Chapter 58 Big Lie
Xu Yao stood outside the window of the detention room. The sunlight shone through the iron bars, cutting distinct light and dark lines on her face.
Her eyes were fixed on the disheveled, crazy-looking woman inside, the "Third Sister" as they called her.
That dark red birthmark, like a thin needle, pierced her forced calmness.
In her previous life, she always thought that her third sister was the widow of Sun Zhiqiang’s comrade-in-arms, a poor woman who needed the care of their family.
What’s funny is that their family worked hard and took care of others without complaint for their entire lives, but in the end, they found that they were the most redundant people.
"Dad, you and Mom can finally be together..." Her daughter's last words echoed in her ears like a spell.
She once thought that it was her daughter's nonsense after being bewitched by her third sister, but now it seems that everything was foreshadowed.
So, Xu Qiuyue is the third sister’s biological daughter?
This realization was like a bucket of ice water poured over her head, making her feel cold all over.
She suddenly understood why her third sister was always hostile to her in her previous life, and why her daughter was so easily bewitched by her third sister and even willing to end her life with her own hands.
They are a family connected by blood, and she is just an outsider, an eyesore.
"Yaoyao, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so bad?" A big warm hand held her cold palm.
Xue Han came to her side at some point, his deep eyes full of concern.
Xu Yao looked up and saw Xue Han's cold yet gentle face, and a warm feeling surged in her heart.
She shook her head and tried to force a smile: "It's okay, just a little tired."
Xue Han didn't say anything, but just silently held her hand.
He knew that she must be hiding something.
Xu Yao felt uneasy for the whole night that followed.
All the events of her past life flashed through her mind like a kaleidoscope.
She couldn't accept that she had been kept in the dark for decades, only to find out in the end that her life was a complete joke.
It was late at night. Xue Han gently pushed open the door and saw Xu Yao still sitting at the table with a frown on her face, as if she was thinking about something.
"Yaoyao, it's so late, why aren't you sleeping yet?" he asked softly.
Xu Yao raised her head and looked at Xue Han, her eyes full of fatigue: "I can't sleep. I always feel that there are still many doubts about this matter."
Xue Han walked over to her, picked up the documents in front of her, and began to read them carefully.
These are all the information about my third sister and Sun Zhiqiang. The people from the street office have already investigated them in detail.
"Do you suspect there's something wrong with Third Sister's identity?" Xue Han asked.
Xu Yao nodded: "I always feel that she is not as simple as she said."
Xue Han didn't say anything, just looked at the information silently.
Suddenly, he stopped and his eyes fell on a yellowed household registration card.
"Yaoyao, look here." He pointed to a place on the household registration card and said.
Xu Yao leaned over to take a look and immediately gasped.
The household registration card shows that Sun Jianguo, the husband mentioned by the third sister, died in 1968.
However, the third sister has always claimed that Sun Jianguo jumped into the river and died in 1971 in order to save Xu's father.
This is a huge lie!
What is even more shocking is that the doctor’s signature on the death certificate was actually Sun Zhiqiang’s handwriting!
"It turns out that he died a long time ago... Third sister is not a widow at all!" Xu Yao felt cold all over and her voice trembled.
"It seems that we have all been deceived." Xue Han's eyes also became sharp.
The next day, the subdistrict office held an emergency hearing.
Xu Yao, Xue Han, the third sister, Sun Zhiqiang, and the director of the street office all attended.
At the hearing, Xu Yao directly pointed out the lies of her third sister.
"Third sister, you keep saying that Sun Jianguo sacrificed himself to save my father, but the facts prove that Sun Jianguo died as early as 1968! You are not a widow at all, you have been deceiving us!" Xu Yao's voice was sonorous and powerful.
The third sister looked pale, but still tried to remain calm: "You are talking nonsense! My husband died just to save your father! You are slandering me!"
"That's enough!" Xue Han suddenly stood up and held up the household registration file in his hand. "In 1965, Sun Jianguo was imprisoned for theft and died of starvation in prison in 1968. It is impossible for your husband to 'jump into the river to save Xu's father'! Third sister, what else do you have to say?"
The third sister was completely panicked. She tried to defend herself at the top of her lungs, but her defense seemed pale and powerless in the face of the hard evidence.
Suddenly, the third sister stopped explaining. She raised her head and looked at Xu Yao with a strange smile on her face.
"So what if I'm not a widow? That child is his flesh and blood! Your Xu family will never be able to get rid of me!" The third sister laughed shrilly, her voice full of resentment.
"Child? What child?" Xu Yao looked confused.
Just then, she suddenly remembered something, some painful memories that she had deliberately forgotten.
She turned around abruptly and said to the people behind her, "Bring the things up!"
A staff member came up with a package and placed it on the table.
Xu Yao slowly opened the package and revealed what was inside - it was a piece of baby swaddling clothes with some blood stains on it...
Xu Yao's counterattack was like a sudden rainstorm in the afternoon, catching everyone off guard and drenching them to the bone.
"What is this?" The director of the subdistrict office pushed his reading glasses on the bridge of his nose, with a hint of doubt and scrutiny in his voice.
Xu Yao did not answer immediately, but carefully unfolded the remaining piece of baby swaddling clothes.
It was a piece of old, yellowed cloth, the edges of which were worn beyond recognition and still had dark red bloodstains on it. The air seemed to be filled with a faint smell of blood.
The third sister's face turned pale in an instant, as if all the blood had been drained away.
She opened her eyes wide, staring at the piece of swaddling clothes, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably, as if she had seen something extremely terrifying.
"You...where did you get it from?!" The third sister's voice was as sharp as a broken bellows, full of fear and anxiety.
Xu Yao ignored her and said calmly: "I found this in your darkroom this morning. To be more precise, you dropped it in a panic."
The air seemed to freeze, and everyone held their breath, waiting for Xu Yao's next words.
"Remember, Third Sister, you have always said that your daughter died at birth. You even produced a so-called death certificate, claiming that the child was delayed by a quack doctor." Xu Yao stared at the Third Sister with a sharp gaze. "Then, can you explain why this piece of baby swaddling clothes appeared in the darkroom of your house?"
The third sister opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.
Her mind went blank and she completely lost the ability to think.
She never thought that Xu Yao would find this thing!
This is a secret she has kept for many years, and it is also the eternal pain in her heart.
"This...this...this is impossible..." the third sister said incoherently, "This must be fake! You forged it!"
Xu Yao sneered and ignored her.
She turned her head and looked at Xue Han, who had remained silent.
Xue Han nodded slightly, walked to Xu Yao, and whispered in her ear: "Did you guess it a long time ago?"
The warm breath sprayed on her ears, making her feel numb.
Xu Yao's eyes were red, and her voice was choked: "My daughter...she's alive!"
This sentence, like a bombshell, instantly detonated the whole audience.
"What?! Your daughter is still alive?!"
“This…how is this possible?!”
"Could it be that... Third Sister has been lying all along?!"
There was an uproar in the crowd, and everyone looked at Xu Yao and the third sister in shock, as if they were watching a wonderful drama.
At this moment, Sun Zhiqiang, who had been silent all this time, suddenly rushed towards Xu Yao like crazy, shouting, "You bitch! You ruined my life! I'm going to kill you!"
However, before his hand touched Xu Yao, he was stopped by a figure.
Xue Han pounced on Sun Zhiqiang like a cheetah and instantly knocked him to the ground. He used a standard veteran's grappling technique to lock his throat tightly.
Sun Zhiqiang struggled in pain, his face turned purple, but he could not break free from Xue Han's control.
"If you move again, I'll break your neck!" Xue Han's voice was icy cold and filled with murderous intent.
Sun Zhiqiang was so frightened that his whole body trembled. He immediately stopped struggling and let Xue Han do whatever he wanted like a lamb to be slaughtered.
The director of the subdistrict office was also stunned by the scene before him.
He calmed himself, cleared his throat, and announced loudly: "Silence! Silence! This is the street office, not the vegetable market!"
He turned around and said to the third sister, "Third sister, in view of your suspected crimes of fraud, forgery of evidence, malicious concealment of the truth, etc., the subdistrict office has decided to permanently cancel your minimum living allowance qualification and recover all the money you illegally obtained!"
This sentence completely broke the third sister down.
She collapsed to the ground like a puddle of mud, having lost all her strength.
Xu Yao tremblingly took the recovered IOU cash handed over by the director of the street office and held it tightly in her hand, as if she was holding her lost dignity and hope.
However, before she could take a closer look, she was grabbed by Xue Han.
"There is only one last step." Xue Han looked at her, his eyes full of determination and tenderness.
He took her to Xu's father's ward and placed the passbook solemnly on the old man's bedside.
Tears welled up in Mr. Xu's cloudy eyes. He stretched out his hand tremblingly, wanting to grab Xue Han's hand, but he didn't dare to.
"Hanzi...you...you are better than my own son..." Father Xu said with sobs, unable to continue.
Xue Han turned his face away, his Adam's apple rolling, and he tried hard to hold back the tears in his eyes.
He knew that the old man had a lot to say and a lot of guilt to express, but he couldn't say anything.
When the third sister was taken away by the police, there was no expression on her face, as if she had lost all consciousness.
When she passed by Xu Yao, she suddenly stopped and made a throat-cutting gesture to her.
Xu Yao shuddered all over and felt a chill running from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.
She noticed that a faded red rope was faintly visible on her third sister's wrist - exactly the same as the one Xu Qiuyue had always worn in her previous life.
The red rope was like a poisonous snake, spitting out its tongue in the darkness, ready to give her a fatal blow at any time.
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