A man took out his badge and flashed it at the lady when he approached her.
“I’m a police officer. I’m afraid you’ll have to follow me to the station for investigation.”
The cleaning lady was so flustered that she became petrified, swallowing the words that hung upon her lips and her urge to scream. Her expression instantly blanched, while her body trembled slightly, evidently in fear.
She turned her head around to glance at the direction of a surveillance camera located nearby. A realization seemed to have dawned on her, as she simply obeyed without resistance and quietly allowed the two policemen to escort her away.
“Why did you guys bring me here?” Initially, the cleaning lady behaved brazenly and was unabashed by her crime at the police station, retorting, “What did I do wrong? Who gave you the right to detain me here?”
As she was detained in the room, she kicked up a noisy uproar, yelling and questioning incessantly. However, no matter how much she tried to scream, berate, or reason with the people around her, they simply stood unresponsively and silently like a barren wall.
Soon, she realized that these people would not respond to her, even if she slammed herself against the table to death.
Just as her patience and emotions had reached a tipping point, the door suddenly swung wide open.
A man clad in police uniform swiftly entered and approached her. Instantly, all oxygen seemed to have been sucked away from the air in the room, while a stifling sense of pressure tremendously intensified.
The man was tall and imposing, having a height that was intimidating to anyone who faced him. When he stepped in, he seemed to tower over everyone in the room like a behemoth, greatly highlighting the massive height difference between him and the others. As he walked toward her, he had an unrelenting and grave expression on his face.
He stepped in front of the cleaning lady and asked sternly, “Where is she?”
He voiced the question threateningly, slamming one hand on the table, as he forcefully pulled a chair back with the other. The resulting noise terrified the cleaning lady out of her wits.
The bang sounded ominously like the clashing of bones. Feeling an eerie chill, she unconsciously rubbed her neck, as it felt as though a cold breeze was blowing against it.
The question sent chills down her spine, as she shivered in fear. Just moments ago, she was loudly and angrily defending herself, exclaiming that she was wrongfully arrested and that she did not commit any crimes. However, under such duress, she began to doubt herself and wonder if she had really committed any unlawful deeds.
Lei Qingyi quietly sat down. Even though his towering presence had diminished, his imposing aura was as domineering and terrifying as ever.
“She? What?” The cleaning lady was indeed slightly befuddled at the vague question thrown at her.
“Are you still trying to feign innocence?” Lei Qingyi gripped his fingers in fury. If she was not a lady, his fist would have instantly landed on the person’s face.
“I really have no idea what you’re talking about? Who is she?” Stress and anxiety had driven the cleaning lady to tears, with snot and tears covering her face as she wailed miserably. At a glance, she did seem like an honest middle-aged lady with a small figure, it would be impossible for her to carry a person away. After all, Yan Huan was quite adept at self-defense. However, the cleaning lady was the only clue they had, after searching high and low for Yan Huan for half a month.
This was crucial, and their only lead. They would not dare miss it; they simply could not. Otherwise, all efforts would be rendered futile; the only hint they had would vanish, and they would have to restart the search in vain.
Lei Qingyi signaled to the policeman beside him with his gaze, who then swiftly left and returned with something in his hand. It was an exquisitely beautiful lady’s handbag.
When the cleaning lady saw the handbag, she immediately shot up, her irises constricting in shock. She immediately snatched it away and hugged it tightly to her chest, asking, “What are you doing with my handbag?”
“Your handbag?” Lei Qingyi scoffed at her sarcastically as he scrutinized her with a scowl on his face.
“Are you sure this is your handbag?”
“Of course it’s mine.” Everyone who saw her handbag had marveled at its intricacy and incessantly inquired where she had purchased it from, even though she did not know the answer as well. No matter where it originated from, the handbag was now hers.
Lei Qingyi took the investigation documents and perused its content briefly. Then, he glared at the cleaning lady again.
“Ma Guijuan?”
“That’s me.”
She was still holding the handbag close to her, an unpleasant feeling arose in her heart as she uttered, “So, can I leave now? I really didn’t do anything wrong.” Even after racking her brains back and forth, she still could not figure out what crime she had committed that warranted her arrest.
“41 years old,” Lei Qingyi merely added curtly.
Her age had always been something that she felt inferior about, so naturally, she felt quite displeased and embarrassed when he announced it in such a direct manner.
“Divorced.” Lei Qingyi continued reading the document aloud.
“You have a son who is in the university now. As a cleaner in Linlang, your total salary including other allowances comes to about 2800, right?”
She merely nodded meekly in response. She usually earned about that much, and it would even reach 3000 if she was punctual and received extra bonuses. Linlang treated their employees exceptionally well, even a cleaner like her was paid reasonably well. Otherwise, how could someone so uneducated and unskilled like her earn so much as a mere cleaner? She even had a higher income than her ex-husband, and could afford to support her son financially to study in a university.
“Is that correct?”
Lei Qingyi asked again, he needed to be very sure about the facts.
The cleaning lady Ma Guijuan simply nodded again. The information was bonafide and had no errors. Furthermore, she would not dare lie in such a situation.
“Where did you get this handbag?”
Lei Qingyi pointed at the handbag in her arms.
“This is mine.” She clutched it tighter against her chest.
“Oh, is it?” Lei Qingyi nonchalantly raised his eyebrow, but the grin on his face became more menacing and cold than ever.
“This is a limited edition LV handbag, and costs about 2 million. May I ask…” He placed his hand on the table and leaned forward slightly intimidatingly, before adding, “You earn about 2800 a month, how can you afford a handbag with such a price?”
Ma Guijuan’s countenance swiftly turned ghastly pale, her grasp tightened as her fingers sank deeper into the handbag.
“You…you must’ve made a mistake. This is a counterfeit handbag. It doesn’t cost much at all.” She would never admit that it was an extremely expensive handbag, although she clearly knew that it had an exorbitant price tag. She had guessed that it belonged to someone very rich, but she had never thought that it would cost 2 million. No wonder her son told her that he wanted to give one to his girlfriend as a present when he saw it.
Could it be that his girlfriend had known that it’s an LV handbag, but she did not inform me about it?
However, she remained adamant and refused to admit to any accusations or statements that were hurled at her. After all, they could not do anything to her if she bit her tongue and simply denied everything. Besides, even if the owner was involved in some mishap, it was completely unrelated to her. It was simply a handbag that she had picked up; it should not be illegal in any way. She had never heard that someone would have to be imprisoned or even punished for merely picking up something.
