"Hmm, we’ll think about it," Luo’s Mom pulled on Mr. He, who was about to argue back, and shook her head. Zhang Ye was just a ssenger, after all, and he had no ill intentions—just a friendly reminder.
Mr. He, watching Luo’s Mom shake her head, also snapped to realization. Though he lacked sophistication, it didn’t an he was completely ignorant. After all, he had struggled in this society for most of his life.
The deputy director’s office wasn’t far from where the officers worked, just about a dozen steps away. Taking advantage of the mont when no one was paying attention, Luo Qianqian slipped away under the pretext of needing to use the bathroom and hid in the corner by the door of the deputy director’s office.
"Lady Sun, you’re absolutely right. I’ll be counting on Minister Sun to take care of us in the future," a middle-aged man’s voice. Luo Qianqian felt certain of her assumptions; according to the earlier conversation, there should be two mothers and the deputy director inside the office. The man, of course, couldn’t be one of the ’mothers’, which ant that this sycophantic male voice belonged to the deputy director.
"As long as you handle this matter well for , I’ll naturally put in a good word for you with Old Sun. Even though everyone knows I’m just a stepmother, I can’t just watch my stepson stuck in a police station," she said.
"Exactly. My Old Wu said that if he doesn’t see his son by tomorrow, even he won’t be able to help with your brother-in-law’s tendering process for the deputy position."
It’s indeed good to have connections in high places. Luo Qianqian frowned slightly.
"Qianqian, what are you doing?" Luo Shufan ca out, worried his sister might get lost, but found her crouched in front of soone else’s office door, her head pressed against it as if she was deep in thought, her expression serious.
Luo Qianqian realized her posture made it easy for people to assu she was eavesdropping and quickly laughed it off, "I was just tying my shoelace." She looked down at her sandals, pulled open the velcro strap, and fastened it back on.
By the ti Luo Qianqian followed her brother back from the restroom and washing her hands, they had also seen the resolution of a neighborly squabble. When she returned to Luo’s Mom, there were three brilliantly dressed won in the room; one was the blond woman they had seen earlier, the other two—judging from their attire—were unquestionably the sa won from the deputy director’s office. Seeing that it took her kids so long to return, Luo’s Mom said, "Where did you two run off to, only to co back now?"
"Hehe, I was just watching a drama with my brother. The drama is called ’Life’," Luo Qianqian quickly offered a distraction to prevent her mother from continuing her questioning.
However, Luo’s Mom was startled by her daughter’s words, examining her children anxiously, fearing that this ’life’ had caused them any more harm.
"Mom, it’s nothing. Why has it gone so quiet?" Luo Shufan glanced at his sister, resigned to distracting his mother’s attention anyway.
Luo’s Mom opened her mouth to speak but before she could say anything, He Wenyu, feeling neglected because the two had been gone for so long, rushed over to explain, "It’s those three aunts. As soon as they ca in, soone took Uncle Zhang away, and his boss, too. They were all called off." Still talking about a boss, what kind of TV show has she been watching too much? "Then those three aunts just kept staring at us and didn’t say anything. You two weren’t here, and I got scared." He Wenyu imdiately clung tightly to Luo Qianqian’s arm and wouldn’t let go.
"They’re looking at you because you’re pretty, of course. Why else wouldn’t they stare at soone else? It’s called envy, jealousy, and hate—envy because you’re young, jealousy because you’re pretty, and hate because you have people who care about you," Luo Qianqian explained gently, pulling He Wenyu without even glancing at the trio of obasan.
"Pfft—"
"Co on!"
"Hehe..."
The voices that broke out simultaneously ca from a police comrade handling official duties, a brash blond obasan, and two ’connected’ won with the airs of socialites, who rarely smiled and never showed their teeth.
The atmosphere lightened a bit, and Luo Qianqian suddenly rembered He Wenyu’s earlier ntion of Zhang Ye being called away, and asked, "Mom, where’s Uncle Zhang? When will he be back? Doesn’t he need to take our statents?"
Luo’s Mom’s face instantly turned sour, as she had just seen the person with a face as dark as the bottom of a pot who had called Officer Zhang away. Just monts ago, attempting to find the siblings, she was mocked by the brash blond obasan who said things like "pitiful people usually have sothing hateful about them" and that "nothing is a problem if it can be solved with money and connections."
Seeing her mother’s complexion change, Luo Qianqian realized she might have asked the wrong question and imdiately fell silent. It was better to patiently wait for Officer Zhang’s return; she was afraid her mother would be too upset to sleep with her.
Luo Qianqian found she had no more ti to chat with her mother. She wanted to squat in a corner of the deputy bureau chief’s office, but she didn’t have any excuse to go there anymore. She had already been to the restroom, washed her hands, and even watched the commotion; there was no excuse to leave.
Though Luo’s Mom had said it would be fine to just sit and wait, upon looking at those three children, who didn’t turn their heads or speak but only blinked like low-grade wooden doll puppets, Luo’s Mom genuinely felt sorry for her mother—those direct stares had been fixed on her for ages, so intense one might think they were a declaration of love.
Suddenly Zhang Ye returned, but his ’leader’ did not co back with him, which suggested the leader had been kept back for a private conversation.
Zhang Ye was a principled officer; he firmly believed that the police existed to reward the good and punish the evil. Since he was in charge of this case, he would definitely shed light on the truth. Moreover, the disparity between the two parties was anything but trivial; on one side were three children, the oldest only in the fourth grade of elentary school, and the other two girls had not even attended preschool; on the other side were five or six teenagers with semi-autonomous behavior. It was clear who was the aggressor and who was the victim. Unless pushed to the edge, these three children would never have provoked the group that was both nurically and substantially superior unless they were ntally unsound.
Luo Qianqian looked at Zhang Ye’s somber expression and felt a bit apprehensive, but she knew so questions still needed to be asked. So she ventured, "Uncle Zhang, what’s wrong? Do you need to use the restroom, or are you hungry?"
Luo Shufan really disliked those three won and, seeing Zhang Ye’s expression, sensed that soone might be interfering. Those rainbow-haired teenagers were no good, and these three posturing won were no better.
Children think just because they are older, they can bully others, even bullying their way to his siblings. He wouldn’t indulge such behavior, so the redhead on the hospital bed fully brought it upon himself.
Who knew, after hitting the younger ones, the older ones ca out to threaten and intimidate. Was it possible that if it didn’t suit their liking, the elders would co forth to stir up trouble?
It was only his sister, still innocent at heart, who could ask sothing as straightforward as whether he needed to use the restroom.
Luo Qianqian didn’t want to ask such a pointless question either, but with those three malicious won present, who knew what might happen if she appeared too competent? Could an outside force snuff her out in the cradle?
"Uh... I don’t need to use the restroom, nor am I hungry," Zhang Ye said, looking at Luo Qianqian’s pure face brimming with concern for him, his expression a bit stoic, "Don’t worry, I will be a good cop. Big brother, tell us about what happened when the incident took place, and don’t leave anything out. The two little sisters can add anything they rember."
Luo Shufan nodded, closed his eyes in thought for a mont before he began to narrate, with Luo Qianqian and He Wenyu occasionally chiming in or adding a word or two.
Luo’s Mom and He’s father watched the three won grow increasingly angry, while the won themselves sat calmly with unchanged expressions, their eyes never straying. They who had been imperious and unruly earlier were now frowning in disbelief.
"My family has plenty of money; why would my son rob you of a few dozen yuan? His daily allowance is more than that," one said.
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