Take a gamble 2

Upon hearing this name, Li Cheng's emotions erupted once again. He forced himself to let out a piercing roar and pounded the bed haphazardly.

The person in the same bed was also startled, and the family member said impatiently, "There are other patients here. Can't you guys have some manners?"

"Get out of here!"

Li Yanzhang shoved Song Zhao forcefully.

Song Zhao struggled desperately, saying recklessly, "There's no such thing as a free lunch. I'm here to make a deal. You lost your leg, but you're still alive. Do you think you'll still be alive after you're discharged from the hospital?!"

Seeing that Li Yanzhang had pushed Song Zhao forward, Wu Hua, fearing that he would take his anger out on Song Zhao, quickly stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "She's just Nanqi's class monitor, she came to help out..."

Li Yanzhang had already let go, but Song Zhao grabbed him back, saying, "Was what I just said wrong? Don't you care about your son's life?"

Li Yanzhang pondered for a moment without saying anything. After a while, Wang Suping also pushed open the door and came out.

How much money are you willing to pay?

How many do you want?

Li Yanzhang slowly raised his hand, "Five..."

Song Zhaoyi grabbed his shoulder and said, “I want to reiterate that I can only ask for money to study abroad. I can’t help you with anything more, so I’d rather not help at all.”

Wang Suping and Li Yanzhang looked at each other and whispered about the amount.

Watching their conversation, Wu Hua's heart was in his throat.

Wang Suping snatched the bankbook from Wu Hua's hand, saying, "Give me another two million, that's the lowest you can go."

Li Yanzhang chimed in, "As soon as I get the money, I'll have my son write a letter of forgiveness."

Wu Hua frowned upon hearing the figure, but Song Zhao said frankly, "Money is no problem, but I need not only a letter of understanding, but also three additional conditions."

"You!" Li Yanzhang was about to lose his temper, but Wang Suping stopped him, "You speak first."

"First, you must not tell anyone about this, especially Zhang Nanqi. You are not allowed to tell her. If anyone is to tell, it can only be through me."

Upon hearing this, Li Yanzhang glanced at her disdainfully.

Song Zhao added, "This condition is a confidentiality clause, and I will write it in the agreement."

"What are you trying to achieve?" Li Yanzhang asked.

"Never mind that. Just consider me a kind-hearted person who doesn't expect anything in return and does good deeds anonymously. I'm simply trying to help my unfortunate classmate. Your daughter, Li Jia, is also my classmate, so my second condition is that you must not make things difficult for Li Jia anymore, at least you can't lay a hand on her again."

Li Yanzhang and Wang Suping glanced at the bruises on Li Jia's face, and the couple seemed to find them glaring and embarrassing, quickly shifting their gaze back. Wang Suping said, "This is fine too."

Song Zhao said in a deep voice, "I can only pay you after you have completed this third condition."

“It’s not a difficult thing, just say a few words. I want Li Cheng to tell the police that he was kicking Nan Qi into the road while he was beating her.”

"You made my son commit perjury!!" Li Yanzhang was furious and slammed the bill in his hand to the ground, leaning his upper body towards Song Zhao.

Wu Hua quickly hugged Song Zhao and took a few steps back, but Song Zhao was not arrogant at all. He raised his head and his voice was even more steady and powerful, "The police will find out who started it with a simple investigation. There is evidence of your son's violence on Nan Qi."

Song Zhao then looked at Wu Hua and said, "Nanqi only took action to protect herself."

Wang Suping burst into tears and said, "You're talking nonsense! My son had already stopped. It was she who wouldn't let it go and insisted on targeting my son! My son only hit her twice with his bare hands. What could she do? Could she lose a leg?!"

"What are you saying? Who knows if your son stopped then, or if he wanted to stretch his wrists and continue the violence!" Song Zhao's gaze was extremely cold. If the chill in her eyes could freeze, Wang Suping would have been riddled with holes by the icicles she had shot at her.

"Most importantly, he hit Nanqi in the head, which is a deadly blow. Nanqi was so badly injured that she almost lost her mind and kicked your son out of the instinct to survive."

"As for your son's broken leg, it was caused by a car accident. In the end, it was just an accident. At that time, there were almost no cars on that section of the road. If there had been a few more cars, your son probably wouldn't have been able to catch up with the two of them."

As Song Zhao spoke, she looked at Li Jia. Li Jia glanced back at her, then quickly lowered her head. She didn't have the courage to stand up and say something for Nan Qi. Her eyes were avoiding the gaze of everyone present.

"For Zhang Nanqi, whose brain had already lost its ability to judge at the time, it was impossible for her to have had the time and ability to predict that a truck would come when she kicked your son. So objectively speaking, this was simply an accident."

After Li Jia told Song Zhao the whole story, on their way there they also went to the scene of the incident. The surveillance cameras on that road could only capture vehicles driving on the road, but the place where they had their argument was outside the road, which happened to be a blind spot for the surveillance cameras.

Unless Li Jia is willing to put aside her family ties for the greater good, it's hard to say for sure. It's already commendable that Li Jia told Song Zhao the truth despite the pressure from her family. Asking her to give testimony that is detrimental to Li Cheng is something she simply cannot do.

"Are you saying it's all my son's fault, or that we've wronged her?!" Li Yanzhang said angrily.

"I'm just telling you that based on the existing evidence, the chances of Nanqi being sentenced are not very high, and the lawyer will be much more professional than me."

Song Zhao added fuel to the fire, saying, "Oh, right, I should also remind you of something: the longer this case drags on, the deeper the police will investigate. The reason why those two fought is that you restricted Li Jia's personal freedom, right? That alone constitutes a crime."

"But your daughter is your family's daughter, and no one can force her to talk about it. If the police dig deeper, the reason is your son's gambling debts. Besides gambling, has your son helped with anything else, such as organizing gambling or introducing gamblers?"

Wang Suping panicked and said, "Don't wrong my son. He was persecuted by the casino. How could he possibly harm others?"

"Really? Do you believe that yourselves? Even if he doesn't, he still has an obligation to assist the police in providing information about casinos, right? If the police take his statement a few more times and interview a few more people from the casinos, do you think those people might... Hmm, I see those people on TV who live on the edge, they not only show no mercy to betrayers, but they also treat their families the same way." Song Zhao said seemingly casually.

"What do you want?!" Li Yanzhang's muscles twitched involuntarily, clearly showing that he was starting to feel scared.

Song Zhao pressed her advantage, saying, "Agree to my conditions, and we'll cooperate. I'll give you every penny you owe. Of course, you can also refuse. Then..." She deliberately removed Wu Hua's hand, "Don't expect a classmate of mine—no, a helpful classmate—to do anything for Zhang Nanqi. Either I rescue her completely, or I don't. You decide what to do."

“We’ll think about it,” Wang Suping said.

"I'm sorry, I need to tell my dad about my plans to go abroad tonight, including the costs. We need to finalize the details now, whether it's over or underreporting the expenses."

Seeing that the two were still hesitating, she turned around, raised her head, and said with her last bit of courage, "I don't have much patience. If you don't speak, I'll take it as you're unwilling."

She walked forward step by step, but her feet felt as heavy as lead. With each step, she was filled with fear and panic. But she couldn't stop. She had to walk with her head held high. She was gambling, gambling that they would call her back, gambling that she could win this battle for Nanqi.

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After another turn, there was the elevator. Song Zhao's steps grew smaller and smaller, and fine beads of sweat slid down her brows to her cheeks.

"Wait a minute." Wang Suping paused, then said, "We agree."

When they came out of the hospital, the sun had already set. Song Zhao helped Wu Hua to the hospital entrance, and in an instant, she felt a churning in her stomach and squatted down on the road, retching uncontrollably.

"Zhaozhao, how are you?" Wu Hua handed her a tissue and patted her back.

Song Zhao waved her hand, still gagging. Wu Hua went to the store and bought her a bottle of mineral water so she could rinse her mouth.

After a long pause, Song Zhao finally said, "I'm fine."

"Why don't you go to the hospital to get it checked out?"

Song Zhao knew that it was caused by too much pressure. She had experienced the same reaction a year ago. Taking medicine didn't help, and she just needed to get through the night.

"It's all settled now." Song Zhao forced a smile and said gently, "Auntie, don't worry, it's just a matter of money left, I can handle that."

Wu Hua's eyes instantly filled with tears, "It's our Nanqi who owes you..."

"Auntie, don't cry, everything will be alright, Nanqi will be fine."

"Uh-huh…"