Chapter 61: Not Only Blackmailed, but Also Forced to Take the Blame

“I’d be crazy to trust you!”
Everything Baldy said was true, but the officer refused to believe a word of it.
“I’ve seen plenty of tricks like this. Your little games can’t fool me! Won’t hand over the rest of the money, huh? That’s fine, we’ll find it ourselves!”
With those words, the officer began to search him. After a thorough pat-down, he did indeed find another wad of cash tucked inside Baldy’s jacket. Counting it, it came to exactly twenty thousand yuan.
Waving the money in his hand, the officer sneered, “Didn’t you just promise that you only extorted thirty thousand from this student? So tell me, how do you explain these twenty thousand?”
“That’s my money! It has nothing to do with him!” Baldy hurried to explain.
“Your money?” The officer chuckled.
That smile made Baldy’s heart skip a beat.
“As far as I know, you don’t have a proper job. So where did these twenty thousand come from?”
“I…” Baldy opened his mouth to answer, but swallowed his words.
The reason was simple: this money was ‘powder money’ he’d collected just tonight from a certain venue. He was already facing charges of brawling and extortion—if drug dealing got added to the list, he’d be spending the rest of his life behind bars.
The officer, unaware of Baldy’s inner turmoil, pressed him, “Well? Where did the twenty thousand come from? Don’t stammer!”
After a brief pause, Baldy, though deeply unwilling, decided to go along with Li Sicheng’s story: “It… it was extorted from this student.”
Inside, he seethed: “I’ve always been the one extorting others, but tonight I got extorted by a snot-nosed brat! Unbelievable! He not only took twenty thousand off me, but made me take the fall! Damn it, I’m the real victim here!”
No matter how angry he was, Baldy didn’t dare expose Li Sicheng’s lie at this moment.
Compared to a drug charge, losing twenty thousand was nothing.
At the same time, deep down, Baldy couldn’t help but admire Li Sicheng: “To take extortion to this level—unbelievable! Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! Compared to him, my old tricks weren’t even worth mentioning!”
“I warned you not to play games around me! Your skills are nothing!” The officer snorted, ignored Baldy, and turned to hand the fifty thousand yuan to Li Sicheng. “Here’s your money, keep it safe! Hmm… You’d best deposit it in a bank soon, or you’ll attract more criminals.”

Li Sicheng nodded seriously. “Thank you, officer. I’ll deposit it as soon as I can.”
At that moment, he perfectly embodied the role of a sensible, well-behaved student.
Even the seasoned officer was beguiled, smiling as he praised, “You’re a good kid.”
Seeing this, Baldy couldn’t help but mutter through clenched teeth, “Good kid? He’s a devil, if you ask me!”
Luckily, his voice was too low for the officer to hear. Otherwise, he’d have been scolded again.
Next, the officer said to Li Sicheng, “You’ll need to come with us to the station later. Don’t worry, it’s just a statement—it won’t take much of your time.”
Li Sicheng replied cheerfully, “No problem! Cooperating with the police is our responsibility!”
“Good kid!” the officer praised again, then turned to glare at Baldy and his cronies, scolding, “Look at him, then look at you. Same species, worlds apart! You lot are old enough to know better, and yet you’ve wasted your lives!”
The thugs were silent, exchanging pitiful looks.
Meanwhile, Zeng Yi quietly gave Li Sicheng a thumbs up. “Sicheng, you’re awesome…”
Soon, several more police cars arrived, and the officers began loading the thugs into the vehicles.
Li Sicheng now walked over to the lead officer, raising his hand to point at Cheng Haoyu, who stood across the street. “Officer, I think you should bring that person in for questioning as well…”
“Why?” The officer was surprised. “Is that student a victim too?”
“No.” Li Sicheng shook his head. “He’s not a victim—he’s the mastermind. These thugs were summoned by him to cause trouble.”
The officer’s brows furrowed, and he immediately turned to Baldy. “Baldy, is what he said true? Is the person across the street the mastermind who called you here? I warn you, you must tell the truth. If we find out you lied, you know well what the consequences will be!”
“This…” Baldy hesitated.
If he betrayed Cheng Haoyu, he’d offend his boss and would never be able to survive in the underworld again after getting out.
But if he didn’t confess, he’d have to take the blame himself. The thought made him even more resentful.

The officer had worked countless cases and instantly saw the problem in Baldy’s reaction. Even if the kid across the street wasn’t the mastermind, he was clearly involved. So, he dispatched an officer to bring Cheng Haoyu over, taking him and Baldy’s crew to the station for interrogation.
Once Cheng Haoyu and Baldy’s gang were sent off, the officer grabbed Li Sicheng to get into a nearby police car. “Good kid, ride with me.”
Li Sicheng politely declined. “Officer, my electric bike is parked at the school gate. How about I ride it to the station myself? Otherwise, I might not be able to retrieve it after giving my statement.”
After a brief consideration, the officer nodded. “Hmm… All right, but don’t be late. And you know where our station is, right?”
Li Sicheng, being a victim and leaving a good impression, wasn’t given a hard time.
When the officer left, Li Sicheng didn’t rush to get his bike, but walked over to Lin Siyu, nodded and said, “Thanks.”
“For what?” Lin Siyu was taken aback.
Li Sicheng smiled, “Thanks for letting Tan Xiaoxiao call the police for me.”
“Huh? How do you know about that?” Lin Siyu was astonished.
Tan Xiaoxiao was equally surprised.
They’d been standing some distance from Li Sicheng, surrounded by noisy crowds—how could he have heard their conversation? His hearing was incredible!
Seeing the smile on Li Sicheng’s face, Lin Siyu felt unexpectedly nervous, forcing herself to remain calm. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I had Tan Xiaoxiao call the police not to help you, but to protect our school’s reputation!”
Li Sicheng smiled again. “No matter the reason, I owe you thanks. Oh, and don’t tell your sister about tonight. I don’t want her to worry, let alone nag me.”
With that, he turned and walked toward the parking area.