Despair of the Innocent
The pain in her wrist came in waves, each wave more intense than the last, like a red-hot wire tightening around her. Lin Nuannuan could clearly feel the hardness of the old man's finger bones digging into her wrist, and the stinging pain of his dirty nails sinking into her flesh. This real, physical pain made her realize, far more clearly than the foul language, what kind of situation she was in.
"I really... didn't hit you..." She had repeated this sentence countless times, her voice trembling with sobs. Each time she opened her mouth, it was like fighting against an invisible, malicious wall; her voice crashed into it and bounced back weakly, making her eardrums ring.
All eyes were fixed on her, a mixture of curiosity, suspicion, pity, and perhaps even a hint of excitement at the spectacle. The raised phone cameras, like dark, gaping eyes, greedily captured her disheveled state and tears.
She felt like a butterfly pinned to a display board, all her struggles only providing fodder for gossip. A profound sense of shame enveloped her, making her wish she could disappear into the ground.
'I just wanted to help!'
The thought was screaming wildly in her mind, filled with endless grievances and a sense of absurdity.
Just a few minutes ago, she was slightly annoyed that she might be a few minutes late for her tutoring session, and was thinking about how to apologize to the student's parents later.
She even remembered the sweet taste of the Apple her roommate had given her when she left home that day. The sun was shining so brightly; the world should have been warm and luminous.
How could it have turned out like this?
The old man's howling and threats continued, like a demonic cacophony.
"Ten thousand yuan! Not a penny less!"
"I'm telling you, my son works at the Education Bureau! I'll make sure you can't go to school!"
"These female college students nowadays, they look respectable, but how can they be so wicked! They hit someone and then tried to run away!"
Every slanderous word was like a poisoned dagger, piercing deeply into Lin Nuannuan's heart. Her family was of modest means; her parents were ordinary workers in a small county town, scrimping and saving to send her to university.
Ten thousand yuan is almost half a year's income for them, and it's also her tuition and living expenses for the entire next year. How could she possibly come up with that?! Even if she could, why should she?!
A surge of anger coursed through her chest, burning her throat. She wanted to shout back, to forcefully shake off that disgusting hand, to point her finger at him and call him shameless!
But when she saw the old man's face, twisted by greed and tantrums, and the undisguised scheming in his murky eyes, a deeper sense of powerlessness washed over her.
Can you reason with this kind of person?
He was clearly a veteran. The realistic fall, the explosive force, the practiced extortion tactics, and the precise handling of methods like "finding a school" and "exposing"... this was definitely not a spur-of-the-moment decision.
"Let me go... I beg you..." Her strength was waning, and her wrists were marked with obvious red welts, some even turning purple. Tears blurred her vision, and she could no longer see the expressions of the onlookers; she only saw their figures swaying, like a blurry and indifferent backdrop.
'Is there anyone... who can help me?'
She was practically screaming in her heart. But all she got in response was a clearer chorus of voices.
"Sigh, looks like they've gotten away with extorting me."
"I think I've seen this old man before, on other streets too..."
"Take a picture of it quickly and post it online!"
"Young lady, how about... you just accept your bad luck and pay some money? It'll be better to lose money than suffer a greater misfortune..."
"Paying money to avoid disaster?" Lin Nuannuan's heart sank. Even bystanders thought so? Does kindness deserve to be bullied, and honest people always have to suffer? A cold despair slowly crept up her spine.
She suddenly remembered what her advisor had said in a class meeting when she first entered university, "Students, believe that this world is beautiful, but you must know how to protect yourselves."
At the time, she felt this statement was somewhat contradictory, but now, she seems to understand a little. Protecting oneself... does that mean that in the future, if she sees an elderly person fall, she should be like those three indifferent passersby, ignoring them and walking away?
The thought sent a chill down her spine. If everyone were like this, would the world still be the way she once believed it to be?
The old man's performance was escalating. Seeing that Lin Nuannuan seemed to be "giving in," he became even more aggressive. He began to gasp for breath, clutching his chest with one hand, rolling his eyes, and making "hoarse" sounds in his throat.
"Ouch... I can't take it anymore... I have a heart attack... You made me so angry... Quick, call 120... I'm going to die..." His body shook violently, almost hanging all his weight on Lin Nuannuan's slender arm.
Lin Nuannuan turned pale with fright and instinctively reached out with her other hand to support him, fearing that something might really happen to him. But the moment she reached out, the old man's "weak" body strangely steadied itself, and the strength in his grip on her wrist did not diminish at all.
It's fake! It's all fake!
A surge of anger at being mocked and humiliated welled up within him again, but even more so, a chill ran deep in his bones. This person, for money, could exploit other people's kindness without any scruples, and could even joke about his own life and death!
She's definitely late for her tutoring job, and she'll likely lose it after all the hard work. What will happen if this gets to the school? A disciplinary action? A demerit? What will her classmates think of her? How worried will her family be?
The future seemed bleak and heavy at this moment. All plans and all efforts could be completely ruined because of this foolish "good intention".
The pain in her wrist, the surrounding noise, and the old man's constant slander and threats were like a net tightening, making it hard for her to breathe. The sunlight was shining brightly on her, but she felt no warmth, only a bone-chilling cold.
Looking at the old man's face, so close to hers, etched with greed and shamelessness, and watching the spittle flying from his mouth in his excitement, she felt a wave of nausea wash over her. She stopped struggling, simply standing there numbly, letting the tears flow silently. Her strength and spirit seemed to have been drained away, and a profound sense of exhaustion enveloped her.
Maybe... maybe the only way is to "pay back the money to avoid disaster"? But that money that we worked so hard to save, the money we were saving for next semester's tuition... that's our parents' hard-earned money!
Despair overwhelmed her like a tidal wave. She even began to doubt why she had run over there in the first place. If she had walked away indifferently like those three people, would she have avoided this endless trouble?
How could this world be like this?
She closed her eyes, almost giving up the fight, preparing to face the unknown, yet inevitably heavy, price.