperor might not be able to touch you, but can a police officer like me?"

The moment he saw the badge, the man panicked. The arrogance in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by sheer panic and terror.

He hurriedly changed his tune, stammering, "Officer, this... this isn't my fault. It's... it's this kid who insulted me first! That's why I flew into a rage and overturned his fish. It's all his fault! He cursed at me, how could I not lose my temper?"

Before he could finish, the surrounding crowd immediately stepped forward to expose his lies.

"Stop talking nonsense! We were all watching right here. You were clearly the one picking a fight and bullying a kid, yet you're trying to twist the truth. Have you no shame?"

"That's right, we saw it clear as day. You were just jealous that the kid was selling his fish well, so you bullied him," a middle-aged woman angrily backed up the claim.

Watching the man's pathetic attempt to argue his way out of a situation fully exposed by the crowd, Xu Weiguo let out a chuckle and said solemnly, "It looks like you'll have to come with me to the police station to sort this out properly. Acting so lawless in broad daylight—I certainly won't let you off that easily."

Hearing that he had to go to the police station, the man was stunned. His earlier arrogance vanished completely, and his heart pounded with dread. He thought to himself that if he ended up at the police station, things definitely wouldn't end well for him; he was bound to suffer.

He immediately put on a ingratiating, flattering smile and begged Lin Yu and Xu Weiguo for mercy, saying, "Officer, it was my fault. I was wrong, okay? I'll apologize to him right now, alright?"

Lin Yu gave a cold snort, rolled his eyes, and said, "What good is an apology? All my fish have been ruined by you. You have to pay compensation."

Hearing this, the man felt a deep, reluctant ache in his heart, but he didn't dare argue. Gritting his teeth, he asked, "Then... how much do I have to pay?"

"Two hundred."

The man's eyes bulged wide open as if he had heard something absurd. His voice pitched up a notch as he shouted, "Why don't you just rob me?! You want two hundred for just these fish? Aren't you just shaking me down? They're not worth nearly that much!"

Lin Yu shot back immediately, "The fish I brought were carefully selected—they're big, fat, and of much better quality than ordinary fish. I usually sell them twenty cents higher per catty than others anyway. Two hundred is a conservative estimate! Hand over the compensation right now and stop yapping. If you don't pay up today, we're heading to the police station, and it won't just be a matter of paying this little bit of money then."

With a miserable expression, the man wore a face of utter despair as he whined, "I... where am I supposed to get that much money? I... I don't even make that much in a whole day! How about this? I'll compensate you with my own fish—they're right there at my stall, just take all of them."

Lin Yu rolled his eyes and retorted unceremoniously, "Your fish are scrawny, tiny, and don't even look fresh. How could they ever compare to mine? If I took your fish, I wouldn't be able to sell them and I'd end up losing money. I don't want your fish, I want cash! Hurry up. You're a businessman, I don't believe you don't have any money on you."

At this point, Xu Weiguo also wore a stern expression as he warned, "If you have the money, pay up now. The fact that they're willing to settle privately right now is already a blessing for you. If we go to the police station, destroying someone else's property of substantial value constitutes a criminal offense. Do you want to go eat prison food?"

Hearing this, the man turned pale with fright, feeling like crying. Though profoundly unwilling, he had no other choice. After hesitating for a long while, he finally reached into the inner pocket of his shirt and pulled out a grey cloth pouch. With agonizing slowness, he counted out the bills one by one, every movement so agonizingly deliberate it looked as though strips of flesh were being carved from his body.

After finally finishing the count, he pulled a long face and said, "Officer, this is literally everything I have on me—one hundred and eighty-four yuan and sixty cents. Not a single cent more."

Lin Yu looked down at the pile of cash, calculated the math in his head, and then let out a feigned sigh. "One hundred eighty-four yuan and sixty cents it is, then. I'll take a bit of a loss and let you off this time. Remember this lesson and don't go around bullying people like this ever again."

Despite his words, Lin Yu was blooming with joy inside.

He knew very well that he had already sold more than half of his fish today. Though there were still quite a few left, he had estimated earlier that they would at best fetch eighty or ninety yuan. With the man's compensation, it was equivalent to making an extra hundred yuan in sales!

In fact, the moment the man deliberately picked a fight, Lin Yu had already hatched a little scheme to fleece him heavily, since the man had been the unreasonable aggressor in the first place.

Originally, Lin Yu had been worried he wouldn't be able to sell the rest of his fish; now, this man had essentially bought out his entire stock.

Feeling immensely pleased with himself, Lin Yu carefully stowed away the money.

Seeing that the man had paid up and the matter was resolved, Xu Weiguo stated sternly, "Alright, since a settlement has been reached, the matter is settled. But let me warn you: no more bullying people from now on. If I catch you acting lawless again, I won't let you off this easily."

The man no longer dared to utter a single word of dissent. He nodded and bowed repeatedly, his subservient attitude a stark contrast to his earlier arrogance.