Chapter 498: Chapter 497: 471: Absolute Quality

Xiao Qian dragged Jia Xiufang towards the door, and as Xiufang looked back curiously, the middle-aged woman knelt on the floor, refusing to get up, and cried out loudly.

“My brother has a mental illness, inherited from my father. He was having a mental breakdown when he hurt someone. Please, you must help us! My eldest brother Liu Changfu cannot be found guilty. I have a family to support, and we all depend on him to earn money. Oh, my Lord!”

The last few words were exaggerated and elongated, shouted like she was singing opera.

Jia Xiufang had never seen anything like this before. Xiao Qian had already dragged her to the door, but she couldn’t help but look back, her curiosity’s getting the better of her.

“Comrade, please control your emotions. We are still investigating Comrade Liu Changfu’s case, and the appraisal result has not been released yet. Can we discuss this at your workplace tomorrow?”

Liao Fugui’s advice obviously had no effect.

The middle-aged woman saw that it wasn’t working and glanced around, her eyes settling on Xiao Qian and Jia Xiufang before suddenly crawling over and grabbing onto Jia Xiufang’s leg.

“Lord in heaven! Please speak up for us. My eldest brother has to support our family. What will we do if he is imprisoned? Please, you have to help us!”

“Uh, well, I—” Jia Xiufang hadn’t even spoken when Xiao Qian covered her mouth. She shouldn’t be saying anything carelessly, as it might cause trouble.

Xiao Qian pulled Jia Xiufang along as the middle-aged woman saw that she hadn’t gained any sympathy and shifted her focus to Xiao Qian.

She continued to hold onto Jia Xiufang’s leg, not letting go, but turned her pleading face towards Xiao Qian.

“Wife of the fair and just Lord, please speak up for us!”

“I’m not his wife,” Xiao Qian calmly said. This woman seemed to be sick and was seeking medical treatment, mistaking Jia Xiufang for Liao Fugui’s mother and herself for Liao Fugui’s… Ugh, it was horrifying. Xiao Qian couldn’t imagine what kind of woman could endure Comrade Fugui and his serious, full-of-quotes character.

“These two are not my family members. Comrade, please go back. We will make a reasonable appraisal based on the results of Comrade Liu Changfu’s case,” Liao Fugui said.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Liu Changfu’s case had already been examined by Liao Fugui and his colleagues. He did not have a mental illness. Although his relatives did indeed have mental illnesses, at the time he injured the person he was arguing with, he definitely had independent decision-making capabilities.

Upon hearing the word “reasonable appraisal,” the middle-aged woman realized that she couldn’t stall any longer. She suddenly stood up, took a knife out of her pocket, and pointed it at Jia Xiufang’s neck, shrieking.

“Are you trying to force us poor commoners into a dead end? Is that it? My family only has my brother as a source of income. If he is sentenced, who will take care of my paralyzed mother!”

Jia Xiufang never thought that as a bystander, she would be involved in this matter. She felt a chill on her neck from the knife and the garlic-scented breath of the woman on her face, which made her legs tremble.

Xiao Qian’s face instantly darkened when she saw her mother in danger. Her body lunged forward, ready to grab the woman’s knife, but the woman threatened her with a trembling voice.

“Don’t come any closer! If anyone comes closer, I’ll kill her!”

“Comrade, please calm down. We can talk things through!” Liao Fugui said nervously, not expecting the woman’s emotions to be so intense.

“There’s nothing to talk about! Unless you promise to write a proof right now that my brother has a mental illness, so the judge won’t sentence him!”

At this point, Xiao Qian thought that if Liao Fugui just went along with the woman’s request and had her release her mother, the proof would be useless anyway. The appraisal process was complicated, and without the signatures of several people, it would be invalid. It would suffice to deceive her with a random document.

“Even if I write it for you now, it won’t work. Let go of her. Your actions are meaningless!”

Liao Fugui’s words made Xiao Qian curse inwardly. For f*ck’s sake! This is what a real bookworm is like, not knowing how to be tactful.

“He can write it for you. You just need to calm down. We will help you with any difficulties, as long as you release my mother,” Xiao Qian interrupted Liao Fugui’s nonsensical speech.

“But he said it won’t work!” The middle-aged woman’s emotions were clearly on the brink of collapse.

Having run around and pleaded with countless people for days, only to face disappointment each time, her emotions had completely collapsed. This extreme behavior was a reaction to being unable to bear the tremendous pressure.

“He may not have the final say, but as a psychologist, I do. My word is more powerful.”

“Really?”

“Yes, if you don’t believe me, I’ll have him write it for you right now.” Xiao Qian glared at Liao Fugui. Seeing him still standing there foolishly, she grabbed a slipper from the shoe rack and threw it at him. “Hurry up and get a pen, what are you looking at!”

Liao Fugui was stunned by Xiao Qian’s sudden transformation into a domineering queen. He took off the slipper that had been scraped by Glasses and hurriedly went to find paper and a pen.

“Can you let my mother go now?”

“No… not until he’s finished writing and has left his handprint. Then I’ll let her go!” Although she didn’t know exactly how the documentation was written, the middle-aged woman guessed that having a handprint would make it effective.

“You’re very tired from standing, aren’t you? Why don’t we sit on the sofa? I can see the dark circles under your eyes. You must be exhausted, right? For your brother’s sake, you’ve been really worried. If you’re not sure, you can continue to hold this fat old lady hostage. Is that okay?”

Xiao Qian tried to stabilize the woman’s emotions. Jia Xiufang was initially frightened, her body trembling, but when she heard Xiao Qian call her a “fat old lady,” she suddenly didn’t feel so scared anymore.

Jia Xiufang looked at Xiao Qian, hoping her daughter could leave this dangerous place. Instead, she saw Xiao Qian give her a reassuring look, and for some reason, when Jia Xiufang saw her daughter’s confident gaze, her fear lessened.

Liao Fugui brought the paper and pen. He quickly crouched down in front of the coffee table to write, although he wasn’t sure what he was writing. All of his attention was on Jia Xiufang, who had been taken hostage. He was afraid that the kind-hearted neighbor would suffer because of him.

Xiao Qian stood not far from the middle-aged woman and spoke in a very soft voice.

“You’ve been working so hard for your brother’s sake. It’s rare to see someone like you, a younger sister who cares so much about her elder brother. Your brother isn’t young either, so why didn’t your sister-in-law come forward when he got into trouble?”

“Don’t even mention that woman. She looked down on our family’s poverty and left my brother for some bastard. It was because of her that my brother was so upset. He was drunk that day, and that person laughed at him for being a soft-shelled turtle, that’s why he lost control and did something foolish. My father was mentally ill, my family depended on my brother after he died, and now he’s in this situation as well. What am I supposed to do?”

Xiao Qian guided the woman in venting her frustration while focusing on the knife held to her mother’s neck. Her voice remained gentle, disarming the woman. She would use her professional skills to defuse her mother’s crisis.