Chapter 503: Persuasion

"The case involving Niu Dashun?" the officer on duty asked, looking at the girl in front of him whose face was hidden by a scarf. "That’s been closed. The individuals involved have been sent to a labor farm."

"No, that’s not it. I want to verify the information Su Qing left behind." The visitor was Su Mei. She hurriedly explained to the officer, "I’m Su Qing’s cousin. My face is injured, and I didn’t want to frighten anyone, so I wrapped it in a scarf."

Saying this, Su Mei pulled her scarf down just a little to reveal a bit of the scar on her face before quickly covering it again.

The officer understood at once. He quickly said, "What information do you need to verify? The case is closed. There’s no need to verify anything else."

"That’s not it," Su Mei said hurriedly. "My cousin is in Beijing now. When she filed the report and gave her statement, she left an address in Beijing. She was worried she might have written it down incorrectly and that you wouldn’t be able to reach her if you needed to, so she asked me to come and double-check it."

"Is that so?" The officer frowned. Technically, a complainant’s statement was a confidential file and shouldn’t be shown to just anyone. It was part of the bureau’s archives. However, if the address on record truly was wrong, it would indeed be a problem if they ever needed to contact her.

This officer wasn’t familiar with Su Qing’s family situation, so he simply assumed Su Mei was there on Su Qing’s behalf. He thought for a moment before saying, "Wait here. I’ll get the file for you, but you can only look at the address. The rest of the statement is off-limits."

"Yes, that’s fine." Su Mei nodded eagerly. "I’m just here to verify the address. Thank you so much."

"Don’t mention it."

The officer retrieved Su Qing’s file and covered everything but the address at the bottom with a sheet of paper. He then said to Su Mei, "Go ahead and check. This is the one, right?"

Suppressing her excitement, Su Mei quickly read the address several times, committing it to memory. Then she smiled and said, "Yes, that’s correct. That’s my cousin’s address. Thank you so much."

Secretly delighted to have gotten Su Qing’s address, and fearing the officer might notice something was off, Su Mei quickly thanked him again and rushed out of the station.

After Su Mei left, another officer came over. Seeing her walk away, he asked, "Was she here to file a report?"

"No," the first officer replied. "That was the cousin of Su Qing, the woman who reported the Niu Dashun case. She came to verify Su Qing’s address."

The other officer frowned. "Why would she need to check the address all of a sudden? Isn’t the case closed?"

"She said she was worried the address was wrong and that we wouldn’t be able to find Su Qing in the future."

"Oh."

The two exchanged a few more words but didn’t give the matter any more thought.

As for Su Mei, having gotten Su Qing’s Beijing address, she hurried back to the Old Su Family’s home. Once she was back, she pulled Zheng Erlian into her room.

"What’s going on? Why so secretive?" Zheng Erlian’s heart ached for Su Mei because of her injured face, and she treated her daughter even more kindly than before. "Did you want to buy something but didn’t have enough money?"

Su Mei had gone to Xiyuan County today under the pretext of doing some shopping. Feeling sorry for her daughter, Zheng Erlian had given her some money, hoping a walk around town would lift her spirits. Su Mei had been reluctant to leave the house ever since her face was injured, so Zheng Erlian was thrilled that she was finally going out on her own initiative.

However, the family had very little savings left, so Zheng Erlian hadn’t been able to give Su Mei much. Seeing her daughter’s secretive behavior, she assumed she’d found something she wanted to buy but couldn’t afford.

"That’s not it." Su Mei shook her head. She looked at Zheng Erlian and said, "Mom, I want to go to Beijing."

"What!" Zheng Erlian was stunned. "Honey, why on earth do you want to run off to Beijing all of a sudden? We don’t know a soul there. How could I possibly rest easy knowing you’re there all alone?"

"I want to go find Second Aunt," Su Mei said, explaining her plan to Zheng Erlian. "Mom, look at my face! I can’t even show it in public. How am I supposed to get married in the future? I’m going to find Second Aunt. She used to be nice to me. Maybe she can convince Su Qing to get the powder from that Mr. Gong to treat my scar."

Zheng Erlian frowned. Before Su Shengjun died, her relationship with Li Wan had been decent enough. Back then, Li Wan was always quite nice to their children, giving them gifts and lucky money during the holidays. But after Su Shengjun’s death, Li Wan had raised a huge fuss and officially split her household from the rest of the Su Family. Since their branch of the family had taken Su Shengjun’s job, Li Wan hadn’t been nearly as amicable toward them. And now, Li Wan had reconnected with her own parents in the city. ’Would she even spare a glance for us now?’

Moreover, Zheng Erlian was well aware of the kind of life Su Qing had endured at the Old Su Family’s home over the years. Li Wan couldn’t possibly be ignorant of it. And knowing that, she must absolutely hate their guts.

’Wait a minute!’

Zheng Erlian’s breath caught in her throat. Her husband had lost his job right after Li Wan reconnected with her parents in the city. ’Doesn’t that mean...’

"No, you can’t go to Beijing," Zheng Erlian said, shaking her head. "Honey, listen to your mother. Your Second Aunt isn’t the person she used to be. She won’t lift a finger for anyone from the Old Su Family now. It’ll be useless even if you go. She absolutely will not help you."

"But what if she will?" Su Mei refused to give up. ’If I can’t get Mr. Gong’s powder, am I supposed to live with this scarred face for the rest of my life?’ The thought of such a future sent a chill through her heart.

"There are no ’what ifs’," Zheng Erlian said firmly. "Su Qing is her own daughter. Think about how Su Qing was treated at the Old Su Family’s home. Do you really think your aunt doesn’t hold a grudge over that? For all we know, your father lost his job because of her new family."

Although she didn’t know who Li Wan’s parents in Beijing were, now that she’d connected the dots, Zheng Erlian was sure they were behind it. ’City folk, especially people from Beijing, were always more powerful and connected than country people like them.’

"So you just want to watch me live the rest of my life with this scarred face?" Su Mei retorted angrily.

"Honey, we’ll figure something else out. If that Mr. Gong can cure it, maybe someone else can, too. We’ll find another way," Zheng Erlian coaxed gently.

Angrily, Su Mei turned her head away, refusing to look at her mother.

"Oh, you child." Zheng Erlian sighed. "You need to think about this. We have no money. A trip to Beijing would cost a fortune, and you know your grandma will never agree."

Right now, Old Su still controlled all the family’s finances. Zheng Erlian had some of her own savings, but it wasn’t much.

When Su Mei didn’t respond, Zheng Erlian assumed she had seen reason and got up to go to the kitchen.