By the roadside, under a dim yellow streetlamp.

A slender, pretty woman with a gentle disposition was being endlessly pestered by a sallow-faced middle-aged man.

"I’ve told you already," Xia Qing said, exasperated as she faced the sallow-faced man. "When I found this wallet, there was only five hundred in cash inside."

"But I know for a fact I put a thousand in there before I lost it. Now there’s only five hundred. What, did the other five hundred just grow wings and fly away?"

The sallow-faced man said this snidely, the clear implication being that Xia Qing had found his wallet and secretly taken five hundred from it.

"You... If I really took your five hundred, why wouldn’t I have taken the other five hundred as well?

Besides, if I was really after your money, why would I have bothered to call you to come get the wallet? I would’ve just taken all the cash and thrown the wallet away."

The kind-hearted Xia Qing had found a wallet on her way home and used a business card inside to contact the owner. She never expected something like this to happen after returning it; his words made her absolutely furious.

Her full chest heaved violently with indignation, and the sallow-faced middle-aged man’s eyes widened at the sight.

"Anyway, I’ve already returned the wallet. If you say you’re missing five hundred, you can go look for it yourself. I have somewhere to be, so I’m leaving."

When Xia Qing saw the sallow-faced man blatantly ogling her chest, her expression turned icy. She said coldly, then turned to leave.

"You’re not going anywhere until you clear up this business about the five hundred missing from my wallet..."

Seeing Xia Qing about to leave, the sallow-faced man chased after her and blocked her path with his arm, his expression making it clear he wouldn’t back down until the issue of the missing five hundred was resolved.

"Have you no sense of reason?" Xia Qing demanded, her voice low.

"How am I being unreasonable? I’m trying to reason with you right now, aren’t I?" the sallow-faced man retorted.

"You... You’re just making trouble! Are you saying you won’t let me leave unless I pay you five hundred out of my own pocket?"

"I just want to get back the five hundred I lost. I’m not asking you to pay me out of your own pocket."

...Xia Qing knew there was no getting through to this sallow-faced man. Just as she was thinking about calling the police and having a Security Officer handle the dispute, a figure appeared by her side.

"Xia Qing."

"Hm?" Hearing someone call her name, Xia Qing turned. When she saw who it was, a delighted smile instantly lit up her face. "Lin Li."

Xia Qing, who had been furious with the sallow-faced man, felt most of her anger dissipate the moment she saw Lin Li. It was as if she had found her backup, and her anxiety vanished.

"Xia Qing, it looks like you’re in some trouble. What’s going on?" Lin Li asked, glancing at the sallow-faced man.

"Lin Li, you have to help me sort this out. Here’s what happened. I went to a nearby bank to run an errand, and on my way back..." Xia Qing quickly recounted her story to Lin Li.

After hearing Xia Qing’s account, Lin Li’s brow furrowed. He turned to the sallow-faced man and spoke with clear displeasure.

"Sir, my friend has already made herself perfectly clear. She did not take your five hundred after finding your wallet.

As for how you lost that five hundred? That’s your problem to figure out."

The sallow-faced man, hearing this kid speak to him with such a disrespectful tone, felt he was losing face. He immediately started to shout.

"Look, my wallet is missing five hundred, plain and simple! If this woman doesn’t make up for that missing five hundred, she’s not going anywhere today!"

"I never took your five hundred! You’re being completely unreasonable—" Xia Qing started to argue, but she was only halfway through her sentence when Lin Li raised a hand, cutting her off.

"Xia Qing, don’t waste any more words on him. It’s useless. Let me handle this."

"Okay." Xia Qing nodded lightly and stood quietly by Lin Li’s side.

Lin Li turned back to the troublemaking, sallow-faced man, his gaze icy. "You claim you had a thousand in your wallet," he said coldly. "Do you have any proof? If not, get the hell out of here. Now."

Beside him, Xia Qing looked on in astonishment as Lin Li delivered his forceful rebuke to the sallow-faced man.

In her mind, her neighbor, who had just graduated from college this year, still had the air of a student about him—gentle and scholarly. He didn’t seem like the type to speak so forcefully, especially not to a middle-aged man who was so obviously not someone to mess with.

’I never would have thought,’ Xia Qing mused, watching Lin Li’s incredibly firm stance, ’that the normally gentle and scholarly Lin Li had a side like this.’

"You..." The sallow-faced man, taken aback by Lin Li’s aggressive attitude, was suddenly at a loss for words.

It was just as Lin Li had said: he had no way of proving his wallet had contained a thousand to begin with.