The Secret of Second Marriage

I was stunned. I didn't expect my fighting power to be so strong after my emotions erupted!

The bar's security guards rushed over quickly, parted the crowd of onlookers, and stopped me and the group of thugs. In the chaos, I saw someone call the police.

I threw away the broken guitar in my hand, exhausted, and sat wearily on the bar floor, with colorful lights and the DJ's loud music playing overhead.

Juan also made her way through the crowd to find me and asked, "Man, are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

I say.

Juan suddenly hugged me tightly, bursting into tears, and said, "I'm so glad you're alright, Man. You're my best friend in this city, and I didn't want you to get hurt!"

I was so moved by those words that I cried.

I said, "Juan, you need to take care of yourself too. Does your stomach still hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt too much anymore."

"Man, although life is a mess, we still have to live it well, live it to show those scumbags what happens when you're betrayed? So what if you get divorced in middle age? You can still live a carefree and happy life."

Juan suddenly said something very sentimental.

We two down-on-our-luck women actually smiled at each other in the bar after our fight.

……

In the interrogation room of the police station, the light shone on me, and sitting opposite me was a young policeman who looked somewhat serious.

He asked me coldly, "Name, gender, age, workplace, and why were you fighting?"

"They started it. My best friend and I were about to go home after drinking. They stopped us and insisted on causing trouble, saying that we hit them and that we had to apologize to them."

Juan and I were completely baffled, wondering who this was. It was all so inexplicable.

Those thugs blocked our way, wouldn't let us leave, and started cursing us with vulgarities like "gossips." They even kicked my best friend in the stomach, making her squat on the ground crying from the pain.

You know, Juan is my only good friend in this city. Juan is my own sister. He hit my sister. How could I go with them? So I couldn't help but fight back.

Besides, what kind of good people are those four or five men who beat up two women?

I said defiantly.

This was the first time in my life I'd ever been to a police station for fighting, and I never expected it to turn out like this.

"Ms. Jiang, I understand what you've said. We'll send someone to verify it."

But I want to tell you that no matter how many reasons you have, fighting is wrong, and the law doesn't give you that right. Besides, conflicts are most likely to break out in places like bars, which are often chaotic and unpleasant places. Try to avoid going there in the future, understand?

"Officer, I know fighting is wrong, and I never intended to fight. It's just that the other side had more people and started picking a fight with us two women right away. They kicked us right away, which was too much."

I acted out of necessity to protect myself and my friends. I don't think I did anything wrong.

I can only promise you that after this experience, I'll try my best not to go to those crowded, mixed-race bars again.

I say.

After I finished giving my statement, the police officer who interrogated me left, and a female police officer from the local police station came in, poured me a glass of water, and gave me a box of instant noodles. She asked me if I was hungry and if I wanted a late-night snack.

I said thank you.

I was really tired from fighting, and I was exhausted. Plus, it was already one or two in the morning when I got to the police station, so I was quite hungry.

I said, "Could I add another sausage?"

"Can"

The policewoman was very friendly and approachable; she went back to her office and got me a bowl of instant noodles.

I tore open the red beef noodle paper lid on the instant noodle box, poured boiling water into the kettle, threw in a sausage, stuck a fork in the lid, and made myself a late-night snack.

Alone and lonely, I sat in the police station late at night, on a stainless steel chair, handcuffed, eating instant noodles with a fork. Thinking of my best friend, I asked the policewoman on duty, "Where's Juan, the friend who came in with me?"

"She's very loyal; she didn't participate in the fight. After asking her a few questions, she was just released. I saw her still outside the police station late at night in this cold weather, so I called someone to bail you out."

The policewoman said.

I nodded and asked her, "I'll be alright, won't I?"

The policewoman said, "We handle more than a dozen cases like yours every month involving fighting in bars. The thugs you beat up also have criminal records, and they started it. Don't worry, it shouldn't be too serious."

I felt relieved and then ate my instant noodles with peace of mind.

More than an hour later, the thugs finished their interrogation and were taken to the hospital for a medical examination.

The female police officer informed me, "Find someone to come to the police station to bail you out. The thugs you beat up only suffered minor injuries."

They were at fault to begin with, but they agreed to talk privately. When you get someone to bail you out, you only need to settle their hospital examination fees, medical expenses, and lost wages, which will be around 2 yuan.

"2? Why should I pay for it?"

I say.

The policewoman said, "Because you injured someone."

I don't understand: "But I acted in self-defense! Four or five thugs ganged up on me and Juan, two women. We were the victims. In the chaos, I was also injured. I had several bumps on my head, and my head is spinning. I haven't even gone to the hospital for a checkup yet. Why should I pay for it?"

"The above is the conclusion: it's classified as a mutual fight, Ms. Jiang. I'm sorry. Regardless, you did hit someone, so both sides are at fault."

You'd better pay someone to bail you out, otherwise you'll have a criminal record.

The female police officer said.

She probably considered that I was also a woman, and like her, a mother, so she had a natural sympathy for me.

The interrogation room, with its cold walls bearing the eight characters representing the dignity of the law—"Confess and you will be treated leniently; resist and you will be punished severely"—along with blue warning signs, made me feel quite oppressed, as if I had truly become a criminal.

I took a deep breath. I was clearly the victim, but now I had to pay 2 yuan in compensation.

After thinking about it, in order to avoid leaving a criminal record, I called Yuhao.

I don't know why, but in this city, when I was at my most helpless, the first person I wanted to call was President Jiang.

But my relationship with President Jiang has become very strained recently.

I can't accept that Mr. Jiang treats me as a substitute for his first love, so I've already made up my mind to break up with him.

Since you're breaking up, it's not appropriate to bother them.

So I called Yuhao and briefly told him what happened tonight.

Yuhao had connections at the police station, and he quickly made a phone call.

I don't know what kind of connections he used, but anyway, my situation improved immediately.

The very serious policeman who had interrogated me earlier became serious and came over to tell me that they had made a mistake. Juan and I were indeed victims, and that a group of thugs had started the fight and had criminal records.

We were acting in self-defense and don't need to pay compensation. We can ask relatives or friends to come to the police station to apply for bail, sign the papers, and then we can leave.

I was slightly shocked at the time.

The saying "having more friends means having more options" is truly accurate.

If I hadn't met Yuhao, I might have been wrongly accused of mutual assault, which would have not only cost me money but could have even landed me in jail.

But at least now I'm innocent.

Fortunately, it was a close call, and I'm quite satisfied with the result.

The moment I walked out of the police station, I truly felt the loneliness I had experienced for the first time in my 10 years of living and working in Beijing.

The main road outside was deserted, with only the lights on the utility poles along the roadside illuminated.

Juan waited for me outside the police station.

"I'm sorry, Man, you fought those bastards because of me."

Juan was the first to rush up and hug me tightly, tears streaming down her face.

I only found out later that she couldn't bail me out because she had been arrested and taken to the police station for getting into trouble with me at the bar.

She gave a statement and signed it, and then the police released her.

She waited for me outside the police station.

I said, "Juan, I don't regret it."

Juan said, "Man, I'm sorry, I was too anxious just now. I called all my friends, both those I could and those I couldn't, asking them to pull some strings and get you released as soon as possible."

President Jiang should have arrived by now. He just received your message and went to the lobby with his ID to process your bail.

I was stunned for a moment. The image of President Jiang, who was successful, elegant, mature and composed, came to mind. To be honest, I really didn't want him to see me in such a disheveled and miserable state.

President Jiang's car was parked under the trees in the green belt not far from the police station entrance.

In the brief moment I was distracted, he had already finished the formalities at the police station, walked up to me, and asked, "Why were you fighting tonight?"

"They started it. I hit them to teach them a lesson: don't underestimate women, and definitely don't bully them."

I say.

Suddenly, President Jiang patted my head, hugged me, and whispered, "Call me next time you go out for drinks. Men should be the ones to play the hero and save the damsel in distress."

As your boyfriend, I didn't protect you well enough, and I feel really guilty about it.

No wonder I noticed he looked a little pale when I first saw him.

I was just wondering if Mr. Jiang was unhappy because he thought I was meddling in the fight, but now I realize that what he really felt was guilt for not protecting me.

My nose tingled, and tears streamed down my face. I had a strange feeling that I was separated from President Jiang by another world.

President Jiang's comforting words relaxed my tense nerves. At that moment, I felt a little weak and fell into his arms. For a moment, I craved his warmth.

Perhaps it was because the night was too cold.

The heaviness and oppression in my heart lessened somewhat, and I felt as if I had been reborn, greedily breathing in the fresh air outside.

Feeling guilty, I said to President Jiang, "I'm sorry, President Jiang, I've caused you so much trouble. Making you come all this way so late at night... I'll try my best not to trouble you again next time."

"You are not my problem."

Mr. Jiang didn't seem to mind coming out late at night to bail me out, even though he had to go to work the next day.

He said, "Man, let me take you back."

I chuckled self-deprecatingly: "President Jiang, in your eyes I probably wouldn't be considered a good woman, would I? Tonight I drank, got into a fight, went to a bar, and ended up in jail..."

"Man, none of this is your fault. Besides, drinking, singing, fighting... doesn't prove you're not a good woman! Have you forgotten that you saved my life on the trip? What kind of person are you? I don't need to hear what others say; I know it myself."

President Jiang said.