The officer gave us a disdainful look and said, "The bureau chief personally called to order the arrest of Chief Lance and a thorough investigation!"
"Also, you two have to stay here tonight!" He pointed at Aunt Violet and Jared.
The two of them immediately went pale with fear.
Aunt Violet anxiously exclaimed, "Why do we have to stay? We haven't done anything wrong!"
"Causing trouble, scheming to occupy someone else's house, isn't that something?" The officer pointed out their crimes one by one. "Based on this alone, both of you could end up in jail for several years!"
Upon hearing this, Jared's face turned as white as a sheet, and he looked at me in disbelief.
A single phone call alarmed the bureau chief.
And they managed to deal with Chief Lance so quickly?
How could it be possible... Wasn't I kicked out with nothing?
Didn't we have any influential relatives to help us?
Violet, being a local, knew that Dad had only moved there later, and despite living there for decades, we had no roots or connections.
The officer didn't care about what he was thinking and waved his hand, ordering someone to handcuff him.
Violet tried to run, but was quickly dragged back.
Soon, personnel sent by the bureau chief arrived and took away the three of them.
The officer walked over and apologized to us with regret: "I knew you were innocent just now, but Chief Lance... sigh, working in the countryside, you know how it is."
"We understand," I said, knowing that he was well-intentioned but unable to do much.
The officer respectfully escorted Dad and me out of the gate.
He personally went to the Green family and had them clear out of the house overnight.
With Aunt Violet and Jared taken away, only the wife and the chubby son were left behind.
During the move, the sound of crying shook the heavens, with the women cursing Aunt Violet and Jared as they left.
Dad and I walked side by side as we left.
"This time, thanks to Fredrica's help. If it weren't for him, I don't know how badly we would have been bullied by those people. Sigh, it's my fault, letting you suffer," Dad whispered, feeling bad for not being able to protect his daughter.
Dad had always been reserved, and expressing such remorse meant he truly blamed himself.
I held his hand and said, "Dad, I'm grown up now and can protect myself. But you, please don't go around wielding knives and scaring people like that in the future."
Dad had always been gentle, and in my memory, he had never done such a thing.
Dad remained silent with his head bowed.
In recent days, he had been feeling guilty, wondering if it was because he was too weak that I suffered so much at the hands of the Spencer family.
...
Third-person perspective
Aunt Violet and Jared were only released the next day.
Both of them looked disheveled, failed to get the house, and got Chief Lance involved in the process.
Chief Lance was none other than Jared's niece's husband.
Early in the morning, the niece came looking for Jared, crying and making a fuss, insisting that she find a way to get Chief Lance out.
Jared had no such ability and could only scare the niece away with a good scolding.
Now that the Armstrong family's house was gone, they moved back to their old, rundown thatched cottage.
Aunt Violet was never a hardworking person, and coupled with Jared's laziness, while everyone else around them was building big houses, their family remained in a small and destitute one-room house. It was so cramped for a family of four that it was beyond shabby.
Early in the morning, their chubby grandson was crying and fussing, saying he didn't want to live there. Having lived in the spacious Armstrong family house before, the contrast was stark, and this place was barely tolerable.
Not only their chubby grandson but also Jared and his wife, Carla, were in a bad mood. To make matters worse, it started raining heavily in the morning and only got heavier as time went on.
It poured outside, and inside, water dripped from every corner of the dilapidated small house, forming little streams.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Masterpiece of Leaving:Prepared A Perfect Stand-In For Him