Chapter 254: Obtaining Important Witnesses
"Okay, be careful." Huo Jingchen was really worried about Xia Mi.
A group of people watched Huo Jingchen walk to the door. He was nearly 1.9 meters tall, with an upright posture and thick veins bulging on his arms. All these showed that Huo Jingchen was not someone to be trifled with.
The group of people who originally wanted to force their way out gave up after seeing Huo Jingchen blocking the door.
Xia Mi sat at the front desk, looking at the people below and said, "If you tell the truth now, I can still explain to the police that this was all a misunderstanding. From now on, we can go our separate ways and I will definitely forget what happened today."
"You've illegally imprisoned us, and you think you're right?!" Xu Jinfeng feigned composure and shrilled, "Let us out now, or you won't have a good life either."
Xia Mi chuckled and lowered her eyes to look at the things on the table.
"Thanks to you, we are not doing any better now."
Seeing that Xu Jinfeng couldn't be persuaded, Xia Mi changed her stance, "As long as the police compare the invoices from Boss Shen's store, they'll immediately know which of you have bought things here and which have not."
"I don't know which of you here have a proper job. If you get punished by the factory or work unit for causing trouble and lose your eligibility for performance appraisals, don't blame us."
With so many people, Xia Mi didn’t believe that there was not a single one with a job.
As expected, someone inside was really panicking. No matter how Xu Jinfeng tried to soothe them with her eyes, someone didn't buy her account.
"If I tell you, will you let me go?"
Seeing the breakthrough, Xia Mi hesitated for a moment and said, "It depends on your performance."
Ignoring Xu Jinfeng's attempts to stop her, the woman slowly spoke, "I certainly didn't buy the refrigerator from Boss Shen's store. It was Xu Jinfeng who said she couldn't get over it and gave me thirty yuan to help her get an explanation."
Xia Mi nodded, opened the drawer, took out paper, and began to write on it.
The woman became anxious when she saw that Xia Mi did not respond. She was afraid that the other party was deceiving her. She did not want to be punished by the unit for such a small advantage. It was not worth it at all.
"Well, Xu Jinfeng, you actually gave someone thirty yuan. I have such a good relationship with you, and you only gave ten yuan. Is there anyone like you who behaves like this?"
Xia Mi hadn't finished writing yet, but she didn't expect that there would be a quarrel over money.
In the end, only two of the eight people bought Shen Zhihui's refrigerator, one of them was Xu Jinfeng, and the other one's refrigerator was good.
This was the first time Zhou Xiumin had encountered such a thing, and her face turned red with anger.
"Okay, just sign your names and put your fingerprints on them, and you can leave." Xia Mi said, asking the troublemakers to write down their relationship with Xu Jinfeng and the truth, and then sign their names.
After writing one, he let it go, and finally only Xu Jinfeng was left.
Now it was other people's turn to blame her. Several customers who came to her for repairs pointed at her nose and cursed her. At first, Xu Jinfeng would talk back, but then she pretended to be mute.
Xia Mi asked Zhou Xiumin to put it in order, "I'll take this away later."
"Xu Jinfeng, I'll give you one last chance. If you don't tell me, I'll report you to the police."
These words shocked everyone present, including Huo Jingchen.
It turns out that Xia Mi didn’t report to the police just now!
Xu Jinfeng then realized that after so long, the police should have arrived. From the interrogation to the signing and sealing of each person, nearly an hour had passed.
This store is only half an hour away from the Public Security Bureau.
"How dare you cheat me?" Xu Jinfeng widened his eyes in disbelief, realizing that he had been deceived.
"Of course I dare not. You brought such a large group of people to cause trouble. I should be less courageous than you." Xia Mi had a faint smile on her lips, and looked at Xu Jinfeng with a determined look.
Xu Jinfeng didn't want to compromise, but if she gave away the person behind her, she would not end up well.
If she doesn't tell, she might go to jail.
Xu Jinfeng faced a dilemma and didn't know how to make a decision.
"It's fine if you don't say anything. It's hard to persuade a damned ghost with kind words. If you insist on going to jail, there's nothing I can do. I just admire your husband and children. After you go to jail, your family will definitely be affected by you."
Xia Mi took the list and sighed with regret. "If he were still in school, his classmates would all know that his mother is in prison. If he were working, he would have almost no chance of being evaluated for excellence. It's his fault that he had a good mother who ended up in prison for being a scapegoat."
"You're willing to go this far. I think the people behind the scenes must have given you a lot of benefits. If your husband uses the benefits you've gained to find a new lover, tsk tsk..."
Xu Jinfeng couldn't control her emotions after hearing these words and completely broke down.
"Shut up, who the hell are you? You said it was true, and now you don't allow people to tell the truth? I just can't swallow this bitter pill, what's wrong?"
Seeing that the man was still stubborn, Xia Mi stopped talking nonsense and picked up the phone to call the Public Security Bureau.
A few seconds of waiting is enough to break a person's heart.
Xu Jinfeng rushed over and tried to grab the phone, "I'll tell you!"
Xia Mi put down the phone. In fact, she didn't make the call this time. She had plenty of time to spend with people, but she didn't know if Xu Jinfeng's heart, which was like being fried in hot oil, could endure it.
She looked calm, as if she had guessed the ending long ago.
Waiting for Xu Jinfeng to speak, "My husband works in the production department of the machinery factory. Section Chief Liu told us that the goods we sold to Mr. Shen this time were defective. The defective products were marked. He told us to buy them according to the instructions, and then go to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau to report them, and then go to Mr. Shen to make trouble."
When the truth came out, several customers were shocked. They never thought that a production department chief could do such a thing.
The head of the production department has no grudge against Shen Zhihui, so he must have been instructed by his superiors, otherwise why would he take the risk and do such a thing.
Xu Jinfeng explained the whole process clearly.
As the person was talking, Xia Mi wrote down the whole process on a piece of paper, and finally asked Xu Jinfeng to sign and seal it.
"I have explained everything clearly. Can you please not bother me in the future?" Xu Jinfeng's attitude changed drastically. He lowered his posture and asked Xia Mi cautiously.
Xia Mi put the list away and replied with a smile, "Of course."
"Of course not. It's just not necessarily a problem. We'll need your help in identification later. You're our most important witness. We won't treat you unfairly in terms of money. At least we'll pay you more than the machinery factory."
Xu Jinfeng was both excited and scared. She knew that everything that happened today would affect her husband's work and he might even be fired.
When she heard Xia Mi's promise of financial compensation, she was moved again.
Why do people work? Isn't it just for money? How comfortable it is to get paid directly without having to work!
"Okay, you go back first. We'll send someone to contact you when we need you."
Xu Jinfeng left in disappointment.
After the people left, the door of the store opened again.
"Go explain this to a few customers, and the repair will be free."
Zhou Xiumin agreed and walked up to the few people to explain. Then the four of them left happily, and finally did not forget to look at Xia Mi.
Xia Mi flipped open the list in her hand, sighed and shook her head, "What a sudden change! I thought this would take a long time to investigate before there was any progress, but now this flaw has been delivered to my door."
"Are you tired?" Huo Jingchen heard her sigh as he walked forward, his brows furrowed.
Xia Mi shook her head. Compared to yesterday, she felt much better today.
Of course, she didn't dare to complain to Huo Jingchen. Once a man heard her complaints, he might just pack her up and take her back to the island to give birth.
"Chen Zhihui is going to owe me a huge favor again. I have to think about how to get him to repay me." Xia Mi held the list.
"If you rescue him, you can even ask him for this store." Seeing Xia Mi happy, Huo Jingchen also curled the corners of his lips.
"It's getting late, let's go eat first. Even if you're in the detention center, it's time for dinner."
Xia Mi collected the lists and put them all in her bag.
With the experience of Shen Zhihui, she no longer dares to leave her things in the store. It is safer to carry them with her at all times.
-
After dinner, Xia Mi prepared to go back to the store and wait for news, thinking that Xiao Wang should be back today.
Huo Jingchen asked Xia Mi, "Lao Jiang should have friends in the Industry and Commerce Bureau. Do you want to go see Shen Zhihui?"
"Forget it. Captain Jiang is much busier now than he was on the island. We can handle this matter. We have evidence now, so it won't be a problem for him to get out."
"I'm not asking someone to smooth things over and get him released. I'm just asking you to meet him. He's in there and doesn't know what's going on outside. What if he loses his appetite and collapses from exhaustion?"
Xia Mi's eyes froze, and she felt that what Huo Jingchen said made sense.
"Old Jiang went home at noon. I ran into him at a meeting this morning. It's still not too late for me to go home now."
In the morning, Huo Jingchen heard Jiang Weidong complaining that Jiang Shengmei wanted to plant grapes in the yard and asked him to go back to help in the afternoon.
Xia Mi was hesitant, thinking that Shen Zhihui might really be as Huo Jingchen said.
It’s not worth it if you exhaust yourself.
She didn't act pretentiously and agreed after confirming it, "Okay, let's go find Captain Jiang now."
Jiang Shengmei and Jiang Weidong live in the east and need to take a 20-minute bus ride to get there.
After coming here last time, they found a seat easily this time. When Xia Mi and Huo Jingchen arrived at the door, they heard the conversation inside.
"This is not the way you do it. Come down, come down, I'll show you." Jiang Shengmei's helpless voice sounded.
Jiang Weidong's voice was impatient, "I already told you I can't do it, but you insisted on letting me do it."
"If I were as tall as you, would I still call you? I won't be the only one eating these ripe grapes. Come and help me hold the chair."
The old couple were arguing inside.
The door was open. Xia Mi knocked and brought Huo Jingchen in.
"Sister-in-law, Captain Jiang, are you busy?"
The two men were building a grape trellis, with several bamboos scattered around their feet.
Jiang Weidong saw the two people as if they had rescuers. "You are here, come and judge the situation. Qingcheng is not suitable for growing grapes, but your sister-in-law refuses to listen to anything. If a typhoon hits in the summer, the trees will be blown down by any gust of wind. Yet, this person still refuses to believe it and insists on building it."
"It seems like he forgot how Fan Chunhua next door got injured last time."
When Jiang Shengmei heard her husband's accusation, she didn't bother to ask what the two men were doing there.
"I finally found someone to get these grapes. I've never eaten grapes in my life, so what's wrong with growing some and eating them? Typhoons are a thing of the future, so if we build a sturdy rack, we won't have to worry about that, right?"
Seeing that no one was willing to give in, Huo Jingchen and Xia Mi temporarily acted as referees.
"This typhoon is indeed easy to blow down the frame, especially since you are using bamboo, sister-in-law. It is not obvious. If you want to build it, you should use steel to fix it."
Huo Jingchen naturally stood on Jiang Weidong's side.
Besides, we need to ask Jiang Weidong for help now, but we can’t be too absolute.
"Sister-in-law, we understand your excitement at seeing something new. Grapes don't grow as fast as you think. You can just build a pole to stretch them out. When the vines grow longer, you can build the trellis. By then, summer will be over and there won't be any typhoons. It's perfect."
After listening to Xia Mi and Huo Jingchen's persuasion, Jiang Shengmei gradually calmed down.
Jiang Weidong stopped talking, knowing that if he said more, his wife would definitely get angry. It would be better to let an outsider be the bad guy to avoid affecting the relationship between them.
Jiang Shengmei finally chose to give up. She first scattered the grape seeds in the flower bed in the corner of the wall.
According to Xia Mi, when the tree starts to grow, insert a bamboo or other wood to let it slowly climb up, so that you can take protective measures when a typhoon comes later.
"By the way, where are you coming from?" Jiang Weidong looked away and then remembered to ask the two of them.
Huo Jingchen stated the purpose of his visit straight away, "Of course I'm here to help you. Shen Zhihui is in trouble."
"What happened?"
Jiang Weidong's expression suddenly turned serious. "Didn't he just open a new store a few days ago? How come something like this happened today?"
Let Xia Mi narrate the whole process of what happened yesterday.
After hearing this, Jiang Weidong and Jiang Shengmei were both angry on behalf of others.
"Nonsense! He's the head of a state-owned factory after all. How could he mess with a self-employed individual and resort to such despicable tactics? It really opened my eyes."
Jiang Weidong's face turned dark after thinking for a long time.
"I will go to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau with you in person this afternoon. This matter must be investigated thoroughly!" It can be seen that Jiang Weidong has zero tolerance for such things and his attitude is very firm.
Huo Jingchen knew that Jiang Weidong was angry and reminded him, "I'll just go over there."
"Yeah, Old Jiang, Jingchen can just go over there. Don't you have something else to do this afternoon?"
Jiang Weidong thought about what happened in the afternoon and wanted to postpone it and go with Huo Jingchen, but in the end he thought better of it.
Later, Jiang Weidong called someone and briefly introduced Huo Jingchen on the phone and greeted him in advance.
When they left Jiang's house, he and Xia Mi took a bus directly to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau.
While in the car, Xia Mi didn't think straight, "Why not let Captain Jiang go with us?"
"It's a waste of talent. Besides, it's not that I don't trust Shen Zhihui, but people rarely control themselves when faced with huge profits. If the people in the Industry and Commerce Bureau knew that Shen Zhihui and Lao Jiang knew each other, they would definitely help him in the future."
Having said that, Xia Mi already understood why Jiang Weidong was not allowed to come forward.
As for Huo Jingchen, he is her husband and has a lot of dealings with Shen Zhihui. This time she is helping people in the name of being Shen Zhihui's friend.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
