In the interrogation room of the police station, the light was so pale and dazzling that it made Lin Yaqin's face look bloodless.
At first, she tried to use her usual tricks, tears streaming down her face before she could even speak, her voice choked with sobs and almost breaking:
"Comrade police officer, you have to make the decision for me! I'm just a mother who misses her child so much that it hurts...
The Li family is such a ruthless bunch that they hold my child hostage and won't let me see him. What else can I do?
I can only wait for my children on their way to and from school, hoping to catch a glimpse of the flesh falling off my body from afar..."
The more she spoke, the more excited she became, as if she had suffered a great injustice: "I went to the company to look for Li Mingyuan, but it wasn't intentional to cause trouble!
I just wanted to beg him, for the sake of our past relationship, to at least give the child something to remember...Isn't everything I've done for this family?"
She cleared herself of all blame and then put all the blame on the Li family.
"It's all Li Mingyuan and his mean mother's fault! If they hadn't pushed me to death, I wouldn't have done these things!"
However, the police officer on the opposite side was obviously well prepared and remained indifferent to her crying.
An older police officer calmly interrupted her: "Lin Yaqin, put away your tricks. This is not the place for you to sing a sad story."
Another younger police officer directly opened the transcript and bluntly exposed her: "You said you just wanted to see the child?
Then on the 15th of last month at the gate of the Government Primary School, were you holding on to a little girl and refusing to let go, scaring the child so much that she cried loudly, and a bunch of people saw it?
And last week, were you trying to snatch the child? I have the police record here!
The school security and several parents can testify to your actions!"
"And last Wednesday, didn't you barge into the Planning Department office in the government building, banging on the table and cursing, disrupting their work? Lots of people saw it! The Security Department's records are all there!"
"Besides, you're living in a small hotel right now. First, you don't have a temporary residence permit, and second, you don't have a proper job or any source of income. You're a typical 'three-nothing' person. Do you agree with these circumstances?"
Every point was set in stone, leaving Lin Yaqin speechless.
Her expression kept changing, and she tried to be stubborn: "That's not the case! They teamed up to trick me! I just wanted to see the child and have a word with Li Mingyuan..."
"Enough!" The old police officer slammed the table so hard that the teacup jumped. "Lin Yaqin! The facts are right in front of us! Your excuses of 'for the children' and 'for the family' have long become excuses for harassing others and disrupting public order! You are breaking the law!"
The police showed them one by one, and they had recently received many records of complaints from the public about her disturbing public order!
Faced with the ironclad evidence and the majesty of the police, Lin Yaqin's stubbornness was finally exhausted!
She opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a word. Finally, she collapsed on the chair like a pile of mud, and became limp.
The old policeman watched the scene expressionlessly, exchanged glances with several other colleagues, and muttered a few words in a low voice.
Then he turned around, with a serious face, and said to Lin Yaqin sternly:
"Lin Yaqin, according to the 'Measures for the Sheltering and Repatriation of Urban Vagrants and Beggars,' you have no legal documents, no fixed residence, no legitimate source of income, and you have repeatedly caused trouble and disrupted public order.
After verification, you are a 'three-no' migrant worker. We have decided to take you in and deport you according to the law."
These words were like a large basin of ice water, pouring over Lin Yaqin from head to toe. She was stunned for two seconds, and then, like a lit firecracker, she suddenly exploded:
"What? Send me away? Why? What law have I broken? Tell me! I just want to find my child!"
My child is in Ji City! You still want to send me away? You just want to bully me because I am alone and helpless! I know it, it must be Li Mingyuan and Li Guifang who bribed you, you are in cahoots! I refuse to accept it!
She jumped up from her chair, her finger almost poking the police officer's nose, spit flying everywhere:
"You're so proud of yourself for wearing this leather? Are you bullying a woman like me?
If you have the guts, go catch thieves and swindlers! Staring at a poor person like me and showing off in front of me, what's the point of being so arrogant?
I tell you, I'm not leaving today! See what you can do to me!"
She howled and threw herself to the ground, kicking her legs wildly. None of the circus performers in the village could act as violently as she did!
"Someone come! The police are beating people! This is unjust! They are going to drag me away--!"
The police officer nearby had obviously seen this scene many times and was not panicked at all.
Several people came forward, each holding her arms, and lifted her up from the ground. Lin Yaqin's body twisted into a knot, and she was still cursing obscenely:
"Let go! You're meddling in other people's business! You just think I'm easy to bully! I curse you to step on dog shit after get off work and give birth to a son without an anus! I'm going to sue you! I'll sue you all the way to Beijing!"
But her strength was no match for the well-trained police officers.
All the crying and cursing were like fists hitting cotton. No one responded or paid any attention.
She was like a clown, half-dragged and half-carried, and all the procedures were completed. Then she was transferred to a station specifically responsible for shelter and deportation.
On an ordinary afternoon, Lin Yaqin went to the police station and then to the shelter without any warning!
After being held under pressure and "educated" in the shelter for several days, one gray morning, the staff with stern faces dragged Lin Yaqin out and pushed her all the way to the train station.
She was completely numb, her eyes fixed, her steps unsteady, but she was still mumbling mechanically: "I won't leave... I'm not guilty... Give my child back to me..."
Arriving at the door of the green train bound for Sichuan City, Lin Yaqin suddenly came alive again. She desperately clung to the door frame, her nails scratched white, and she screamed at the top of her lungs:
"I won't get in the car! You bastards! You're trying to kill me! My child is still in Ji City! I can't leave! Let me go! Even if I become a ghost, I won't let you go—!"
The platform was filled with the noise of people and the blast of train whistles, and her voice was quickly drowned out.
The staff member didn't even frown as he twisted her arm roughly and shoved her into the carriage.
The car door was bolted shut with a clang, shutting out Lin Yaqin's screams and curses, and completely severing her last connection with Ji City.
This street farce that lasted for many days finally came to an end in chaos and disgrace.
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