Li Jianyong stepped up to Li Chuxin and struck her hard. His fist landed against her midsection only to meet something hard and unyielding. The impact jarred him sharply shooting pain up his wrist and arm all the way to his chest. It felt as though he had struck solid iron.
“My hand.” He shook it vigorously the throbbing pain refusing to fade. His eyes reddened with the ache. He looked at Li Chuxin expecting to see her doubled over in pain yet she stood perfectly calm and unharmed. He could not believe it. He had put his full strength behind that blow. Why was she untouched while his own hand felt fractured? He noticed her clothing looked thicker around her waist than usual. “What have you strapped there?”
Li Chuxin had prepared for this moment while they were all at the hospital. She had paid to have a thin iron plate fashioned and layered with wood padding and cotton lining beneath her clothes. She had anticipated exactly what happened. She knew Li Xixi would threaten her and when that failed she would turn everyone against her casting herself as the victim and painting Chuxin as the villain. She knew her second brother would strike her to defend Xixi. She could not match his strength so she had protected herself. “I knew you would beat me half to death at her word. I have iron and wood bound around my waist to shield myself.”
Li Jianyong glared at her furiously his hand throbbing as if broken. “You are truly wicked and cunning. You planned this to hurt me instead. If my hand is broken you will answer for it. Everything is your fault. You try to shift your wrongdoing onto Xixi. I will not let you speak such evil about her.”
Li Weiguo spoke. “Chuxin how could you do this? You must always compete with your sister and have the upper hand. Now you have made a mistake yet you would have her bear the blame. Did I raise you to treat others so?”
Li Chuxin looked at her family one by one each condemning her without a moment’s doubt. They believed every word Li Xixi said and never a single one trusted her. To them she was always the cruel selfish one. Her father eldest brother and second brother all seemed ready to tear her apart. She had spent a lifetime realizing no matter what she did their opinion of her would never change. She saw Li Xixi peeking out from behind her second brother’s shoulder smiling triumphantly. Her lips moved silently forming words only Chuxin could make out. You will never defeat me.
Li Chuxin met that smug look without a flicker of hurt. She turned to the officers. “Comrade it was not me who rode the bicycle and injured the elderly woman ten days ago. It was my sister.” She spoke steadily and pulled her wrist free from Li Jianhan’s grasp.
Before she could say more Li Jianhan cut her off. “Enough. You were the one who struck her and ran away. Now you lie shamelessly before the authorities. I have always known you crave attention and will do anything to get it but I never imagined you could be so cruel. Xixi has just undergone major surgery and you would burden her with your wrongdoing? Do you have any idea what that could do to her?” He knew firsthand how painful recovery was. If he a grown man found it difficult how much more so for delicate Xixi. He felt for her deeply and despised Chuxin all the more for her heartlessness. She had grown up away from home and it had corrupted her.
The officer frowned. “Li Chuxin you must come with us. The victim remains in hospital.” He reached for his handcuffs.
“Comrade please wait. I can prove I was not there.” Li Chuxin would not let herself be wronged again.
Huo Qiyuan who had sat watching in silence finally spoke up. “This family drama is truly something to behold. Ten days ago I saw it myself. The sister and these two brothers beat and berated her claiming a pendant she had found belonged to the elder sister. When she agreed to give it over suddenly the truth came out. It was never hers at all. Quite the performance. Fine if you lack sense but do not gang up on one person. Comrade Officer give her a chance to speak. The truth can turn around very quickly.”
Everyone fell silent staring at him in shock.