However, a glance at the carriage patrol officers in his peripheral vision suddenly made his expression turn grave. Those guys showed up at just the ‘right’ time. They hadn't appeared when Fatty Lin apprehended the pickpocket, but chose to show up precisely when the pickpocket’s accomplices arrived to defend them. Their timing was impeccable.

“We heard a report that someone here is falsely accusing a good citizen. Is that you people?” a middle-aged patrol officer with a sullen face shouted toward Fatty Lin’s group.

“Yes, Officer, we are just good citizens…” That one fellow, who only seemed familiar with one Chinese law, waved his hands, pointing at Feng Shi and Fatty Lin, spattering saliva everywhere as he furiously spewed nonsense at the middle-aged officer, all while wearing a face that suggested the story he was telling was absolutely true.

Even the bystanders who had maintained a sliver of clarity were suddenly swayed by his performance; the image of right being turned into wrong was subconsciously planted in their minds.

“Stop, stop, stop!”

The middle-aged officer sneered internally. Usually, if someone else were ranting at him like this, he would have exploded in anger, but this time was surprisingly different. He didn't lose his temper. After stopping the fellow’s tirade, he waved a hand at Fatty Lin and said, “Did you falsely accuse this woman of being a thief?”

“Falsely accuse?” Fatty Lin said coldly, shaking his head slightly. “Officer, I am a model citizen, just short of being one of the Ten Outstanding Youths. This man bumped into the young girl, and while the young girl was apologizing, this woman was picking her pocket from behind. I caught her red-handed. How am I falsely accusing a good person?”

“Do you have evidence, perhaps a witness?” the middle-aged officer asked, raising an eyebrow at Fatty Lin.

It was obvious the middle-aged officer believed the latter group; he had already written Fatty Lin off as a villain falsely accusing good people. This line of questioning immediately caused the onlookers—including the victims who had suffered losses from the pickpockets earlier—to retreat to their seats. Evidently, no one wanted to get involved.

Seeing this, Fatty Lin felt a chill sink deeper into his bones. He truly wanted to slap himself for not listening to Easy Brother, for insisting on meddling in other people’s affairs. But thinking of certain things, Fatty Lin didn't answer the middle-aged officer. Instead, he looked toward Yang Yi. He had hoped Yang Yi would notice that the young girl he was trying to help this time was someone very, very familiar. To his dismay, Young Master Yang seemed indifferent, leaning against Xuanyuan Bing’s shoulder, not even glancing his way, just offering a wry, shaking smile.

At this moment, seeing Fatty Lin remain silent, the young girl became quite anxious. She quickly spoke to the middle-aged officer, “Officer, that… he’s not a bad person falsely accusing someone; he really did help me catch the pickpocket.”

Hearing the young girl defending Fatty Lin, the middle-aged officer frowned and stated, “Are you saying he didn't falsely accuse anyone?”

“Yes,” the young girl replied. Seeing the officer frown, a flash of panic crossed her slightly beautiful face. Perhaps this was the phenomenon of the common people fearing authority.

In real life, this was a common sight. Most ordinary people, upon seeing the police, would exhibit either extreme deference or fear. Deep down, a very real notion was ingrained: the police represented trouble. If the police got involved, it was rarely for anything good—every commoner understood this perfectly well.

“Hmm?” The middle-aged officer completely changed his expression, feigning a squint. “You mean that woman is the actual thief?”

“Yes,” the young girl confirmed. She didn't understand why he needed to ask such detailed questions, since she had already established that the youth wasn't falsely accusing anyone, which by extension proved the woman was the pickpocket. She looked at the middle-aged officer with confusion.

“Good. You two, take this woman away, and you two follow me to make a statement.” The middle-aged officer ordered the other two carriage patrolmen beside him, then looked at Fatty Lin and the young girl with a smile full of amusement.

“Oh,” the young girl responded naively.

Only Fatty Lin narrowed his eyes coldly, staring at the carriage patrol officer, then glancing at Yang Yi, who was on his right. “Easy Brother!”

“Hehe, since he’s a first-class citizen, of course, he must cooperate with the police. I trust this officer won’t be biased,” Yang Yi chuckled, finally turning to look at Fatty Lin. Then, the smile on his face turned utterly cryptic as he stared directly at the patrol officer.

“Hm?” When the middle-aged officer met Yang Yi’s gaze, he felt an inexplicable sense of pressure. Simultaneously, he eyed Fatty Lin suspiciously. Why is this youth asking another youth how to proceed? Did Six and his gang run into real trouble this time? he muttered inwardly, but as he scanned Fatty Lin’s simple attire, a clear look of contempt surfaced in his eyes.

“Easy Brother, I’ll go check things out first, shall I?” Fatty Lin asked Yang Yi with a smile as he passed his seat.

“Easy Brother?” The young girl suddenly frowned, murmuring, “I think I’ve heard those two words somewhere before?”

“Damn it!” Hearing this, Fatty Lin jumped.

Before Yang Yi could reply, he saw Fatty Lin’s unnatural expression and asked, “What’s wrong, Fatty?”

“Sweat, Easy Brother, you don’t actually think I was just being nosy this time, do you?”

“Weren't you?” Yang Yi looked at him in confusion.

“Don’t you have any impression of that young girl at all?” Fatty Lin looked back at her silhouette, finding it increasingly familiar the more he stared.

Hearing this, Yang Yi ignored the puzzled looks from Feng Shi and Xuanyuan Bing. He took a few more glances at the silhouette, and then suddenly…

“Holy crap, could it be such a coincidence?”

“Alas, it’s exactly that kind of coincidence, which is why I helped her.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier, you brat?” Yang Yi asked in shock.

“Sweat, can’t you see for yourself? You insist on me telling you that this silhouette is so familiar…”

“Uh!”

“Let’s go!” A carriage policeman standing behind Fatty Lin called out.

“Alright, I get it. You go ahead first. If you get screwed over, I don’t mind if you act crazy later,” Yang Yi said this nonsensical thing, then sat down on the side to ponder deeply.

Consequently, Fatty Lin raised his eyebrows with a knowing smile and walked toward the front carriage. He left Feng Shi and Xuanyuan Bing exchanging confused glances, clearly not understanding what was happening with those two, though the only thing they could grasp was that the familiar silhouette meant the young girl was likely an acquaintance of both Yang Yi and Fatty Lin.

Why is this girl showing up here? It’s been two years, and her figure is still just as good. Looking at her now, she must be heading home for the New Year. Yang Yi thought to himself, a memory flashing across his mind—that day, peering through a hole the size of a finger, when she’d called him a pervert and a scoundrel…

Thinking of this, Yang Yi cursed under his breath, “Damn it, did Fatty help her purely as an act of atonement?”

“Young Master?”

“Yi?”

Feng Shi and Xuanyuan Bing both called out simultaneously, interrupting Yang Yi’s rapidly shifting expression.

“Uh!” Yang Yi snapped out of it, then smiled, “Hehe, nothing.”

“Young Master, Fatty…”

“En, that group of people just now probably has connections with the patrol officers. If I’m not mistaken, they are snakes and rats in the same nest,” Yang Yi muttered, his lips twitching.

“Then Fatty Lin is going to suffer a disadvantage?” Xuanyuan Bing asked doubtfully.

“That’s not the main issue. What makes me a bit suspicious is the general size of that pickpocket gang. They have about ten people in one carriage alone. With so many carriages on a train, there must be quite a few of them. If it’s a large-scale operation… that might be a little troublesome,” Yang Yi stated calmly.

Some things are simply destined to happen. Yang Yi at this moment could never have imagined that this trouble would become entangled with him. As to why he harbored this suspicion, there was no need to question it: if a criminal organization has patrol officers in their pocket, one must have an extremely high-ranking figure to subdue the officers. These clues were enough to indicate that this was a very large criminal syndicate, encompassing numerous pickpockets, and even women.

“How about this, you two wait for me here for a moment, I’ll be right back.” Yang Yi finished speaking and immediately stood up, walking forward.

Before Feng Shi and Xuanyuan Bing could react, Yang Yi’s figure had already vanished from the carriage. Feng Shi couldn't help but let out a wry smile. “It seems both Young Master and Fatty know that young girl.”

“En, that must be it. You saw their expressions just now, and Fatty Lin had that look too. Haven’t you been by Yi’s side for a long time? You don’t recognize that young girl?” Xuanyuan Bing asked.

“Hehe, I’ve only been with the Young Master for a little over two years, and I still can’t quite figure him out,” Feng Shi offered a bitter smile.

Hearing this, Xuanyuan Bing also fell silent.

Xuanyuan Bing, who was praised as beautiful as ice and cold as enchantment, and Feng Shi, who was semi-cold but fiercely sharp like a lioness once provoked—they were generally considered equals. In the past, the smiles they showed, even wry ones, were rare occurrences. But now, they both shared a bitter smile simultaneously, a truly rare coincidence.

Therefore, normal people would feel that things were becoming increasingly inappropriate, while the abnormal ones simply paid no heed. After walking through several carriages, the young girl had been led into a room, while Fatty Lin received special treatment, being escorted directly to the very first carriage.

“Slap!” The middle-aged officer sat down on the stool without a word, fixing Fatty Lin with a narrowed, staring gaze.

Following this, the few men behind Fatty Lin—those members of the pickpocket gang Yang Yi had mentioned—also stared at his back with eerie, knowing smiles.

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