Chapter 201 An Exorbitant Demand
Immediately afterwards, a middle-aged woman came running in, panting heavily.
"Hua Chen! Hua Chen! Something terrible has happened! My son San Niu came home from school and said that the principal personally spoke in his office, saying that Li Rongkai intentionally injured someone, which is a serious offense. It has already been reported, and he will be locked up! What... what are we going to do?!"
Li Huachen's mind went blank, her legs went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground.
Zhou Yufan reacted quickly and grabbed her shoulder.
"Little sister, you stay here and watch over her! I'm going to the school! I'm going to confront the principal right now! Let's see if he wants to reason with us or drive an orphan and widow to their deaths!"
Zhou Shufen, however, did not let go. She grabbed his arm tightly and pulled him back forcefully.
"Second Brother, calm down! Forcing your way in won't work! The comrades are enforcing the law, and they're following procedures. We need to use our brains, not just act on impulse! We need to find someone who can talk to us and get things done! Making a scene now will only push Rong Kai to his doom!"
She slowly turned her head, her gaze falling on that comrade.
"Comrade, how about this? We are willing to fully cooperate with your work and will go with you right away. We will contact the school immediately and also the other party's family. We will pay every penny of the compensation due and offer every apology due."
"But... how old is the child? If he's locked up in a place like that, what if something bad happens to him? How can we, as parents, bear that? Can we take him back with us first? We promise to be there whenever you call and we will never evade the investigation."
The comrade's gaze was fixed on the crumpled coin in Zhou Yufan's hand.
He then turned to look at Li Rongkai.
A young comrade quietly approached from the side.
“Brother Zhou, how about… we let them go this time? Kids fighting is, in the end, a school dispute. If we really want to send them to a juvenile detention center, we have to find out the cause and effect first, right? Otherwise, if the higher-ups hold us accountable, we won’t be able to explain ourselves.”
The comrade known as "Brother Zhou" sighed heavily.
He slowly loosened the handcuffs that were originally on Li Rongkai's wrists.
"Alright, I'll give you this chance. But remember, you must come with me and give your statements honestly. Also, we need to find out the situation of the injured as soon as possible, and we need to expedite the compensation and mediation process. If you dare to try anything funny, I won't be so lenient next time."
Li Huachen stood leaning against the corner of the wall, her face deathly pale.
She only caught her breath after her comrade relented.
Seeing this, Zhou Shufen hurriedly called her neighbors for help and asked someone to help Li Huachen steady.
He quickly pulled Zhou Yufan up and strode toward the police car.
Li Rongkai was seated in the back of the police car, his small body huddled in the corner of the seat.
Zhou Yufan clung to the car window, his hands gripping the window frame tightly.
"Rong Kai, don't be afraid! Listen, don't be afraid! Dad... no, Uncle is here! Uncle will definitely take you home, he will!"
During the formal recording of her statement, Zhou Shufen finally understood the whole story.
It turned out that Principal Pan's nephew, Pan Lin, not only verbally abused Li Rongkai with foul language along the way, but also stuck out his foot at the entrance of the teaching building's stairs, causing Li Rongkai to stumble.
Caught off guard, the child tumbled down three steps.
But after Li Rongkai got up, he didn't cry or make a fuss. Instead, he endured the pain and tried to reason with her.
Unexpectedly, Pan Lin not only refused to admit his mistake, but also viciously pounced on him, punching and kicking him.
Li Rongkai was forced to fight back, and he only managed to push him hard.
Pan Lin lost his footing and slammed his head against the corner of the wall with a thud, instantly splitting his forehead open.
"You call this a serious injury just because of a few scratches and bleeding?"
Zhou Shufen clutched the photocopy that the hospital had just issued.
"They're clearly trying to extort money from us because they have an uncle who's the school principal! They're taking advantage of us because we're outsiders and we have no backing, aren't they?"
Zhou Yufan slammed his fist against the wall.
"I'm going to find that Pan Lin! This can't be tolerated! I want to see if his family has the power to control everything!"
"Don't be impulsive!"
Zhou Shufen grabbed his arm.
“Going there now will only make things worse. I just asked Aunt Pan next door to go to the factory and find Sister Hua Chen’s supervisor. Her husband is a minor official, so even though his position isn’t high, he can at least put in a good word for her.”
"Let's stay calm for now and wait for news. The most important thing right now is to go to the hospital to see Pan Lin, find out what his family is up to, how much money they want, and whether we can negotiate."
They rushed to the hospital, and when they opened the ward door, Pan Lin was lounging lazily on the bed.
As soon as Zhou Yufan pushed the door open, his father, Pan Jianming, immediately pointed at him and yelled.
"Alright, you've finally arrived! Let me tell you, this isn't over until you pay five thousand yuan! Not a penny less! Otherwise, I'll sue you for intentional assault and send that brat to jail!"
Five thousand?
Zhou Yufan was so angry that he was trembling all over.
"Your son swore at people, hit them, tripped another child down the stairs, and made their elbow bleed! If I were to sue him for intentional assault, the court would have to accept the case! And yet you're making outrageous demands, asking for five thousand right off the bat? Who gave you the guts?!"
"What the hell are you saying?"
Pan Jianming glared at him and made a move to rush forward and attack.
Zhou Shufen remained completely still.
"Comrade Pan! This is a hospital! Not your backyard! If you can talk, don't resort to violence! Let's reason things out, what kind of skill is it to use fists? Your son pushed my child down the stairs, shouldn't we also pay for the medical expenses? If this really goes to court, it's still uncertain who's in the right! The law will uphold justice. Your tantrums here are just embarrassing!"
Just as they were at a stalemate, hurried footsteps came from the corridor.
Li Huachen, the workshop director, hurriedly pushed open the door and came in.
A clerk surnamed Yang was following behind him.
As soon as Yang entered the room, he slowly looked around, his gaze first landing on Pan Lin.
"Hey, Jianming, is this your child? Look at that forehead, it's badly injured, it looks quite scary, it really makes my heart ache."
Pan Jianming's eyes immediately lit up, and he hurriedly pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
"Clerk Yang, you've finally arrived! You be the judge! Look at this! My son was beaten up like this by that bastard, covered in injuries, and he even had five stitches in his head! And the school actually wants to let this go? Can this matter be so easily dismissed?"
Clerk Yang took the cigarette and casually tucked it behind his ear.
"This child seems like an honest and simple person. He usually finds even raising his voice too noisy. Why would he start a fight? He was probably pushed to the limit and couldn't take it anymore, so he resorted to violence. Sigh, it's really heartbreaking."
He turned his head and stared straight at Zhou Yufan.
"Are you the parent of the child who hurt someone? How did you raise your child? How could you be so brutal? One child beat another child like this, and you still have the nerve to shout here?"
Zhou Yufan was so angry that his teeth were chattering.
"Comrade! Didn't you see the report? His son insulted my child first! He used foul language and insulted people in front of so many people! My Rong Kai couldn't take it anymore and fought back! He tripped someone first and pushed my son down the stairs! My Rong Kai was acting in self-defense! It was legitimate self-defense!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
