Chapter 61: I Just Want to See How Many People the Streamer Can Send Inside in a Single Day!

Xinghuan Teahouse!

The interior was decorated in an archaic and elegant style, exuding a subtle, woody fragrance from inside out.

The night was illuminated by soft, hazy lighting that was bright yet gentle on the eyes.

No sooner had Lu Xingzhou seated himself than Yu Yiting walked into the lobby, dressed in a long black dress. After sweeping her gaze across the room, she walked straight toward him.

Her makeup remained exquisite, and her long, straight black hair had been styled into voluminous waves.

After sitting down, Yu Yiting arched her eyebrows, narrowed her eyes, and leaned forward toward Lu Xingzhou, her upper body practically resting on the table.

"Little guy, what kind of midnight snack are you planning to have with me tonight?"

Fearing that Yu Yiting might misunderstand his intentions, Lu Xingzhou decided to cut straight to the point. He placed the two bundles of cash she had given him during the day on the table and pushed them toward her.

"Ms. Yu, I asked you out this time because I discovered a very serious problem. All of this money is counterfeit."

Yu Yiting’s expression froze for a fraction of a second before she straightened her posture and knitted her brows.

She realized that if both bundles of cash were fake, it meant all the money she had received would be fake as well, representing a massive loss.

"What? That’s impossible. I counted it all through a money counter; it is definitely real."

Unaware of the serial number issue, Lu Xingzhou was momentarily at a loss for words, wishing he could ask his older sister for help.

As he turned his head, Lu Jiangying and Xu Hui had already stepped up to either side of the table.

Lu Jiangying pressed her police badge onto the table. "Ms. Yu, would you care to have a chat with us?"

A smile still lingered on Yu Yiting’s face. "Of course. It seems there really is something wrong with this money of mine."

Lu Jiangying looked somewhat curious. "Ms. Yu, you aren't surprised by our appearance."

Yu Yiting propped her chin on her interlocked fingers. "Twenty thousand yuan in counterfeit currency is enough to warrant the police's attention. If this handsome young man is telling the truth, then this date was definitely orchestrated by you police officers, and planting spotters in the surrounding restaurants is only natural. After all, coinage is a symbol of state authority, and printing counterfeit money is, to some extent, no different from treason. If you hadn't shown up, it would mean the handsome young man was lying to me. If you did show up, it meant this money genuinely had a problem."

Lu Jiangying was slightly taken aback. Yu Yiting was not only calm and rational but also exceptionally clever. No wonder she was able to manage Jinghuan Medical's sales in the North China region.

Yu Yiting glanced at Lu Xingzhou. "This money is indeed mine and has nothing to do with the handsome young man here. Ask whatever you wish to ask. Besides, when I received this money, I ran it through a banknote detector every single time, so there should have been absolutely no issues. How could it be counterfeit?"

Lu Jiangying and Xu Hui each pulled out a chair and sat down on either side.

"Ms. Yu, due to an issue with the serial numbers, this batch of bills never even left the bank vault. Of course, we also admit that these forgeries are crafted with incredible precision. However, with the advancements in anti-counterfeiting standards in recent years, while these fakes can pass through some civilian-grade currency detectors, they are still identified as counterfeits by the professional banknote detectors inside banks."

Yu Yiting wore a grave expression, her thoughts unreadable.

Lu Jiangying continued, "Ms. Yu, this money is linked to a murder case, and I hope you can provide us with some clues."

Yu Yiting drew a pen and a memo pad from her handbag, jotted down an address, and handed it to Lu Jiangying.

"I conducted a transaction with a woman who spoke with a Cantonese accent. I couldn't tell whether she was from Guangzhou or Hong Kong."

Lu Jiangying picked up the slip of paper. "A transaction? What kind of transaction?"

"Some medical equipment that failed national standards and could only sit in the warehouse gathering dust."

"Medical equipment? Isn't that strictly regulated by explicit laws?"

"Right, and the laws explicitly stipulate the loopholes you can exploit."

Lu Jiangying was momentarily stunned, clearly not expecting Yu Yiting to interpret legal statutes in such a manner.

Yu Yiting chuckled softly. "Officer, don't look so surprised. It seems your grades in modern European history must have been failing. The Enlightenment philosopher Rousseau wrote in *Emile*: 'The universal spirit of all national laws is to provide favorable conditions for the strong to bully the weak, and to side with the rich in oppressing the poor; this is unalterable.' From the very moment of its birth, the law has been a dark protective umbrella. What is wrong with my interpretation?"

Lu Jiangying waved a hand dismissively. "That is a matter for historians and legal scholars. Right now, I am merely investigating a murder case. I want to know why they would buy substandard medical products from you that fail national standards."

Yu Yiting replied simply, "Cheap! Especially for countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa nowadays, where the demand is enormous. To be honest, if those devices weren't being forcibly phased out, I would even consider manufacturing products specifically designed to fail national standards just to sell to them. Merchants are driven by profit, after all."

Lu Jiangying frowned. "If it's purely for the sake of cheap prices, they could just go to India to buy them."

Yu Yiting smiled lightly. "If you want 98% of the medical products you purchase to exceed the limit for *E. coli*, you can go ahead and buy them in India. As you should know, even extremely underdeveloped countries like Gambia and Uzbekistan have explicitly banned the import of medical products from India. Since the 1990s, a saying has circulated in the international medical products field: 'If you want to kill someone, have them take Indian medicine, because if it kills them, it's the medicine's fault, not yours.'"

Lu Jiangying pressed on, "Then why did you use cash for the transaction?"

Yu Yiting answered, "Officer, many cross-border transactions are conducted directly in cash. That is completely normal."

Lu Jiangying jotted down Yu Yiting's words. "Then can you describe the appearance of the person you traded with?"

Yu Yiting nodded. "Of course. Besides, I also need to go to the police station to report a crime. With a counterfeit currency case this large, you ought to open an investigation, shouldn't you?"

Lu Jiangying closed her notebook. "The economic crime investigation unit will handle it with their full effort."

Yu Yiting stood up. "Then let's go."

Before leaving, Yu Yiting looked at Lu Xingzhou and said, "Handsome, I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess. Let's get together again once this matter is resolved."

Lu Xingzhou waved his hand. "I think that won't be necessary!"

Yu Yiting smiled faintly. "How cute!"

Watching Yu Yiting walk out the door of the Xinghuan Teahouse, Lu Xingzhou let out a long breath.

If he had to sum Yu Yiting up in a single description, she was a heart-captivating, intensely oppressive spider queen.

If he spent too much time around her, Lu Xingzhou suspected he would be consumed down to his very bones.

Are wealthy older sisters really this terrifying?

Returning home, Lu Xingzhou collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep before he even knew it.

Night.

Much like the tissue paper by a teenage boy's bedside, you only remember the moment you open the package, and by the time you notice it again, it's already empty.

The next morning, early.

Lu Xingzhou opened his eyes to the noisy clamor of his alarm clock.

"It feels like I barely slept, so why is it already daytime?"

Habitually, Lu Xingzhou reached for his phone.

[Yesterday's Challenge Task: Hell-grade paint-by-numbers, coloring, Albert Bierstadt's *Among the Sierra Nevada, California* (Completed)]

[Task 1: Color the hell-grade paint-by-numbers *Among the Sierra Nevada, California* (1/1)]

[Task Reward: Livestream donations × 10 (194 million)]

[Task 2: Complete 50% coloring of the hell-grade paint-by-numbers *Among the Sierra Nevada, California* (1/1)]

[Task Reward: Absolute color perception (Equipped)]

[Task 3: Complete the coloring of the hell-grade paint-by-numbers *Among the Sierra Nevada, California* (1/1)]

[Task Reward: World-class painting and copying proficiency (Equipped)]

[Today's Challenge Task Update: Didi Driver]

[Task 1: Become a Didi driver (0/1)]

[Task Reward: Livestream donations × 10]

[Task 2: Successfully pick up 5 passengers (0/1)]

[Task Reward: Deja Vu]

[Task 3: Successfully pick up 10 passengers (0/1)]

[Task Reward: Originally, there were no roads in the world; as more people walked them, they became roads.]

[Top Fan's Message: I made a bet with a friend that anyone brave enough to ride in the streamer's car is a criminal. I just want to see how many the streamer can send to prison in a single day.]

Lu Xingzhou: ......