Return of the Antagonistic Lady Boss

Qian saw someone coming from afar, and her hands didn’t stop. If you’re going to help, you better look like you’re helping.

"We shouldn’t have everyone continue gnawing on plain buns without dishes tonight. I saw the kitchen crew bringing a pig; they’re getting ready to slaughter it. I bet once the fires die down tonight they’ll boost everyone’s energy, maybe even cook red-braised pork—oh my God! What have you done?" Apiao turned around, catching sight of Qian’s actions, and his hair stood on end from fright.

He pushed Qian away in one swift motion.

Qian held up a bag of flour, looking innocent.

"Pouring flour, duh."

"Lady! You spilled a bag of lye and mixed half of it with flour! You’ve been kneading it for ages!"

Had Apiao not noticed, tonight not only would everyone miss out on red-braised pork, but they might not even get any buns. Those buns would take down a crowd like medicine.

"Huh? Nowadays, why use this stuff for buns instead of yeast?" Qian was puzzled by the odd texture; turns out, it wasn’t flour. She just poured... quite a bit of it.

"You think you’re justified after messing up? Go sit on the side!" Apiao chased Qian away, looking at the pile of ’evidence’ she made, feeling a headache coming on.

He quickly called over other team members, "Mo Di, go stall the kitchen crew. You two, hurry and help me destroy the evidence! If the kitchen crew sees this, our group’s reputation is toast."

If people found out they couldn’t even steam buns right, they’d never get assigned such tasks again.

Knowing she was at fault, Qian hurried to join them, digging holes to bury her mess.

"Chen Xiaoqian, are you even a woman? Do you do anything at home? Look how skinny Mr. Yu’s gotten thanks to your meals! I’ve never met someone as clueless about basic grains as you."

While burying the mess Qian made, Apiao grumbled.

"He’s not skinny! He’s all muscle... Besides, even if he were skinny, it wouldn’t be my cooking." Qian thought to herself, isn’t Minglang cooking at home?

"Stay to the side and don’t get in the way, Chen Xiaoqian. Are you seriously unable to cook?" Apiao looked at Qian doubtfully, increasingly convinced this girl couldn’t cook, yet she pretends otherwise, blending into their domestic team, trying to fool them!

"Ahem!" Qian coughed nervously. She hadn’t blown anything up yet, that’s already something, right? Let’s not expect too much.

"Really, how did a woman like you even get married? Watch me do it." Apiao returned to expertly demonstrate flour preparation.

Qian nodded.

"Great, not bad. I won’t fight you on this. You have domestic skills, you can marry off."

"Of course—but wait, why should I marry!" Proud Apiao suddenly puffed up in indignation.

As the group worked and listened to Qian and Apiao bickering, one person nudged another’s arm, "See, Mr. Chen didn’t visit the group for nothing; look at this friendship."

"Definitely, this daily bickering sounds adorable."

Amidst the joyful work, noises erupted ahead, and a team approached.

Qian squinted, having noticed someone heading their way. Upon closer inspection, it indeed seemed they were heading straight for them—could it be—

An opportunity for revenge for the elder sister-in-law coming?

If she guessed correctly, those brought over should be those who witnessed the incident but refused to help.

Qian wiped the flour, or perhaps lye, off her hands onto her clothes, eyes gleaming.

She found an opportunity.

"What are you up to?" Apiao saw her acting strangely and quickly asked.

"See those guys?" Qian gestured forward with her chin, as the police were leading them this way.

"Who?"

Qian pointed them out to him.

"Those guys—looking cowardly and shameless—"

"Hey, why talk about the public like that?" Apiao still mindful of their mission!

"If you knew what they did, you’d talk that way too?"

About a minute left before they arrived, Qian lowered her voice, briefly recounting these people’s cowardly behavior during the incident.

The psychological intervention group instantly chorused, "Ugh! Shameless! Cowards!"

Faced with evil, these men became turtles in their shells, dared not speak up against the wrongdoers but bullied the brave Xiaoxi—utterly disgraceful!

Thinking this way, everyone understood why Qian spoke of them that way.

Just then, the crowd was brought over.

"Hello, we’d like to request the cooperation of the courageous celebrity for evidence collection and investigation."

"She’s already gone to the hospital for treatment. However, we have two other members from the vehicle here, including the driver and a female passenger. After rescuing them, we kept them here waiting for you because they have some psychological obstacles; we administered some preliminary psychological treatment." Qian replied.

"Who are you—" They looked puzzled; why these people were cooking in the kitchen crew?

Apiao saluted.

"Hello, we’re the psychological intervention group. Are those with you fellow passengers?"

"We suspect they are."

"We’re not!" The people quickly denied.

Spotted them halfway up the mountain; their clothing didn’t look local. Asked where they came from, but they couldn’t say—sometimes claiming the vehicle, sometimes denying, clearly unwilling to discuss the incident for fear of reprisal. With no other choice, they were brought back for further questioning.

These men were all in it together, afraid of retaliation; unwilling to speak. Faced with this, the crowd disdainfully spat inside.

"In that case, they’re likely facing psychological obstacles. How about we simply treat these folks on-site?" Qian’s eyes gleamed with calculation.

"Won’t it delay you?" Finding someone to cooperate as a witness would be ideal. They’ve been searching for suspects without progress, hoping for leads from eyewitnesses.

"Doctor, help us. We’re traumatized, and don’t know anything—the others insist we testify, but we’ve forgotten everything!" One person quickly cried out, others echoed, claiming complete ignorance.

They had no idea what the psychologists’ exact work entailed—probably just chatting and talking—if they staunchly refused to testify, the doctors wouldn’t make things tough for them...right?

"Don’t worry, you’ll get what you deserve."

Qian smiled like a benevolent figure, but her white teeth gleamed sinisterly in the sunset; her eyes flashed with a strange light.

I’ll play you to the ground!