The Third Choice

She wanted the police to teach this arrogant Gu Fadian a lesson.

The female officer was over forty, with a stiff posture and a stern expression. She asked bluntly, "Where is the murder scene?"

"He—he tried to kill me!" Qin Xiu cried.

Women often exaggerated during arguments. But as soon as her voice fell, Gu Fadian immediately spoke up: "Officer, today I found a little girl who had been abused; her whole body is covered in injuries. After asking around, I learned that Qin Xiu intentionally injured and abused her daughter, even though she knew it was her son who made the mistake. Just this morning, she caused the girl to go into shock for nearly two hours. During that time, she didn't apply any first aid or take her to the hospital; instead, she took her son to her mother's house. Therefore, I have every reason to suspect she intentionally wanted to kill her daughter and was preparing to stage the scene and destroy evidence!"

"What? Qin Xiu committed murder?"

"Why would she want to kill Ban Xia? No way, that's her own daughter," someone else remarked.

Qin Xiu’s eyes widened. She wondered if Ban Xia had told Gu Fadian all of this. Clearly, she had just been careless and accidentally hit her. But that dark-hearted brat said she did it on purpose—how could the girl be so heartless? She really should have beaten that brat to death.

She threw up her hands and said, "Officer, do you believe this?" Who could believe a mother would intentionally try to kill her own child?

If it were any other officer, they might not have believed it. However, Officer Zhao He didn't just believe it—she had personally seen someone kill their own biological daughter. After all, family planning policies were very strict now, and there were too many people in this society who favored sons over daughters.

Her eyes narrowed. "Female comrade, why are you covered in thorns?"

Qin Xiu was indeed covered in thorns, looking very much like a porcupine. She said, "Isn't it because of Gu Fadian? He pushed me into a thorn bush. He’s a famous hooligan in our factory."

"Stop talking nonsense. For now, just tell me: did you hit the child or not!" The police wouldn't show favoritism like the neighborhood aunties.

Qin Xiu’s eyes darted around as she said, "No, my child just fell down. She likes to lie..." Since Ban Xia was being heartless, she would be unjust. She would just say the child tripped; no one saw it, so what could they do to her?

"Where is the child?" Officer Zhao asked.

In Qin Xiu’s mind, Ban Xia and Gu Fadian were together. She pointed at Gu Fadian. "Ask him."

Gu Fadian said, "The child is temporarily at the medical clinic. After her wounds were dressed, she was put on an IV to reduce her fever. But Officer, to solve a case, one should examine the scene first. Shouldn't you go to Qin Xiu's house and look for the evidence of her murder attempt?"