“I didn’t do it!” Ye Hong shouted hoarsely. “He’s framing me! He’s making things up—I didn’t do anything!”
“The recording is right here. Isn’t that your voice?” the female officer said.
“He did it on purpose. It’s not real—he lured me into saying it. This kid lies all the time. You can’t believe him!” Ye Hong put on a pitiful act.
“I didn’t,” Ye Qingyang countered. “Uncle, auntie, if you don’t believe me, you can go look at the balcony—I still sleep on the wire bed there, and my little cabinet and chair are still there.”
“You’re lying,” Ye Hong said, pointing to Wang Fan’s room. “You clearly sleep in that room now. You haven’t slept on the balcony for a long time!”
“I don’t sleep on the balcony anymore because a kind classmate noticed my situation at home and paid for me to live in the school dorm. But in this house, there’s no room left for me! Your son is married and living elsewhere, and you’d rather leave his room empty than let me stay—you said I could only live on the balcony. But isn’t this my parents’ house?”
The female officer stood up. “Are you talking about that room?” she asked, pointing at the room Ye Hong had indicated.
Ye Qingyang nodded.
The officer walked over, opened the door, and turned on the light.
On the nightstand sat a photo of a man who bore a strong resemblance to Wang Yue. The officer picked it up and glanced at it.
“That’s my brother, Wang Fan,” Ye Qingyang said. “Xiaofan lived in this room before, but after he got married, it became mine.”
“I don’t deserve it,” Ye Qingyang said self-deprecatingly.
The female officer opened the nightstand and found some small personal items, expired IDs of Wang Fan, and a photo album documenting Wang Fan from childhood to adulthood.
She then moved to the wardrobe and opened it. The clothes inside clearly were not Ye Qingyang’s size.
“You said Wang Fan moved out and Ye Qingyang moved in. Then why are there no clothes of his here? Are there any of the child’s belongings in this room at all?”
Ye Hong hurriedly explained, “He moved into the dorm later, so he moved his things there.”
“I didn’t,” Ye Qingyang said. “All my stuff is on the balcony—that’s where I’ve always lived.”
“You’re lying, Ye Qingyang, you—”
“Whether he’s lying or not, we’ll see when we check,” the male officer interrupted, walking toward the balcony.
Ye Hong’s family’s faces immediately changed.
After all, they never truly considered Ye Qingyang part of the family. Even after he had been away so long, they never thought to clear the balcony, remove his wire bed, or move his little cabinet and desk into Wang Fan’s room. For them, Ye Qingyang belonged on the balcony. The three bedrooms in the house had clear ownership; Ye Qingyang didn’t deserve to occupy Wang Fan’s space. Occasionally letting him sleep in Wang Fan’s bed was already their biggest concession.
So neither Ye Hong nor Wang Yue had ever touched the balcony. That’s why Wang Fan’s room had no trace of Ye Qingyang, while the balcony was exactly as Ye Qingyang had left it.
The female officer looked at the 5-foot wire bed and the corner crowded with miscellaneous items, and finally settled her gaze on the small cabinet beside the bed, feeling a pang of sympathy.
The male officer opened the drawers and cabinets, finding Ye Qingyang’s family photos and his elementary and middle school graduation pictures.
There weren’t many items—mostly small keepsakes and a few pieces of old clothing. The clothes were simple and cheap.
The male officer sighed and opened another cabinet door, discovering a bag filled with torn paper.
“What’s this?”
“My aunt tore my exercise books,” Ye Qingyang said. “I couldn’t bear to throw them away, so I kept them.”
The male officer glanced at Ye Hong.
“I didn’t! I didn’t do it!” Ye Hong insisted.
“You can do a fingerprint test,” Ye Qingyang said quietly. “After she tore them, I put them in this bag. No one touched them except you.”
Ye Hong: ……
The officers were increasingly convinced of Ye Qingyang’s story.
Then Ye Qingyang took out a note Ye Hong had left for him that said, “Eat shit, you!”
Ye Hong denied it again.
“You know this can be analyzed for handwriting, right?” the female officer said.
“He made me write it,” Ye Hong said, pointing at Ye Qingyang.
The female officer smiled. “Strange. Didn’t you just say it wasn’t you?”
Ye Hong: ……
She fumed, glaring at the female officer. “What are you two doing? I called the police to get back the 60,000 yuan he ‘stole’ from me, not to have you blame this little brat! What are you trying to do?”
“We’re handling it, aren’t we? When you reported, you said Ye Qingyang occupied your house and kicked your family out. We’re checking the house, right?” the officer said.
She turned to Ye Qingyang. “As for the 60,000 yuan, your aunt said you defrauded her. Did you?”
Ye Qingyang looked at them innocently, shaking his head in confusion.
“My aunt transferred 60,000 yuan to me, but she did it on her own initiative. After my parents died, there was over 50,000 yuan in the house. She said I was too young and it wasn’t safe for me to have it, so she kept it for me. I received it thinking it was because I was almost an adult and she was just helping. It wasn’t fraud.”
“She said it was fraud?”
“I didn’t,” Ye Qingyang said pitifully. “Please believe me.”
“You’re making the police believe you, but at home, you told us yourself. You met rich classmates, your classmates invested money, you got money, and asked us to invest too. Isn’t that a scam?” Ye Hong said.
Ye Qingyang was stunned. “Aunt, what are you talking about? My classmate is rich, yes, but I didn’t have any money to invest. Even my dorm fees were paid by my classmate. Besides, if I asked you to invest, would you? Would you really part with 60,000 yuan?”
Ye Hong clenched her teeth. “So I was tricked by you!”
Ye Qingyang smiled wryly. “If I had that ability, would I have lived on the balcony all these years, being bullied by you all this time?”
“Do you have proof Ye Qingyang scammed you?” the female officer asked.
Ye Hong hurriedly opened her phone, showing the transfer record.
“That only shows you voluntarily transferred money to Ye Qingyang. You are his guardian, and that’s normal. It isn’t evidence.”
“How can that not be evidence!” Ye Hong shouted. “It counts!”
“If that counts, then anyone who voluntarily transfers money could sue the recipient. That would be chaotic.”
Ye Hong looked at Wang Yue. He was at a loss. The things Ye Qingyang had said at home weren’t recorded; they had no recordings.
Suddenly, Wang Yue remembered something. “Huìhuì, do you have WeChat records?”
Wang Hui opened her phone, but the chats with Ye Qingyang didn’t cover this issue.
She frowned and realized something else. “I have other proof. Officer, see this: if he wasn’t investing, how could he wear such designer clothes? He must have scammed us.”
She showed the selfies of Ye Qingyang in those clothes to the officers.
“That was my roommate’s clothes,” Ye Qingyang explained honestly. “He’s rich and kind. Seeing me in shabby clothes, he lent me many of his. I didn’t have the money to buy them.”
“That photo proves nothing,” the female officer said helplessly. “To prove fraud, you need evidence of actual deception, not unrelated things.”
“How is it unrelated? If he wasn’t dressed well, would we believe him? Would we invest?” Wang Hui insisted. “I even transferred him 6,000 yuan.”
“Your mother is his guardian, you are his sister. Transferring money is normal,” the officer said.
“Normal? I must be crazy to give money to this little bastard! Am I insane?”
The female officer: ……
The female officer scolded inwardly but stayed professional.
“Enough! You’ve been bullying a child, and you think you’re in the right?”
“His parents entrusted him to you and the house too. You lived there and abused him, and now you report him to us? Do you have any conscience?” the male officer said, glaring at Ye Hong. “That’s your brother’s son! What you’re doing—don’t you worry your brother is restless in his grave?”
Ye Qingyang quietly shed tears on the side, looking pitiful and heart-tugging.
Ye Hong could only feel suffocated. This wasn’t what she expected. Ye Qingyang hadn’t been arrested, and she was being reprimanded instead.
“This is a family matter, none of your business!” she snapped.
“Matters involving the public are our business. We serve the people, and we’re accountable,” the female officer said.
“Out!” he pointed to the door. “This child’s house—go rest, or you’re disturbing him!”
“What do you mean ‘out’?” Ye Hong said. “This is my house!”
“This isn’t your house. It’s your brother’s. He left, and the house belongs to his son. He kicked you out. You don’t live here!”
“I can live here too!”
“No, you couldn’t when you were under 18. Now he’s 18, the house is his. He decides. He kicked you out. That’s it. Leave!”
“You do it like this in your job?” Ye Hong stomped in anger. “I called you to get him out, and I’m not leaving!”
“Then you’ll go to our police station,” the female officer said. “We’ll talk about how you occupied his house and abused him.”
She looked at Ye Hong sternly. “When you abused him, he was probably still a minor, right?”
Ye Hong panicked immediately.
Wang Yue couldn’t show face, so he said, “You all go.”
“Going is not optional—you also go, or you might harass the kid again.”
Wang Yue had no choice and reluctantly stepped aside.
“Wait,” Ye Qingyang said. “Pack your things first. I’m afraid if you leave without doing that, you’ll come back to bother me.”
Wang Yue: !!!
Wang Yue gritted his teeth. “Ye Qingyang, you’re crossing the line.”
“You’re crossing the line,” the male officer said. “Trying to get revenge? This is a law-abiding society. Don’t do anything illegal.”
“Pack up,” the female officer said with her hands behind her back. “We’ll watch. Take what’s yours, leave what isn’t.”
“Where do we go after packing?” Wang Hui asked, frightened. “It’s late, I’m pregnant, I’m not leaving!”
“You must leave,” the female officer said firmly. “If you have nowhere to go, you can come with me to the station. We’ll record statements. One night, and it’s over.”
Wang Hui: ……
“Go pack,” the female officer said again.
“I refuse!” Ye Hong yelled. “You’re handling this wrong. You have no right to kick us out! I’ll sue you!”
“Fine,” the female officer said calmly. “If you sue, leaving won’t be so simple.”
“Still not packing? Should I help you?” the male officer said.
Wang Yue watched and left in frustration.
Ye Hong followed quickly, trying to plan the next move.
Wang Hui also went along.
The male officer frowned. “Looks like they have no intention of giving the house back.”
“Of course. They’ve lived in such a nice house for so long. They wouldn’t give it up now,” the female officer said, laughing. Then she looked at Ye Qingyang warmly. “What are you going to do next?”
Ye Qingyang wiped his tears and said obediently, “I’m afraid they’ll keep bothering me. I want to rent this house and stay in the dorm. It’ll help me focus on school.”
The female officer nodded. “Good. You need legal awareness. Even though your parents aren’t here, society will help you. We will help. Don’t be afraid—call us if they show up again.”
“Thank you,” Ye Qingyang said softly. “I was too scared to call the police before because of my aunt, but now I know I don’t have to fear them.”
“That’s good,” she said, leaving her number. “Call me anytime.”
“Thank you,” Ye Qingyang said sincerely.
“You’re welcome.” She patted his head and left with her partner.
As she entered the elevator, she pressed the button for the 8th floor.
The male officer noticed. “You want to see the elderly lady he mentioned?”
She nodded. “Better to be thorough.”
They quickly arrived at 8th floor, knocked on 802.
A man wearing glasses, looking scholarly, opened the door.
“Hello,” the male officer said politely. “We are police and want to ask about the elderly lady in your home.”
The man was surprised, nodded, and called his mother out.
“What’s this about?” the elderly lady asked, confused. Seeing the officers outside made her even more puzzled. “Police, you’re looking for me?”
“Yes. We’d like to ask about the child Ye Qingyang from 6th floor, 601,” the officer said.
“Oh dear!” the lady exclaimed, patting her thigh. “This child? I remember him well. Such a hard life. His parents had just bought a house, hadn’t lived long, then something happened. His aunt moved in with her family, claiming it was to take care of him. Seemed okay at first.”
“But his aunt wasn’t kind. She bullied the child even though she lived in his house. Once, my daughter-in-law and I went upstairs, and the child was locked outside. I opened the door and his aunt scolded me and the child. She left a note for him too.”
“I saw it—she deliberately made it seem like the child was lying so everyone would think he’s dishonest. That made her happiest,” she shook her head. “Even relatives, she’s cruel. If his father knew, he’d be heartbroken.”