Chapter 44
Chapter 44
The police officer’s words calmed the victim’s family somewhat. The policewoman called a nurse over to treat Wu Sulian’s injuries.
There were six members of the victim’s family: the old woman’s three sons and their wives.
“Officer, you have to get justice for us! My mother was always fit as a fiddle. She took turns looking after the children for all three of us every year. She could’ve lived to at least ninety! But that woman killed her just like that. She was only sixty-four!”
The eldest son wailed as he poured out his grievances to the officer. The officer sympathized with him for losing his mother, but still had to correct him. “We’re the people’s police. You don’t have to address us so formally.”
“Officer, we don’t want anything except her life in return!” the second son cried. His brothers and all three wives chimed in, demanding that Yu Lu pay for their mother’s death with her life.
All six of them spoke over one another, making the officers frown repeatedly.
Ignoring her own injuries, Wu Sulian dropped to her knees with a thud and kowtowed to them. “Please, have mercy! My daughter is only twenty-five. She didn’t kill anyone on purpose. If a life has to be paid, take mine instead!”
“Mom, get up!”
Yu Lu screamed and tried to help Wu Sulian to her feet, but Wu Sulian flung her hand away and continued kowtowing to the six of them.
Before long, her forehead was split open and covered in blood.
The eldest daughter-in-law was only a few years younger than Wu Sulian. Seeing her kowtow so desperately for her daughter, she couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. “Ma’am, please get up first. Your daughter hit our mother, but we’re reasonable people.”
Then she turned to the policewoman. “You’re the police. Say something. If she dies from kowtowing here, that’s got nothing to do with us.”
The policewoman and Yu Lu pulled Wu Sulian to her feet together. The policewoman said, “The nature of this case is basically clear. Yu Lu violated traffic laws and accidentally caused your mother’s death. You can file a lawsuit, or you can settle the matter privately.”
In situations like this, many families chose a private settlement and had the driver pay compensation.
After all, the old woman wasn’t a breadwinner. Even if she lived another twenty years, she couldn’t earn several hundred thousand yuan, while a settlement could bring in that much at once.
The second son became agitated. “No settlement! I don’t want any damn settlement! I want her to pay for my mother’s life with her own!”
Seeing Wu Sulian about to kowtow again, the eldest daughter-in-law called everyone outside to discuss the matter.
About half an hour later, the six of them returned to the hospital room.
The eldest son stood at the front, his face cold. “As her children, all we want is a life for our mother’s. But we’re parents too. Seeing your mother kowtow and beg for you like that doesn’t sit well with any of us. One million yuan, and we’ll settle. Otherwise, we’ll go to court.”
That was the amount they had agreed on outside.
If a life could be measured in money, they believed their mother was worth at least one million yuan.
Wu Sulian looked as if she had been struck by lightning. Her body went limp, and she began sliding to the floor. Only Yu Lu’s quick reflexes kept her from collapsing.
“One million… How could our family possibly come up with a million?” Wu Sulian’s eyes were vacant, but tears streamed down her face without stopping.
The family had received one million yuan in relocation compensation the previous year. Since their old home in the countryside had been demolished, they had no choice but to buy an apartment in the county town.
After renovation and other expenses, only four hundred thousand remained.
A few months ago, when their daughter started working, they had spent another hundred and fifty thousand on a car.
Her husband had used the remaining two hundred and fifty thousand to build a pigpen and raise pigs. Then swine fever swept through, killing every last one. They lost everything they had invested.
Now, their bank account held only seventy or eighty thousand yuan. Her husband had broken his leg today, and his treatment would cost a considerable sum as well.
Even if she sold her house and car right now, she still wouldn’t be able to scrape together a million yuan!
Yu Lu knew exactly what her family’s finances looked like. She immediately made up her mind. “Then sue me. I’ll go to prison and accept whatever punishment the law gives me.”
If the only alternative was making her parents bankrupt themselves to pay compensation on her behalf, she would rather go to prison!
She had accidentally killed someone with her car. She might spend eight or ten years behind bars.
But if she stayed out of prison, she wouldn’t be able to earn a million yuan in twenty years on her salary!
The victim’s eldest daughter-in-law had tried to persuade the family on Yu Lu’s behalf out of kindness, only to be met with this attitude. Her anger flared even hotter. “Then you can wait for the court summons!”
The group stormed out. Once the police finished taking statements, they left as well, leaving only Yu Lu and Wu Sulian in the room.
Wu Sulian told Yu Lu to get some rest, but Yu Lu insisted on visiting her father.
Mother and daughter went to the fifth floor of the hospital to see him. The doctor told them that, by a conservative estimate, treating his leg would cost around fifty thousand yuan.
After hearing that, Yu Lu became even more determined.
So be it if she had to go to prison. She couldn’t let her parents lose the last of their retirement savings too.
“Lulu, are you all right?”
Zhang Qixi rushed into Yu Lu’s hospital room and looked her over from head to toe. Only after confirming that she was unharmed did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
She was Yu Lu’s best friend. After working all day, she had heard about Yu Lu’s car accident and rushed straight to the hospital without even stopping to eat.
The brave front Yu Lu had maintained in front of her mother crumbled the moment she saw her best friend.
She threw her arms around Zhang Qixi and tearfully recounted everything that had happened that day. “…I really didn’t see her. She just appeared out of nowhere. I didn’t even know anyone was there until I hit her.”
Zhang Qixi comforted Yu Lu for a long while before hesitantly saying, “I can’t help feeling like a ghost blinded you.”
“What?” Yu Lu stared at her blankly.
“Think about it. Accidents happen all the time on the road you take every day. That road was only finished last year, right? Before it was built, the intersection where you crashed used to be one enormous graveyard. The graves were leveled during construction, and once the road opened, accidents started happening every few days. Most of them were a lot like yours.”
“At the beginning of this year, I heard the county government hired some kind of expert to perform a ritual there. Remember how the road was closed for several days?” Zhang Qixi asked.
Now that Zhang Qixi mentioned it, Yu Lu recalled the incident. “I remember.”
“There were hardly any accidents on that road after that. What happened to you today could mean the expert’s ritual has worn off. I think you should find someone who understands these things and ask whether you’ve attracted something unclean.”
Zhang Qixi continued, “How else could you suddenly have such terrible luck? You killed someone with your car, and then your dad fell and broke his leg. The victim’s family is demanding compensation, and the amount just happens to be exactly what your family received for the demolition of your home!”
“You mean… I understand. I’m going to find my mom right now!” Yu Lu hurried to the fifth floor to find Wu Sulian, who was caring for her father.
Yu Lu repeated everything Zhang Qixi had said. As soon as Wu Sulian heard it, her already deathly pale face grew even more bloodless.
“Mom, why are you making that face?” Yu Lu quickly took hold of Wu Sulian, afraid she might faint.
Wu Sulian said in a trembling voice, “Your father once asked Granny Chang to read his fortune.”
Granny Chang was a renowned spirit medium throughout the surrounding villages.
At the time, Granny Chang had said only one thing to her husband.
“For the next three years, your family must not make any major purchases or go into business. Otherwise, your family will be destroyed, lives will be lost, and your fortune will vanish.”
But her husband hadn’t believed her. Not only had he bought a house, he had also purchased a car and even started raising pigs as a business!
Everything that had happened was retribution!