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墨書 Inktalez
I was awakened by a loud commotion. I looked up at the time; it was just five o'clock. I still had half an hour before I needed to get up for my morning class. It wasn't even light yet, but it seemed that quite a few people had gathered downstairs, each shouting at the top of their lungs. Some were cursing, some were crying, and others were trying to reason with them, essentially trying to mediate.
What on earth is all this noise about so early in the morning? I had been assigned to a guest room on the third floor, and it was clear that this room had hosted guests frequently; everything one might need was available. I got out of bed, rubbed my sleepy eyes, and looked down from the window.
In front of Lin Miaomiao's house was a small yard that was now filled with people of all ages. Right at the entrance of Lin Miaomiao's home lay an elderly woman who looked extremely haggard.
I pulled out a new outfit I had bought in town during my free time. People are judged by their appearance, and sure enough, I looked much better than when wearing a Daoist robe.
By the time I reached the second floor, Lin Miaomiao was looking down from the window in her pajamas.
"What’s going on? Is your family holding a meeting?"
Lin Miaomiao glanced back at me. Normally, she would have playfully hit me for such a comment, but today she didn’t; instead, she looked worried with red-rimmed eyes.
"What happened?" I felt a surge of panic; it was rare to see Lin Miaomiao like this.
"That woman is the wife of the uncle my dad accidentally killed," Lin Miaomiao pointed to the elderly woman lying on the ground who was causing a scene.
The old lady lay at the entrance of Lin Miaomiao's house, crying and preventing anyone from entering or exiting. A middle-aged woman squatted nearby, pretending to comfort her, but her words carried an undertone of support for the old lady.
"Yin Zheng'an, what should we do?"
This was indeed a tricky situation. If it were some local ruffians, we could just beat them up and send them away. But this matter involved Lin Miaomiao's family being in the wrong. We couldn't resort to violence; even harsh words would be inappropriate. However, ignoring the situation wasn’t an option either; neighbors had already been awakened and were pointing fingers at Lin Miaomiao's house.
"You stay here and don’t go down," I advised Lin Miaomiao. What luck I had to encounter such a situation.
The scene downstairs was very complicated: on one side were Lin Miaomiao's parents trapped inside their house, while on the other side were the aggrieved relatives of the deceased and a crowd of onlookers enjoying the spectacle.
They actually brought their own chairs and water, sitting in the yard of Lin Miaomiao's house, cursing while calling for onlookers to judge the situation. There was also a woman dressed in bright colors shouting illogically. She cursed from the Lin family's home decor all the way to Lin Miaomiao's mother's clothing style, which was completely unreasonable. They insisted on dragging Lin Miaomiao and me, who were on the second floor, into this mess; wasn't that unfair to us?
I immediately pushed against the window of Lin Miaomiao's house and jumped out from the second floor. I kicked off the windowsill and landed steadily on an empty patch of ground a couple of meters away.
"Enough already, a few words are enough; isn't this getting out of hand?" I pointed at the woman shouting. It was obvious she was one of those loud women in the village who would cause a scene regardless of right or wrong, likely brought in by Old Man's Son to create a ruckus. Besides her, there was a row of elderly people sitting together, watching me with cold eyes.
"Who are you? What do you know, you little brat?" The woman seemed to have found her opponent and not only did she not stop, but she became even more arrogant.
Cultivation emphasizes calmness. I took a deep breath, suppressing the sudden anger rising within me. I turned my head away from her but left her with a faint remark: "Shrew."
Reason should be discussed with those who are reasonable. For someone unreasonable like her, either you have to be tougher than her or be even more unreasonable. However, my approach was rather cunning; I provoked her but she didn’t dare to hit me, especially since my jump from the second floor had stunned them. Moreover, if she continued to curse at me, I had no intention of responding; I simply defined her as a 'Shrew' and made it clear that I couldn't be bothered with her.
In fact, it would be even more cunning to ignore whatever she said and just keep repeating "Shrew," which would drive her mad.
But after all, I came here to resolve this matter; if I started arguing with a Shrew, what would that turn into?
I pushed through the crowd of onlookers; at the back should be Son of the Deceased along with his wife and that old lady.
Son of the Deceased stood at the entrance, gritting his teeth with bulging veins and tightly clenched fists, glaring at Lin Miaomiao's refined father as if he were ready to pounce. Behind him were several burly men glaring angrily as if they were ready to strike at any moment.
"Alright, everyone calm down. This is still a civil dispute; if it comes to blows, it won't end well," I advised.
"Brat, what do you mean? Are you threatening me?" one man behind Son of the Deceased said menacingly.
The tension had begun to ease slightly, but that man still wore only a black tank top, showing off his muscular arms as if boasting. On his shoulder was a tattoo—a snarling Wolf Head.
As soon as I saw the Wolf Head tattoo, I couldn't help but laugh. The wolf was intricately designed, its fierce expression and fur vividly portrayed. However, there was a significant flaw—the wolf's eyes were almost invisible, with only a faint black dot showing. Isn't this just the White-eyed Wolf? Can this even be tattooed on someone? Brother, for that alone, you're impressive!
"Don't get me wrong, I'm just advising you to stay calm."
"How can I stay calm when my father is dead?" the Son of the Deceased rushed over, pointing at my nose. "I’m controlling myself right now; if it were up to me, it would be an eye for an eye."
"Right, an eye for an eye!" several people behind him echoed.
"I understand, I understand. I get all of this. But do we really have to go all out in a brawl? Can't we sit down and talk it over? We didn't want things to escalate to this point! In life, the most important thing is to look forward; what's done is done and can't be changed. By the way, are you hungry? I can get you something to eat?"
You see, I can be reasonable too. Even such a burly man was left speechless by me. I thought proudly.
"Where did this kid come from?" Another man wearing a Gold Chain behind the old man's son interjected. "Get lost, get lost! What are you making a fuss about?"
"Ah, that's where you're wrong. How can you start cursing right away? We're all civilized people; we should reason things out, right?" I continued to plead earnestly.
"Reason?" Gold Chain scoffed. "Let me show you what reason is."
The Gold Chain Man stepped in front of me, grabbed my collar, and waved his fist in front of my face.
"See this? My fist is bigger than yours; that's the reason." After saying that, he tossed me aside like garbage. "Get lost, or I'll call someone to deal with you."
Ha ha, it seems he couldn't hold back any longer.
Actually, this matter is primarily the fault of Lin Miaomiao's family. It's understandable that they are upset, but what is excessive is their insatiable greed. Previously, Lin Miaomiao had a deal with me, and they directly demanded ten thousand to settle the issue. Ten thousand may not be able to buy a life, but it depends on the circumstances.
The traffic bureau has already determined the responsibility for the accident. Since the deceased crossed the road without a crosswalk and there was indeed a blind spot at that time, the assessment of the accident is essentially shared responsibility. In other words, both parties are equally responsible for the elderly man's accident.
However, Old Man's Son feels this is unfair and believes that Lin Miaomiao's father used connections to have the responsibility assessed as shared. In fact, Lin Miaomiao told me that it was impossible for her father to be fully responsible for this incident, so it was merely a matter of additional compensation. Moreover, this money is covered by the insurance company, so her father didn't need to use connections to change the main responsibility to shared.
Additionally, her uncle has already promised to compensate for the deceased's funeral expenses and the emotional distress of the elderly man's son, which totals around forty thousand. (Actually, it doesn't need to be that much, but Lin Miaomiao's father feels guilty, so he didn't negotiate when they made their demand. This forty thousand does not include the insurance company's compensation; it means an extra forty thousand on top of what the insurance company pays.)
However, now that everything seemed settled, the other party suddenly denied it. They insisted that Lin Miaomiao's father used connections to change the responsibility and even sent people to create trouble for Lin Miaomiao's parents.
The elderly man has two sons; the elder son runs a restaurant and is relatively reasonable. The previous agreement of forty thousand was discussed with him. Now blocking the door is The Elder's Second Son, who seems to be involved in some shady dealings. He refuses to acknowledge the agreement and has come to extort them. For some reason, Elder's Eldest Son is absent this time; only Second Son, The Old Man's Partner, and Daughter-in-law are present.
I later learned that the previous 'Shrew' was the elderly man's second daughter-in-law, while it was the eldest daughter-in-law who advised the elderly lady.
I deliberately came to provoke them; this group had numbers on their side. If I didn’t intimidate them a bit, they might really resort to violence against Lin Miaomiao and her family. My goal was to ensure they wouldn't dare lay a hand on them. Although Lin Miaomiao practiced Taekwondo, she is still essentially a delicate girl; her aunt is just a housewife; as for her uncle, despite being tall, he is an educated man. If a fight broke out, Lin Miaomiao’s family would likely end up in the hospital, which I could not allow.
After being pushed by Gold Chain, I looked up and signaled Lin Miaomiao to record what was happening with her phone. Lin Miaomiao quickly understood my intention and started recording.
As long as we can provoke them into making a move first, we wouldn’t be in the wrong. However, I still needed to sacrifice something; at least I had to take a hit or two.
"What the hell? Do you dare push me? Are you tired of living?" I looked up defiantly at Gold Chain in a way I had never shown before.
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