Chapter 42 Aunt Luo [VIP]
The glaring white light of midsummer steamed the asphalt into a distorted heatwave, twisting the passing cars and the roadside trees into a distorted state. The Maybach was back on the road, and through the window, the occasional passing figure caught his eye, only to be distorted into a blur of color by the heatwave and the glass.
"What happened next?" Fu Shengyan suddenly asked, staring at the blurry shadow on the windshield.
Lin Zhihua shook her head. "Later, a few of us went to see Aunt Luo. You hired the best lawyer for her, and we mobilized the Fu family's power to investigate and put pressure on the media and the police, but in the end, it was all to no avail."
"How could this happen?" Fu Shengyan said in a somewhat dry voice, "With the power of the Fu family, can't they find even a single clue?"
Lin Zhihua let out a breath. "Ayan, when we learned about this, Du Qian had already been dead for a month. They'd already cleared out almost all the evidence, from the dormitory, the classroom, even the rooftop. It was hard to find any trace of Du Qian being bullied. With less than two months left until the Gaokao, we tried to contact his classmates to inquire about the situation, but their parents, citing the impact on the Gaokao, refused to allow us to contact the student and refused to cooperate with the police."
"Not to mention the school, which was always in turmoil. Coincidentally, the surveillance camera on the rooftop malfunctioned that day. Someone also found a suicide note written by Du Qian in the dormitory. Almost all of his classmates insisted that no one had ever bullied Du Qian, and that he jumped from the building because he couldn't adapt to school life and was under a lot of academic pressure."
"How could he jump off a building?" Fu Shengyan clenched his fists, making them creak. "The suicide note must be a forgery."
Lin Zhihua was silent for a moment, not directly answering. She simply said, "You hacked into the campus system and bribed the staff at Yulin Security Office to retrieve the previously destroyed surveillance footage. However, the school denies the authenticity of the footage, insisting it was fabricated."
"The results of the forensic appraisal are right in front of us," Fu Shengyan said with a gloomy expression, "this group of people are in collusion."
"Although there was no concrete evidence, the school, under pressure from public opinion, expelled several students involved in the bullying just before the college entrance exam. But that was all. The police could find no direct evidence at the school proving that Du Qian's jump was intentional. The video we provided, while not clear enough, only proves that they did beat Du Qian on the rooftop. Zhou Zhengyang and the others were remarkably consistent, insisting they were trying to pull Du Qian back to safety, but he accidentally missed."
"The police conducted additional investigations for a while, but the procuratorate still deemed the evidence insufficient and decided not to prosecute. Du Qian's case was ultimately handled as an accident," Lin Zhihua whispered. "The group led by Zhou Zhengyang stayed out of the spotlight for a while, switched schools, repeated a year, and ultimately enrolled in university."
Lawyers and police encountered obstacles everywhere, and the power of the Fu family could not cross the legal red line.
This incident became a thorn in Fu Shengyan's heart.
When filling out the college entrance examination application form, Fu Shengyan originally applied for economics at University A together with Lin Zhihua, but before the deadline, he changed his first choice major to law.
Lin Zhihua's phone suddenly rang, breaking the solemn atmosphere in the car. She picked up the phone: "What's wrong, Sister Yan?"
"My agent just informed me that Xu Xingran's illegitimate fans have somehow found his address and have blocked the entrance to the residential complex. We can't get in for the time being. We have to move somewhere else. Do you have any ideas?"
Lin Zhihua glanced at Fu Shengyan and said, "Do you want to go see Aunt Luo? Her shop is nearby."
The car phone was on hands-free mode, and Xue Zeyu's voice came clearly from the side: "I agree. It's been a while since I've had pancakes from Aunt Luo's stall! I didn't have enough for lunch today, so I can grab a snack."
"Aunt Luo has opened a fast food restaurant now and doesn't sell pancakes anymore," Tang Yuan reminded.
"Then we must try it. Let's go!"
The few of them quickly finalized their next itinerary. After hanging up the phone, without turning on the navigation, Lin Zhihua turned into a brightly lit and bustling street in the old city with ease.
"Zhizhi, why did you suddenly decide to go see Aunt Luo?" He suddenly asked a stupid question.
"Maybe you think my A Yan really wants to see Aunt Luo now? Don't worry, she is living a good life now." Lin Zhihua smiled lightly.
Fu Shengyan's anxiety was slightly relieved, but he suddenly felt some inexplicable emotions.
"Aunt Luo returned to her original home?" Fu Shengyan turned his head to look at the familiar street scene outside the window and recognized that this was near No. 1 Middle School. Du Qian and his family used to live in this area.
"Well, this matter is thanks to our famous lawyer." Lin Zhihua winked at him and didn't keep him in suspense. "Du Qian's father not only came to the school to make trouble, but also brought debt collectors to the house. They beat up Aunt Luo and took away her house to pay off her gambling debts. You found someone to deal with those hooligans for Aunt Luo and beat up his father. You also helped Aunt Luo buy the store she runs now."
The car turned many corners and finally stopped at the door of a shop with a sign saying "Qian". They arrived in the afternoon and there was no one in the shop.
, several people entered the store.
"Aunt Luo, we are here to see you!" The voice was very familiar. Aunt Luo looked up when she heard the voice, and when she saw the person standing at the door, a look of surprise suddenly appeared on her face.
"Hey, why are you all here? Come in and sit down!"
The small shop was very clean, with the fan above whirring, and they
Tang Yuan eagerly stepped forward to help: "Auntie Luo, we eat everything in the store!"
"We have everything. Aunt Luo will make you whatever you want!" Aunt Luo smiled, her eyes narrowed, and she turned on the central air conditioning, which instantly blew away the stuffy air in the room. "Xiao Yan, you still want braised pork rice, right?"
Lin Zhihua nodded: "Aunt Luo, we can just do it the same as before."
"We're not picky, anything is fine!" Yan Jie said with a smile, "But it would be even better if there were braised chicken legs."
"Is this Xiaoyu and Xiaochen?" Aunt Luo stared at Xue Zeyu and Chen Zhong carefully for a while and quickly recognized them.
"Aunt Luo, you have a great memory!" Xue Zeyu was a little surprised. They both went to college in other places and stayed in Yunnan and Guizhou after graduation. He hadn't seen Aunt Luo since Du Qian's funeral.
Lin Zhihua looked around the store and asked, "Why don't I see Xiaodie?"
"The store is not busy in the afternoon. It's summer vacation now, and she went out to play with her classmates." Aunt Luo smiled and turned to go into the kitchen.
"Who is Xiaodie?" Xue Zeyu asked curiously.
"Aunt Luo adopted the child a year ago." Lin Zhihua explained simply.
On the day the final verdict in Du Qian's case was announced, Aunt Du wept until she fainted, clutching the thin verdict. Her obsession had been resolved, and that evening she planned to accompany her son and daughter. Lin Zhihua received a thank-you letter from Aunt Luo and keenly sensed something was amiss. Fortunately, she was able to find the victim in time and rush him to the hospital, saving his life.
"Aunt Luo, Du Qian wanted to live so badly. He would be heartbroken to see you like this." Lin Zhihua looked at her seriously. "People have to live and go on with their lives. If you die too, no one in this world will remember him."
Aunt Luo seemed to have figured it out and no longer had any thoughts of committing suicide, but she lived in a daze every day. They couldn't stand it anymore, so they wanted to find some work for Aunt Luo and helped her open this small shop downstairs.
Aunt Luo did forget about it after she got busy, but whenever she had some free time she would start wiping away tears. Until a year ago, when she happened to pass by the welfare home, she saw Xiaodie sitting on the swing.
Maybe it was because this girl had a little resemblance to Du Qian in her eyes and eyebrows, or maybe it was because two equally lonely souls met, and Aunt Luo finally adopted her.
"Xiaodie should be in the fourth grade next year. She is a very well-behaved and cute girl." Yan Jie smiled and took out her cell phone to show Xue Zeyu and Chen Zhong the photo of them.
As he was speaking, Aunt Luo came over with the braised pork rice. The amount of meat was obviously much larger, and the poached egg on top was fried to a crispy golden brown.
"How are Xiaodie's grades now?" Lin Zhihua asked with a smile.
"Very good! You got 100 points in every subject!" Aunt Luo smiled so hard that her eyes were invisible. She placed the braised pork rice in front of Fu Shengyan and turned back to the kitchen.
Tang Yuan and the others followed him, "Aunt Luo, please sit down. We can handle it ourselves."
"This marinade is so delicious, it's no worse than the pancakes you made." Xue Zeyu praised generously. Chen Zhong buried his head in biting the chicken leg and gave Aunt Luo a thumbs up.
"No, Aunt Luo, you are biased. Why is Brother Fu's chicken leg bigger than ours?!" Tang Yuan made an exaggerated gesture.
"Just eat your food, why are you the only one who talks so much?" Yan Jie pushed him to his seat and rolled her eyes slightly.
"Sister, you are a star after all, why do you roll your eyes every day! You should pay attention to your image." Tang Yuan turned and looked at her seriously.
Yan Jie resisted the urge to roll her eyes and tossed the chopsticks to him, "Eat yours, a chicken drumstick won't stop you from eating!"
Watching them having a lively meal, Aunt Luo suddenly wiped her eyes, and Fu Shengyan silently handed her a piece of paper.
Aunt Luo took the paper and smiled at him, then turned her back and said, "You guys eat, I'm just happy. It seems like the gas in the kitchen is not turned off. I'll go check it out."
Fu Shengyan was about to stand up when Lin Zhihua patted his hands and said soothingly, "It's okay, let Aunt Luo be alone for a while. Aunt Luo likes you the most, and she'll be happy if we have dinner together."
Lin Zhihua still vividly remembers how much Fu Shengyan sacrificed for Du Qian's case. Having just received his license, he was already scrambling to find evidence.
The students who bullied him all had connections, led by the youngest son of the wealthy Zhou family in City A. The others were also prominent, including the principal's nephew, a relative of a prominent city official. Their parents privately pooled two million yuan to settle the matter, but fortunately, Aunt Luo refused to agree to a settlement.
Aunt Luo sought justice for her son through numerous lawyers. However, those who had reviewed the case all shook their heads, stating that school bullying was common and that law enforcement procedures involving minors typically resulted in public security penalties and educational corrections, with no cases ever resulting in criminal convictions. Such matters were ultimately resolved privately by the parents.
Later, even Aunt Luo herself despaired of the legal path to defending her rights. Fu Shengyan told her: "If there is no precedent, we will create one."
Their investigation found that Du Qian was forced to write the suicide note before he fell from the building, and they also found people who were willing to testify to the fact of bullying. Most importantly, the recorder in Du Qian's pocket was repaired, and they found the recording before he fell from the building and restored the whole incident.
Fu Shengyan sent the video and audio recordings to the public security organs, but the police station refused to take the case on the grounds that it was illegal evidence. He did not give up and after many twists and turns, he found the police officer who handled the case originally and finally filed the case.
He went to the procuratorate again and again to submit materials, and made appointments with the prosecutor in charge again and again, but was rejected again and again.
Fortunately, the supplementary evidence was available and the case file was finally transferred to the court. The murderer was subsequently brought to justice, the media was in raptures, the world was outraged, and the victim finally rested in peace.
Not long after, Du Qian's father was also sent to prison by Fu Shengyan for gambling and robbery.
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