How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 203 - 205: Verification_1
Chapter 203: Chapter 205: Verification_1
Xue Sufen recounted the details thoroughly.
Xue Lingqing’s face was expressionless, "Cheng Shuqin and Li Qiao have a feud, she is dying for Li Qiao to slip up, it must be her crying ’Stop thief!’ to cover her own guilt."
Xue Sufen indignantly said, "Why do you always speak for Li Qiao?"
"I want to ask you, why are you always against Li Qiao, jealous of her, wanting to get rid of her? Even if she left, you wouldn’t be the best, Cheng Shuqin’s presence makes you look like a fool." After Xue Lingqing finished speaking, he pushed Xue Sufen out the door, saying disdainfully, "You’re a grown woman, coming to my dorm at night, is that proper? A grown daughter should stay away from her father, and I am still your uncle, have some self-awareness."
Xue Sufen: "..."
....
Xue Sufen returned to her dormitory.
Ma Hongxiang was already back, and Cheng Shuqin was persuading her to testify on her behalf.
Ma Hongxiang flatly refused, since she had not witnessed anything herself.
Cheng Shuqin harbored resentment, thinking to herself that she would deal with Ma Hongxiang after settling the score with Li Qiao.
Xue Sufen also joined the persuasion, "Li Qiao is not clean-handed, sticking with her will only lead to regret sooner or later."
Ma Hongxiang pursed her lips and stayed silent.
Xue Sufen stopped persuading but warned Ma Hongxiang, "If Li Qiao comes tomorrow and you dare to tell her about tonight’s events, from then on, we will be irreconcilable." She couldn’t deny that Li Qiao was indeed smart; if she learned in advance that Cheng Shuqin had searched her storage cabinet,
Li Qiao would certainly have a countermeasure; they wanted to avoid alarming the enemy, so Li Qiao would be caught off guard.
After a while, Ma Hongxiang softly murmured in agreement.
Xue Sufen turned off the light and went to rest, and early the next morning, she took the initiative to tell Mr. Che about the incident.
This played right into Cheng Shuqin’s hands, and she was called to the office by Mr. Che. Pretending to be shocked, she said, "The class monitor told you? Considering that this is Li Qiao’s first offense, I don’t intend to make a big deal of it, let’s just let it go."
In a few words, not only did she accuse Li Qiao of theft, she also subtly complimented her own magnanimity.
"Theft is not a trivial matter, leave the bracelet here and go back. I will question Li Qiao first," Mr. Che then had someone bring Li Qiao and showed her the stolen item, "Do you recognize this?"
Li Qiao was baffled, mechanically shaking her head, "I don’t recognize it."
"Cheng Shuqin said..." Mr. Che recounted the story.
Li Qiao was filled with righteous indignation, "I would steal her silver bracelet? My family has a jade bracelet handed down from my grandmother and a large gold bracelet from my partner; I wouldn’t even want this silver one if it was given to me for free!"
"Who would say no to treasures?" Mr. Che said, "I earn fifty-five a month, and I’d still happily pick up a penny from the ground."
Li Qiao: "..." She took a deep breath in anger, trying to calm herself, "I didn’t steal; if I had, there wouldn’t be any evidence left, after all, I’ve worked at the county criminal police team, and I know plenty of counter-surveillance techniques."
Mr. Che was surprised; she worked at the police department? Really? He paused and said, "Talk is cheap, who would believe that?"
Li Qiao: "If you don’t believe me, call our police station and ask." She gave the number and contact person.
Seeing her so certain and her demeanor transparent, Mr. Che felt there might be more to this. Considering that Li Qiao was specially admitted to the school and was the Top Scholar of the college entrance exam, he decided to verify the facts to avoid damaging the reputation of a good student.
Mr. Che sent Li Qiao away.
Being cautious during the verification, he first had someone check the number sequence of Li Qiao’s area to confirm it was indeed the county police station number before he dialed, and after a manual transfer, he connected with Xun Dong.
He indirectly asked Xun Dong about Li Qiao’s performance in the police team.
Thinking that the university was rewarding her for her experience as a forensic assistant, Xun Dong praised her, "Excellent, her investigation skills are up to par, and the cases she’s been involved in are usually solved quickly. If she hadn’t been admitted to university, we really would have hated to see her go."
Mr. Che echoed, "She also performs quite well at school, her grades in all subjects are outstanding, and she’s even preparing to skip a grade, I just wonder about her family situation, is it very poor?"
Xun Dong was puzzled. Was this about poverty alleviation or what? When he first got to know Li Qiao, her family was indeed very poor, but Qin Jin, that "loser" with a ton of tricks, managed to do well mixing around everywhere, and before long, he acquired an apartment in the city. There’s no way they would be poor now.
They must be rather well-off. "Very nice."
"Really, what exactly does your family do?" Mr. Che asked again.
At this point, Xun Dong became wary. Was the person on the phone really a university professor? Why wasn’t he asking the student directly about her circumstances but instead inquiring from an outsider?
Could it be a scammer?
To scam someone over the phone, how much money would they want to defraud?
He didn’t plan on telling the truth and bragged, "At home, ah, our director is her dad, and her mom manages the county post office..."
Xun Dong bluffed his way through, and Mr. Che thought to himself that with a police officer as her real dad, having been taught from a young age to catch thieves, Li Qiao certainly couldn’t be a thief.
Just as he was about to make small talk and hang up, Xun Dong had already disconnected, and he cursed under his breath about causing extra phone charges for the team.
Mr. Che sneezed, thinking the other party must have been too busy and that’s why the call was cut off.
He decided not to bother Li Qiao anymore, but instead approached Cheng Shuqin and said, "You have a grudge against Li Qiao. I can’t take your words at face value. Since you’ve found your belongings, let’s let bygones be bygones."
Cheng Shuqin: ???
Was she hearing things?
"Mr. Che! Li Qiao was caught red-handed. How can you just let it go? Did she give you some kind of benefit?"
Mr. Che slammed his fist on the desk, "Nonsense? As a student, questioning the fairness of a teacher’s actions to their face, do you even have any respect for your teacher? I wanted to say this to you—you keep saying she was caught red-handed, but why does Ma Hongxiang claim ignorance? Li Qiao doesn’t even stay in the dorm; who’s to say that you didn’t sneak the items into her locker to frame her? You said earlier you wouldn’t mind, and now that you heard I’m letting it go, you’re fired up again."
Cheng Shuqin, feeling accused, denied it with less conviction, "I didn’t, but the fact that Li Qiao steals is true, and whether or not you deal with her is another matter."
"I didn’t steal your things," Li Qiao, who had just been studying in the library, said after Ma Hongxiang came running to tell her that Cheng Shuqin had been called away by the counselor again.
She guessed it was still about the bracelet issue and specifically came to find out what Mr. Che had confirmed about her situation. She wasn’t expecting to hear Cheng Shuqin badmouthing her outside.
She then asked Mr. Che, "Mr. Che, did you make the call? Can you confirm I wouldn’t steal?"
Mr. Che nodded, according to what Li Qiao’s superior had said, she was outstanding in her team.
If she really were a thief, she wouldn’t have left evidence for others to find.
Li Qiao continued, "Since you acknowledge that I wouldn’t steal from others, then Xue Sufen and Cheng Shuqin framing me is something I must have explained, or else I will have to take this matter to the dean."
Mr. Che was somewhat troubled, but he still agreed to Li Qiao’s request.
Cheng Shuqin was once again ordered to write a self-criticism, but this time she firmly refused. If she complied, it would be akin to indirectly admitting that she was playing the thief shouting ’catch the thief.’
Xue Sufen was also unwilling to write one.
Mr. Che simply reached out to Xue Lingqing.
Xue Lingqing went home and told Old Mr. Xue, who informed Xue Sufen’s father.
Xue Sufen was dragged back home, where she had to recite in front of the whole family the sequence of events leading Cheng Shuqin to find the table.
All the men in the family agreed that Xue Sufen had been used as a pawn.
Xue Sufen argued, "The condition of Li Qiao’s household and her expenditures are totally disproportionate. I did it for justice."
"How do you know about her family’s expenditure?" Xue Lingqing asked. "Did you peek at her family’s accounts?"