The lobby staff composed themselves.
"…Then let me take a look at your passbook first." She said with a smile, politely taking the passbook Ms. Yang had placed on the table and beginning to examine it carefully.
At first glance, the lobby staff thought: Wow, five million, a big client!
But upon closer inspection, the lobby staff's expression became somewhat subtle. She looked up at Ms. Yang and asked, "Madam, was this passbook opened with your ID card?"
Ms. Yang nodded: "Yes, it is… Is there a problem with this passbook?"
The lobby staff: "…Please wait a moment, I need to ask our manager about this."
Seeing the lobby staff's reaction, Ms. Yang's heart skipped a beat, a sudden chill running through her—if the passbook were genuine, the lobby staff wouldn't have reacted this way.
The viewers in Xu Gui's live stream also noticed this:
[Goodness, judging from the lobby staff's reaction, could Xu Gui really be right? Is this passbook in Ms. Yang's hand fake?] But if this passbook is fake, then the five million in it doesn't even exist, right?
[Hiss, if this is fake, then those two big diamond rings on Ms. Yang's hand are probably fake too, right? That sister who works in the jewelry industry was right!]
[This matter isn't confirmed yet, so let's not rush to conclusions. But if this is true, I remember counterfeiting passbooks is illegal, right? Then Ms. Yang's husband and his family are truly outlaws!]
*
Even bystanders reacted so strongly to this, let alone Ms. Yang herself. She was overwhelmed with emotion, unable to remain calm, sitting blankly in the bank lobby, her face very pale.
Even now, she kept reassuring herself: before the matter is resolved, there's no need to scare herself. Perhaps the lobby staff was just being cautious; maybe her passbook is perfectly fine.
However, this self-reassurance didn't last long, because the lobby staff quickly came over with the manager, and the passbook in her hand was transferred to the manager. The two stood in front of Ms. Yang.
The manager in the lobby said, "Manager, this is Ms. Yang's passbook..."
Ms. Yang, who had been sitting, couldn't help but stand up. She asked, "Excuse me, is there something wrong with my passbook?"
"It's like this, Ms. Yang," the manager said politely. "We checked your passbook and found that the stamp on it isn't our bank's, and the numbers are handwritten."
The manager concluded, "In other words, this passbook wasn't issued by the bank; it's fake."
Ms. Yang felt a buzzing in her ears. She stared blankly at the manager, her mind a complete blank.
She thought somewhat slowly, what does it mean that this passbook is fake? If this passbook is fake, then... then is the so-called five million yuan dowry deposited in this passbook also fake?
"...It's like this, Ms. Yang," the manager continued, "You may not be aware that forging a passbook is a crime of forging or altering financial instruments, so we may need your cooperation with the police investigation..."
Just then, Ms. Yang, who had been in a daze, seemed to suddenly come to her senses.
"The passbook is fake, the five million is fake... then what about the ring on my hand?" She suddenly turned to Xu Gui, anxiously asking, "The diamond ring on my hand must be real, right?"
Xu Gui looked at her with pity, saying nothing, her meaning clear.
Ms. Yang's lips twitched, and she murmured, "Ha, fake, all fake... I was actually scammed? Wei Linxin, how could you do this to me? How could your family do this to me?!"
Ms. Yang cried and laughed, completely losing her composure. Her strange reaction attracted the attention of others in the bank. Everyone looked at her with curious eyes, some even whispering among themselves, their eyes filled with gossip.
The lobby manager and the manager cautiously watched the emotionally distraught Ms. Yang. Although they didn't know what had happened, they felt they knew something from Ms. Yang's reaction.
...
The police station was not far from the bank. The manager had already called the police after discovering the passbook was fake, so not long after, two police officers came to investigate.
The manager stepped forward and explained the situation to the two police officers: "...It's like this, Ms. Yang..."
Ms. Yang sat blankly in the lobby, her face expressionless. She seemed to hear the manager's voice; she stirred, and the next second, she suddenly jumped up from her chair and rushed towards the two officers.
"Officers, I'm reporting my husband's family for forging bankbooks and committing marriage fraud!" she gritted her teeth. "They told me there was five million in that bankbook, which was my dowry..."
Thinking about how long she had been deceived by this family, Ms. Yang's righteous indignation surged. She said, "Officers, I can testify to all of this! I'll even take you to arrest them right now, so can you be lenient with me? Forging the bankbook really has nothing to do with me; I had no idea it was fake beforehand."
The bank's customers listened intently to the gossip, their expressions quite interesting.
"Okay, Ms. Yang, thank you for your cooperation!" the police officer said. "If it's ultimately proven that the forged bankbook incident really has nothing to do with you, we won't convict you."
Ms. Yang was relieved, and then eagerly offered to take the police officers to arrest her husband right away, clearly still determined to put her own family member in the line of duty.
"Lock him up, sentence him however you want!" Ms. Yang vowed, "I absolutely won't plead for him!"
Viewers in the live stream commented:
[Of course you won't plead for him, because you'd love for him to spend his whole life in jail!]
*
Xu Gui, urged on by the paparazzi, quietly followed Ms. Yang and the police to her house.
Ms. Yang glanced at her, as if wanting to say something, but then seemed to remember something and shut her mouth.
The police officer, however, glanced at the paparazzi carrying the equipment and asked suspiciously, "What are you doing?"
The paparazzi looked at Xu Gui, who innocently looked away, with an expression of "I don't know this person"—she was just an innocent turtle, and the turtle knew nothing.
The paparazzi: "..."
"We're making a TV show, but don't worry, officers, we'll blur out anyone who accidentally gets in the shot. It won't affect you!" The paparazzi could only honestly explain, pointing at Ms. Yang, "Speaking of which, we were the ones who found out about Ms. Yang's bankbook."
The police officer looked at Ms. Yang, who remained silent, her face visibly sullen.
Ms. Yang's home was quite a distance away. Because she was afraid her husband and in-laws would find out she'd consulted a fortune teller, she had deliberately gone to a farther place and had to take a taxi back.
After a half-hour drive, two taxis stopped at Ms. Yang's apartment complex, and the group arrived smoothly at her door.
As they stepped out of the elevator, the paparazzi were already on high alert, determined not to miss any exciting shots.
Finally, Ms. Yang opened the door and went inside.
"...Wife, where have you been? Why are you only coming back now?" A man's voice came from inside. "Didn't Mom tell you to stew pig's feet today? You should singe off the hair before stewing them, otherwise you'll have a mouthful of hair when you eat them. Oh, and you haven't washed the clothes at home either. I see the laundry basket is full!"
The man looked up and, seeing Xu Gui and the others, asked in surprise, "Huh? Who are you? Police officers? Why are the police..."
He looked at Ms. Yang questioningly, but Ms. Yang didn't give him a glance. Instead, she pointed at the man and said to the police officer in a clear and firm voice, "Officer, this is my husband, Wei Linxin. He forged that bankbook!"
Upon hearing this, the man, Wei Linxin, immediately changed his expression.
The police officer stepped forward: "Mr. Wei, please come with us..."
Wei Linxin was so frightened that he backed away. He looked at Ms. Yang and asked incredulously, "Yang Li, what's going on? Why did you call the police?"
Ms. Yang sneered, "Why did I call the police? You should ask yourself what you've done!!"
At this moment, looking at her husband, tears finally welled up in Ms. Yang's eyes. She wiped her tears with her palm and said bitterly, "I've been married to you for so many years, and I never thought your whole family had been lying to me!"
"A five million yuan dowry? Ha, if it weren't for my parents' accident and my urgent need for money, I wouldn't have known that the five million yuan didn't even exist. This bankbook was actually forged by your whole family!"
Ms. Yang's eyes were red, and she said through gritted teeth, "Wei Linxin, your whole family is shameless!"
Wei Linxin was stunned. He stammered, "You, you knew all about it?"
Ms. Yang glared at him angrily. Wei Linxin felt a little guilty under her gaze, but he quickly regained his composure.
"You can't blame me for this!" he said. "Who told you to ask for such a high dowry? Our family can't afford that much, so of course we had to lie to you…"
He curled his lip and said, "My mother is right, you're just mercenary, greedy for money, your family is selling your daughter!"
Ms. Yang was so angry at his shameless words that she laughed. She said, "I didn't force you to take the money. If you think I'm mercenary, why did you marry me? I'm not desperate to marry you! Besides, I got the five million back, and I didn't leave it to my parents. If my family really sold our daughter, I wouldn't have taken the five million!"
Ms. Yang was filled with resentment.
"I've been married to you for so many years, and your family has been constantly talking about this five million, implying that since I received so much money, I have to work hard at home, otherwise how can I justify such a high dowry..."
"Before I married you, I couldn't cook, I couldn't clean... but after marrying you, I learned everything!"
Ms. Yang recalled her married life and found it all laughable. She said, "...I thought that since your family received so much dowry, you must love me, so even though I felt wronged, I didn't say anything!"
"But now I know that the five million is fake! And this diamond ring!"
She held up her hand, the "diamond ring" on her ring finger sparkling.
"Even this diamond ring is fake!"
At this point, Ms. Yang seemed to remember something. She suddenly turned and went straight to her and Wei Linxin's bedroom. A short while later, she came out of the bedroom, holding something in her hand.