Chapter 2: Fall
The hospital air is filled with the smell of antiseptic.
Li Anping opened his eyes and tried to get up but the moment he moved about, a heart piercing pain a.s.saulted him and he could not help but groan in pain. It alerted the nurse right beside him.
“You’re awake?” The nurse upon seeing Li Anping’s face which was distorted from pain, hurried to move him back down on the bed: “You were knocked down by a car and got heavily injured. Don’t think about it, just rest for now. I’ll get the doctor to come here immediately.”
After a series of tests, be it the nurses; the doctors or the patients, no one informed him of his condition. What was common were their gaze when they looked at Li Anping, and this made his hair stand on ends.
“Doctor, when can I recover?” Unable to withstand this feeling any longer, Li Anping could not help but ask.
“Don’t get agitated, your car accident was very severe. When you were sent here, you were a step away from death. Although you managed to pull through with your intense will to survive, the repercussion of this accident may accompany you for the rest of your life. You have to be mentally prepared.”
Li Anping’s heart sank, he anxiously asked: “Doctor, am I paralyzed?”
“Sigh.” The doctor looked at Li Anping’s face with a hint of pity: “Your brain’s central nervous system was greatly damaged. Even if you recover in the future, your limbs will not have strength and it’ll be hard to move around. To fully recover, you may need ten years, or tens of years of training and rehabilitation.”
Li Anping’s heart ached as he felt a heavy sense of grief in his chest. Carrying his last remaining bits of expectation, he bitterly asked: “My weakened limbs, what is the difference compared to before my accident?”
The doctor shook his head: “The amount of time you can leave the bed daily will not exceed 30 minutes… with sufficient training and healing, you may be able to extend the time with a crutch.”
As if he was afraid to see Li Anping’s look of despair, the doctor left in a hurry after explaining, leaving behind Li Anping who stared into blank s.p.a.ce, not knowing what is on his mind.
Only when the police came did Li Anping regain his spirit, upon seeing them in front of him, his eyes flashed. “Has the person who knocked me down been arrested? Together with me, there was a girl named Wei Shi Shi, have you found her yet?”
There were two policemen who came, one of them was a young policemen called Lian Zhong. He looked at the paralyzed Li Anping, with a hint of fury in his eyes, said: “Don’t worry, the girl that you mentioned as well as the driver is under our control. The nature of this accident is very malicious, we will definitely bring the criminal to justice.”
Only now did Li Anping find out that the driver was none other than the attempted rapist, called Shang Zhen Bang. He was arrested right after at the suburbs, but since his capture, he did not utter a single word no matter how the police interrogated him, only requesting the police to let him make a phone call.
But at least Wei Shi Shi was unscathed since Li Anping pushed her away, and after the police heard her statement, they used the evidence left on the crime scene to understand the situation. Now, it was time to record Li Anping’s statement.
Immediately, Li Anping told them everything he knew.
After getting the statement, unlike the motivated young policeman, the older policeman had a bad feeling in his heart. His name is Song Si Shan, who had been a policeman for more than a decade.
Racing car, rape, Shang Zhen Bang’s silence, and his request to make a phone call gave Song Si Shan a very dangerous feeling.
After hesitating for a while, he did not tell Li Anping his worries, only hoping that this was merely his imagination.
After the two policemen left, Li Anping who was originally depressed became motivated again.
There is hard evidence in this case so Shang Zhen Bang was definitely going to jail, and he even has to compensate Li Anping a huge sum of money as well.
Justice will prevail!
Although his body was no longer mobile, the compensation of this car accident can definitely allow Li Anping to complete his university studies. It is the modern era of technology. Even if he is unable to leave the house, Li Anping believes that using his knowledge and skills, he can still succeed in life.
Furthermore, isn’t there the wheelchair to use, he can still go out if he wishes to. The doctor also said that after rehabilitation, there is hope for recovery.
Li Anping continued to console himself, convincing himself that the injuries were nothing serious, but the greyness in his eyes would not fade away.
Regret?
Maybe.
Half a month pa.s.sed, Li Anping could no longer remember how many times his grandma had cried on his hospital bed.
Anna came on the third day of the accident, and after knowing his condition, never showed up again.
His cla.s.smates and friends all came once, and the school even held a donation event for him, but after the school management underwent an interview by the reporters, the matter became swept under the carpet.
Li Anping can still remember his uncle and aunt, his grandma’s blood-related son and daughter-in-law’s mocking tone when they came to the hospital.
“This hospital bed costs a lot of money per day huh? Mother’s monthly pension amount is only so little, now that it is all given to the hospital, what will she use for her retirement in the future?”
“Mother, he is not just staying here for a few days, which would be settled with merely ten thousand dollars. I asked the doctor, he is paralyzed, basically a disabled person, are you going to take care for him for life? Don’t talk about waiting for the compensation from the other party, do you think I am a fool? These court cases can easily take up to 5,6 years, by then it’d be too late.”
“I don’t care, you either choose me or him, if you want to take care of this b.a.s.t.a.r.d, then you will lose me as your own blood related son, let this cripple send you off when you die.”
Facing such accusations, Li Anping wanted to say something, but reality weighed down on him like a giant rock. He only managed to send them away with his gaze, unable to utter a single word.
The days pa.s.sed by depressingly, with his body paralyzed, the emotional torture was greater than his physical discomfort, bringing to Li Anping greater despair than he imagined.
At least there is still hope in the world.
The only entertainment left in his life was watching the news on the internet.
Racing car, second-generation rich family, rape, courageous action and car accident. Li Anping’s news upon surfacing, was swiftly s.n.a.t.c.hed by all the major reporting firms, and became the newspaper’s featured article. The internet was booming with discussions on this matter, of course it was in support of Wei Shi Shi and Li Anping.
Every progression of the matter was broadcasted by the reporters, and every word of praise and acknowledgement from the people became Li Anping’s biggest joy in life.
On the internet, in fact due to this incident, numerous people were sounding out, hoping that the government can bring the criminal to justice.
Thus, his greatest antic.i.p.ation was the court trial. Everyday he placed his phone by his bedside, awaiting for summon from the court.
But strangely, Wei Shi Shi had never contacted him, or even given him a phone call after his accident, making Li Anping feel perturbed in his heart.
As for his Uncle and Aunt, after saying such things to his grandma, had appeared again. The two were following behind a man wearing a suit who was emitted an aura full of arrogance.
“So you are Li Anping?” The man’s head was held up high, arrogantly staring at Li Anping.
“I am Golden Door Lawfirm’s Xu Li Chuan, this is one million dollars.” The man took out a cheque from his pocket: “As long as you change your statement given to the police, this will be yours.”
Li Anping laughed coldly: “Oh? How exactly do you want me to change it?”
The man seemingly did not notice Li Anping’s strange tone, or maybe he had utter confidence in the power of money, said: “Back then the sky was too dark, you could not see the rapist’s appearance clearly. You only found out afterwards that the car owner was Shang Zhen Bang, thus a.s.suming that the rapist was him. But thinking back, that person does not really resemble Shang Zhen Bang. You just have to say this.”
Seeing Li Anping’s outstretched hand, Xu Li Chuan smiled as if he antic.i.p.ated the response, and handed the bank card to Li Anping. But what happened next was out of his expectations.
Li Anping snapped the bank card into two and threw it at Xu Li Chuan’s feet.
“Altering my statement, you can forget about it. Tell this to Shang Zhen Bang, prepare yourself for jail. As for compensation, I will naturally get it from you after the lawsuit.”
After saying this, Li Anping was filled with gratification as he looked at Xi Li Chuan with a mocking gaze. Seeing the shocked expression of the people around him, the disbelief and anger of his Aunt and Uncle, Li Anping puffed up his chest, feeling proud of his answer. This moment, he felt his body was filled with energy, with his conscience clear as day.
Xu Li Chuan took a deep breath, his face turning sour, as he stared at Li Anping deeply in the eye and said word by word: ” Good! Fantastic! Excellent! I hope you never regret this!” After saying that, he left without turning back.
After Xu Li Chuan left, Li Anping faced his furious Uncle and Aunt.
“Li Anping, are you insane?!” His aunt spat on his face.
“You?!” Li Anping shockingly stared at his aunt, not expecting her to react so violently.
“Li Anping, what do you want?” His uncle grabbed his shoulders with both arms and furiously shaked him: “The least my family did was raise you to this age. Isn’t it enough? My mother is over 70 years old, and she still has to come here everday to take care of your every need. Are you trying to end her life?”
“But I….”
His aunt jabbed a finger at Li Anping’s head as she scolded: “You little b.a.s.t.a.r.d, what do you have to say? From young till now all you’re capable of is to create trouble for us! Do you know how troublesome it is this time? Shang Zhen Bang’s father is Shang An Guo, the Zhongdu City’s Mayor!!” Will you only be satisfied after our whole family is dead?”
His aunt cried profusely as she continued to pound on Li Anping’s chest. Only until after grandma brought lunch over did she stop. After lunch was another round of arguments.
During that period, Li Anping sat blankly on his bed, his eyes were out of focus and the only thing he could feel was throbbing pain in his heart. He could not tell what the pain was, was it from the wound or from his aunt’s words.
Why did this happen?
Why did I get scolded by my family despite holding on to Justice?
Is withholding Justice wrong?
Li Anping was only 20 this year, but in the past 20 years he could proudly say to himself that he was a pursuer of justice, a man of righteousness.
Was I wrong to help someone in need?
Was I wrong to uphold my principles?
Was I wrong to not accept bribes and be in cahoots with the bad people?
Why did this cause grandma to suffer?
Why did this cause my uncle and aunts to turn on me?
No, I am not wrong.
Li Anping’s eyes shone with a bright light, seemingly having understood something?
All I have to do is win the lawsuit. After Shang Zhen Bang is arrested, the court will order my compensation, the truth will prove that I am right. The compensation money will allow grandma, my aunt and uncle to live a comfortable life.
Holding on to my justice, it is not wrong! There is light at the end of the tunnel.
On the other side of Zhongdu, in a beautiful and grand condominium.
Shang Zhen Bang laid on the sofa, pressing the remote controller out of boredom, but his eyes were not looking at the television.
Only after the room door was open, and seeing the middle aged man that came in, did he jump up.
“Dad, why did you give that rascal money? He dared to hit me!!” Shang Zhen Bang rushed to his father, and quickly said: “You just have to give me a hundred thousand dollars, I’ll immediately get Brother Huo and his gang to kill him, I’ll see how he can still testify in court.”
The man, which is Shang Zhen Bang’s father, coldly stared at him: “Have you not caused enough trouble? Your stunt this time has completely caused me to lose all my face. How many times do you want me to say this, those hooligans in triads, what are you doing hanging around them? Those useless people with no future, they’ll only lead you astray……”
Shang Zhen Bang did not dare to retort as he listened to his father’s preaching, until a call interrupted him.
“h.e.l.lo? Xu, how is the matter now?”
“Yes… yes… I understand.”
Shang An Guo hanged up the phone and frowned.
Shang Zhen Bang carefully observed his father’s facial expression and asked: “Was that uncle Xu? How is the matter now?”
“Li Anping refused to accept the money, he said that he will never change the testimony.”
Upon hearing this, Shang Zhen Bang jumped with joy as he shouted: “See? I told you that guy won’t lay low. Dad, he is finding the money little, and want to extort us. Just listen to me, and finish him off. Leave it to me and I’ll settle it without any traces.”
Bam!! Xu An Guo slammed his fist on the table and scolded: “Isn’t this because of you? Stay home this entire month and don’t think of going out. Once this case is settled you will go overseas immediately. Don’t let me see you here again. I will take care of the matter from here onwards, don’t cause any trouble and do not tell your brother about this. It is a crucial moment for him now.”
“Yes, I understand” Seeing that his father was enraged, Shang Zhen Bang immediately lowered his head in apprehension, but internally he was overjoyed.
“Hahaha, once I’m out of the country I’ll be like a fish in the sea. Dad cannot control my actions and I can even find elder brother to have fun… haha.”