Chapter 2
As night fell, New Year's Eve officially arrived. Every household was busy celebrating the reunion. Xia Weining wrapped her clothes tightly, sniffed, and continued to squat at the intersection.
The sound of the Spring Festival Gala playing on TV could be heard all around, along with the aroma of food and laughter. The festive atmosphere was strong and her stomach growled. Only then did she remember that she hadn't eaten for a day.
No matter how lively the scene was, it had nothing to do with her. Her eyes were fixed on the doorway. In contrast to the liveliness of other homes, the house was very quiet and there was no sound of laughter, which made the New Year's Eve lack a sense of ritual.
After the New Year’s Eve dinner, the children went out with fireworks and firecrackers, followed by groups of adults. Everyone gathered together in groups of three or five, and her ears were suddenly filled with laughter, but this excitement had nothing to do with her.
This is the most important moment, and she dare not relax at all.
After a while, the air was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder. Xia Weining felt uncomfortable in his nose. Coupled with hunger, he felt very tired and physically exhausted to the extreme.
Fortunately, Xia Li really did not go out. Seeing that it was past ten o'clock, she finally felt relieved and prepared to leave to find a place to stay.
She looked up at the moon in the sky, then lowered her head to interact with the shadow on the ground, and suddenly smiled. This New Year's Eve was indeed very special and unforgettable for her.
Not long after she left, a figure walked out of the darkness and followed her quietly.
Xia Weining was already very alert, and the sound of people walking on the snow was even louder. Although the person tried to control his movements, she still heard it.
She turned her head back and saw the man with his head down, chasing her quickly. She recognized who he was at a glance, someone she would never forget even if he turned into ashes.
There were not many people on the street now. She had no chance of winning against the strong middle-aged man. She was a little panicked, so she kept speeding up her pace and finally ran towards the light.
Seeing her running, the man started chasing her. As the distance between them got closer and closer, she was shaking all over and only wished her legs could run faster.
The more nervous she was, the easier it was to make mistakes. She tripped over something under her feet and fell to the ground. The demon behind her opened its bloody mouth at her.
Xia Weining couldn't help but recall her past experiences, and a feeling of nausea instantly filled her heart.
She slowly stood up with her hands on the ground, forcing herself to remain calm. She looked at the man who was chasing her and asked, "Why are you chasing me?"
"Who's chasing you? You're not the only one who can walk this path."
Xia Weining rolled her eyes at him, turned and left, keeping a glance behind her.
Sure enough, as soon as she left, the man followed her again.
She walked in the direction of the police station as she remembered, but unfortunately the person behind her did not give her the opportunity.
After taking a few steps, Xia Weining felt a dark shadow wrapping around her, hugging her tightly, with both hands reaching into her cotton-padded jacket and touching her breasts through her sweater.
The strong arms and the strong stench made her feel nauseous.
The past happened again. She thought that everything would be fine if she helped Xia Li avoid it all, but she didn't expect to experience it all again herself.
"Let me go, let me go."
She struggled continuously, trying to pry his hands apart, but the man behind her showed no sign of letting go, so she had no choice but to hit back with her arms while shouting for help.
The man was afraid of making a big fuss, so he let go, looked at her and left.
Xia Weining stood there in a daze, memories of the past flooding into her mind along with the dirty hands.
On New Year's Eve when she was 13 years old, she went to play at her neighbor's house. On her way home, she was molested by that man not far from her home. She will never forget that moment.
When she was 13, a man touched her breasts through her sweater. Behind him was his 6-year-old daughter. Xia Weining still remembers what she said at the time, "Go back, go back quickly, Mengting is still watching."
She begged desperately at the time, and I don’t know if a 5-year-old girl could understand what was happening. For a 13-year-old girl, it was like the end of the world.
When she got home, her grandmother was sitting on the bed watching TV, and she cried for a long time alone in the bathroom. She didn't dare tell her family, thinking that this was a very shameful thing. The 13-year-old girl's way of dealing with this matter was to keep a distance from his family, and from then on she would hide when she saw that person.
She buried this incident deep in her heart and it became a secret that she could hardly speak of. However, from that moment on, she felt that she was "dirty". This wrong concept followed her like a shadow for more than ten years. She never told anyone about this, even though it was an incident that changed her life.
I thought time could dilute the memory, but in the end I found that the longer the time passed, the more deeply she remembered it. She had a particularly good memory for this incident, so good that she remembered everything clearly at that time and could not forget it even if she wanted to.
In the dead of night, these memories would come out to remind her, to torture her, like gravel, grinding her brain until it hurt, gnawing at her bit by bit, tearing her apart, even swallowing her up.
In the past, she was young and helpless and had to bear all the pain alone, but now she can face everything calmly. Her mind is mature enough and she will no longer let it go and be indifferent like before. She has the courage to resist and the ability to fight back, and she will not repeat the humiliation of the past.
At this point, my heart is calm and my steps are firm.
She wiped away her tears, turned around resolutely and walked towards the police station.
On New Year's Eve, many police officers were out on patrol, and there were only a few on duty in the police station. Xia Weining walked directly to the guard and said, "Hello, I want to call the police."
Someone led her to the reception room and poured her some water. She didn't hesitate and drank it directly. This was the only source of heat she received today.
The police officer stood by and watched in amazement, then quickly poured her another glass.
"Thank you." Xia Weining pursed her lips awkwardly, finding it difficult to speak. However, her stomach was rumbling, and compared to that, face was not that important. She whispered, "I haven't eaten all day. Could you please give me something to eat?"
"Okay, wait a moment."
As soon as he left, a young and handsome police officer came in with a notebook. He glanced at her and nodded, "Did you call the police?"
"Yes."
As soon as she finished speaking, the police officer brought her food and placed the food in front of her after getting her permission.
"Thank you." Xia Weining grabbed the bread and ate it. She didn't care about anything else.
"Okay, let's get back to business." The officer opposite said, "Are you the person reporting the case? What's your name?"
"My name is Xia Weining."
"Home address."
She just arrived at where the address was and shook her head, "No."
"No?" Sheng Huaizhou was a little surprised. "Then where do you live?"
"I just arrived here today and don't have an address yet." She added, "I don't even have a cell phone number."
"ID number."
Xia Weining bit her lip, feeling very embarrassed. The name on her ID card was Xia Li, but now she said her name was Xia Weining, which didn't make sense.
Sheng Huaizhou guessed most of it from her look, "You don't have an ID card, do you?"
"Yeah." She nodded heavily, as if to lend credibility to her actions, and then said timidly, "It's lost."
"You should remember your ID number, right?"
"I don't remember."
…
Sheng Huaizhou almost wanted to laugh. He actually met a reporter who knew nothing about anything on New Year's Eve. He put down his pen and looked at her in surprise, as if he wanted to stare her face to pieces. Xia Weining didn't care about his suspicion at all and accepted his gaze with confidence. Even if she was nervous, she couldn't show it and had to pretend to be real.
Sheng Huaizhou was about to continue asking questions when someone came in from outside.
"Huaizhou, the boss wants to see you, leave this to me."
After a brief exchange between the two, Sheng Huaizhou walked out.
The new officer glanced at the transcript and looked up in surprise. "Is your information correct?"
Xia Weining swallowed nervously, thinking it was better to tell the truth. He touched his ID card and handed it over respectfully, "This is my ID card."
"Didn't you just say you lost it?"
"I was so nervous I forgot. I'm sorry."
He checked her ID card and compared it with her face. After confirming that it was correct, he compared it with the transcript and found another problem. "Is your name Xia Li or Xia Weining?"
"Xia Li, Xia Weining is the name I want to change to. I haven't had time to change my ID card yet."
"Okay." Zheng Rui stopped dwelling on this and returned to the main topic. "Why did you call the police?"
"Someone molested me."
"What time?"
"Twenty minutes ago."
He stopped writing and asked, "Where is it?"
"East Suburb Intersection." Before he could ask, Xia Weining said directly: "He followed me, suddenly hugged me, and touched me all over."
"Did you see the man's appearance clearly?"
"I saw it clearly, and I know his name." Xia Weining stared at him and said a name firmly: "His name is Wei Zhan, and his home is in the eastern suburbs."
"Okay, we'll send someone to call him now. You wait here."
Zheng Rui walked outside and ran into Sheng Huaizhou getting dressed and asked, "Where are you going?"
"It's almost midnight, and there's a shortage of people on the street. I'll go over and help."
"I'm also short of people for this case." He originally wanted Sheng Huaizhou to go with him to call for help.
"Ask Chu Yu to go with you. She's a lesbian, and the person who reported the case is also a woman, so it will be easier to handle."
"You're right, why didn't I think of it." Zheng Rui patted his head, went into the house to call people, and the two drove to Wei Zhan's house.
Wei Zhan's family had just gone to bed when they heard the sound of knocking on the door. He cursed a few words, got up, put on his clothes and went to open the door.
"Who is it? Who is it? What are you doing during the New Year?" When he saw who was coming, he was stunned. His voice was no longer calm. He smiled and said, "Officer, officer, who are you looking for?"
"Someone has reported a crime that involves you. Please come with us."
Hearing the police's words, he probably knew what was going on. He felt very uneasy and panicked, tripping over the doorstep. He smiled awkwardly at his wife who had chased after him and said, "Take good care of the kids at home. I'll be back soon."
"What's wrong with you? Why are the police looking for you?"
He immediately shouted with a cold face: "Why are you howling? Do you have to let the neighbors hear it?"
His wife immediately covered her mouth and cried while holding onto the door frame.
Wei Zhan's eyes were filled with coldness. He didn't expect that the woman would dare to call the police. If he had known this, he should not have let her go so easily.
Xia Weining had just finished her meal when she heard noises coming from outside. Wei Zhan's noisy voice was incessant. The corners of her mouth turned up in disdain, her eyes full of hatred. She pushed the door open and walked out directly, standing face to face with Wei Zhan. Both of them wanted to kill each other.
Both of them were invited to the mediation room. Zheng Rui looked at Wei Zhan and asked, "Do you know why you were called here?"
"Comrade police officer, I am an honest man. Did you make a mistake?"
Xia Weining sneered after hearing this. He was an honest man.
"What are you laughing at?" Wei Zhan, the villain, complained first. "Comrade police officer, I don't even know her."
"Think carefully, what were you doing half an hour ago?" Chu Yu added.
"I stayed at home the whole time. After eating the New Year's Eve dinner, I watched the Spring Festival Gala at home. I didn't go out at all."
Zheng Rui stared at his shoes and said, "You don't look like you haven't been out yet."
He retracted his foot in frustration, "We just went to the fields. This is customary."
Zheng Rui didn't want to beat around the bush with him anymore, so he said directly, "Someone has accused you of molestation."
"Bullshit, what is obscenity?" He slammed the table and roared, "You can't wrongly accuse me."
"Don't get excited, sit down!" Zheng Rui shouted.
Xia Weining had heard enough and stared at Wei Zhan with burning eyes. She didn't want to waste time with him anymore, so she decided to confront him directly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
