The aunt's voice was loud and shrill, disturbing the entire hall.
Faced with the aunt's commotion, Captain Li, dressed in uniform, kept raising his hand to soothe her, his voice tinged with weariness and helplessness.
"Auntie, please calm down. Just wait a moment, the person will be here soon. Please stop arguing."
However, the woman wouldn't listen to him at all, and continued to cry and sneer, muttering curses.
“I’ve been staking out her for days, and today I finally spotted her setting up her stall, so I immediately came to the police station to report it. You have to get justice for my daughter and arrest that Zhou Qiqi!”
She became emotional, and her voice grew increasingly loud.
"Just arresting her isn't enough! We have to make her pay, make her pay a hefty sum!"
After she finished speaking, she paused slightly, a fierce glint flashing in her eyes, and threatened through gritted teeth.
"Otherwise, my daughter and I will hang ourselves in front of your police station!"
Captain Li's temples throbbed from the noise, and his face was full of helplessness.
He reached up and rubbed his throbbing forehead, feeling utterly overwhelmed, when Officer Tan strode in.
"Captain Li, the person has been brought here."
Captain Li's eyes lit up instantly, as if he had grabbed a lifeline while drowning.
He immediately raised his hand, pointing to Zhou Qiqi standing to the side, his voice urgent.
"Auntie, please stop crying. Take a closer look. Isn't this the shop owner who sold you the clothes?"
The woman suddenly turned around, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Zhou Qiqi, scrutinizing her from head to toe with a look of scrutiny and resentment.
She nodded emphatically, her tone resolute and leaving no room for doubt.
"That's right! It's her! Arrest her immediately! She's a wicked woman!"
As she spoke, she lunged at Zhou Qiqi with bared teeth and claws, as if she wanted to devour Zhou Qiqi alive.
Compared to this older woman, Qiu Chunfang was kind and gentle.
Zhou Qiqi was startled when she suddenly encountered such a lunatic and quickly hid behind Officer Tan.
Officer Tan reacted quickly, spreading his arms to shield her firmly behind him.
Captain Li could no longer contain his anger. He slammed the teacup to the ground with a loud bang, his face grim, and shouted sternly.
"Shut up! This is a police station, not a market! You can't cause trouble like this!"
Once the hall had quieted down a bit, he looked intently at Zhou Qiqi.
"You're Zhou Qiqi? This lady said her daughter bought clothes from your stall, and there was a razor blade sewn into the sleeve, which cut her."
As he spoke, he gestured, and there stood a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old next to the woman. She had fair skin, and the dark red wound on her arm was particularly eye-catching. The girl huddled beside her mother, sobbing softly, and did not dare to look up at anyone.
After explaining the situation, Captain Li spoke in a serious tone.
"Come with us to the interrogation room and explain yourself."
Zhou Qiqi looked in the direction he pointed. The door was dark and had a sinister feel to it. She felt a chill run down her spine and quickly shook her head.
“I have never met this woman or her daughter, nor have I sold any clothes to her. This is a false accusation.”
Despite her terrible sense of direction, she remembers her customers quite well; she genuinely had never seen these two before.
Moreover, she is extremely careful when making clothes, checking them at least three times after completion, so there is absolutely no way there could be a razor blade on the clothes.
The woman's eyes widened in anger, and the muscles in her face trembled with rage.
"You unscrupulous merchant, so many people come and go at your stall, how can you say you've never seen it before?"
She paused for a moment, then said fiercely.
"Besides, this style of clothing is only available in your store, and it's exactly the same as what you're wearing. You dare say you didn't sell it?!"
As she spoke, she threw out a set of clothes.
It was a petal-shaped, slightly puffed-sleeve blouse paired with a French-style double-layered lace-trimmed skirt.
Zhou Qiqi recognized it; it was the French-style suit she had sold last week.
Coincidentally, she was wearing the same style today.
The evidence was on her, and at first glance, it seemed impossible for her to deny it.
She didn't try to deny it, but instead frowned, bent down to pick up the clothes, gently stroking the fabric with her fingers, and said in a deep voice.
"I did sell this style."
The woman's face lit up with joy, and she shrieked.
"She confessed! Arrest this little bitch!"
The police officers present frowned and pointed to the interrogation room, saying, "Then please proceed."
"Wait a minute!"
Zhou Qiqi suddenly looked up, her eyes clear and bright, clutching the clothes, and said, word by word.
"I only said that I sold this style, but I didn't admit that I sold this garment!"
"What's the difference?! Are you still trying to deny it?"
The woman flew into a rage, took a step forward, and spat as she spoke.
When Zhou Qiqi first saw this outfit, she was also startled and really thought that her memory was wrong.
But once she held the clothes in her hands, she immediately realized that these hurtful clothes were definitely not hers.
She smiled slightly, her tone remaining neither humble nor arrogant.
"The difference is huge."
Then he held up the clothes in his hand and pointed out the details one by one.
"The material of this garment is far inferior to the goods I purchased. It's obviously a low-quality product. It's not even from the same factory as the ones I bought. It's probably leftover stock from some small factory. And the stitching and the yarn are all substandard."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over the police officers in the lobby.
"If you don't believe me, you can go outside and take the goods from my snakeskin bag for comparison."
Among the goods she's selling this time, there are ten such small sets, all stored in snakeskin bags.
As soon as he finished speaking, Officer Tan immediately turned around and went out, running all the way back to bring her snakeskin bag in.
He personally took out several sets and placed them on the table.
The crowd gathered around, holding the two garments in their hands and comparing them carefully.
Anyone with eyes can see that although the two garments are the same style, their texture and workmanship are vastly different.
Even Captain Li, who doesn't care much about clothing, couldn't help but frown and draw a conclusion.
"It is indeed very different."
As he spoke, he looked at the woman who had called the police.
"Auntie, are you sure you're not mistaken?"
The older woman also came over to take a look. She wasn't stupid; she could tell that they were indeed different products.
But she still didn't believe it. She stared wide-eyed at Zhou Qiqi with absolute certainty.
"Anyway, I gave my daughter twenty-five yuan to buy it from you! There's no way you could have made a mistake!"
Her eyes darted around, and then she gritted her teeth and voiced her guess.
"Perhaps they're selling a mix of good and bad quality goods?"
"Yes, it's not impossible. How can you prove you didn't sell it?"
Officer Huang, who had just been humiliated by Zhou Qiqi outside, silently echoed her sentiment, his eyes filled with ill intent.
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