The neighbors all had their say: “Director Zhao, don’t listen to her nonsense! We saw her fingers were stained yellow from the talismans earlier, she just wiped them clean!”
“Well, we didn’t see any stains on her fingers later,” said another. “But we do know this room definitely belongs to Jiang Yan, and all the talismans were stuck on her walls.”
Liu Manli vehemently denied it. “Auntie Li, you’re just talking out of your mouth! What proof do you have that the color was from talismans? You’re just getting back at me because I plucked three green onions from your windowsill!”
Both sides stuck to their own stories, and Director Zhao couldn’t decide immediately. By procedure, he had to take everyone back to the station for questioning.
“I’ll follow your orders, Director Zhao. I’m innocent wherever I go.”
Liu Manli didn’t care. It wasn’t like she’d never been to the station before.
But that little bitch Jiang Yan was different. Once she went in, it would be like she was stained by those talismans no matter how innocent she was, people would talk.
Most importantly, Jiang Yan wouldn’t have a chance alone to manipulate Shi Hongmei.
“She stuck all those talismans herself,” Jiang Yan said calmly. “She was practicing black magic to curse me. If you don’t believe me, Director Zhao, search her pockets. She has a cursed straw doll inside.”
Liu Manli’s mouth fell open in shock. Seeing the female officer approaching to search her, she jumped up like a toad. “I don’t have anything! It’s not true! She’s framing me!”
Two male officers stepped forward and held her down. The female officer easily pulled a small straw doll from her trouser pocket. It had talismans stuck to its head and chest, with the words “Jiang Yan” written on it.
Several needles were stuck right into it.
Liu Manli could deny it no longer.
But she was still unwilling to accept it. “Comrade officers, I had no choice! Jiang Yan is unnatural! Think about it anyone could have stuck those papers on the wall to frame me, I get that.”
“But how could she possibly know there was a straw doll in my pocket? Is she a ghost? Is she a demon? If I didn’t stop her with talismans, she would have hurt more people! I was doing this for the public good, you can’t arrest me!”
This only further proved she was deeply involved in feudal superstition.
Truly, without Shi Ronggui around, this mother of hers made one stupid mistake after another.
By the time she realized her blunder, it was too late. “Comrade officers, I’ll go with you, no problem! But can I just go back to my room to get the household register and bankbook first? Otherwise Jiang Yan will take all our hard-earned money!”
Naturally, no one paid her any attention.
Liu Manli was taken away, the talismans were cleared away, and dawn was breaking.
Jiang Yan went back to her room and slept soundly.
Meanwhile, Shi Hongmei’s door creaked open a crack. A pair of eyes peered out nervously. Seeing the coast was clear, she slipped out and crept into Shi Ronggui and Liu Manli’s room.
She quickly found the bankbook and household register under the pillow and was stuffing them into her pocket when a voice rang out: “What are you doing?”
The books clattered to the floor. Shi Hongmei was scared out of her wits, but when she turned and saw it was Shi Hongxing standing in the doorway, she breathed a little easier. “Nothing! Just… helping Mom and Dad make the bed!”
That lie wouldn’t fool anyone else, but her brother was a bookworm who paid no attention to the world he couldn’t even tell a potato from a sweet potato. Besides, making beds was something she did regularly anyway.
Sure enough, Shi Hongxing didn’t even glance at the books on the floor. He just said irritably, “Do that later. Go cook me some noodles right now. If I’m late for school, Dad will beat you to death.”
Didn’t he notice their father hadn’t been home for days? Shi Hongmei bent down to fold the quilt, her voice cheerful. “Don’t worry, you won’t be late. I’ll go make it now.”
She made noodles not just for her brother, but also for Jiang Yan. Both bowls had a fried egg on top, exactly the same.
After Shi Hongxing left for school, Shi Hongmei said to Jiang Yan, who was eating, “First go to the neighborhood office to get your ID certificate, then wait for me at the household registration office. Once your name is officially added to our family book, I’ll give you two hundred.”
“After you fill out the form to go to the countryside, I’ll give you another two hundred. And once you’re actually on the train, I’ll give you the last hundred!”
Her father always said she was stupid.
But look at this she had every step planned out perfectly.
Who was stupid now?
Jiang Yan just gave a noncommittal “Mm.”
Watching her leave, Shi Hongmei closed the door, put on one of her mother’s outfits, and magically produced a middle-aged woman’s wig. Disguised, she hurried to the bank.
In those days, there weren’t many people doing transactions. The teller, an older man, took the bankbook and household register, checked them, and pushed them back. “The account holder must come in person to withdraw money!”
The account was under Shi Ronggui’s name. Shi Hongmei had expected this. She lowered her voice and said, “I’m Shi Ronggui’s wife, Liu Manli. My husband sent me to do this for him.”
She took out a seal. “He gave me this stamp. I’ll sign and seal the withdrawal slip. You can check it against the specimen you have on file.”
Back then there were no computers. Usually, the owner came with the book. If not, a direct family member could do it as long as they had the registered seal.
The teller had her stamp a piece of paper, compared it with the file, and it matched. Then he said, “Alright, what’s the password?”
Shi Hongmei’s eyes went wide. “Password?”
The teller narrowed his eyes. “If your husband sent you, gave you the seal… wouldn’t he tell you he set a withdrawal password as well as leaving a seal?”
He slammed his hand on the desk. “Who exactly are you?”
“I… I won’t withdraw the money today!” Shi Hongmei frantically stuffed everything back, trying to leave. “I’ll tell my husband to come himself!”
“This isn’t a market where you can just come and go as you please!” The teller shouted, and security guards rushed over. They grabbed her and took her straight to the police station. Under questioning, she quickly confessed:
“I’m Shi Hongmei, daughter of Shi Ronggui and Liu Manli… Something happened at home. My parents are being held at another station. I have younger siblings, we have no food left… I was desperate for money, so I thought of this stupid way.”
Of course, she left out the part about wanting the money to avoid being sent to the countryside.
“You can check with the other station! My brother is still young and studying, please don’t scare him. You can ask my sister, Jiang Yan!”
She was sure Jiang Yan would have her papers by now and would cover for her.
Shi Hongmei had planned for everything, except one thing: the police handed the bankbook, register, and seal directly to Jiang Yan.
“We checked with the station,” they said. “A gang forging seals and documents was arrested, and they implicated your father, Shi Ronggui.”
“And Bao Sanpo, the one who practices black magic, implicated your mother. Both of them are likely to face prison sentences.”
Jiang Yan blinked in surprise.
Shi Ronggui was indeed involved with that forgery gang but in her past life, he was also involved in theft, human trafficking, and organized crime. Mostly he was just a small fry, passing messages and hiding stolen goods for a bit of cash. He wasn’t caught and sentenced until many years later.
Why was it happening so much earlier in this life?
And as for her mother… in the past life, Liu Manli had only ever been locked up for a few days for petty theft and fraud. She had never actually been sentenced to prison!