Her two companions blocked the other two n, and the four of them started shoving each other.
They didn’t dare get truly physical with the n from the Joint Defense Team, only shielding Lin Lan to prevent them from taking her away.
Suddenly, an angry shout rang out. "On what grounds are you arresting people?"
Before the words had even faded, Old Li pushed his way through the crowd of onlookers. He grabbed the skinny, dark man by the collar and pointed at him. "I know everyone from the East Market Joint Defense Team. Tell , which team are you from?"
Lin Lan stepped forward angrily. "Dad, they said a custor complained about the quality of our clothes. They’re accusing of speculation and profiteering, of defrauding the public!"
"I asked them to show the clothes from the custor complaint so I could see what was wrong, but they couldn’t produce them. I asked to see their work IDs, and they couldn’t produce those either."
Old Li glared at the n. "My daughter-in-law is right. If soone filed a report, where are the damaged clothes? Where are your IDs? Take them out and let’s have a look!"
"You old bastard, how dare you assault a state law enforcent officer!" The skinny, dark man threw a punch straight at Old Li’s face.
Old Li sidestepped the punch and kicked the man square in the butt. The skinny, dark man lunged toward a bicycle, and Woodworker Li, worried he might get impaled on it, quickly grabbed him.
The skinny, dark man backhanded him, punching Woodworker Li in the cheek. Blood imdiately started to flow.
The onlookers were stunned. "Ah! The man was just trying to help him, and he hit him for it!"
"Make way, make way! What are you all doing crowded around here? You’re blocking traffic."
The onlookers parted to either side as Wang He and a colleague walked in.
It turned out that soone in the crowd, having heard Lin Lan ask for soone to contact the police station, had cycled over to fetch the officers.
Lin Lan, the woodworkers, Old Li, and the mbers of the Joint Defense Team were all taken to the police station.
Seeing Lin Lan and Old Li being taken to the police station, Yao Xiuyun and Yang Xiaoman waited outside for news so they could call Xu Dong and Yang Dingbang.
Wang He led them to an interrogation room, had them sit down, and began to question them one by one.
The skinny, dark man sat forward and looked at Wang He. "Officer, we’re from the Joint Defense Team. These people were ganging up to resist law enforcent."
Wang He glanced at him and tapped the table. "Na, age, address, place of employnt."
The skinny, dark man and his two companions gave their nas and addresses and recounted their version of events.
Wang He made a phone call to check. The n were indeed from the city’s central Joint Defense Team, and the dispatcher confird the skinny, dark man and his two partners were on duty.
When it was Old Li’s turn to be questioned, he explained what happened in just a few words.
It turned out he had taken Little Douzi to Yang Dingbang’s house on Yucai Road to play with Dandan. After leaving the boy with the elderly woman there, he had ridden his bike over to check on the renovations. Spotting a crowd in front of the shop from afar, he’d dropped his bike and pushed his way in.
Woodworker Li and the others had never been inside a police station before. They spoke with trembling voices but managed to explain things clearly.
Wang He turned to Lin Lan, registered her na and address, and asked why she was involved in a public disturbance.
Lin Lan recounted what the skinny, dark man and his companions had said after they arrived, and how she had responded.
She added that Woodworker Li and the others had nothing to do with it and had only been acting heroically to help.
"Officer, I’ve always been a law-abiding citizen. I’ve never done anything to harm the public interest. They accuse of selling shoddy goods and engaging in speculation and profiteering, but they can’t produce any evidence. They couldn’t even show their work IDs. I suspect they’re criminals impersonating officers."
Wang He glanced at the skinny, dark man. "They are from the Joint Defense Team. There may have been so impropriety in how they carried out their duties, but you still should have cooperated with them."
Lin Lan said, "You are wearing police uniforms with badge numbers, so we know at a glance that you’re police officers from the station. But those n, even though they were wearing red armbands, were dressed in plain clothes."
"Their behavior wasn’t like that of law enforcent officers, they didn’t have any valid identification, and they imdiately hit with a serious accusation and tried to take away. How could I dare to cooperate?"
The skinny, dark man retorted, "You’ve got a silver tongue, don’t you? Do you think we’d have co for you without evidence?"
Lin Lan looked at him. "Then show the evidence. I know my own clothes. If it’s really a quality issue, I’m willing to provide compensation."
The skinny, dark man pointed at Lin Lan. "I’ll have soone bring the evidence. Let’s see how you talk your way out of it then!"
BAM! Wang He slamd his hand on the table. "Enough arguing."
The skinny, dark man and his partners sheepishly lowered their heads.
Lin Lan raised her hand. "Officer, I have sothing to say."
Wang He nodded. "Speak."
Lin Lan said, "I want to see the evidence."
"We will handle that," Wang He said, then turned to the skinny, dark man. "Let’s go. Go get the evidence."
The skinny, dark man hesitated for a mont before saying, "The evidence is still with the person who reported it."
"Take us to the complainant to retrieve it."
Wang He had another officer take the skinny, dark man to bring in the complainant and retrieve the evidence. He then arranged for soone to take Woodworker Li to the hospital to have his wound treated.
Woodworker Li waved his hand. "No need. It’s just a small cut on the corner of my mouth. It’ll be fine in a couple of days."
Among them, Woodworker Li was the most seriously injured. His lip was split, and half of his face was swollen.
Lin Lan said guiltily, "Master Li, you should still go to the hospital and get it checked out. It’ll be troubleso if it gets infected."
Woodworker Li waved his hands dismissively. "Really, it’s not necessary. What’s a little injury like this? For us manual laborers, getting hurt is a common occurrence."
Seeing his insistence, Wang He asked Yao Xiuyun to find so alcohol and antiseptic to help them clean their wounds. He also took the chance to explain the situation to her and Yang Xiaoman.
Yao Xiuyun frowned. "That’s impossible. Almost everyone at our station buys clothes from her. Have any of you ever noticed quality issues? Besides, even if it were a quality issue, that’s no reason to slap her with a charge of speculation and profiteering!"
Yang Xiaoman said in a low voice, "I bet soone’s trying to cause trouble for Sister Lin."
Hearing this, Yao Xiuyun was reminded of Li Jing, who had co looking for Lin Lan on several occasions.
Wang He refrained from comnting and just said, "I’ve sent soone to bring in the complainant and the evidence."
「Half an hour later.」
An officer pulled a police car up to the station entrance. The skinny, dark man and a middle-aged woman with shifty eyes got out.
The officer took the middle-aged woman to a separate interrogation room. A little while later, the officer ca out and handed a light purple wool sweater to Wang He. "Brother Wang, the woman says her daughter bought the sweater. Her daughter isn’t ho; she went to Yangcheng City."
Wang He held up the wool sweater, looked it over, and then handed it to Yao Xiuyun. "Take a look at this."
Yao Xiuyun examined the sweater. The once-soft wool had beco matted and hard; it had clearly shrunk. "This isn’t a quality issue. It must have been washed in hot water, which caused the wool to shrink."
Wang He nodded, then called Lin Lan over and showed her the sweater. "Take a look. Is this from your shop?"
"Yes, it is. It’s a wool sweater. It must have shrunk after being washed in hot water."
Lin Lan tugged at the sweater, then looked at Wang He. "Officer Wang, this wasn’t just washed in hot water. It must have been scalded with boiling water to end up like this. It was damaged on purpose."
"Alright, you can go back for now." After speaking, Wang He left with the sweater.
Lin Lan returned to the previous interrogation room.
Wang He went into the interrogation room and looked at the middle-aged woman, who was sitting stiffly in her chair. "When did your daughter buy this sweater? Was it you who reported the quality issue, or was it your daughter?"
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