Zhang Family Noodle Shop
Zhang's mother stood at the shop entrance, looking outside. There wasn't a single customer in the shop at noon.
The pedestrians outside the shop were also scattered in twos and threes, and they were walking in a hurry.
"Noodles, hot noodles, come in and have a bowl of hot soup noodles," Zhang's mother called out from the doorway, beckoning customers.
But the passersby didn't even look at her and just walked right past her.
Zhang's mother turned her head and glanced at her second daughter-in-law, who was sitting at the table cracking melons. "Business is so bad at the shop, you should think of something. All you know is cracking melons."
Zhang Ersao rolled her eyes and said, "What can I do if the guests don't come in to eat?"
Their noodle shop has been open for four days. On the first day, some neighbors came to support them and business was quite good, but then not many people came to eat there.
There are hardly any people coming to eat at lunchtime. Around five or six in the afternoon, when people who work here get off work and want something hot, a few people will come in to eat, but not many.
The daily supply of braised pork and freshly cut noodles can't be sold out. Fortunately, the weather is cold now, so even if they can't be sold out, they can be kept for a few days and won't spoil so quickly.
Seeing her second daughter-in-law's attitude, Zhang's mother didn't know what to say and sat on the stool, sulking.
The rent for this shop plus the equipment will cost close to three hundred yuan. If business continues like this, won't all that money be wasted?
She's worried.
public security bureau
“My son is now completely paralyzed. He’ll be bedridden and need to be taken care of for the rest of his life. You have to pay compensation,” said Zheng’s father, pointing at Hou He, who was sitting opposite him smoking.
Hou He exhaled a smoke ring, "I didn't cripple the person, why should I pay compensation?"
Father Zheng glared angrily at his cloudy eyes, “My son was crippled by your son, Hou Yongchang!”
He even said, why should he lose money?
Hou He: "Then go find him! Go find whoever hit you, why are you looking for me?"
"Officer, are you right?" Hou He asked, looking at Xiao Zhao sitting in the middle.
Xiao Zhao said, "Theoretically, that's how it is, but it was indeed your son who hit him. The person is paralyzed now, and your son can't find him. How about we give him some compensation?"
Hou He smiled and said, "I can't pay for that. After all, I didn't hit the person. If I pay money now, he'll go to jail anyway when you catch my son. Why should I pay this money?"
"I didn't hit the anti-government protester, so you can't force me to pay for it, can you?"
Xiao Zhao: "...That's how it is in theory."
Since the Zheng family wanted to claim compensation, they had no choice but to call Hou and He together to negotiate.
However, since it was Hou Yongchang who committed the crime, if Hou and his family are unwilling to pay compensation, it is indeed impossible to force him to do so.
"Your Zheng family can ask me for compensation, but only if you drop the case and sign a settlement agreement promising never to pursue my son's criminal liability again. Otherwise, I won't pay a single penny for either of my sons," Hou said, taking another drag of his cigarette.
Zheng's father slammed his fist on the table, pointed at Hou He's nose, and cursed, "Your son beat my son to the point of paralysis, and you still want to pay some money to get us to drop the case and save your son from going to jail? Don't even think about it."
"Don't even think about compensation." With that, Hou He stood up, put his hands in his pockets, and turned to leave.
Pointing at Hou He's retreating figure, Zheng's father said to Xiao Zhao, "Aren't you going to do anything about it? Are you just letting him walk like that?"
Xiao Zhao said, "How can I care? It's not like he committed a crime. I told you before that we can only negotiate with him about compensation. If he doesn't pay, we can't force him to pay. After all, he's not the criminal who injured your son."
"You... Ouch." Mr. Zheng clutched his chest, which ached from anger, and sat back down in his chair.
Xiao Zhao sighed and quickly went over to pat him on the back to help him catch his breath.
Despite not feeling any pain in his chest, Zheng's father berated Xiao Zhao until he felt a sharp pain, then left the police station seething with anger.
Li Yunshu hired a lawyer to draft the complaint and submitted it to the court, awaiting the trial.
The lawyer said that Zheng Guoping was unable to attend due to paralysis, and there was concrete evidence of his infidelity, so the judge should grant the divorce in court.
Zheng Xinmei wanted to tell her younger brother Zheng Xinqiang about her father being paralyzed by a beating, but neither her grandparents nor her mother would allow her to tell.
Telling Xinqiang about this wouldn't be of much help; it would only cause him more trouble and affect his studies.
But no one cared whether taking so many days off would affect her work or whether her in-laws would have any complaints about her.
Zheng Xinmei spends all her time at the hospital taking care of her father, Zheng Guoping, neglecting her children and never returning home. Her husband and in-laws have a lot of complaints about her.
This year, New Year's Day happened to fall on a Saturday. After school on Friday afternoon, Li Xiaon rode her bicycle directly back to the Li family home.
Business at the store was so-so, and Li Yunshu was thinking of taking a two-day holiday during the New Year's Day holiday to rest.
She suggested that Qin Ye also go back to the Li family home with her for New Year's Day.
On Friday afternoon, as people finished work, the number of people coming to the store to buy dumplings increased.
I want to buy frozen dumplings to take home and eat with my family tomorrow for the holiday.
By six o'clock, all the frozen dumplings in the shop had been sold out.
Qin Rong and Huang Qiuyan left work early, took their newly received wages, said goodbye to Li Yunshu, and went home.
Li Yunshu and Qin Ye locked the doors and windows and rode their bicycles back to the Li family home together.
It was already dark, and there weren't many pedestrians on the street. The dim streetlights on both sides of the road illuminated the way home.
Li Yunshu wore gloves and a hat, and was wrapped in a scarf, with only one eye showing, as she focused intently on riding her bicycle.
Qin Ye, also wearing a hat, gloves, and scarf, rode behind her.
Suddenly, a beam of light shone from behind, illuminating the road. Qin Ye turned his head and saw a black sedan driving up behind him.
To avoid blocking the car's path, Qin Ye rode to the side, making way for the car.
The car drove past him, but suddenly swerved and blocked the middle of the road.
Before Li Yunshu could react, she crashed into the car and fell to the ground.
"Mom!" Qin Ye called out, gripping the brakes tightly, about to get out of the car and rush over.
Three burly men got out of the car and dragged Li Yunshu, who had fallen down with the car, back into it.
"Who are you? What are you doing?" Li Yunshu cried out in alarm, struggling desperately.
"Help me..." Just as Li Yunshu was about to call for help, her mouth and nose were covered and she was forcefully shoved into the car.
"Let go of my mother?" Qin Ye was thrown off his bicycle, his eyes red as he rushed forward, raising his fist to smash the person closest to him.
The man was hit in the face and stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Mother……"
Qin Ye shouted and tried to grab the collar of the person who was shoving Li Yunshu into the car, but suddenly felt a pain in his side abdomen.
He looked down and saw the man he had just knocked down holding a fruit knife, which was plunged into his abdomen.
"hey-hey."
The man chuckled coldly as he stirred the fruit knife in his hand. Qin Ye's teeth chattered in pain, and he cried out as he kicked the man in the stomach.
"ah!"
The other person was kicked away, and at the same time, the knife that was stuck in his abdomen was pulled out.
Qin Ye was in so much pain that he couldn't bear it and knelt on one knee on the bed, clutching his wound.
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