The child has a good temper, good quality. He could only “stand on” the adult’s side, and try his best to scheme some benefits for the child.
The two kids said, as long as the guardianship is in hand, that’s fine. If they really can’t come to terms about the money, then forget it. But he still felt, maybe can try to fight for a bit.
“The big vehicle fee doesn’t count. The compensation money and house sale money is 132,000. Round off the 2,000. Then deduct his grandpa’s medical expenses, I heard it cost over ten thousand, we’ll make it twenty thousand, anyway kids don’t understand, isn’t it up to us to casually decide.”
“Then subtract the 16,000 agreement money, what’s left is 94,000. The child’s been taken care of by us for this long. Four thousand yuan still count? Of course doesn’t count. Wipe it off.”
“His parents and his grandfather’s funerals, burial plots, all were you guys running around before and after. This at least has to deduct another 20,000, right? Still left with 70,000.”
“For the cash gifts during the funerals of his parents and grandpa, we keep it tight-lipped. Don’t tell him. I didn’t mention anything on my side either, otherwise for sure it wouldn’t be just this amount of money.”
Li Xiufang’s expression, as the amount decreased, eased a bit. Hearing these words, it softened even more. She realized this police officer was truly helping her.
But seventy thousand, to her, was still life-taking. She wasn’t willing.
“Our money was given by his grandpa. What’s it got to do with him? This money I don’t acknowledge.”
Zhou Dahai cursed her in his heart. Can’t get enough of taking advantage, huh? But on the surface he didn’t show it, only sternly said: “That money, his grandpa only had custody of it, not usage rights. It has to be reclaimed. It was given to you guys, so you have to take it out. If you don’t take it out, the court will make you take it out. By then, all your cards will be frozen. No money in the card? Then your house will be sold.”
“He dares!” Li Xiufang got furious. “If he dares to do that, I’ll beat him to death!”
“He’s about to starve to death with no food or drink, what wouldn’t he dare? Instead, it’s your family—if you beat him to death, you’ll have to go to jail. What about your husband and your kids then?”
“If you go to jail, your son and daughter’s reputations still matter? In the future they won’t even be able to take civil service exams, even job hunting will be affected.”
Zhou Dahai understood in his heart, it was still that the money was too much, beyond her budget, she didn’t want to give. He could only lower it again: “How about this, I look at him, just a kid, he can’t spend that much. The medical fees are just over fifty thousand. You give sixty thousand, enough for him to pay off the medical bill and hold on for a few more months. As long as life has some hope, who would still have a grudge with you? Don’t you think?”
Li Xiufang’s face still had some wary look.
Zhou Dahai hardened his face: “Right now it’s because we’re mediating, and the other party is short on money that they’re so easy to talk to. I’m telling you, the lawyer said, if you don’t agree now and it really goes to court, then every cent and dime will be counted. The cash gifts you took, the part of the agreement that exceeds the agreed amount, and even how you forced the child to do labor beyond his age—all of that can be charged as abuse.”
“By then, you and your husband will go to jail for abuse and abandonment. You’ll still have to return all 132,000 to the original amount. Plus the big vehicle and other odds and ends, twenty thousand won’t even cover it.”
“You’ll be in jail, your assets frozen. Not enough, they’ll sell your house. When you come out, the daylilies will be cold \[黄花菜都凉了 — literal idiom meaning “it’s too late by then”], money gone, house gone, even finding a place to live will be a problem.”
Li Xiufang’s mind went blank, somewhat intimidated, but still felt too angry, and also truly had doubts. She frowned and asked: “Doesn’t he have no money? Where’d he get money to hire a lawyer?”
Zhou Dahai patiently explained: “His is a special case. He can file a lawsuit first, then pay the lawyer after winning. When he wins, the court will order you to pay the lawyer fees. That’s another cost, at least ten or twenty thousand. Why go through all this?”
As Zhou Dahai spoke, he had already written out the new agreement in black and white. The content of the agreement roughly stated: after Li Xiufang and her husband return 60,000 yuan to Song Qing, both sides owe each other nothing, debts cleared.
He handed it to Li Xiufang: “Take a look, if there’s no problem, sign it. As for guardianship, I’ll have the neighborhood committee come. The guardian—I still need to find a way.”
He pretended to be troubled and went out to make phone calls, pretending to make several, then finally called the little girl.
Paying for Song Qing’s medical fees might fall through, but the matter of transferring guardianship—Li Xiufang definitely couldn’t wait.
So he called the little girl over too, and also brought people from the neighborhood committee, and separately wrote a guardianship transfer agreement.
Told the neighborhood committee the situation, the child is in the hospital, can’t come, he can act on the child’s behalf to decide. The matter of transferring guardianship went very smoothly. When signing the other agreement, Li Xiufang was still stubbornly holding on.
The neighborhood committee, village cadres also came, her husband had also returned home, everyone mobilized, persuading one by one. The husband and wife couldn’t bear the consequences of abuse charges and settling past accounts — in the end, they still signed. Zhou Dahai personally drove to fetch the money, and under everyone’s witness, properly handled the matter.
The child is good, once getting the money, he repaid what the station had donated, and also the money he and a few other traffic police officers had covered in advance. He even insisted on treating them to a meal, but with their line of work, they can’t accept such things. So he didn’t agree, just told the child to live his life well. After bringing back a signed copy of the agreement to Li Xiufang and her husband, this matter was finally considered to have drawn a full stop.
—
After sending off the kind-hearted police officers, Nan Zhi drove Song Qing back to the hospital. Taking advantage of a free moment at the payment window, she flipped through the previous bills.
Nowadays, it’s basically all WeChat and Alipay transfers, and transfers have records. She begged and pleaded to get the cashier jiejie to print the record. After thanking jiejie, she returned to the car and handed the list to Song Qing.
Acting had to go the full set — she didn’t let him get down, afraid it would fall apart if his uncle, aunt, or someone from the village saw and exposed it.
Now Song Qing held the list, head lowered, comparing one by one with WeChat friends and Alipay accounts, paying back the money one by one.
Nan Zhi sat in the driver’s seat, still a bit dazed in her expression even now.
When Officer Zhou told her the matter was settled in the morning, she immediately went to find the teacher, promised to bring her milk tea for a week. As expected, she won herself an hour. Taking that hour, she drove like fire to Song Qing’s uncle and aunt’s house to sign.
Successfully obtained Song Qing’s guardianship, not blocked at all. And his uncle and aunt even smiled subtly — a whole expression of giving away a money-losing good.
She faintly had the illusion that she was some“sucker”.
This part she knew — last night she had roughly gone over it with Officer Zhou. Officer Zhou would first tell Song Qing’s uncle and aunt that he couldn’t work now. For his uncle and aunt, if he can’t work, isn’t he just a money-losing good?
On top of that, there’s going to be a “lawsuit” to accuse them of abandonment. The two of them couldn’t wait to be rid of him — the transfer of guardianship was settled right then and there.
Song Qing’s current situation is like a hot potato. They couldn’t possibly find another guardian. So Officer Zhou took the opportunity to mention her — said she’s young, not as thorough as adults, softened her heart and she agreed. She hadn’t thought at all about the follow-up problem of raising a disabled person.
Anyway, dumb, rich, and easy to fool. Fooled with just two or three sentences. Even turned around to persuade them, “Don’t scare her off.”
So all the people she met were very kind, all with expressions of being afraid to startle her. Smiling and saying from now on Song Qing would be handed over to her, and that the two of them should live a good life, and they absolutely wouldn’t interfere.
At that time, the village committee, village cadres, many villagers were there. This uncle, that auntie, all said the same thing.
All acting like they had handed Song Qing over to her.
Guardianship is in her hands. The person is also hidden in her home. His relatives all agreed. Isn’t that equivalent to saying he’s hers now?
Nan Zhi tilted her head and looked at the person in the passenger seat.
After this whole scene, he had completely torn apart with his uncle and aunt. And he already hated those fake relatives to begin with —Most likely he wouldn’t go back anymore. Seems like he has completely cut ties with his original family, all clean, now just a single person.
No. Not a single person.
The clothes he’s wearing are ones she bought. The wheelchair he’s sitting in is also hers. Even the gauze on his leg is hers.
The person, naturally, too.
With her, that makes two people.
Nan Zhi had probably guessed where he wanted to go next. Turned the car early and stopped at the entrance of a large supermarket.
At first he might not have wanted to trouble her, but now that they’d already arrived, he didn’t get pretentious either. Let her push him down, fully geared up, covered tightly, went to buy gifts — to visit his teachers.
He had several teachers who had helped him. The two who could be visited in person were visited. He said it was compensation money given by Li Xiufang and her husband, used to pay back their medical expenses. Most teachers didn’t refuse.
Some still refused to take. Because what he gave was cash, the two of them directly cooperated — One person led them away, the other quietly left the money behind.
After being together for a while, Nan Zhi more or less understood him — This money, he must pay back no matter what.
For those who could be paid via online transfer, it was already transferred. For those who gave cash, he didn’t miss any, he went personally to each place, crossed out one after another and upon looking, saw there were still quite a few left.
Some of them were people from the village, like village cadres, neighborhood committee, etc. These couldn’t be paid back for now. If he went back, it would expose everything.
If Li Xiufang and her husband found out his current situation wasn’t bad, they’d definitely mind.
Can’t leave behind any handle for people to grab, and can’t make Officer Zhou, who played middleman, be put in a difficult spot either.
After running around the whole day, by the time they got back at night it was already near midnight. Nan Zhi knew things still weren’t settled, so the next evening she went with him again.
They went to visit that family who had insisted on compensating,
Told them no need to compensate anymore —Now if they put money on that card, it wouldn’t reach him. If they had money, better to use it for the children’s schooling.
The wife of that household had always been out collecting trash with two children. The two kids had never been to school, every day they split up and scavenged in different places.
Their living place was terrible. A shed built among the garbage, a strong stench. The wife and two children were all in bad shape.
Damp, mold growing everywhere, very easy to get sick. Their situation was even harder than Song Qing’s before.
Nan Zhi saw they cooked with food picked from the trash, some of it spoiled. She couldn’t help feeling a little soft-hearted, wanted to leave some money behind but worried Song Qing would mind — After all, it was this family’s father and husband who had taken away his parents.
While she was feeling troubled, she saw Song Qing quietly tucking money under the tablecloth.
Nan Zhi raised her eyebrows.
A bit surprised — but also not. Because she knew Song Qing was just that kind of person. He would do something like this. He was a kind-hearted boy.
The two of them came out from that broken-down shed and trash-filled place, got in the car and drove toward the city. Nan Zhi heard him press his fingers to his brow, and say, tiredly:
“I didn’t forgive them. I just didn’t want to spend the compensation money that my parents exchanged their lives for.”
Nan Zhi, with both hands on the steering wheel, miraculously could actually understand his emotions and thoughts.
She vaguely remembered herself, when her grandmother passed away, not only did she inherit the house, but also a large sum of money.
But that money, when she held it, always felt like it was burning hot in her hands — Felt like she wasn’t worthy.
So when her mom got sick and needed surgery, she didn’t hesitate to use it all. Paid for her mother’s operation and helped her get through the crisis.