False evidence

Chapter 2 Mysterious Numbers
The more I listened, the more mysterious it seemed. Just as I was about to ask him for details, the old man started snoring.

I barely slept that night. Just as I was starting to drift off, I was woken up by the sound of the door opening.

"Who is Sanqi?"

I sat up abruptly and instinctively looked across at the strange old man, who was still asleep.

"Sir, may I ask your name?"

My response was a deafening snoring sound.

I was taken to the office, where the same policeman with the buzz cut from yesterday handed me a piece of paper and a pen, saying I could leave after signing it.

I quickly signed my name, and then asked, "Have you found out?"

The other party nodded: "This morning we contacted the restaurant owner using the phone number you gave us, and it proved that what you said was true. Coincidentally, two of my other colleagues were on duty last night, handling a case... a case of indecent assault, and they found the two men and one woman you mentioned. My colleagues found them suspicious and took them directly to the hospital for examination, which confirmed that all three of them had used a large amount of illegal drugs."

He looked at me with a half-smile and continued, "What's even more coincidental is that the two you fought with yesterday, one was one of the men's assistants and the other was his driver."

It suddenly dawned on me, "Is this some kind of deliberate revenge?"

The other person remained noncommittal, but their expression became somewhat strange. "Do you know the old man I took in last night?"

I nodded, then quickly shook my head, and simply recounted my meeting with the old man yesterday.

The other person's expression became even more strange. "So, it's very likely that he helped you out of gratitude for a meal he gave you?"

"What do you mean?" I was completely confused.

The police said, "Last night we received a call saying that someone was being indecent at the entrance of an entertainment venue. A ragged, shabby old man, holding less than a third of a bottle of Sanliangye liquor that costs five yuan a bottle, touched a woman's buttocks. Normally, the security guards there could have handled this, but the old man directly used the liquor bottle to smash the head of one of the men wearing an earring. That's why we received the call."

"A five-yuan bottle of Sanliangye..."

I finally understood why his expression was so strange.

After a period of mental confusion, I remembered to ask the police:

"Can I see that old man again? He... wouldn't you say he did a good deed by reporting me? Shouldn't he be released?"

The policeman scratched his buzz cut and shook his head, saying, "One thing at a time. Now that you mention it, I think this whole thing is pretty weird. But it's true that he groped that woman and even cracked her skull open! Even if the other party doesn't pursue it, he'll at least be locked up for a few days. So, I've got your phone number. I'll give you a call once there's a result for him."

It's clear that he's somewhat interested in this matter.

It's just a boxed lunch with one meat dish and one vegetable dish, plus five yuan.

I was framed and imprisoned as revenge. By sheer coincidence, an old beggar bought a bottle of cheap liquor for five yuan, got drunk, groped a woman's buttocks, and even had the audacity to crack her head open.

Then, relying on their keen intuition, the police followed the clues and caught the person who framed me, clearing my name and clearing my name...

Anyone who heard this would probably think it was a fantasy.

Finally, I asked the man with the buzz cut if he could tell me the old man's name.

He tossed me three words—Yang Wudao.

……

In the days that followed, I kept thinking about it.

The police didn't call me, and as time went by, the stress of work gradually made me forget about it. That afternoon, I went to work at the restaurant as usual.

The shop owner approached me and said, "Don't stay in the shop this afternoon. Go to the train station and help me get a refund for my train ticket."

It turns out the owners had originally planned to travel out of town tomorrow, but something came up and they had to change their plans. The tickets were issued at the ticket office, so to get a refund, they had to go to the train station.

I checked the time and hurriedly went out the door.

There was a long queue at the train station ticket refund window, and by the time I got my ticket refunded, it was already past 5 p.m.

I figured I'd go to the restroom first, then return the ticket to the shop, give the refund to the owner, and that way I wouldn't miss dinner.

I waited in line for more than two hours, and I was really getting impatient.

As soon as I came out of the restroom and stepped out of the ticket hall, a policeman on an electric scooter stopped me.

The policeman didn't say anything, but pointed at me.

I looked down for no reason, and suddenly my head went numb.

I slipped my hand into my jeans pocket, my fingers sticking out from underneath, and said to the policeman in a hoarse voice: My wallet has been stolen.

"Come with us."

Then I went to the police station, filled out two forms, and reported the lost items.

Then, the policeman took out a sealed bag containing a wallet and handed it to me, saying in a rather sympathetic tone:
"The wallet was found by the cleaning staff in the toilet trash can, but the money... is gone. Fortunately, my ID card and bank cards are still there."

Stepping out of the train station, I felt like crying but couldn't.

I found an ATM, inserted two cards, and finally went to the counter to withdraw all the money I could.

A total of 352.

I'm about to cry. I just got paid the day before yesterday and sent money to my grandfather. My living expenses for this month, along with the money from the refunded tickets, have all been stolen.

The boss's money can be deducted next month. Is this 300 yuan enough for me to last a month?
I wanted to curse and wish the bastard who stole my money would die a thousand deaths, but in the end, all I could do was open my wallet and carefully put the money I had taken out back in.

I closed my wallet with a wry smile and walked out of the bank. Suddenly, a broken plastic bowl was thrust at me from the side. "Good deeds are rewarded, give me these..."

I noticed that the beggar's complexion was even rosier than mine. I looked around, grabbed a KFC Coke cup from the nearby trash can, tore off the lid, and held the disposable cup up to the beggar's face, waving it around.
"Please have mercy and give me something. I don't mind if it's a penny or two, or even more than 30,000 or 50,000. I'm about to starve!"

The beggar gave me a disdainful look, casually took two coins from his bowl, threw them into my cup, and uttered a particularly offensive curse.

I've lost all the will to fight. Seeing him turn away 'arrogantly,' I pouted and glanced down into my cup.

Wow, what a grand gesture! Not only is there 'silver', but there's also 'gold'!

Normally, even if I were shameless, I wouldn't accept charity. But my grandfather once told me that even if there's a penny on the ground, I should pick it up, otherwise the God of Wealth will think I'm rich and won't favor me anymore.

Following this principle, I took out the coins, shook off the Coke residue, and was about to put them in my pocket when I suddenly saw the back of the beggar who was going to ask others for money again, and my heart skipped a beat.

Two coins, one worth 50 cents and the other 10 cents.

Adding the 352 I just withdrew, it's exactly 352.6 yuan!
(End of this chapter)