Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Her smile was such a sorrowful one.
She looked at the people who surrounded her and walked up to the one who had been demanding the return of her son. She suddenly extended her hand and held out a fruit knife to the woman, saying, “You want me to return your son’s life? Sure, here’s your chance now. Kill me and avenge your son!”
She looked determined as she said these words. The woman, who had made the most noise, was immediately stunned.
She lowered her gaze and stared at the knife in Qiao Lian’s hand.
She bit her lip. Qiao Lian reached for her hand, placed the fruit knife in it and, thrusting it at her own chest, she said, “Kill me. In the presence of these people, I’m announcing that if you kill me, you won’t be made responsible legally. Is that alright?”
Her stern words and actions frightened the woman, who then took a step back with a cry, “Ahhh!”
The fruit knife fell on the ground with a dull clack.
The woman fell silent.
Everyone that was present fell silent.
They looked at Qiao Lian with disbelief in their eyes, shocked by her behaviour.
The fact was that these people were there only because they felt they deserved the truth, and they were easily swayed by public opinion. However, their intentions weren’t evil.
One of the reporters stepped forward and pointed his finger at Qiao Lian, saying, “You’re crazy!”
She looked at the crowd with a despondent smile and replied, “Yes, I’m crazy. Because you people have driven me to insanity!”
“And now, will you listen to what I have to say?”
After she said this, she looked at the crowd and then each of the faces one by one.
There were close to a hundred people in the crowd, but no one dared to utter a word now. Everyone looked at her in silence.
It wasn’t that she meant to commit suicide, of course. But this crowd had been carried away by their emotions and their anger had been amplified. If she had started out by saying that she wanted to speak, they would have never given her a chance.
Hence, she had to use a shocking action to silence them.
At that moment, no one was speaking. She took a deep breath and began, “Eight years ago, when the building collapsed, I wasn’t even 18, and my brother Qiao Yi, 15.”
“I do not know what the so-called scammers’ are like in your imagination, but I knew them as my parents. I saw them having sleepless nights, racking their brains to deal with the bank’s constant chasing and compensate the buyers. My father said that no matter what, you lost your relatives and homes because of the Qiao family’s negligence. Hence, you would be compensated no matter what.”
“The bank got back their loan, the Qiao family business went broke, and all of the assets under our name. Our properties, jewellery and everything valuable were impounded. But my father said that, even if he had to sell the last scrap, or work his hands to the bones, he’d do what he could to compensate the people, because you are innocent victims.”
The people were on the verge of tears when they heard this.
The reporter asked, “What happened in the end?”
Qiao Lian laughed bitterly and continued, “In the end? In the end my parents perished in a great fire! My brother Qiao Yi became a cripple. He was only 15! But he was bedridden, because I had no money to have him treated by a doctor!”
She took a step forward and still looking into their eyes, she continued, “I was in my third year of senior high school, and he in his third year in junior high school. But we had to stop our studies. Without any source of income, we had to find ways to survive.”
Pointing at herself, she said, “At 18, I was washing dishes in a hotel.”