Restarting life in Siheyuan

Chapter 461 Everything is an accident

Song Tangyun's father looked hesitantly at Zhu Xuefeng who came with Gao Bo, and hadn't spoken yet.

"You can go too. I'm Xia Yuhong's classmate and I know your daughter. I can just help look after her."

"Thank you, young man..."

"Brother, I'm sorry to ask you to come with me to accompany me, but you haven't had dinner yet."

Zhu Xuefeng took out a few steamed buns and some small pieces of pickled cabbage from his bag.

"As soon as you said that, I knew we wouldn't be able to have dinner. Daya helped pack this. I would have forgotten about it if you hadn't said it. You must be hungry after a night of tossing and turning. Let's eat something with some pickles. We still have three or four hours until dawn."

The two of them ate steamed buns with pickles, but they were hard to swallow because they were too dry.

"Wait a moment, I'll go get some water." The two of them managed to get by with the hot water and pickles.

It was the late night and the hospital was very quiet. There were only two girls who couldn't wake up in the ward. Zhu Xuefeng signaled and Gao Feng came over. He saw his senior brother took out a pill and gestured to divide it into four parts.

"Soak it in water and feed it to him once every three days. After two times, we'll see how he performs. He should be able to survive. Whether he wakes up or not depends on luck."

Zhu Xuefeng had no idea to what extent his brain nerves were damaged or whether the healing medicine would be effective.

No one disturbed them, and the two of them finished feeding the wounded with great difficulty, sweating profusely. The wounded had lost consciousness and basically did not cooperate, so it was very difficult to feed them.

"There's nothing I can do now. I can only wait and see how effective the medicine is. I'll feed it again in three days and see."

Gao Bo nodded, squatted in front of the bed, and looked at Yang Ying, who looked like a mummy, stupidly.

"You will keep telling your partner about her favorite things and the things you two did together. Remember to tell them whenever you have time."

Recalling the stories of treating vegetative patients in later generations, Zhu Xuefeng came up with an idea that he himself was not sure whether it was reliable or not. Art comes from life, and there may really be successful examples, although no one around him has heard of any successful examples.

Gao Bo blushed. How could he not tell their story in front of his senior brother?

"If you want your wife to wake up, just go ahead and tell her. Man, don't be shy. Show some emotion, slow down, and hold her hand."

"Brother, is this method really useful?" Gao Bo held Yang Ying's hand. Yang Ying did not respond at all. Gao Bo asked hesitantly.

"You won't know if it works until you try it. Do you have any other ideas? If she doesn't wake up for one day, keep telling her. If she doesn't wake up for one month, keep telling her for one month. If she can hear you, it will stimulate her stronger desire to survive. Only with this can she wake up."

As Zhu Xuefeng spoke, he began to believe it. It was really possible that it could succeed.

"It's a pity that Xiao Song doesn't have a boyfriend, otherwise he would have called her over to talk with us."

Zhu Xuefeng decided that if the healing medicine couldn't make the two men open their eyes, he would find an opportunity to try using the space, which should be effective, but he could only wait until there was no hope here and gave up completely. He had no reason to take two seriously injured people away.

Time passed quickly, and more than ten days passed in a blink of an eye. With the continuous recovery of the healing medicine, the bodies of the two girls showed some signs of improvement. Unfortunately, it was not visible from the outside. In the eyes of the doctor, there was no change in the two girls, and the possibility of waking up was still slim.

The Jim car was also found. It was the private car of a certain leader. As it involved both leaders and civilians, the public response was huge and they unanimously demanded severe punishment for the murderer. This vicious traffic accident caused extremely bad impact in the capital.

The police acted quickly, and the perpetrator turned himself in the next morning. In order to quell public anger as soon as possible, the court is also investigating the case as quickly as possible and will hold a public trial and sentencing in the near future.

The internship has ended and school is about to start. My younger brothers and sisters have also returned to the compound to make preparations before school starts.

"Brother, Sister Xia and the others should be back by now. I miss her so much."

After sending Shazhu and his sister off, Xuemei couldn't help but ask.

"Well, they're taking the train tonight. I'll pick them up then."

...

"What? Xiaoyun was in a car accident and hasn't woken up yet?"

Xia Yuhong, who had just left the station, was shocked. "How is he now? Is he still under observation in the hospital? Has the murderer been caught? Who is so cruel?"

"I'm still in the hospital, but the hospital said there's no point in delaying this any longer and suggested that I be sent home for observation after two more days."

Xia Yuhong and Zhou Tangyun were childhood friends and lived in the same alley. They always played together when they were little and had a good relationship. When she heard that her childhood friend might never wake up again, her eyes suddenly turned red and she spoke through gritted teeth.

"What's the difference between this and murder? Where is the murderer?"

"The murderer turned himself in and will be tried in a few days. It is said that he was a leader's driver. He drank a little and was confused. He made a mistake in judgment at the time. The specific circumstances are not clear."

"I will definitely go to see the interrogation! I must see who it is. Such a disregard for human life must not be forgiven."

Lin Na also felt very sympathetic towards the two girls, but seeing that Xia Yuhong was a little out of control, she still tried to comfort her.

"Xiao Hong, don't get too excited. The incident has already happened, so the court will naturally take care of it. I will accompany you to visit your friend and see if her family is having any difficulties. And comfort her parents, okay?"

Xia Yuhong wiped away her tears and said, "Well, thank you Sister Na, Xiaofeng, do you know which hospital it is? Take us to see it..."

The trial started quickly. The public trial court was full of people. The driver who caused the accident was brought up. He was an honest man who looked law-abiding. He was not young either, almost fifty years old. His temples were already a little gray, and his expression was gloomy. He kept his head down, not daring to face the victim's parents and the excited crowd.

Under the court's questioning, the driver recounted what happened in a disjointed manner.

The driver's surname was Zhang, and his name was Zhang Shulin. He was in a relaxed mood after get off work, and the next day was Sunday, so he relaxed a little and drank some wine. On the way back, he accidentally hit someone. He didn't realize that he had a car accident at the time, and thought it was because the ground was uneven and bumped a few times, so he didn't stop to check, and went straight home and fell asleep.

When he woke up the next day, he heard that he had a car accident on the way home yesterday. He thought more and more that something was wrong, so he quickly checked the car and found that there were indeed signs of hitting someone. He then took the initiative to turn himself in. The police confirmed that it was indeed the vehicle that caused the accident, and also confirmed that he still smelled of alcohol when he turned himself in. The driver apologized very painfully, and was willing to pay all the rescue costs and compensation. His attitude was extremely sincere. Faced with this situation, although the two parents were heartbroken, they had no choice but to sit in the audience in a daze and said nothing.

The unit of the driver who caused the accident also came forward to testify that Zhang Shulin had started working two years before liberation. He was an upright person, warm-hearted, proactive, conscientious and meticulous in his work, and usually cared about the collective. He had been driving safely for many years without a single traffic accident. This accident was indeed accidental. We request the court to give him a lighter sentence in view of his usual performance, his active surrender, his voluntary admission of mistakes, and his active attitude of compensation.

The crowd, which was originally filled with righteous indignation, calmed down a lot, and unconsciously turned from hating the perpetrator to feeling sorry for the perpetrator and the victim.

"How could such a good old comrade make such a mistake and drink so much that he made mistakes? In my opinion, you can't drive after drinking. There should be legislation to regulate this. Two years ago, someone was drunk and drove a truck into someone's house. The house collapsed, but fortunately no one died."

"So how was the verdict made?"

"It was an accident. The driver was exhausted after a long journey. Seeing that they were not far from the capital, he was happy and drank a little at dinner. As a result, he entered the city in the middle of the night. He was drunk and bulldozed the house and buried several people. In other words, no one died. He was sentenced to two years of correctional education, and his company compensated him for the house and medical expenses."

"Well, what do you think will be the verdict this time? I thought it was an official who was being overbearing and domineering, but it turns out that he is just an honest driver."

"How can we judge him for an accidental car accident? He is still alive and he voluntarily surrendered himself, apologized and paid compensation. I think three to five years of disciplinary action is enough."

(Discipline is not a strict sentence, but a form of detention that originated from the Huaihai Campaign. After 57, it was mostly used for general cases arising from internal conflicts among the people, but it would not be sentenced by court.)

There was a lot of discussion below, but no one thought that the sentence would be severe. After all, it was an accident and no one wanted it to happen.

"Quiet, quiet!" the judge shouted.

"After the perpetrator's statement, this court has verified that the situation is true. The above situation is well documented. Considering the comrade's consistent performance, considering that this accident was purely accidental, and considering that the perpetrator took the initiative to surrender... This court now pronounces the following sentence. The criminal Zhang Shulin, due to negligently causing serious injuries, is sentenced to three years in prison after deliberation by this court! And he shall compensate the victim according to the results of the coordination..."

Ever since everyone knew that this incident was not a malicious injury but just an accident, there has been no more public outrage.

The public has no objection to the three-year sentence announced by the court. They originally thought that he was bullying others by taking advantage of his power, but it turned out to be a momentary negligence of an honest man. (There is no such thing as drunkenness these days. The usual performance at work is extremely important. The maximum sentence for accidental car accidents is five years.)
"Two lives, only three years?" Some people still think the sentence is too light.

"It was just negligent homicide and other factors. This case has only been going on for about three years. It's just hard for these two families. They raised the child with great difficulty, and then he was severely injured. I heard that he hasn't woken up yet."

The victim was unable to attend, so the parents of the two families could only accept the apology and compensation with heavy hearts. After paying the medical expenses, Zhang Shulin's unit paid another 200 yuan to each of the two families.

Everything seemed normal, but an old man nearby couldn't help but question it in a low voice, "I remember that the two young men who ran away after hitting someone were probably two young men. What a mess..."

The old man's muttering was heard by Xia Yuhong who was unwilling to give up, so she quickly called him.

"Master, what did you just say?"

"I am confused. I seem to remember that there were two young men stopping two girls. They quarreled for a few words and then broke up. Then they were hit from behind..." The old man wanted to say something but was pulled away by his wife. Xia Yuhong was not willing to let go and hurriedly chased after them.

"Girl, please don't make things difficult for us old couple. He must have remembered it wrongly. It didn't happen. Don't listen to the old man's nonsense. Just let us go."

Zhu Xuefeng, who was accompanying Lin Na, found that Xia Yuhong ran out, so he pulled Lin Na out to chase after her.

"Uncle, tell me the truth, if the person in the accident was your relative or friend, would you have the heart to hit him and avoid legal punishment?"

"Girl, I was just talking nonsense, don't take it to heart..."

Seeing that many people were gathering around him, the old man didn't dare to say anything after being reminded by his wife. He directly denied it and hurriedly got rid of Xia Yuhong and was about to leave.

"How could you do this?" Xia Yuhong was about to take action, but was pulled back by Zhu Xuefeng who rushed over.

"Let the old man go. There are too many people here. He doesn't dare. Let's follow him."

"But…."

"Xiaohong, listen to him. There are so many people here. The old man and his family have concerns and dare not say anything..." Lin Na was very calm and understood the key to the matter in just a few words.

The three people followed the old couple, and the old couple also noticed that the three people were following them. They felt helpless, but when they reached their home, the three people still followed them.

"Old man, I told you to stop talking, but you just can't control your mouth. Now trouble has come to you. Let me see what you can do."

The old woman complained and went into the house. The old man looked at the three people approaching and went into the house without saying a word, but just closed the door. Xia Yuhong walked in front and seemed to understand what the old man meant. The three followed her into the house and closed the door. The old man was already sitting there waiting.

"Who are you? Now that the verdict has been made, what can you do about it?"

Zhu Xuefeng stopped Xia Yuhong and said, "Uncle, we are friends of the two victims. If this is really an accident, there is nothing we can do. But if the perpetrator finds someone to take the blame and gets away with it, we have to take care of it. We also know that you can't stand this kind of thing. Don't worry, we are at your home right now. Tell us the truth and we will definitely bring the real criminal to justice."

The old woman came out with a kettle and poured a bowl of boiled water for the three of them.

"Young man, don't blame your uncle. We ordinary people don't dare to intervene in such matters. Don't think the aunt is selfish. We don't dare to offend officials. Although times have changed, who knows what this family is like? We really don't dare."

The two old men came from the old society, and the fear of being an official was engraved in their bones. They did not completely relax their fear just because they moved to the new society.

Zhu Xuefeng could only express his understanding, "Auntie, I just want to hear what happened to this car accident. If there is really a hidden story, how about we find a way to prevent you from showing up?"

"Young man, I'm so ashamed. This matter, ah, you can't blame me, an old woman. No one dares to intervene in this matter. The old man said this. I really didn't see the collision at that time, but I really saw a young man getting off the car and pulling a girl."

The old man spoke a little anxiously, paused, drank a sip of water, and continued.

"I saw two young men coming down and arguing for a few words before parting ways. I saw that the young man was still angry, so I didn't take it seriously. I went into the house and came out when I heard some noise outside. I saw from a distance that the car had already driven away."

"Young man, my old man has told you everything he saw. You can do whatever you want. Don't blame Auntie. There were so many people talking just now that I really didn't dare to let the old man talk nonsense. If it weren't for the fact that those two girls were so pitiful, it would be a sin."

"Auntie, I understand what you mean, but I have to ask you for help. You don't have to show up. Uncle, do you still remember what the young man looks like?"

(End of this chapter)