The Fake Medium Hooked a Real Ghost novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: Tide Table
"Name?" said the officer, uncapping his pen, and Ye Ming gave it in full.
The statement took until dawn.
He told them about the sittings, the fees, the Hall's accounts and the nine binders.
He did not leave out a single lie he had told.
Gu Chen sat beside him on the plastic chair, solid and attentive, with his hands on his knees.
The officer could not see him.
Twice he looked at the empty chair and went on writing.
"You understand that this is obtaining money by deception," he said at the end.
"Yes," said Ye Ming.
"Fees over four years come to about three hundred thousand," the officer said. "You will repay what you can. The prosecutor will decide whether to charge."
"Your voluntary statement counts for you. Your name in the newspapers counts against."
"I understand," said Ye Ming.
"Your sister's scholarship is a Hall foundation. It will not be restored."
Ye Ming's hands went still on the table.
"I understand that too."
By Tuesday the whole province knew.
The reporter's article had run on Sunday under a single line, and the line was the list of nine names.
Master Lu was charged with concealing a known defect, and the lawyer with forging the withdrawal of the report.
The Hall's windows were boarded.
The tea shop below it put up a sign saying it had never known them.
Ye Xiao took the news at the kitchen table, with her ruler in her hand.
"Twenty thousand a year," she said. "I'll work nights at the engineering library. I'll take the bureau's loan."
"Xiao," said Ye Ming.
"Don't. I'm an adult. You gave up your whole career in public so nine families could cry in front of you."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Fake Medium Hooked a Real Ghost are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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