Chapter Thirty-two: More Awesome than You

  After a while, Lin Donghe finally lifted her head, her eyes blurred with tears, and she sobbed pitifully:

  "My mother-in-law and her whole family say I'm a jinx, bringing bad luck to their household. Now my brother is even going to jail because of me... Waaahhh... What did I do wrong in my past life? Why is heaven treating me like this?"

  Lu Zhengdong glanced at Lin Donghe and said:

  "Nonsense! What broom star, what evil spirit, it's all just nonsense. Do you really believe in such superstitions? Their son is like that and he hasn't even entered the door yet, who's being affected?"

  Lu Zhengdong saw that his words were a bit heavy, and he turned to speak warmly:

  "You are kind and open-minded, beautiful and elegant, gentle and lovely, virtuous and hardworking. What does that have to do with being a good person? They say such things just to cover up their own incompetence. Don't listen to their nonsense. Okay, stop crying, let's go ask the hospital staff about the injured person's condition, then we'll go see them."

  Lin Donghe suddenly remembered that she was still in Lu Zhengdong's arms when she heard that she had to go up. It seemed that being hugged like this made her feel very secure, and the warm big hands on her back transmitted a comfortable feeling. She really didn't want to leave, thinking about it, her pretty face turned red, and she thought to herself: "Earlier, my thoughts were all over the place, and I unconsciously threw myself into Lu Zhengdong's arms, how silly! Now even more so, still wanting to linger, this shouldn't be. Thinking about it, she reluctantly left Lu Zhengdong's embrace, thought for a moment, and said:

  "Just go ask the doctor or nurse, don't bother looking at him, Zhu Xiaodong's sister Zhu Xiaolin is quite fierce..."

  Lu Zhengdong saw Lin Donghe's hesitant look, obviously having already experienced Zhu Xiaolin's ferocity once before, and was afraid that if he went, he would suffer along with him.

  "She's fierce, so what? Things will be as they should be, he can't eat us up, come on, I've got everything under control."

  Lin Donghe nodded and led him upstairs. Lu Zhengdong found the doctor on duty and inquired about the situation, learning from the doctor that the man's injuries were not severe, mostly superficial wounds, mainly a large gash on his arm that had bled profusely, looking frightening.

  This made Lu Zhengdong feel a bit more at ease, so he followed Lin Donghua to the ward.

  By the window, a man in his thirties was lying on the hospital bed, with a woman sitting beside him chatting. The woman had curly hair and looked quite stylish. When she saw Lin Donghua and him enter, her horse face pulled long, presumably Zhu Xiaodong's sister Zhu Xiaolin.

  "Big Sister Zhu, Big Brother Zhu..."

  Lin Donghe after all represents the family of the perpetrator, and has a somewhat humble tone when greeting.

  The woman hummed in her nose:

  "Where was your brother's strength when he was hitting people? Now you're coming to act pitiful, thinking that saying a few good words will do, but it's not that easy. You're an ungrateful thing, born without a mother, dare to hit my brother, I'll make him go to jail!"

  Lu Zhengdong originally thought that no matter what, Lin Donghai had beaten someone and was somewhat in the wrong. As a relative of the person who was beaten, it was normal to show some anger, but when he saw this woman speaking with an attitude of "how could you do this" and "you should do that", she had shouted at Lin Donghai until he was stunned.

  Lu Zhengdong had many things to do in his hometown, and he was going back tomorrow. He wanted to pay more for the medical expenses and compensation fees to help the injured person, so that the Zhu family would agree to mediation, and then it would be easier to resolve the issue at the police station. Try to help Lin Donghe with this matter before leaving.

  But this woman's arrogant appearance made it impossible to talk, so she also said coldly:

  "Whether Lin Donghai should go to jail or not depends on the investigation by the Public Security Bureau, prosecution by the Procuratorate and judgment by the court. You can't just say let him go to jail and he will."

  Zhu Xiaolin's expression turned even more ferocious upon hearing this:

  "What makes you think you're so big, acting tough in front of me?"

  Lu Zhengdong smiled:

  "Am I being unreasonable? Are you saying that Lin Donghai should go to jail just because you want him to? Haha, originally Lin Donghai's family also thought he was young and impulsive, and didn't understand things. They wanted to compensate Zhu Dage for medical expenses and lost wages, but since you put it this way, fine. Lin Donghai is already 18 years old and has full capacity for civil conduct. Your brother's medical expenses and lost wages should be borne by Lin Donghai himself. You can go find Lin Donghai yourself for those things."

  At that time, the hospital was still paying all at once when discharged from the hospital. This woman is ruthless and cruel, using only good things, has spent several hundred yuan, which is almost half a year's salary for an ordinary worker. If you stay in the hospital for a few more days, it will basically cost a year's salary to pay off. They have to take out their own pockets to pay for these expenses, and it would be strange if Zhu Jia siblings didn't feel heartbroken.

  Zhu Xiaolin didn't seem to expect him to turn the tables either:

  "You... you... you beat someone up and now you're being reasonable? Do you dare not to pay for medical expenses?"

  Lu Zhengdong waved his hand and said:

  "I didn't say it's right to beat someone up, nor did I say that medical expenses shouldn't be paid. You can go ask Lin Donghai about it."

  Zhu Xiaodong, who was lying in bed, immediately sat up and said:

  "Lindonghai has only worked for a few days, how can he have the money? Sister, hurry up and find your brother-in-law, let them pay the medical expenses first..."

  Lu Zhengdong smiled faintly:

  "You're talking about Director Wang of the County Water Conservancy Bureau."

  The woman's face, which had been slightly suppressed, suddenly regained its composure as soon as Lu Zhengdong mentioned her husband. She let out a cold snort:

  "Don't try to curry favor with me, you're not even qualified to be friends."

  Lu Zhengdong curled his lip:

  "I don't dare to flatter Director Wang, but I want to remind you that this morning, County Committee Secretary Liao found me to discuss work and mentioned that the county will conduct a major rectification of cadres' work style to welcome the county party congress. If someone goes against the wind, they must be dealt with severely... This matter is probably not convenient for Director Wang to handle?"

  The woman listened and was slightly taken aback, looking him up and down before hesitating for a moment and saying:

  "What... what do you mean?"

  Lu Zhengdong smiled faintly in his heart, his meaning was simple: these two siblings from the Zhu family thought that their family's Wang Director was very impressive, so they dared to be so arrogant. However, Wang Director was just a director of the water conservancy bureau office, and it was difficult for him to even talk to the deputy county head, let alone the county party secretary or deputy secretary. His background was more powerful than theirs, so he could dispel their psychological advantage and prevent them from being reckless.

  The way he looked at the woman obviously still thought he was a bit impressive, and his tone seemed somewhat insufficient, so he said:

  "My point is that the medical expenses should be paid, Lin Donghai should apologize and compensate, and since Zhu Dage was injured, Lin Donghai's family should also make a gesture of compensation to comfort Zhu Dage. What do you think about solving it this way? If you don't agree, let's just forget I said anything..."

  The woman didn't make a sound, and Zhu Xiaodong, who was lying in bed, saw that his sister wasn't speaking up and felt anxious. If Lin Donghai's family didn't take care of it, his sister wouldn't either, and in the end, he would have to bear the cost himself. He would lose big time. He had been planning to get married recently and was short on cash, so he quickly asked:

  "So... how do you plan to make up for it?"

  Lu Zhengdong heard that there was hope and asked back:

  "Zhu, what kind of compensation method do you think is suitable?"

  Zhu Xiaodong thought for a moment and said:

  "Besides medical expenses, I lost so much blood, at least compensate me with four months' salary."

  Lu Zhengdong was still prepared to give half a year's salary, after all the medical expenses spent were more than this, but he pretended to be painful and thought for a while before saying:

  "Big Brother Zhu, this request is not excessive. I'll bring Lin Donghai's family to agree to it. However, I also have a small request: tomorrow afternoon, we'll go to the police station and clarify the situation, so that things can be settled as soon as possible. At that time, the compensation money will be paid on the spot, how about that?"

  Zhu Xiaodong looked at Zhu Xiaolin in the same way:

  "Sister, I think they are still very sincere, and brother-in-law is busy with work. Let's not bother brother-in-law about this matter..."