"YOU LITTLE BITCH!!" Wang Dashan roared as he broke through the loose hold of the young police officer.
The man had gone berserk and pushed the officer back. Even if the officer was uninjured, this, as well as the fact that he wanted to openly assault someone in front of their eyes, were both major offense.
Two more officers rushed over and held an arm each, roughly neutralizing him by shoving him to the ground.
BAM!
They would continue to shove him down, repeatedly, every time he showed a hint of resistance.
Su Qinghua looked on coldly, while the other two women were blocked by a rare female police officer. Unlike the men, who were easily swayed by the words of beautiful women playing victim, Officer Lu Weiyang had a much better understanding of fellow women.
When they begged for her to let them check on the man, she easily ignored them.
"Kyaa! DAD!" Wang Xiuying screamed, becoming more and more anxious.
This was not the scene she was expecting when the three of them marched to the Police Station! "Let him go!" she shouted before turning to Su Qinghua. "Sister, stop slandering dad!"
"Officer, don’t believe her! She’s lying!"
"How could you be like this, sister!"
Qiao Yaqin’s eyes were also red in anger, glaring daggers at her own daughter. "Stop lying, child! You don’t know the consequences of your actions!"
This child had changed so much and did so many moves under their noses. They, who had been used to her being submissive and without her own thoughts, were thoroughly taken off-guard.
The two women continued to ’reason’ while Wang Dashan continued to roar and struggle.
It was quite chaotic.
It was not too often that such chaos happened in the police station. Generally speaking, the general populace was terrified of police officers and would consciously behave well inside the station. It got so noisy that even the police station chief went out of his office.
"What’s going on?" he asked, veins popping in annoyance. His sharp eyes looked at everyone in the room, making his own initial judgment.
Someone reported the situation to him. Ignoring Wang Dashan acting like a restrained worm on the floor, he went straight to see the evidence Su Qinghua provided.
When he saw the medical report, his eyebrows furrowed, and he turned to give Wang Dashan a bad look.
Seeing as the police chief seemed to be reasonable, Su Qinghua quickly stated as much as she could to expedite the case. "You can investigate this. I am not lying about anything.
"For the theft allegations, neighbors had seen me leave with nothing. However, in my weakness and rush to head to the hospital, I...I might have left the door open. I admit to this, but I don’t acknowledge liability because I was simply trying to save my own life.
"The abuse had been going on since as far as I can remember, but I truly almost died a few nights ago. It forced me awake. I couldn’t stay there any longer.
"There had been neighbors who wanted to intervene when I was young, but they attacked them instead and framed them as if I were kidnapped. No one dared to help me out since then."
The adults couldn’t help but feel a little heartbroken for the little girl. Anyone with eyes could actually see the difference between the two sisters; it was just that they acted well, and the mother herself said that the girl simply didn’t eat much as an illness, so they couldn’t be too quick to judge.
They could only imagine how alone and hopeless the child was over the years, when her own mother could ruthlessly frame her like this.
"This man, and his family, under the guise of raising me as a daughter, treated me like a slave and as a punching bag."
"A few nights ago, he tried to sell me to a factory director’s son. I refused, which angered him enough to kill me."
"I DIDN’T! STOP LYING!!"
"Yes! Stop lying!" Wang Xiuying echoed her father’s denials with a passion. "You wanted to get married yourself! You wanted to get a rich husband!!"
Qiao Yaqin’s frown was deep. Unlike Wang Xiuying, who was already so anxious she had begun to act like a shrew, Yaqin retained a semblance of calm.
"How can you slander your own father? Three of us all deny your claims. Why don’t you stop what you’re doing? I will forgive your thieving ways. You are a child I gave birth to, after all."
Su Qinghua looked coldly at her mother. "I’m not afraid of investigation. Are you?"
The chief nodded. "I promise you that we will investigate this thoroughly and bring justice that you deserve," he said, looking venomously at Wang Dashan on the ground. "Take him away."
With this command, Wang Dashan was finally taken off the floor and was then dragged into the cells.
Wang Xiuying gasped and wanted to rush over, face pale in shock. "DAD!"
Qiao Yaqin also headed to him, a bit anxious, but her eyes had more calculating glints than worry.
Su Qinghua watched this farce with cold eyes. She knew these two women were selfish, so what they were most concerned about was their own futures. They were dependent on that man, after all.
As for what she’d do with the two man-dependent women, she’d let fate decide for now. Though she had lost faith in her mother, at this stage, she couldn’t facilitate her death. She could, however, manipulate things so she didn’t show in front of her again.
As for Wang Xiuying, she had suspicions about her role in her death in her past life, but at that stage, she wouldn’t have had the ability to execute a successful scheme against her. There must’ve been a deeper story somewhere.
Anyway, if Wang Dashan was in trouble, the other two would lose their backing, too, and they would have less energy to try making trouble with her.
She also wanted to see how these two would live without her and Wang Dashan’s support.
Unsurprisingly, they tried to plead for him. "No, this can’t be! He’s framed!"
Qiao Yaqing turned to glare at Su Qinghua. "You! Tell them! Tell them you are lying!!"
"We’re not blind," Officer Lu Weiyang said, blocking her line of sight to protect Su Qinghua from seeing her own mother’s venomous glare.
"And don’t you dare harass her," she said, turning to Su Qinghua. "If they dare to approach you while the investigation is going, tell us. This can be counted as obstruction of justice."
The two women paled at her words. Su Qinghua nodded, giving her thanks. "I will definitely do that, officer."
She then turned to the police chief. "And...there’s also another favor I’d like to ask."
...
After the police station, she headed to the newspaper’s local office. The building was plain and institutional, and there were plenty of people and staff coming and going.
She went to the nearest clerk. "Hello, I’d like to ask where I can post a public statement or declaration, severing ties with my biological mother and her new family."
One of the most effective ways to cut ties in this era was to publish it in the newspaper. This was fairly common in this era, and it was a way for families to survive.
After all, with the harsh consequences of being labelled, the way for the family members to escape similar punishment was to cut ties.
"What?"
She then provided her medical certificate as well as her new statement from the police about the sequence of events, and their tacit approval that the separation was for the victim’s protection, even if she were a minor.
In a sense, it also stated the police department was her new backing or ’guardian,’ and once she reached adulthood, she could definitely establish her own household without obstacles.
The clerk had never seen this operation before, and he had to say: he was impressed. He also felt very sorry for the child.
Thanks to all this, Su Qinghua—against so many odds—had finally regained her freedom.