False evidence

Chapter 164 The Tailor Shop (Part 2)
Uncle Cheng was Gao He's neighbor and an elder. Hearing the stall owner speak so rudely, Gao He couldn't hold back his anger.

Seeing that he was about to explode, I stopped him and shook my jacket in front of the stall owner: "Stop pretending to be a big shot. I'll pay you this time. Get to work."

"What about the bill from last time?" the stall owner asked, his eyes lowered.

"I got the school to open the account, but I only have 3,700 yuan in my bank card. I don't have enough money to pay the debt!" I said impatiently. "Alright, hurry up and get to work!"

The stall owner glared at me, finally took the jacket, and as he got up and walked into the shop, he pointed behind him and said, "That kid, keep an eye on the stall for me!"

Seeing him enter the tailor shop, apart from Xiao Shen San who couldn't help but laugh, the other three all asked me at the same time, "You've been here before?"

I said, "I came here once when I registered for school, and I got angry just looking at that sign at the entrance. I wanted to see how awesome the shop owner was, so I went to the next street and bought a short-sleeved shirt."

I pointed to the carving stall, "Back then, I used his craft knife to cut a big gash and asked him to fix it. If he didn't fix it well, I made him pay for my clothes!"

"And then?" Gao He and Uncle Cheng asked at the same time.

"He asked for two thousand. I watched him mend clothes while we argued. He didn't get the better deal, and I didn't lose out either."

"And then what?" Xiao Shen San laughed so hard he almost choked.

I couldn't help but laugh. "That was it. He was really good at mending clothes. I saw him mend a third of it, and I said to him, 'You'd be better off setting up a small stall outside if you were doing business like this!' As I said that, I pointed outside and walked out. As soon as I got out the door, I took off running! He chased me for half a block but couldn't catch me!"

"Why?" Xiao Shen asked, stopping his laughter.

My face was a little hot, and I mumbled, "The plaid shirt I bought had four colors, it was so flashy, I doubt even a Hawaiian native would dare to wear it. The cut was 20 centimeters long, because that shirt only cost 20 dollars."

I watched him thread the needle and mend it up to about a third of the way through; the cut was only about ten centimeters long, and the repaired area looked exactly the same as before, as if it had never been cut at all. If I really waited for him to finish mending it, what excuse could I use to deny it to him?

Even now, two thousand yuan is a significant sum for someone like me. Why wouldn't I run away?

Pidan couldn't help but say, "I stared at him for ages before I remembered that I bought my handkerchief from him, and he was the one who teased my two classmates. How did you recognize him so quickly after what happened three years ago? And if he clearly has this skill, why is he still running this stall?"

I said, "With that foul mouth of his, what kind of business could he possibly keep going? And he charges such high fees! If he didn't run this stall, how would he make a living?"

Xiao Shen nodded three times: "In the old days, big businesses were full of fussy rules. You couldn't go against the rules set by your ancestors, but you still had to make a living. So he set up this stall, haha, I can understand. By the way, I only heard after I crossed the Shanhaiguan Pass that there was a steamed bun shop in Tianjin and a roast duck shop in Beijing. Aren't those century-old shops? They still messed themselves up."

Gao He slapped his forehead. "Gentlemen, do you still remember why we're here?"

I subconsciously frowned: "I think Sister Ling must have been here before, but the owner has set up a stall outside, so there's probably no one else in the shop."

Despite saying that, I still asked Xiao Shen to watch the carving stall, and then went into the tailor shop with Pi Dan and the others.

Xiao Shen was quite indignant: "Why am I the one watching the stall?"

I said to him very sincerely, "I know you're holding back your urge to tease and banter with someone. But seriously, even though you're smarter than Zhuge Liang, if that guy had really choked you, he could have used half his skill to send you straight to the hospital with just his mouth, and it would have to be the cardiology department. The key is, we're not afraid of hooligans, we're afraid of hooligans with education."

"Pah! I fucking hate intellectuals!"

Xiao Shen spat three times and sat down in the bamboo chair.

As soon as I entered the shop, the stall owner, who was already sitting behind the counter, asked me, "What's your name?"

“Sanqi!” I said, looking around. “Didn’t I tell you that three years ago?”

The stall owner said, "You really are called Sanqi? Your real name? If I'd known it was your real name, I would have gone to your school to collect the debt! I thought you were just making it up! By the way, have you ever heard of 'once bitten, twice shy'? Pay up first, three thousand, not a penny less, no refunds until you get your money." "What's the rush? Last time I came alone. This time I've brought a criminal police captain, are you afraid I'll renege on the debt?"

"That's true. It's obvious that this man works in the government, and his rank is quite high."

Gao asked curiously, "How did you figure that out?"

The stall owner glanced sideways and said, "You're already being lenient by letting me in without making a purchase, yet you keep asking me all sorts of questions. Fine, you can ask any questions, but it's five hundred per question."

Just as Gao was about to speak, I raised my arm to stop him, took out Fang Ling's phone, and showed her a selfie to the 'stall owner'.

The stall owner stared at the photo for a moment, then looked up and met my gaze for about a minute, but neither of us said a word.

"Stop looking and get to work!" I broke the silence first.

The stall owner frowned: "Why are you getting more and more cunning, kid? Why don't you ask me instead!"

I frowned and pointed at Uncle Cheng: "My uncle's biological daughter has intellectual disabilities because she was sick when she was a child."

Then, pointing at Gao He, he said, "Brother Gao is the brigade leader and also Uncle's neighbor. He even used his personal connections to find someone. That woman is pretty and has a great figure, but she never takes a car when she goes out. You should know how worried we are, right?"

The stall owner glanced at the two people I was pointing at, then held up a hand and said, "You asked a question, five hundred!"

My face darkened even more, and I beckoned to Pidan.

Pidan immediately walked over and took out all 6,600 yuan that Yan Fengwei had given him not long ago from his bag.

I pushed all the money in front of the 'stall owner': "Here, it's all yours."

Before the other person could speak, I said coldly again, "I'm a man who needs to make a living, and I like money too. I know my sister has been here. Now, I need you to do everything you can to find her. If you find her, all the money is yours; if you waste time and something happens to her, I'll come here at night and set it on fire."

"Are you serious?" the stall owner asked, looking me straight in the eye.

"Don't waste time, that's my sister."

"Your sister..."

The stall owner stared at me for a moment, then lowered his eyes and glanced at me, muttering absentmindedly, "So it was you..."

Gao He finally couldn't hold back any longer and stepped forward, shouting, "I'm looking for someone! Even if it's not a matter of life and death, if anything happens to her, I won't let you off the hook!"

The stall owner, who had been looking at me, frowned upon hearing this and turned to Gao He: "I haven't broken the law, what can you do to me..."

"Snapped!"

Before he could finish speaking, I slapped him across the face across the counter.

"Sanqi!" Pidan quickly stepped forward and grabbed my arm. "Don't do anything rash!"

I looked directly at the 'stall owner' and said, word by word, "I said I'm afraid my sister will be bullied. I also said I dare to set fires. If I dare to set fires, I dare to kill! If my sister is bullied, you won't get away with it."

Seeing the other person slowly stand up, Pidan immediately stepped in front of me, "He hit you, I'll help you hit him back later. But now is not the time for rules and banter! My man said we're looking for someone! Looking for a woman who might be bullied at any time!"

(End of this chapter)