Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Being Extorted
"Time flies so fast," Gao Fei stretched his arms wide and yawned a big yawn.
"Gurgle..."
A strange noise came from his stomach.
Gao Fei patted his belly, "Stop complaining, I'll get you something to eat right now." He stood up, changed his shoes, pulled open the door, and walked out. Ever since he began cultivating the Demon God Heritage, his appetite had been increasing gradually. Now, he could eat almost twice as much as before, and if this continued, he would turn into a rice bucket sooner or later.
After strolling around the street, he finally entered a ramen restaurant.
He wolfed down three large bowls of ramen in one go, and touching his round belly, he chuckled, "Are you satisfied now?" The feeling of being full was just awesome! After paying the bill, Gao Fei stepped out of the ramen shop.
Light is one of humanity's greatest inventions. At night, the streetlights on both sides of the road would light up, illuminating the entire city spectacularly, along with car headlights and the lights from skyscrapers... These lights merged together to form a visually stunning spectacle.
"Thump!"
Suddenly, a muffled sound came from behind. Gao Fei turned around, puzzled, and saw a person lying not far behind him, an old man with grizzled hair, "Ouch... it hurts... Ouch... it hurts..." The old man was crying out in pain with his teeth bared.
"Old man, what happened to you?" Gao Fei hurried over, reaching out to help the old man up.
"Slap!"
A withered hand grabbed Gao Fei's arm, and then he heard the old man shout, "It was you who knocked me down! You must take responsibility!"
"Huh?" Gao Fei was completely taken aback, "Old man, you must be confused? You fell down on your own, it wasn't me who bumped into you... "
"Don't try to squirm your way out of this! It was you who hit me!" The old man steadfastly accused Gao Fei of knocking him down.
Gao Fei's frown deepened, "Are you trying to scam me?" He had seen news about pedestrians scamming others in the newspapers before, which he had just laughed off and didn't take to heart, but now he was experiencing it firsthand!
"You knocked me down, you must take responsibility," the old man held on tightly to Gao Fei's arm, refusing to let go no matter what.
Gao Fei couldn't help but laugh out of sheer frustration, "I came over to help you out of good intentions, and not only do you not thank me, but you also try to scam me? How shameless can you be? Let go! Let go right now! Or else I won't be so polite!"
"What? You want to hit people?" The old man glared and started yelling, "Help! Somebody help! This guy knocked me down and is trying to weasel out of it..."
Passersby were sporadically drawn over, pointing at Gao Fei and the old man, discussing the situation. Some blamed Gao Fei for being irresponsible, while others accused the old man of faking, with all sorts of opinions flying around.
Seeing the old man behaving so shamelessly made Gao Fei furious. Damn it, how could he be so unlucky to come across such a rogue! If it weren't for considering the old man's age and frailty, Gao Fei would have already taken action.
"Wee-oo, wee-oo..."
A police car sped from a distance and, after a sharp turn, stopped at the curb, "Bang, bang, bang..." The doors opened, and out stepped three police officers, the lead one surprisingly a curvaceous female officer. She looked around 25 or 26, with a stunning figure and pretty face. Her name was Liu Mengyao, an officer from the local public security substation. Due to her beauty, she was well-liked by her colleagues—chiefly the male ones.
"Someone just called the police, reporting a dispute here. What exactly happened?" Liu Mengyao glanced around before fixing her gaze on Gao Fei and the old man.
"Officer, you came just in time! This guy knocked me over, won't admit it, and even tried to hit me... You must stand up for me," the old man was the first to complain, playing the victim.
"If you keep slandering me with your nonsense, believe it or not, I'll tear your mouth apart!" Gao Fei said, fuming with anger.
"Officer, you all saw it, right? This guy is threatening me... You must stand up for me," the old man whined pitifully.
"How can there be such a shameless person in this world!" Gao Fei was so angry he felt like his lungs were about to explode.
"Does anyone know what happened?" Liu Mengyao asked the crowd, "Are there any witnesses?" She asked repeatedly, but no one answered. Eventually, with no other choice, Liu Mengyao had to take Gao Fei and the old man back to the police station and investigate the matter slowly.
Halfway there, another mishap occurred.
The old man claimed his chest was tight and he was having difficulty breathing. Finally, Liu Mengyao had to take the old man to the hospital and then brought Gao Fei back to the police station alone.
...
Thinking about it, this was the first time in Gao Fei's life that he had been detained by the police.
He sat on the cold chair, feeling very frustrated. He had been doing a good deed, only to end up falsely accused and brought into the police station. Could there be anything more frustrating in the world?
Sitting across from Gao Fei were two police officers, a man and a woman. The female officer was Liu Mengyao.
"Name." Following standard procedure, Liu Mengyao began the interrogation. As she asked questions, the male officer next to her started taking notes.
"Gao Fei." Gao Fei gave his name.
"Gender!" Liu Mengyao continued to inquire.
Gender? A slight twitch appeared at the corner of Gao Fei's mouth. Could someone actually ask such a brain-dead question? Anyone who wasn't blind could see he was a man! Gao Fei curled his lips: "Female!"
"Uh..." Liu Mengyao almost bit her own tongue, she widened her eyes and glared at Gao Fei: "You're clearly a man, why do you claim you're a woman!"
"Hehe..." Gao Fei laughed: "Since you know I'm a man, why do you ask?"
"Slap!"
Liu Mengyao slammed the table fiercely and shouted: "Be serious!"
Gao Fei shrugged: "I am serious, aren't I?"
"You..." The color of Liu Mengyao's face began to turn blue with anger. She had been a police officer for more than two years and had interrogated over a hundred criminals, yet no one had dared to provoke her to her face! This Gao Fei was the first!
"Sister Liu, calm down, it's not worth getting angry over someone like this," the male police officer sitting beside her spoke up to persuade her.
Liu Mengyao gave Gao Fei a fierce glare, then, gritting her teeth, said: "Spill it, what exactly happened today?"
"I was walking ahead, and suddenly I heard a noise from behind. I turned around and saw an old man had fallen, so I hurried over to help him up... But who knew, the old man grabbed me, saying I had knocked him over... and demanded that I take responsibility... It was clearly a scam... " Gao Fei became more indignant as he spoke: "How can there be such shameless people in the world! Officer, you must handle him sternly! You can't let him off lightly!"
"You claim you've been wronged, do you have any evidence?" Liu Mengyao asked.
"Evidence..." Gao Fei curled his lips: "I don't have any evidence in hand..."
"If you can't produce any evidence, then how can you prove your innocence?"
"What do you mean by that? Are you saying I'm lying?"
"I can't rule out that possibility! People nowadays, their quality is too low, clearly bumping into someone, and because they're afraid to take responsibility, they won't admit it—I've seen too many such scumbags."
"Hey!" Gao Fei wasn't willing to listen anymore, he pushed his chair back and stood up, glaring furiously at Liu Mengyao: "You call yourself a cop? You make rash conclusions before the investigation is done, you have no sense of responsibility as a police officer! Someone like you doesn't deserve to be a cop!"
"Slap!"
Liu Mengyao slammed her hand down on the table violently, causing the teacup to rattle. Pointing at Gao Fei's nose, she cursed: "Shout one more time, see if I won't tear your mouth apart!"
"Yo, really?!" Gao Fei sneered coldly: "What, you going to hit me? Come on then, hit me. Let me tell you! If you dare touch me today, I'll go to the court and sue you for abuse of power! Then we'll see if you can remain a cop!"
"Bastard! I'm going to teach you a lesson today for sure!" Liu Mengyao kicked the chair away and rushed at Gao Fei with her fists clenched. She had a hot temper from a young age, and if anyone dare provoke her, she'd definitely respond with a slap.
"Sister Liu! Sister Liu, don't be impulsive!" The male police officer sitting beside saw things were getting out of hand and hurriedly stood up to hold Liu Mengyao back: "Sister Liu, calm down, don't be rash!" There were explicit national regulations that forbade police from using force on criminals. If Liu Mengyao really hit Gao Fei today, things would get serious, and she could face disciplinary actions.
Persuaded by the earnest pleas of the male officer, Liu Mengyao finally calmed down. She knew that if she started a fight, it would change the nature of things. At best, she would face disciplinary actions, at worst, she might be dismissed. But... this Gao Fei in front of her was so damn annoying... Without teaching him a lesson, it was frustrating.
"I'm going to get some air, you interrogate this guy." Liu Mengyao pushed the door open and walked out.
The male police officer looked up and glared at Gao Fei: "Are you satisfied now?"
"You saw what happened just now; she started it," Gao Fei said: "I was just defending myself, that's all."
"Enough, cut it out," the male officer waved his hand impatiently: "Sit down and tell me everything about what happened today from start to finish, without hiding anything."
...
Inside the corridor.
Liu Mengyao leaned against the wall with a frown, looking gloomy.
"Creak!"
The door to the interrogation room was pushed open, and a visibly exhausted male police officer stepped out.
"How did it go? Did that guy confess?" Liu Mengyao asked in a deep voice.
The male police officer shook his head: "He insists he was framed... from my years of experience in handling cases, he doesn't seem to be lying..."
"Not lying?" Liu Mengyao's eyebrows shot up: "You actually believe he's innocent? Are you blind?" With many complaints against Gao Fei, Liu Mengyao immediately flared up upon hearing the male officer siding with Gao Fei.
"Sister Liu, don't be angry, I was just saying it off the cuff..." Seeing that Liu Mengyao was enraged, the male officer hurriedly explained: "This case still needs evidence to talk. I plan to visit the scene of the incident, see if I can find a witness."