Upon hearing that Chen Yihao had broken the other person's head and it required seven stitches to close the wound, Chen Yinuo's legs went weak again.

Swallowing hard, she said with guilt, "It's my fault as his sister. I didn't discipline him well. I'll take him to apologize and admit his mistake. Please, I beg you, show him mercy and let him off this time, okay?"

"An apology? Your brother smashed my brother's head open, and you think an apology will cut it? How about I smash your head open with a brick and then apologize to you? Would that make it even?" sneered the dyed-hair youth with unrelenting hostility.

Unbeknownst to him, Chen Yinuo decided to escalate things further. "So if that's what it takes, you'll let my brother go?"

"Uh..."

The dyed-hair youth was instantly stumped.

After a brief silence, he scoffed. "We're upstanding citizens; we don't do things like that!"

"Enough with the nonsense," Ye Chen interjected, unable to hold back anymore. "Let's cut to the chase. All this talk of reconciliation is just about money, right? So, tell me—how much?"

Ye Chen had seen too many of these situations before.

But since it was Chen Yihao who caused the injury first, even though he knew they were trying to extort money, he had no choice but to endure it.

"Ye Chen, this has nothing to do with you! Get out of here, right now!" Chen Yinuo snapped in a panic upon hearing Ye Chen speak up.

Was she stupid? Of course, she knew they were just after money!

But given her current penniless situation, where could she possibly find the money?

Her parents might still have two or three hundred thousand yuan saved up, but that was meant for Yihao's future wedding house. Unless it was an absolute last resort, she wouldn't even consider letting her parents find out about this!

Just because of this, she kept begging the other party for mercy.

But Ye Chen suddenly blurted out such a sentence without any warning—how could she not panic?

"Who are you, kid? Do you even have the right to speak here?" the dyed-hair youth asked, a bit unsure of the relationship between the two.

"I'm Chen Yihao's brother-in-law. Do you think I have the right to speak?" Ye Chen replied.

Then he turned to Chen Yinuo. "Yinuo, do you really think that humbling yourself and begging will make them let Yihao go?"

Faced with Ye Chen's question, Chen Yinuo was momentarily at a loss for words.

Would it work?

Impossible!

She was just hoping, fantasizing!

How could she not know that so-called reconciliation would require money to settle things?

But after renting an apartment with Ye Youyou, she couldn't even scrape together 200 yuan!

"You're that kid's brother-in-law? Fine, that works. It seems like you're someone who understands the situation. Let me make it clear—it's impossible to settle this unconditionally. I won't beat around the bush. If you want us to drop the charges, pay 100,000 yuan. Not a cent less. If it's a cent less, that kid will have a criminal record! Compared to having a record, 100,000 yuan is nothing. You're lucky it's our family you're dealing with—if it were someone else, they'd bleed you dry!"

The dyed-hair youth made it clear that he wouldn't budge an inch.

But hearing the figure of 100,000, Chen Yinuo almost collapsed on the spot!

100,000.

For her current situation, it was an astronomical number!

If it were three or thirty thousand, she might still be able to call friends and borrow it. If each friend lent her two or three thousand, she might just barely scrape together three or thirty thousand.

But 100,000? Where could she borrow that? Who would lend her that much?

"100,000, right? Fine, you'll get it!"

Before Chen Yinuo could plead with them to lower the amount, Ye Chen agreed decisively.

Then, he emptied a kraft paper bag onto the table.

A stack of 10,000 yuan. He picked up ten stacks and piled them together.

"This is 100,000 yuan. I hope you will withdraw the case immediately and stop pursuing Chen Yihao!"

Ye Chen looked at them and said.

Seeing the money, the middle-aged couple's eyes gleamed greedily.

The young man with dyed hair, however, had a peculiar, complicated expression.

He regretted asking for too little!

"I... I just thought of something. 100,000 isn't enough—it doesn't cover my brother's nutritional expenses or mental..."

But before he could finish speaking, Ye Chen interrupted him.

"There are surveillance cameras and audio recordings here. If you continue, it'll be considered extortion. By then, it won't be about whether or not you're pursuing Chen Yihao, but about us pursuing you! Let me give you some advice: 100,000 is not a small amount. Take it and be satisfied! Otherwise, you'll get nothing. Chen Yihao's case isn't serious; otherwise, the police wouldn't have suggested a settlement.

"If you insist on pressing charges, the worst outcome for him is a brief record and some time inside. But if that happens, you won't get a single cent. So, is 100,000 enough? Or are you planning to include expenses for nutrition, emotional damage, and lost wages too?"

Ye Chen's words immediately threw the middle-aged couple into a panic.

This money in hand—how could they let it slip away?

"100,000 is fine, it's fine!"

The middle-aged man, his skin tanned by the sun and dressed like a laborer, hurriedly said.

As he spoke, he quickly grabbed the 100,000 yuan to his chest.

"And you, as the older brother? What do you say?"

Ye Chen looked at the young man with dyed hair and said calmly.

The man was clearly intimidated by Ye Chen.

His previous arrogance had completely disappeared. "Since my dad says it's fine, it's fine!"

On the side, Chen Yinuo's mind had long gone blank.

Even after that family left, she hadn't recovered.

"That scoundrel... where did he get so much money?"

No, when we went to Yunshan Network Company, his hands were empty. That kraft paper bag only appeared when he came out!

Could this money have come from Zhang Jinghan, the boss of Yunshan?

But how could that be? Why would Zhang Jinghan give him money? And such a large sum?

Could it be that he borrowed it from Zhang Jinghan? No, that's not right either. Someone like Ye Chen—a degenerate gambler—couldn't even borrow 100 yuan, let alone tens of thousands from Zhang Jinghan!

The next moment, Chen Yinuo thought of those movie and TV show scenarios. Did Ye Chen do something shady for Zhang Jinghan? Was this money a dirty payoff from him?

Or maybe Ye Chen swindled or blackmailed it out of Zhang Jinghan?

As if sensing what Chen Yinuo was thinking, Ye Chen smiled and said, "Stop overthinking it. This money didn't come from anything dirty, nor did I cheat or blackmail Zhang Jinghan for it. This morning, I went to the antique market and got lucky. Zhang bought something from me for 300,000. He forgot his phone and card, so he asked me to go to his office to collect the money. That's when I ran into you. I swear I wasn't stalking you!"

"Got lucky? You, of all people, managed to pick up something worth 300,000 at the antique market?"

Coming to her senses slightly, Chen Yinuo sneered in disbelief.

"After so many setbacks, sometimes fortune does turn around!" Ye Chen replied.

"Still clinging to that delusion of instant wealth!"

Chen Yinuo sneered coldly. "I hope you're telling the truth. I hope you didn't try any tricks on someone like Zhang Jinghan. Otherwise, you won't even know how you died!"

With that, not giving Ye Chen a chance to respond, her tone abruptly shifted. "Since you got such a sum from Zhang Jinghan, you should use it to pay off your loan sharks! Otherwise, you'll end up getting hacked to death!"

"But something happened to Yihao! Right now, helping him is the priority. As for the loan sharks, don't worry—I'll handle it!" Ye Chen replied.

At that moment, the police officer walked in.

"Chen Yihao has been released. You two can go pick him up now."

"Oh, thank you, officer! Thank you!"

Without paying further attention to Ye Chen, Chen Yinuo rushed off in a hurry.