Chapter 179: Revenge Will Be Exacted

After Li Furén finished taking revenge on Su Ruo and her group, he felt an unprecedented pleasure and immediately called his few subordinates to drink together.

Seeing Li Furén happy, his subordinates immediately flattered: "A few slutty women, daring to compete with Li Ge for things—I tell you, within a month I'll make them cry and beg to hand over the clothing factory."

Others also chimed in: "Yes, making money is what we men do; a few women not staying home to clean and serve men still want to do business, not weighing their own worth—this factory, we brothers will let them buy it back with their lives, yet they still couldn't open it."

"Exactly, Li Ge is soft-hearted—just let us burn one of their warehouses; push the old man to desperation, I'll directly burn their workshop, leaving them with total loss, nowhere to cry."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone nearby slapped him hard: "You're stupid! That factory is what Li Ge fancied; if you really burned it, how would Li Ge still make money from it?"

That person, though hit, wasn't angry, and quickly replied: "Yes yes yes..."

Someone immediately said: "You didn't see—today that woman, after seeing her warehouse burned, cried miserably; daring to oppose our Li Ge, this is the outcome."

Those few spoke proudly, unaware that at that moment their words, word for word, were transmitted through the system and landed in Su Ruo's ears.

"Good, very good!" Su Ruo's lips curled into a cold arc, but those who knew her well knew this was her expression of extreme anger.

That night Li Furén and his group drank heavily, all becoming completely drunk.

Until the next day, someone sent by the factory hurriedly woke him: "Factory chief Li, not good—our cotton spinning factory is on fire."

Hearing this, Li Furén jolted upright from bed: "You said where is it on fire?"

The cotton spinning factory's security guard anxiously said: "Factory chief Li, please go have a look—our cotton spinning factory is on fire, the three warehouses storing cotton have all been burned."

Only then did Li Furén confirm he hadn't misheard; his blood surged, and the alcohol wore off halfway.

Li Furén never expected that, having burned Su Ruo's warehouse just yesterday, his own factory would catch fire today.

His mind instantly went into chaos; after putting on his clothes he rushed to the cotton spinning factory in such haste that he even put on his shoes mismatched.

By the time Li Furén arrived, the factory entrance was already crowded with onlookers, even more than yesterday when Su Ruo's clothing factory caught fire.

The air still reeked of a foul burnt smell, because the fire had started in the latter half of the night, when the gatekeepers and guards were already asleep, leaving no one in the factory; by the time it was discovered it was already too late, and the three adjacent warehouses had all gone up in flames.

Cotton is inherently flammable; under those circumstances, trying to put out the fire was nearly impossible.

Li Furén looked at the three warehouses burned to charcoal; he had nothing left, and the schadenfreude he felt when seeing Su Ruo's warehouse burn earlier, now overwhelmed by shock and anger, made his body tremble uncontrollably.

Together, those three warehouses meant Li Furén's losses were at least several hundred thousand, not counting later compensation he'd owe customers for undelivered goods.

Su Ruo walked up to Li Furén, smiling, and said: "Three warehouses burned in a row—it looks like Factory Chief Li's business is destined to be more prosperous than my clothing factory; this is a triple yang opening, great things to come!"

Li Furén nearly vomited blood from anger at Su Ruo's words, his eyes nearly bursting as he stared at her and demanded: "Speak—was this fire set by your people?"

Yesterday he had someone burn Su Ruo's warehouse, and today his own factory caught fire—Li Furén would rather die than believe such a coincidence could happen in this world.

Su Ruo, her expression unchanged, smiled and said: "Boss Li, how can you say that? We've had no grudge in the past, none today—why would I for no reason burn your warehouse?"

I know the warehouse fire has you anxious, but you can't just go around falsely accusing people!

Li Furén looked at Su Ruo, smiling innocently, and thought: to claim this had nothing to do with her—even ghosts wouldn't believe it!

This woman is indeed ruthless—she burned one of his warehouses, and he burned three of hers; earlier he had truly underestimated her.

Li Furén now harbored a killing intent toward Su Ruo, but with so many people around, even if he wanted to deal with her, he couldn't act right now.

"Fine! We'll see how it goes." Li Furén snarled those words, then turned and walked away directly.

After all, his factory differed from Su Ruo's clothing factory—it was still in production, and he still had many matters to attend to.

Seeing Li Furén leave, Su Ruo, with nothing left to watch, also departed.

After Su Ruo returned to the Siheyuan, Li Zhaodi heard that Li Furén's cotton spinning factory had caught fire and instantly felt immensely relieved, thinking that heavenly justice was clear and retribution was inevitable.

Bai Xinya gave Su Ruo a meaningful glance, but said nothing.

That noon, Li Zhaodi prepared a tableful of dishes, wanting to celebrate Li Furén's just deserts.

But before they could eat, people from the police station came to the door; the officers, with solemn expressions, said:

"Someone reported that you set fire to the Li Family Cotton Textile Factory last night; we now need to take you back to assist the investigation."

Li Zhaodi saw the police actually come to arrest people, and she panicked at once; seeing Su Ruo and Bai Xinya remain calm, she gradually settled down.

The three of them cooperatively got into the police car; because the commotion was large, it attracted many onlookers, who all pointed and speculated about what crime they had committed to be arrested.

As soon as they entered the police bureau, they immediately met Li Furén's vicious glare.

Li Furén's eyes were filled with venomous hatred; he swore in his heart that today he would make Su Ruo and her companions either die or at least be stripped of a layer of skin.

The police took the three of Su Ruo and separately brought them to three different interrogation rooms for questioning.

After Su Ruo was brought to her seat and sat down, an elderly officer immediately, with a stern expression, questioned: "Was the fire at the Li Family Cotton Textile Factory set by you? Where exactly were you between 2 and 4 a. m. last night?"

If it were an ordinary young girl, she would probably have been scared to tears by now.

But Su Ruo was not intimidated by his presence; she sat calmly and composedly in the chair and said: "Investigation requires evidence; I have no grudge against Li Furén, past or present, so I have no reason to do such a thing."

The old policeman snorted and said: "You're sharp-tongued; according to the reliable information we've received, you set fire out of resentment because your own clothing factory burned."

Su Ruo put on a solemn expression and said: "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire; having experienced the pain of such an act myself, how could I set fire to someone else?"

And even if I wanted to set fire, why would I not burn somewhere else but specifically choose Boss Li's factory?

The veteran criminal investigator was momentarily choked up; he guessed that Su Ruo's warehouse fire was probably related to Li Furén, so only after Li Furén's factory caught fire did he immediately suspect Su Ruo—but he certainly couldn't say that outright.