Chapter 20 The second, the third... the seventh. It's clear that Joe...
The second, the third... the seventh.
It was clear that Qiao Yanyu had deliberately placed those who were particularly grateful to Gossian at the front. These families made Gossian howl incessantly. Every time it was asked to come out as a lookout, it would howl: "It's so great that we were able to save them, it's really so great."
One family was rescued by Gossian, including a mother and child. She tied the child tightly to her front, used a cross knot to carry the mother, who was fainting from inhaling too much black smoke, on her back, and carried her out of the building step by step. Then she turned around and went back in to rescue others.
Her actions undoubtedly saved the family. Although the mother suffered from lung damage due to excessive smoke inhalation, it was already a stroke of luck that she survived, and the fact that her daughter was also alive made her extremely grateful to Gossian.
This young mother even gave her daughter a nickname, "Nian Nian".
Upon hearing this, Gossian truly felt that his life had not ended, but had been genuinely continued. If ghosts could cry, he would surely be weeping uncontrollably by now.
However, things started to go wrong starting with the eighth company.
The eighth person she rescued, the ninth, was the least injured. This boy, around ten years old, had twisted his ankle while going down the stairs. Because of the pain, he could only sit on the stairs. In fact, after a while, he could catch his breath and slowly walk down on his own.
When Gossian was passing by with another person, he saw him, helped him up, and followed him downstairs step by step. The little boy's foot healed after three months of recuperation. Perhaps for this reason, the family wasn't particularly grateful to Gossian.
The elderly family members even said directly, "Even without her, our precious grandson would not have been in any trouble."
So, Qiao Yanyu and He Zhao didn't even enter the door or see the little boy before turning around and leaving. Gosinian, inside the glass bottle, heard their entire conversation, but when it came out of the bottle, it didn't seem to experience much.
“What they said is right. Even without me, he can walk down on his own after a while.”
He Zhao shook his head and pointed out the flaw in the argument: "No, you and they are only thinking about the most ideal scenario. What if the little boy accidentally inhaled more smoke while he was recovering over there, causing him to become dizzy and unable to walk? Or what if he tripped and fell while dragging his sprained ankle down the road, causing him to completely lose his mobility?"
"They're just looking at what happened in the best-case scenario afterward. In the fire, a boy of about ten years old was already injured, and it was hard to predict what would happen next. No matter how you look at it, you saved that boy. It's their family that doesn't know how to be grateful; they're a bunch of rotten people."
Although Qiao Yanyu didn't speak, she stood next to He Zhao, nodded, and agreed with her statement.
Gossian was deeply moved by He Zhao's words and immediately shouted, "Boss, you're so kind!" while trying to rush over and hug He Zhao. At that moment, He Zhao remembered the scene when she touched Gossian's head and was jolted by the cold air. She quickly took a step back and hid behind Qiao Yanyu.
Taking advantage of the momentum of Gossian's lunge, Qiao Yanyu swiftly pulled her into the glass bottle.
The next family they visited was also somewhat disappointing. Their situation wasn't good, and they directly refused to see He Zhao and Qiao Yanyu. Through the door, they simply said, "I don't know Gosinian."
After that, Gossian became much more silent. But what was truly suffocating was the last one, the one where he is still hospitalized to this day.
Finally, the eleventh person rescued by Gossian was the grandmother of this family. Although she was called a grandmother, the children in the family were still very young, and the grandmother was only in her fifties. The young people in the middle were in their thirties, the prime of their lives.
She was the most severely injured, suffering from severe burns all over her body, and is still in the hospital, relying on a ventilator to maintain her vital signs. The daily hospital expenses are a huge burden for this family. When Qiao Yanyu secretly visited them before, she overheard their family saying:
"I don't know why we saved her. She'd be better off dead in this state. If you're going to save someone, you should save them completely. Saving them to this extent is worse than not saving them at all."
The family no longer cared what the rescued person was thinking. However, what Qiao Yanyu found most unbearable was that she went to the ward herself while the family was away. When the name "Gossian" was mentioned, the expression on the person lying in the hospital bed was not one of gratitude.
Her eyes were filled with hatred and disgust.
It seems she was also persuaded by her family, who believed that Gossian shouldn't have saved her, and that if he hadn't, none of this would have happened.
It's pathetic, but it also makes people hate it.
Qiao Yanyu secretly didn't want Gosinian to meet this family. But finding this person was Gosinian's wish, and now only this last person was missing. No matter what, they had to meet him.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Qiao Yanyu and He Zhao, still disguised as community workers, went to the ward to visit the patient.
As soon as the two women explained their background, the family's son, a man older than He Zhao and Qiao Yanyu, began to pour out his grievances in front of them, saying, "I know it's not good to say this, but look at my mother, she's been in the hospital bed every day since she was rescued, and she has to be on a ventilator. As her son, it breaks my heart to see her like this. Seeing her in so much pain, I wish she had just died."
"Oh, right, I also heard that the woman who saved my mom back then, what was her name again... oh, Gossian, she had a very expensive insurance policy before she died, and she paid out quite a bit. Considering that she saved my mom back then, could we think of a way to get her to help out and donate some money to my mom? Anyway, my mom needs help, and besides, Gossian's compensation money has already been donated, so it doesn't matter who we donate to, right?"
This shameless statement was too much for He Zhao to bear. She wanted to speak up directly, but she was worried about affecting Qiao Yanyu. She looked at Qiao Yanyu, whose eyes were calm and seemed to be saying—just do what you want to do.
He Zhao couldn't hold back any longer and started criticizing.
"Oh, you idiot, you're really dreaming. Donate to you? Are you out of your mind? Gossian is already dead. If you want her to donate to you, you should go die too! You can become a ghost and stare at her, asking her, 'Can I donate to your mother?'"
He Zhao has a truly sharp tongue; it's all from playing games, and she's not just any ordinary troll—her insults are always well-reasoned and supported by evidence. Plus, when she occasionally throws in her less-than-perfect Mandarin and dialect, the damage is amplified.
Moreover, He Zhao was full of imposing manner, as if she would scold this good-for-nothing man mercilessly if he dared to utter a single word in his defense.
Although the scoundrel was a rude, uncouth, and ruthless guy, he had never been insulted like this before. He Zhao wasn't about to let him off the hook, and pressed on: "You keep saying your mother might as well be dead, then why don't you just unplug her oxygen machine? What, are you still using your mother to get donations from philanthropists on Waterdrop Crowdfunding? You can't bear to unplug the tube, can you?!"
He Zhao didn't miss the fleeting look of guilt on his face, and immediately pointed at him: "Oh! You're guilty! You idiot, I hit the nail on the head!"
The man who had fallen down was indeed caught off guard by He Zhao's words. He was furious and embarrassed: "What nonsense are you talking about!" He also felt that the way He Zhao was pointing at him was really unpleasant, so he reached out and tried to pry He Zhao's fingers apart.
He Zhao reacted quickly, immediately withdrawing his hand and hiding behind Qiao Yanyu.
This was her personal bodyguard, and she firmly believed that Qiao Yanyu was not only skilled against ghosts, but also had some tricks up her sleeve against people. Sure enough, just as He Zhao had expected, the moment the slumped man reached out his hand to He Zhao, Qiao Yanyu was already prepared, and as the man approached, Qiao Yanyu also reached out her hand.
She grabbed the man's wrist, twisted it behind his back, and then used a clever footwork. Before He Zhao could even see what happened, he saw the man's hand twisted behind his back by Qiao Yanyu, and he was forced to kneel on one knee. His hands were bound behind his back, his body was leaning forward, his upper body was bent, and his other hand was flailing wildly. He was still yelling, "Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
He was clearly not going to give in so easily, and was still shouting, "You're all going to die! How dare you hit someone! I'm calling the police to arrest you!"
Qiao Yanyu tightened her grip on his wrist, rendering the man speechless for a moment. At the same time, her voice rang out: "There are security cameras in the hospital corridor. It's obvious you attacked first. I was just defending myself. Besides, we are public officials; it's unreasonable for you to lay a hand on us."
Qiao Yanyu's voice was crisp and clear, but the scumbag was still yelling.
Qiao Yanyu shook her head and pushed him forward. The man who had fallen stumbled several steps before barely managing to stand. He turned around, about to launch into a tirade, but saw Qiao Yanyu's expressionless face and heard her somewhat cold words: "We're here this time to investigate Waterdrop Crowdfunding. As far as I know, you own two properties and three cars. After the incident, your first reaction wasn't to liquidate your assets to help your mother, but instead, you went straight to the internet to crowdfund."
"There are also big questions about where the money went."
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