mijobooks Chapter 54: The middle-aged woman was in a car accident?
Chapter 54: The middle-aged woman was in a car accident?
"You...you have to pay for my car..."
The middle-aged woman lying on the ground spoke weakly.
The driver laughed in exasperation, then took out his phone to call 120 and 110.
The middle-aged woman lay in the ditch, her whole body aching as if her bones had been broken. She gasped for breath, the cold wind filling her throat, making it dry and bitter.
But her mind was still working.
She knew she had cut in front of the other car and had bumped into it. But she also knew that in these kinds of situations, as long as she insisted that the other car was speeding, blocking her way, or not seeing her, she could at least get away with half the responsibility.
"I'm a victim..." she murmured. "I came to pick up my son... I'm a victim..."
When she said the words "pick up her son," she suddenly felt that she was in the right.
Yes, she came to pick up her son.
It's all because that van was driving too fast, the road was too narrow, and those drivers were bullying people.
As she thought about it, she suddenly realized that she was not in the wrong at all.
After finishing his call, the driver glanced down at her.
The middle-aged woman was staring at him, her eyes showing no fear, no regret, only a strange... self-righteousness.
"You just wait," she said through gritted teeth, "my son is a big star, you just wait."
Luo Jinnian: Damn it, what vampire?
When Luo Jinnian received the call, they had just finished their second round of hot pot.
Uncle Qin was telling a behind-the-scenes story from the movie "Lost in Thailand," and Fei Yuxi, who was watching, was laughing so hard she was doubled over.
Chu Qingning kept serving food to Luo Jinnian, while Gu Yanxi watched the two siblings with amusement.
When the phone rang, Luo Jinnian glanced at the caller ID—an unknown number, a local one.
He hesitated for a moment, but still accepted.
"Is this Mr. Luo Jinnian? This is the XX Traffic Police Brigade. Your mother was involved in a traffic accident on XX Road and is currently receiving emergency treatment at the City Central Hospital. Please come as soon as possible."
The private room fell silent.
Everyone was looking at him.
Luo Jinnian's expression changed subtly. It wasn't shock, nor sadness, but rather a... very complex schadenfreude.
He put down his phone, picked up his glass, took a sip of Sprite, and said, "My mom was in a car accident, I have to go to the hospital."
"We'll go with you." Uncle Qin immediately stood up.
"No need," Luo Jinnian waved his hand, "I can go by myself, you guys continue."
As he was leaving, Gu Yanxi chased after him.
"Brother Jin Nian..."
"It's alright." Luo Jinnian patted her shoulder, his voice calm. "Really, it's alright."
He was telling the truth.
In the hospital, the middle-aged woman had been transferred from the emergency room to a ward. She had a fractured right tibia, three broken ribs, and abrasions on her face that required more than a dozen stitches.
It looks terrible, but the doctor said there's no danger to his life.
"He's lucky to be alive," the doctors said. "He was cushioned by the guardrail when he fell, otherwise he would be dead."
When Luo Jinnian pushed open the ward door, the middle-aged woman was half-lying on the bed, and the nurse was adjusting her IV drip.
Her eyes immediately welled up with tears when she saw her son.
"Niannian... Mom almost didn't get to see you again..."
Her voice was choked with sobs, and tears streamed down her stitched face, making her look truly pitiful.
But Luo Jinnian stood still, not stepping forward, and only asked, "What happened?"
The middle-aged woman paused for a moment, then her tears fell even harder: "Mom...Mom was going to pick you up...Mom wanted to surprise you, but the road was too dark, and a big truck came rushing towards us...Mom dodged for her life..."
She was sobbing uncontrollably and reached out to grab Luo Jinnian's hand.
Luo Jinnian sat with him for a while, and then left alone when his stepfather arrived.
When Luo Jinnian left the hospital, it was already completely dark.
The night wind, carrying the chill of early winter, seeped into his collar. He stood at the hospital entrance waiting for a ride-hailing car, glancing down at his phone—Fei Yuxi had sent several messages in the chat group, asking how his aunt was doing and asking if he needed help contacting a better hospital.
He didn't reply and locked the screen.
The car arrived quickly, and the driver, probably seeing that he had just come from the hospital, didn't say a word the whole way.
Luo Jinnian leaned against the car window.
He was wondering what other food was in the refrigerator.
I glanced at the food before leaving this morning and there were still two tomatoes, a bunch of greens, and two chicken breasts left. There should also be half a pot of the pork rib soup I made the day before yesterday. Today, it seems only my sister Qingning and I will be at home.
He promised his stepfather that he would go home and take care of his daughter, while he would take care of the middle-aged woman.
Luo Jinnian looked down and sent a message to his sister: "I've arrived at the neighborhood. What would you like to eat?"
Three seconds after the message was sent, the other end replied: "Scrambled eggs with tomatoes".
He immediately followed up with another message: "How's Mom?"
Luo Jinnian stared at the message for two seconds and typed four words: "Nothing serious, just a fracture."
The other person replied with an "Mm" and didn't ask any more questions.
Chu Qingning never asked any questions.
Luo Jinnian sometimes felt that his sister understood him better than he understood himself—she understood exactly what was going on in his relationship with that woman.
When he got home, he changed his shoes, washed his hands, and put on an apron.
Open the refrigerator and take out the chicken breast to thaw. Rinse the tomatoes and greens in the sink. Heat the pork rib soup in the pot. A thin layer of oil floats on the surface of the soup. The pork ribs are stewed until tender, and the bones can be easily removed from the meat with a gentle touch.
Luo Jinnian skimmed off the foam with a spoon, tasted the soup, and added a little salt.
When he was a child, the headmaster encouraged them to cook for themselves, so he would stand on a small stool to reach the stove. Back then, he wasn't even as tall as the stove, and when his arms got sore from holding it up while cooking, he didn't dare to put them down for fear of oil splattering on his face.
The first meal I made was scrambled eggs with tomatoes, but the eggs were overcooked.
He was six years old at the time.
As I grew older, my skills improved, and I made more and more dishes, but scrambled eggs with tomatoes was still the dish I made the most.
Luo Jinnian sliced the chicken breast into thin slices and marinated them with cooking wine, light soy sauce, and cornstarch. He heated oil in a pan, sautéed ginger and garlic until fragrant, then added the chicken slices and gently stirred them until they separated. White steam rose up, filling the entire kitchen with the aroma of scallions and ginger.
He stir-fried another vegetable with minced garlic over high heat, and the vegetable still retained its crisp and tender color when it was taken out of the pan.
He added an extra spoonful of sugar to the scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
The pork rib soup in the pot was bubbling away. He turned off the heat, poured the soup into a white porcelain bowl, and sprinkled a small handful of chopped green onions on top.
The door lock clicked.
When Chu Qingning walked in, the first thing she saw wasn't her younger brother in the kitchen, but the three dishes and one soup laid out on the dining table.
Luo Jinnian was washing the pot and didn't even turn his head: "Wash your hands and eat."
Chu Qingning didn't move.
"younger brother."
"Um."
Are you sad?
Luo Jinnian turned off the tap, shook the water off his hands, and turned to look at her.
"Let's eat first," he said.
"Let's eat then."
The two people sat down at the dining table.
Chu Qingning picked up a piece of scrambled eggs with tomatoes with her chopsticks, chewed it twice, and nodded:
"It's delicious. What's wrong?"
"She said the accident happened while she was picking me up," he put down his soup bowl, his voice calm, "She said a large truck came rushing towards her, and she desperately dodged it."
Chu Qingning offered no comment, only asking, "Do you believe it?"
Luo Jinnian picked up a piece of green vegetable with his chopsticks, chewed it slowly, swallowed it, and then said, "Did the traffic police determine responsibility? I don't know. But when I left, I heard the nurse say something—it was a single-vehicle accident."
"One-sided?" Chu Qingning's chopsticks paused for a moment.
"Hmm," Luo Jinnian pushed the plate of vegetables towards her sister so it would be easier for her to pick them up, "She drove herself into the ditch."
Chu Qingning was silent for a few seconds, then picked up the vegetables with her chopsticks and ate them.
"Is she trying to get money out of you again?" Chu Qingning asked bluntly, a question that didn't sound like something she would normally say.
Luo Jinnian thought for a moment and said, "It was a real car accident. She was taken to the hospital and they found out she had a fracture and three broken ribs."
Chu Qingning put down her chopsticks, unsure of what to say.
Luo Jinnian looked at her for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled. It wasn't a happy smile, but a very faint smile, the meaning of which even he couldn't quite explain.
He picked up the pork rib soup, slowly drank it all, and then put the bowl down.
After washing the dishes, Luo Jinnian took off her apron, hung it up, and sat on the sofa to look at her phone.
Chu Qingning glanced at his screen—it was a draft of the accident report sent by the traffic police brigade.
She didn't go over to look, but simply asked, "Call me when you're done, I'll heat up some milk for you."
Luo Jinnian hummed in agreement and lowered his head to continue reading the documents.
The accident report clearly states: Ms. Wang, 45 years old, was driving an electric bicycle from north to south along XX Road when she violated traffic signal instructions and failed to drive in the designated lane, causing the vehicle to lose control and fall into a roadside ditch, resulting in a single-vehicle traffic accident.
Unilateral.
She ran a red light and rode her bike into the ditch.
"I knew it all along, ugh."
Luo Jinnian lay on the sofa with a sigh of relief. Luckily, she was a villain, otherwise things would have been much more complicated.