Liu Manli gave a look that said “I’m fine.”
The staff member on the other side teased, “Oh, the documents for one more person are missing? Does he not want to go to the countryside? Officer Zhang, your work isn’t up to par.”
“No, she’s very eager. It’s her parents who are withholding the household registration book and not letting her go.”
This was clearly referring to Jiang Yan. The couple hunched their bodies, wishing they could turn invisible, yet they had to strain their ears to listen to the commotion over there.
They didn’t notice Shi Hongmei was stunned speechless the moment she saw the female cadre. When the staff member reminded her that there was another place that needed a signature, she didn’t react at all.
The staff member couldn’t help but raise their voice: “Comrade Jiang Yan, didn’t you hear me speaking?”
Shi Hongmei felt as if she had been burned by fire. She suddenly stood up and subconsciously retorted, “I’m not Jiang Yan.”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but the staff member’s angry voice was: “What do you mean you’re not Jiang Yan? Then who are you?”
Shi Ronggui jolted and turned back, slapping Shi Hongmei on the back and growling, “What nonsense are you talking? You are Jiang Yan.” The threat was self-evident.
Shi Hongmei came to her senses and hurriedly said to the staff member, “I am Jiang Yan, I am Jiang Yan…”
“Enough,” the staff member said impatiently. “If you are Jiang Yan, then you are Jiang Yan. My ears aren’t deaf, you don’t need to say it so many times!”
“Comrade, I’m sorry,” Liu Manli said with a fawning smile, “My daughter has been a bit muddled in her speech since she was little.”
Shi Ronggui breathed a sigh of relief: “Comrade, the procedures are all done. Can we register the household now…”
He was suddenly interrupted: “Are you Jiang Yan?”
Their eyes widened, each more so than the other. The family of three turned around in horror. The female cadre stood behind them, her gaze sweeping over them with suspicion. “You are clearly Jiang Yan’s sister, Shi Hongmei!”
“Officer Zhang, please let me explain,” Shi Ronggui began to speak eloquently. “That girl Jiang Yan doesn’t want to go to the countryside at all, so she didn’t want to come to register her household with our family’s household registration book. I had no choice but to have Hongmei come to handle the procedures on her behalf…”
“She’s not Jiang Yan?” the staff member became anxious. If this was considered their work error, it would be a serious matter. “But she came with an identification document issued by your neighborhood committee, and it even has your official seal on it.”
The female cadre looked at the family and sneered, “Our neighborhood committee never issued such a document to their family.”
“Then it’s fake!” The staff member pulled out the document and handed it to the female cadre, then pointed for the colleagues who had gathered around to see, “Can you tell if this is fake?”
The colleagues shook their heads. Shi Ronggui reached out to snatch the document back: “Comrade, we’re not doing this today.”
With his extensive experience in society, he wanted to destroy the evidence first, regardless of the consequences.
The staff member pushed him away: “What do you think you’re doing? Destroying evidence of forging an official seal and deceiving state personnel?”
Another colleague jumped over the counter and grabbed Shi Ronggui: “You’re not leaving until you explain this clearly! Don’t you know the household registration office is under the Public Security Department? You can’t just come and go as you please!”
Another colleague made a phone call: “Director Zhao, aren’t you investigating a criminal gang that forges official seals? We have a suspect here. Please come over quickly.”
The female cadre calmly took the document: “Don’t mention you, even I couldn’t tell it was fake at first glance. However, while he can forge seals, he can’t imitate handwriting. The handwriting on this is not from anyone in our neighborhood office.”
Shi Hongmei had already started crying: “I don’t know about this. I was forced by my father to come. If I didn’t, he would have beaten me to death.”
Outside the window of the household registration office, a crowd of onlookers had gathered. Jiang Yan’s face appeared among them.
In her past life, Shi Ronggui didn’t need to go through this step. His extreme contempt for her led him to tell Liu Manli in front of her that if necessary, having Shi Hongmei handle the household registration impersonation would be the same.
At that time, Jiang Yan only felt fear of her stepfather. Fortunately, in this life, she not only knew how to retaliate but also how to use the situation to her advantage.
However, she didn’t know that a certain man who had failed in his proposal was standing not far away, looking at her thoughtfully.
Director Zhao arrived soon after and handcuffed the three of them, taking them back to the police station for interrogation. As he came out, he saw Huo Ying and handed him a cigarette:
“Shi Ronggui took all the blame, saying he didn’t forge the seal, that he found it. We will verify this, but Liu Manli and Shi Hongmei will probably have to be released first.”
He looked at Huo Ying’s expression, “However, it’s fine to release them tomorrow. As long as it doesn’t exceed twenty-four hours, it’s hard to say if we’ll find new evidence during this period, and they might not be able to leave.”
Huo Ying exhaled smoke: “Do as you see fit.”
He also had to do as he saw fit.
Therefore, on her way home, Jiang Yan was stopped by a strong, powerful arm. She anxiously cried out, “Please move aside! You’re a war hero, don’t make me call out and embarrass you!”
“Freedom of speech is a right enjoyed by every citizen,” the man said, looking down at her. “Of course, you also have to be responsible for what you say. I’ve fulfilled your request for a proposal. The Civil Affairs Bureau hasn’t closed yet, come with me to get our marriage certificate, hmm?”
Jiang Yan was somewhat exasperated: “Do you really think I won’t call out?”
“Go ahead and call,” the man encouraged. “Call out loudly, don’t just mumble like a mosquito.” He lowered his head and whispered in her ear, “It’s just that if you call out, who do you think people will listen to, you, a little girl, or me, a war hero?”
He was acting like a scoundrel.
But Jiang Yan, who had lived through a lifetime, knew that the “scoundrel” was speaking the truth. Besides, she only wanted to distance herself from him, not to ruin him. How could she call out and cause misunderstandings?
She could only change her approach: “…Excuse me, my household registration hasn’t been moved to Jiangcheng yet, so I can’t get it processed at the Jiangcheng Civil Affairs Bureau…”
“That’s enough,” the tall man interrupted impatiently. “Didn’t you go to the neighborhood committee and instigate the female cadre to go to the household registration office? It’s because you don’t want your parents to move your household registration to Jiangcheng, right? Just register it directly at the place you’re going to the countryside.”
Jiang Yan’s eyes widened, and she blurted out, “Are you following me?”
“If you interpret caring about your future wife as following, then so be it.” The man’s eyebrows arched, his roguish charm making her blush and her heart race. “Don’t worry about household registration or anything else. Just come with me to the Civil Affairs Bureau.”
In her past life, he had also told her not to worry about anything: “You just do what you like, wear qipaos and high heels, buy as many bags as you want. Don’t pay attention if others call you bourgeois, because your man won’t say anything!” The result of her comfortably being a “parasitic plant” was that he aged prematurely, with more than half his hair turning white before he was forty.
If she could still do that in this life, she would be unworthy of being human! But she couldn’t say these things. Even his proposal had been thwarted. What else could she do now?