Qin Ze's Verbal Barrage

Qin Baobao was dressed in an OL Suit, the same one she wore to work. On her way home after work, she received a call from dad saying Qin Ze had been injured and was in the hospital. She immediately wanted to rush over, but a son being hurt was no small matter. Old Man told her to pick up Old Mom first and briefly explained what had happened. When Qin Baobao heard that her younger brother had been stabbed, her hand trembled, and Little Red Horse nearly crashed into the guardrail. Fortunately, Qin Ze was not seriously hurt, but even so, she had been bottling up her anger the whole way.

Now, seeing the old man puffing away in the hospital room, her willow brows shot up. Her high heels clattered sharply as she strode over, snatched the cigarette butt from his hand, threw it to the floor, and crushed it beneath her shoe. "Father, will you die if you don't smoke for one day? You can't smoke in a hospital room. Qin Ze is still lying in bed. You want him breathing your secondhand smoke? What kind of father are you?"

Qin Baobao finally found an outlet for the anger filling her stomach, leaving Old Man exceptionally embarrassed.

Qin's mom was a beautiful middle-aged woman who still retained her charm. That description sounded a little improper, but in short, she was a woman whose looks had not faded much with age. Her figure was still fairly well maintained, though fine crow's feet had appeared at the corners of her eyes.

The mother and daughter did not look very alike. The mother was a dignified sort of beauty, while Qin Baobao had the face of a seductive vixen—far too enchanting, far too alluring.

With reddened eyes, Qin's mother said, "Son, you scared your mother half to death. If anything had happened to you, Mom wouldn't want to live either."

Qin Ze said, "Mom is still the best. Dad was lecturing me just now."

Qin's mother said, "Ignore him. He only knows how to act tough at home. His son got stabbed, and he's still putting on airs."

Old Man awkwardly explained, "I was scared too. I just wanted him to remember this lesson in the future."

Qin's mom ignored him completely. Sitting beside the bed, she softly asked, "How did you end up fighting someone? You've always been such a well-behaved child."

Qin Ze said aggrievedly, "I don't know either. I ran into a bunch of little punks looking for trouble. They started beating me after one disagreement."

Qin's Mom said, "Those damn Local Ruffians deserve to be arrested and thrown in jail."

The mother and son continued chattering away while Qin Baobao sat to the side, wiping her tears.

"Son, are you hungry? Mom will buy you something to eat," Qin's mother said.

"There's a porridge shop across from the hospital." Qin Baobao sniffled and said, "Mom, I'll go buy it."

With a loud bang, the hospital room door was shoved open. A middle-aged couple entered and swept their eyes around the room aggressively.

The old man frowned. "You are..."

Before he could finish, the plump middle-aged woman pointed at Qin Ze and shouted shrilly, "It was you, you local ruffian! You injured my son."

Old Man's expression darkened at once. "You're that little punk's parents?"

"What little punk? Watch your mouth." The middle-aged man pointed at Old Man and barked angrily.

The old man said, "Like father, like son."

Qin's mom snapped, "Bastard."

The middle-aged woman shouted, "Just you wait, all of you. Don't think you can hurt my son and get away with it. You'll be waiting for prison."

Qin Baobao flew into a rage. "Your son stabbed my brother. We're not done with you yet."

"Bullshit! My son has been well-behaved since he was little. He would never fight anyone. If this local ruffian from your family hadn't started trouble, would my son have hit anyone? Don't think our family is easy to bully. You broke my son's nose. If you don't pay his medical bills today, I'll take you to court." The middle-aged woman yelled at the top of her lungs.

The old man said in a deep voice, "Your son injured someone with a controlled weapon. If this goes to court, you'll be the ones in the wrong."

"What controlled weapon? Don't give me that legal nonsense. You people beat someone up, and my son wasn't allowed to fight back?" The middle-aged woman cursed loudly. "A troublemaking brat like this deserves to be stabbed to death."

Qin's mom trembled all over with anger.

That family had stabbed her son, and now they were even trying to turn the tables on them.

The old man was a university professor. He could not possibly engage in the sort of street brawl that was two women trading insults, and he was getting thoroughly crushed. Qin's mother had received a good upbringing since childhood and had been an artsy young woman in her youth. She could not curse, and all she could say over and over was "Shameless" and "Don't go too far"—words that lacked any real bite. Qin Baobao wanted to go up and slap that shrew twice, but Qin's mother held her back. She could only glare furiously with her phoenix-shaped eyes.

Taking advantage of the gap while the woman paused to catch her breath, Qin Ze said, "Who is your son?"

"What, playing dumb now? You beat someone and don't dare admit it?" The middle-aged woman looked down on everyone and spat.

"That's your son? He bites anyone he sees. Anyone who didn't know better would think some family forgot to leash their dog." Qin Ze looked "shocked."

"You little bastard, watch your mouth."

"You old bitch, your mouth isn't any cleaner."

"Say that again." The middle-aged woman pointed at Qin Ze, trembling with rage.

"I'm not your son. I don't bark just because you tell me to."

Old Man was dumbfounded.

Qin's mom's mouth fell slightly open.

Qin Baobao beamed with delight. She knew how skilled Qin Ze was at verbal sparring. Whenever they bickered, she had never won even once. Of course, Qin Ze was always polite in front of their parents and would never swear. It was probably the difference between how a child behaved at home and outside. Qin Ze was an old driver who frequented all kinds of Tieba forums. He had seen every sort of god-tier comment, every insult without profanity and every insult made entirely of profanity.

Come on, let's compare verbal firepower. Behind me stand countless netizens.

"If I don't get you thrown into the Police Station, I'll write my name backward," the middle-aged woman cursed loudly.

"Fuck your mother."

"What did you say?!"

"Idiot. Your son is an idiot, you're an idiot too, and your whole family is full of idiots."

"..."

"Is your son dead yet? If he isn't, why are you here mourning? Get back there and see whether he's breathed his last. If he has, I can start preparing the funeral money."

"..."

"I can't be bothered arguing with low-class animals like you. If I win, I'm worse than an animal. If I lose, I'm not even as good as an animal."

"Just wait for prison," the middle-aged woman screamed.

"Go sue me, then."

"Don't think I won't."

"Go sue me, then."

"If anything happens to my son..."

"Go sue me, then."

"..."

"Go sue me, then."

"..."

"Then sue me."

Perhaps the commotion had gotten too loud, because it drew a nurse over from the nurses' station. She knocked on the door and warned, "This is a hospital. If you want to argue, do it outside."

The middle-aged woman had clearly realized that her verbal skills were a whole level below her opponent's. Besides, making a scene and being watched by others did not feel good. She glared viciously at Qin Ze. "Just you wait, local ruffian."

"Go sue me, then."

That again... The middle-aged woman's face turned green. She stormed out of the hospital room in a fury.

At last, it was quiet. Qin Ze bared his teeth as a burning pain surged through his abdomen. Then he noticed the strange silence in the room. Old Man and Old Mom were staring at him blankly, their expressions conveying the same meaning: So this was what kind of son he really was.

In his parents' minds, Qin Ze was steady, mature, polite, and gentle—just somewhat lacking in ambition. But the child parents saw was always different from the one outside. Some children laughed, cursed, and horsed around with their friends without restraint, constantly tossing around phrases like "your sister," "get lost," and "fuck." But try telling your dad to "get lost" after you get home.

A resounding slap would come flying at you.

Qin Baobao desperately held back her laughter, her phoenix eyes narrowed into crescent moons.

"Um, Mom, I'm hungry..."

His sister was no help, so he could only break the awkward atmosphere himself.

"Wait here. Mom will go buy something for you." Qin's mom could not exactly scold him here either.

As soon as Mom left, Qin Baobao's pretty face darkened. "Father, should we sue first, or what?"

The old man said, "Tomorrow, we'll first file a case at the Police Station, then wait for the injury assessment. If it's a minor injury or worse, it becomes a criminal case. The problem is that Qin Ze injured someone too. I heard it was a fractured nasal bone, which also counts as a minor injury. In this situation, criminal liability is not appropriate, so it falls under public security administrative penalties instead..."

The siblings looked at each other, both utterly confused.

They only knew the barest smattering of legal knowledge. After listening to Old Man talk for so long, they had only one feeling: it sounded impressive, even if they did not understand it.

Qin Baobao stamped her foot and said stubbornly, "No. He stabbed A Ze, so he's the one at fault. We have to sue him."

Qin Ze said emotionally, "Sis, I didn't spoil you for nothing."

Qin Baobao made a smiling gesture of patting a dog's head. "I watched you grow up, after all."

"Not at all. I carefully raised you into adulthood."

"My ass. Your sister raised you with her own blood, sweat, and tears."

The siblings started bickering again.

The old man frowned and shot them a look. The siblings immediately fell silent. The old man's authority at home was unshakable.

"We can sue him too. Once we file suit, isn't there surveillance footage at the internet café? I'll find some colleagues from the law school and have them help with the case."

Qin Ze suddenly remembered something. "Dad, how did that woman know I was in this hospital room? When we were giving our statements earlier, the police wouldn't even tell us where that guy was. They only said he was in this hospital."

"Maybe she found her way here," Qin Baobao said.

"But it couldn't have been that fast. They were giving statements at the same time. It would take time to feel their way over here. And she insisted from the start that I was the one who beat her son," Qin Ze said.

The moment he finished speaking, the hospital room door was pushed open again. A middle-aged police officer entered, followed by that swaggering couple.

"I'm the chief of Hongkou Jiangwan Police Station, Wang Guomin." The middle-aged officer swept his gaze over the room, pausing briefly on Qin Baobao before looking at Qin Ze on the bed. "You're Qin Ze, right?"

Qin Ze nodded. "That's me."

"Brother, that's him. He's the one who injured my son." The middle-aged woman pointed at Qin Ze, fury blazing from her eyes.

Brother?

Qin Ze's heart sank.

The middle-aged police officer glared at her, then said blandly, "I received a report saying you injured someone. The statement you gave earlier was not detailed enough, so we need to take another one."

Pretending to play with his phone, Qin Ze secretly turned on the recording function. He held the phone in his hand, its camera angled toward the three of them, then frowned and said, "I want to see your credentials."

He had watched too many cop and spy movies and knew the importance of collecting evidence. Whether it would be useful or not, recording a video first was never a bad idea.

The middle-aged police officer impatiently took out his credentials and flashed them, not caring whether Qin Ze had seen them clearly.

Qin Ze said, "Chief of Hongkou Jiangwan Police Station, Comrade Wang Guomin, right? Ask whatever you need to ask."