Peerless Martial Expert in the City
Chapter 383 - 386: Playing with Evidence?

Chapter 383: Chapter 386: Playing with Evidence?

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The moment Xiao Yi turned his head, he saw Li Xiaomei leading what looked to be an old-fashioned bicycle. Her hands were clutching the handlebars as she apologized incessantly, in a low voice, to several well-dressed men standing in front of her.

Behind the men, a milky-white BMW car was parked.

The men, however, paid her no mind, continuously bending over and scrutinizing the BMW’s body, their gazes sweeping back and forth as if checking for any issues.

"Ah, it’s already scratched!"

"Really? Where is it?"

"Ah, indeed, there’s such a big scratch, my God, my beloved car, this is a new import that I haven’t had for even a year!"

"..."

Suddenly, an outcry came from a gaunt man’s mouth.

With the man’s cry, the faces of the others suddenly lit up with alarm, their eyes filled with intense anxiety as they looked in the direction pointed out by the man. A portly man, in particular, let out a tumultuous wail.

Hearing the voices of these men, Li Xiaomei’s face turned pale as she led the bicycle. A hint of extreme fear appeared in her eyes, and her slender frame began to tremble.

"Gentlemen, you must be mistaken, my bicycle never touched your car. How could it have possibly scratched it?"

Finally, unable to bear it any longer as the men’s claims grew more and more convincing, Li Xiaomei spoke up anxiously.

As she spoke, she was almost in tears. Although she wasn’t worldly, she could still recognize the BMW logo.

To her, with extremely limited knowledge about cars, she had no idea how prestigious the BMW really was. Her only understanding was that, like Mercedes-Benz, BMWs were exceptionally fine cars, typically owned by the nouveau riche, and that they were incredibly expensive luxury vehicles, allegedly costing millions each.

Such a car was far beyond her wildest dreams, an utterly unattainable notion.

Therefore, she had no doubt about the men’s words; if she truly had scratched their car, even selling herself and spending her entire fortune wouldn’t cover the costs.

Even without compensation, just making repairs would cost thousands of RMB, wouldn’t it?

Thousands of RMB, a sum that she could have perhaps managed before, had become a hefty burden due to her family’s recent streak of misfortunes. The economy of her household had plummeted, and she still owed Xiao Yi over ten thousand RMB for her son’s surgery. Her family had even started to be frugal with their daily meals.

If she now encountered such an incident, how could she cope?

How could she not feel anxious?

And she was indeed certain that her bicycle hadn’t scratched anyone’s car!

"Do you think we have flowers in our eyes?"

The portly man, who was previously howling skyward in profound grief, raised his head and looked at Li Xiaomei, who was on the verge of crying. A sneer appeared at the corner of his eye. He turned his head, pointing at a spot on the BMW they were looking at, "Just look for yourself, what is this? If you didn’t hit it, does that mean my car can damage itself?"

"But I really didn’t touch your car!"

Li Xiaomei was close to tears, but when she followed the direction they were pointing at and saw the car clearly, her expression suddenly became stunned, and then she looked relieved, exclaiming, "And besides, the car isn’t damaged at all."

"Not damaged?"

Another man who had first noticed the car’s damage—thin and with a slightly sinister look on his face—sneered, pointing at a soybean-sized black dot on the car, "Are you blind? You can’t see such a big damage spot?"

"Ah?"

Following his pointing finger, Li Xiaomei finally saw the so-called damage—a soybean-sized black dot, the origin of which she couldn’t discern. Her eyes suddenly widened with disbelief as she looked at the man who had spoken.

After a while, she snapped back, agitated, "Gentlemen, this has nothing to do with me. My bike never touched your car, how could it have possibly scratched it? And even if my bike had touched it, it certainly couldn’t have caused such a mark!"

"How am I supposed to know how your broken bike managed to make such a mark?"

The man chuckled coldly, "In any case, if you don’t give us an explanation today, there’s no way this is going to end just like that. Our car is an authentic BMW imported from Germany. Better say, how are you going to compensate us for our loss."

"My God... you, you can’t do this. I never even touched your car. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the neighbors right over there."

Even Li Xiaomei, who was usually out of the loop, had now understood that these people were simply looking for trouble, aiming to extort her. The look on her face couldn’t help but turn pale.

"Ask the neighbors? Then let me just ask, take a look."

The portly man chuckled coldly again, lifting his gaze towards the crowd gathered in front to enjoy the drama, and shouted, "Did you see anything? Anyone coming forward to testify?"

As soon as the crowd caught the portly man’s sweeping gaze, those who generally understood what was happening and were looking at Li Xiaomei with sympathy, suddenly all lowered their heads, pretending they saw nothing and fell silent.

They were all somewhat angry at these people’s arrogance and wanted to help Li Xiaomei, but this group, each dressed respectably and driving a BMW, clearly were no good eggs. Everyone was afraid of getting burnt themselves.

A few men had thoughts of stepping forward to speak, but before they could open their mouths, their women pinched them hard on the waist and pulled them away.

"No one’s coming forward, right? That means everyone saw her car scratch mine."

Seeing the crowd’s reaction, the portly man’s face grew smug, his gaze filled with mockery as he looked at Li Xiaomei, "Now, what do you have to say?"

Li Xiaomei’s eyes passed over the faces of the neighbors one by one, her eyes revealing a glimmer of disbelief. She couldn’t imagine that after being neighbors for so long, all these shop owners she frequented would be so heartless, so cowardly, that not one would speak up for her. Her face suddenly showed a trace of despair, and her heart was filled with profound dejection.

Hmph, want to play the evidence game with me?

Then let’s play evidence. Do you really think anyone would side with you, a simpleton like this?

Watching Li Xiaomei suddenly turn deathly pale, her legs trembling, and her eyes showing a hint of despair, the portly man’s lips curled up in mock, a sense of satisfaction rising in his heart.

"I saw it; she definitely didn’t—"

However, just as his words fell, a crisp voice filled with indescribable anger sounded from the side.

Wang Qingqing, burning with fury, rushed to her aunt’s side, reaching out to steady Aunt Li Xiaomei. She glared at the group of men who looked decent enough but still reeked faintly of alcohol, then turned and comforted Li Xiaomei, "Auntie, don’t be afraid of them. We live in a society governed by law; people like them can’t run amok!"

"Oh, look who jumped out, a little girl?"

"And a pretty one at that."

"........."

The men, taken aback by Wang Qingqing’s sudden appearance, all froze for a moment, none of them expecting someone to dare confront them at a time like this.

But after a slight pause, as they got a clear look at Wang Qingqing’s face, their eyes all lit up, and their expressions shifted to something more lecherous.

"Qingqing?"

Li Xiaomei didn’t expect to see Wang Qingqing here. A glimmer of joy appeared on her face as she seized onto a straw of hope, but when she noticed the lewd looks on the faces of the men as they stared at Wang Qingqing, her heart sank once more. Her eyes filled with urgency as she said, "Qingqing, you should hurry back. I’ll be home soon."

"Auntie, how could I leave you here alone to face these bullies?"

Wang Qingqing angrily said to her aunt.

"I........"

Li Xiaomei was choked up by Wang Qingqing’s words.

"No need for push and shove here, if you don’t give us a settlement today, no one is leaving."

The portly man gazed intently at Wang Qingqing, his eyes revealing a hint of ill intent.

"On what grounds? I warn you, we live in a world of law, you can’t just do as you please. My aunt didn’t hit your car. If you really think she did, let’s get the traffic police to handle it. If the police determine that my aunt did in fact damage your car and decide on a compensation, we will accept it!"

Wang Qingqing raised her head and stared back angrily at the man speaking.(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations, monthly tickets, and your support is my biggest motivation.)