Chapter 386: Unfair
I never thought that after almost twenty years, regardless of whether Teacher Ning was healthy or not, I would be the one dying.
What would I become? Around here, there’s nothing but cockroaches and bugs.
Would I turn into a bug?
No… I don’t want that.
I hate bugs.
I felt like I was about to fall asleep, but I was still one meter away from reaching that bottle of water…
Let me have just one sip. I’m so thirsty.
A huge commotion came from outside the door, but my eyes were fixed only on that bottle of water.
*Bang!*
The door was kicked open, and I heard someone running in.
“Sister Zhang!!!”
Sister Zhang or whoever… don’t touch me right now. I just want to drink water.
I felt someone lifting me up, and a sharp pain shot through my entire body.
Don’t touch me. No one touch me right now…
“Sister Zhang!!” That person screamed at the top of their lungs, their voice cracking on those two short words.
I struggled to turn my head and looked at the person before me.
Who was he?
It seemed like Xiao Sun.
But Xiao Sun didn’t look like this.
This man was unshaven, his eyes bloodshot, his hair a complete mess, his clothes covered in wrinkles. He looked just like me—hadn’t bathed in over twenty days.
How could he be Xiao Sun?
“I-I’m calling the police right now!!” he shouted.
“Don’t…”
The word “police” finally snapped me back to reality. I slowly reached out and grabbed the man’s hand.
“Don’t call the police…” I said. “Take me away… just take me away…”
“Ah…?” The man froze for a moment, then furrowed his brows. “Sister Zhang… are you sure?”
“I’m sure…” I said with the last of my strength. “Whatever you do, don’t call the police… please…”
…
When I opened my eyes again, I saw a pure white ceiling.
I didn’t know where I was, only that I was lying in a very comfortable place.
Maybe I had made it to heaven.
Vaguely, I suddenly felt someone groping my arm.
I let out an instinctive scream and yanked my hand back. I felt like I had regained a bit of strength, but my skin was still shriveled.
“Ah!” A girl in a nurse’s uniform was startled. “You-you’re awake? Please don’t move. I’m giving you an IV.”
“Don’t touch me!!” I screamed. “No one touch me anymore!!”
The nurse in front of me seemed terrified, instinctively stepping back half a step.
“Sister Zhang!!”
A man and a woman pushed open the door and came in, followed by someone in a doctor’s coat.
Only then did I recognize that the man really was Xiao Sun. He looked so haggard, as if he had aged ten years.
And the other girl was Mengmeng, her face full of worry.
Was her honeymoon over? Had I… caused her trouble?
“Sister Zhang, you’re finally awake. Do you feel any discomfort?” Xiao Sun asked, his voice laced with concern. “Is your stomach hurting? Dizzy?”
As he spoke, he reached out to grab my arm, but I recoiled in sheer terror.
No, I couldn’t let Xiao Sun touch me.
I was too filthy.
“Don’t touch me…” I said. “No one can touch me…”
“Sister Zhang…” Xiao Sun’s eyes were red and swollen. “It’s okay. It’s all over now. You’re safe. We’re here with you. No one will hurt you again.”
“No… I will never be safe…” I shook my head, dazed. “All of you, go away… Don’t look at me… No one can touch me…”
“But we need to give you an IV. You’re malnourished…” Xiao Sun’s voice was incredibly gentle. “Once you’ve recovered a bit, I’ll take you to eat the desserts you love, okay?”
The gentler his voice, the more my heart ached.
The happiness I had once stretched on tiptoes and fought with all my might to reach—I would never be able to touch it again.
“Yeah, yeah!” Mengmeng crouched down in front of me, tears in her eyes. “Sister Zhang… I bought you your favorite peaches, but you can’t eat them yet. Just listen to the doctor, okay?”
Seeing my state, the person in the doctor’s coat stepped forward and said softly, “Ms. Zhang… I deeply sympathize with what you’ve been through, and I understand you don’t want anyone to touch you… But we’re treating you right now. Can you make a concession? Under normal circumstances, we can avoid touching you, except in emergencies or medical situations. Otherwise, your condition will only get worse.”
Emergencies and… medical situations?
Yes. Apart from emergencies and medical situations, no one could touch me.
I slowly lay back down, letting my head rest as comfortably as possible against the pillow. It felt really good.
“Sister Zhang…” Xiao Sun sat beside me. He seemed to want to take my hand but didn’t move for a long time. “I’ve been looking for you all these days… I’m sorry… I’m too stupid… I never thought you’d be so close to home…”
“It’s okay.” I said with a bitter smile. “Xiao Sun, don’t blame yourself. Even I didn’t expect my own biological parents to do something like this.”
Soon, the nurse finished my IV and left the room with the doctor.
Once they were gone, Xiao Sun dragged his chair closer to me. Mengmeng, knowing her place, moved to the door and watched the passersby through the window.
I had never seen him look like this.
“Sister Zhang…” he said, frowning. “Why didn’t you let me call the police? I don’t know if your mind was clouded at that moment, but shouldn’t that man face legal consequences? Without your permission, I already took a sample of the fluid he left inside you. If you want, we can have him sent to prison immediately. No matter what leverage he has, I can pull strings to get the police to act fast—he won’t have time to react.”
Send the butcher Ma to prison?
No… I didn’t want that.
I let out a long sigh, looked Xiao Sun in the eye, and said very seriously, “Xiao Sun, do you know? In our village, once the bride price is paid and the parents agree, we’re considered husband and wife. There was a woman who was trafficked into our village before. With the village party secretary’s mediation, the girl just had to get a marriage certificate, and she stayed there forever.”
“What…?” Xiao Sun was visibly stunned. “Sister Zhang, what are you saying? How could something like that happen…?”
“You’ve never sued anyone from the mountains, have you?” I said with a bitter smile. “A lot of the time, local customs are an important basis for verdicts. My parents accepted his bride price. According to tradition, we’re married. Even if it’s illegal, it’s still the local way.”
“You mean…”
“Xiao Sun, let me test you.” I slowly turned my head to look at him. “What crimes did that man commit?”
“Unlawful detention, intentional infliction of harm, human trafficking, rape.” Xiao Sun blurted out.
“Now ‘human trafficking’ is hard to prove. Even if the other three charges stick, with multiple offenses, what’s the maximum sentence?”
Xiao Sun narrowed his eyes slowly…
“Twenty days of unlawful detention… intentional infliction of harm… rape…” He quickly saw the problem. “If the circumstances are serious, it’s usually life imprisonment. If extremely severe… it could be a suspended death sentence…”
“Let me ask you again: how long does a ‘life sentence’ actually mean in prison?”
“With good behavior, around twenty-two years at most.”
“And what about a ‘suspended death sentence’?”
“A suspended death sentence…” Xiao Sun lowered his head silently, unable to say a word.
“You and I both know that a ‘suspended death sentence’ doesn’t actually result in execution. So I can’t let him go to prison.” I said. “If he serves his time peacefully in jail, that would be unfair to me.”