"Weren't you protecting them like they were the apples of your eye just a moment ago? How come you're so willing to let them come by themselves now?"
As soon as Chris said this, Jiang Si understood.
So it was actually these kids who tried the scam this morning!
That meant Su Shanshan was also nearby.
She had wondered why these kids chose this exact moment to show up, neither earlier nor later. So someone had sent them.
What a well-calculated scheme.
Jiang Si understood now, but Mother Huo and the others were still in the dark.
Mother Huo asked, puzzled, "Did you just say you ran into them this morning?"
Upon hearing this, Chris recounted the events of the morning, concluding with,
"They were the ones who ran too fast and fell, but that woman insisted we knocked them over, even said the child's leg was broken and demanded compensation!"
At the time, she and Chi Heng were in a hurry, and with the kids clutching their legs and crying out in pain,
they had no choice but to give the woman fifty yuan.
Now, seeing these kids standing here perfectly fine, Chris realized everything.
How despicable!
She instinctively thought these kids were trying to scam again and quickly leaned in to whisper to Jiang Si,
"Whatever you do, don't give them any money. With these kids here, that woman is definitely nearby."
Even without Chris's warning, Jiang Si could have guessed as much. So, deliberately raising her voice in front of the children, she said,
"Weren't you just talking about reporting to the Public Security Bureau? Perfect timing, with these kids here, we can ask them when the officers arrive."
Hearing Jiang Si mention the Public Security Bureau,
the children's faces instantly turned pale.
Just a few days ago, they had been taken to the police station by officers.
Nothing serious came of it, but an officer with a stern face had lectured them for over two hours.
The eldest could barely keep his composure, but the two younger ones couldn't manage.
Especially the third child, who almost instinctively glanced toward an alley near the old house.
Seeing this, the Huo uncles immediately put down what they were holding and sprinted toward that alley.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Su Shanshan had been keeping an eye on the situation, but being quite far away, she couldn't hear clearly what was being said.
However, judging by the children's performance, it seemed to be going well.
Just as she thought the plan might succeed, Chris and Chi Heng appeared.
Seeing them, Su Shanshan's heart sank.
Right then, Chris started whispering to Jiang Si.
To think these two actually knew each other!
This made things even worse.
Sensing something was wrong, Su Shanshan didn't dare linger any longer and immediately turned to leave.
Unexpectedly, after walking just a few dozen meters, she was blocked by several people in Public Security uniforms.
Accompanying them were a few unfamiliar older women.
One of the women pointed at Su Shanshan as soon as she saw her, saying, "Officers, it's her! She's been lurking around here suspiciously for quite a while!"
Su Shanshan was stunned. "Me? Lurking suspiciously?"
"That's right, we all saw it!" the women affirmed, nodding.
"Alright, that's enough from all of you."
An officer stepped forward, his expression serious. "Comrade, what have you been doing lurking around here for so long?"
What did he mean?
Were they treating her like a criminal?
Su Shanshan flushed with anger. "Officer, I'm not a bad person! Look, here's my work ID. I'm a worker at the Beijing Suburbs Chemical Plant!"
The officer took the work ID and examined it carefully.
The ID was genuine, and the photo on it was indeed of her.
However, the photo seemed to have been glued on afterward, and a small part of the official seal was missing.
A woman nearby immediately chimed in, "Today isn't the weekend. Why aren't you at your unit working? What are you doing here?"
"Exactly," another woman added. "That photo is clearly stuck on later, and it doesn't align with the original seal. Who knows if you found this work ID somewhere or even stole it!"
Su Shanshan was now in a position where she couldn't explain herself.
She had bought her job, so of course the photo on the work ID was glued on afterward!
But she couldn't say that in front of the officers.
If these meddlesome women found out, they might even go to the Labor Bureau to report her for trading recruitment quotas or taking over someone else's job.
So, she had no choice but to tell part of the truth. "I used to live in this neighborhood..."
"Officer, she's lying!" a woman immediately retorted. "Everyone living in this neighborhood has been here for decades as old neighbors. I've never seen you before!"
"I..."
The officers were already suspicious, and seeing her flustered and stammering,
one immediately took out handcuffs. "Comrade, you'll have to come with us."
Su Shanshan panicked. "I didn't live here, I lived across the street."
Hearing this, not only did the women laugh,
but the officers' expressions also became quite complicated.
What kind of place was across the street? The old gentlemen living there were at least at the rank of army commander.
"I'm telling the truth!" Su Shanshan insisted. "But I divorced my husband, and I've moved away now. I just came back to visit my former mother-in-law."
Upon hearing this, the two officers exchanged a glance.
One of them looked at the name on the work ID again and suddenly remembered something.
There was indeed a scandal in the compound the year before last, related to Commissioner Huo's family, if he recalled correctly.
It caused quite a stir at the time. He heard the ex-daughter-in-law of that family was surnamed Su.
Well, not exactly an ex-daughter-in-law, because her husband wasn't actually the Huo family's son.
It was at this moment that the Huo uncles arrived.
The explanation wasn't difficult.
And so, accompanied by the officers, Su Shanshan reluctantly followed the group back.
Seeing Mother Huo, Su Shanshan didn't dare lift her head, weakly calling out,
"Mom—"
"Don't call me that! I am not your mother!"
Mother Huo interrupted with a cold snort. "Officers, you've come at the right time. These individuals are here causing trouble, harassing military family members. Please take them away."
"Mom, please don't be like this!" Su Shanshan pleaded. "We were mother and daughter-in-law for seven or eight years after all. All those years I married into the Huo family, I served the whole family diligently. You can't treat me like this."
"Hah, do you even believe that yourself?"
This topic only made Mother Huo laugh in anger.
"What did you ever do for me? Did you ever cook me a single meal or buy me a single piece of clothing? Tell me!"
"Nothing, not once!"
Mother Huo stared straight at her. "You never lifted a finger for any housework. Even these children were raised through all the dirty work by others. How dare you claim you served me diligently?"
"Mom, I was wrong, I truly was wrong!"
Su Shanshan fell to her knees with a thud, tears instantly welling up. "But these children are innocent. They did call you Grandma for several years."
"Could you please, for the sake of our past relationship, take them in..."
Past relationship?
Hearing this, Jiang Si couldn't help but find it utterly ridiculous. How could she even dare to think of such a thing.
The Huo family only had four children in total, yet the Yang father and son had managed to ruin two of them. They actually had the nerve to suggest sending those little ingrates back to be raised here. Jiang Si was just about to speak when two figures appeared in her line of sight.
