In the police station.
Lin Chuyi had already said hundreds of times that she hadn't committed a hit and run, but the police simply didn't believe her.
She said, dry-mouthed and tongue-tied, "Fine, you say I hit someone, then you must have evidence, right? Where is the surveillance footage? Where are the eyewitnesses?"
"Of course we have surveillance footage, and we have an eyewitness as well. Otherwise, would we have arrested you? Old Du, call the eyewitness over, and let's see how she'll deny it now!"
A figure walked over.
But the moment Lin Chuyi saw the eyewitness, she was stunned, "Mom, why is it you?"
"Ah, Xiaoyi, just stop pretending you're innocent. It was you who killed that person, and I was in the car with you at the time. Just come clean now, I've already told the truth to the officer. No matter how much you quibble, it's useless."
Lin Chuyi felt a chill run through her, "Lin Yueqin, what nonsense are you spouting! When were you ever in my car?"
Lin Yueqin sighed, "Xiaoyi, I know you don't want to admit it, but someone has died because of you. If you have any conscience at all, you shouldn't keep denying it. Just confess, maybe they'll give you a lighter sentence then."
"What should I confess? I didn't hit anyone at all!"
"You did hit someone!"
Lin Yueqin said decisively, "It was you who hit them! Last night, after you hit the person, you were too scared, so you drove away! I've been in your car the whole time, I know everything!"
"I was on duty at the hospital last night, I didn't go anywhere! Where did you get in my car?"
Lin Yueqin shook her head and said to the police, "Officer, although she's my daughter, if she won't admit to her own crime, there's nothing I can do. Don't hold back, interrogate her thoroughly, she'll break and confess."
"I'm really sorry to trouble you, it's all because my daughter wasn't careful when driving. Don't worry, I won't cover for her!"
Lin Chuyi had been stabbed in the back by Lin Yueqin not once or twice – arguing with Lin Yueqin was pointless.
She quickly calmed down, "I want to see the surveillance footage!"
The police showed her the surveillance, "Is this your car? Isn't that your mom in the passenger seat? Aren't you driving? Even at this point, you still want to deny it? Your mom has admitted it, yet you're still stubbornly arguing!"
Lin Chuyi looked at the surveillance footage. A car zoomed by and knocked down a pedestrian at the intersection. After hitting the person, the car didn't stop; it drove over the victim's body.
It was her car, a second-hand Volkswagen; she could not possibly mistake it.
And sitting next to her was indeed her mother, Lin Yueqin.
However, the person in the driver's seat was wearing a mask, with a similar hairstyle and build to hers, but it wasn't her.
"That's not me."
As she spoke, Lin Chuyi felt in her pocket and, sure enough, her car keys were gone.
She turned her head to Lin Yueqin, "Did you steal my car keys? When did you take them?"
"I didn't steal your car keys. What are you babbling about!"
"It was Wen Nianyou, wasn't it?"
Lin Yueqin looked confused, "What are you talking about? What does this have to do with Nianyou?"
Lin Chuyi stood up, her voice cold, "It was Wen Nianyou who was driving and hit the person. You're trying to make me take the fall for her again! How many times have I taken the fall for her since we were kids? Do you think I can't recognize her just because she was wearing a mask? It was clearly her driving the car!"
"Are you my mother or hers? Why is it that every time she does something wrong, you make me bear all the consequences? Now, you even want to frame me for her committing murder. Have you gone mad?"
"The past is the past, but this time the car accident killed someone, the crime is serious, and I absolutely cannot take the fall for her. Tell her to come and turn herself in!"
Lin Yueqin's expression changed instantly, "What are you yelling for? How dare you yell at me? I'm your mother, of course I'm on your side! But you're the one who killed the person, the evidence is conclusive. No matter how much I want to help you, it's pointless. Blaming Nianyou is even more useless! You deserve to go to jail!"
Seeing her behave even more self-righteous than herself, Lin Chuyi's eyes revealed disbelief, "Are you insisting that I killed someone because you want me to go to jail for Wen Nianyou?"
Lin Yueqin didn't bother with her anymore. She turned to the police with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, officer. I haven't raised my daughter well. I leave her in your hands; deal with her as you must."
"Uh, can I leave now? The victim's family is very upset, I need to go and comfort them, what do you think…"
The officer nodded, "There's nothing more for you here; you can go. If you can calm down the victim's family, your daughter's sentence will be much lighter."
"Yes, yes, I'll make sure to comfort the family well, hoping to reduce my daughter's guilt. Truth is, I really care for her, it's just that she's young and does not know better."
After Lin Yueqin left, Lin Chuyi was locked up.
She didn't believe that Lin Yueqin would really go to comfort the victim's family. She wanted to get her phone back to call for help but was denied.
She was thus locked up from the morning through to the afternoon, and from the afternoon to the night.
Of the others who were locked up with her, some had their parents bail them out, and some had friends come to testify on their behalf; they were all released quickly. But she was left alone, forsaken till it got dark.
At ten o'clock in the evening.
The duty officer finally opened the iron door she was behind, "Lin Chuyi, come out. Your family has come to bail you out."
Lin Chuyi was surprised, "My family?"
Her father was in jail, and her mother had personally put her there. What family could she possibly have to bail her out?
She followed the officer out suspiciously and saw a completely unfamiliar man in the duty room.
The officer looked down, checking the man's ID, "Sheng Tingyuan, right?"
"Mmm."
"What did you say your relationship to her was?"
"I am her fiancé."