4
This beating had beaten most of the arrogance out of Tả Huy.
Tả Huy’s father stepped in as his defense attorney.
He looked haggard now, bowing his head before the cameras to apologize.
“Failing to raise my son properly was a grave dereliction of my duty as a father. I manage a corporation with 40,000 employees, and I have many employees and their families to support. I bear a tremendous social responsibility, so I work hard to help the country develop—but I haven’t made time for my own children.”
“The dead are gone, but the living must go on. I can compensate the deceased’s family, and I’ll pay them a substantial amount. So the plaintiff and his family can live well, I’ll also donate 50 million to education and health care.”
“I’m looking forward to building public welfare facilities so everyone can benefit. I sincerely hope you’ll forgive my son!”
When he finished, he wiped away the nonexistent tears at the corners of his eyes. It was a truly poor performance.
[That poor old father is really in a tough spot! He sacrificed his family relationships for the country. Can’t we forgive Tả Huy?]
[Exactly. The person’s already dead. Taking the compensation is more practical.]
[People who donate to society deserve our support.]
[Tả Huy provides people with spiritual nourishment, and Tả Huy’s father gives them real money. But the deceased was just an ordinary person. Could her contributions compare to the Tả family’s? Why should a brilliant young man have to sacrifice himself for an ordinary person?]
[Once the plaintiff gets the money, he can marry another woman, have children, and his life will be back on track.
Think about it: Could you bear it if a kind young man’s future were ruined like this?]
[Don’t go too far, person above! If you can’t sympathize with the deceased, can’t you at least sympathize with Tả Huy? Tả Huy’s life is ruined? What about the three people who died? Didn’t they have lives too? The pregnant woman even had a baby in her womb!]
Hướng Kỳ stood up, gritting his teeth as he said, “I don’t want compensation, and I’ll never forgive him! My wife and two children are watching me from heaven. If that demon isn’t punished, they won’t be able to rest in peace.”
He choked up as he clutched the photograph. “Their bodies are still cold, yet in this courtroom you slandered her and twisted the facts. Your Honor, judges, I won’t accept a settlement. Please sentence him to death! Please help me!”
Tả Huy and his parents weren’t worried in the least.
Because they had a way to make the plaintiff lose the case.
5
The plaintiff’s lawyer, who had been completely uninvolved moments ago, suddenly straightened up and silently handed Hướng Kỳ his phone.
As soon as Hướng Kỳ looked at it, his facial muscles twitched, and the hand holding the phone began to tremble.
I saw the lawyer whisper something to him.
I immediately cut them off and asked, “Plaintiff, do you have anything else to say?”
Hướng Kỳ remained silent for a long time.
I prompted him to answer again.
At last, he raised his head. His eyes were red, and he stammered, “I... I... I’ve decided to settle.”
The words seemed so difficult for him to say. Afterward, he bowed his head and clenched his fists. Tears he had tried to hold back spilled from the corners of his eyes and fell onto the backs of his hands.
The audience erupted.
[He just said he didn’t want to settle, but he changed his mind in no time. Never trust a man!]
[Sure enough, a wife is like a piece of clothing—you can replace her after she dies. Money still matters most!]
[Everyone, let’s go home. There’s no need for a trial.]
I sneered inwardly, then asked with feigned seriousness, “Plaintiff, would you like to drop the trial and settle directly with Tả Huy?”
Hướng Kỳ nodded gently.
I continued, “If the deceased’s family reaches an agreement with the defendant, the defendant won’t have to enter the gas chamber to stand trial.
The defendant will be acquitted.”
Overjoyed, Tả Huy dropped to his knees and raised his clenched fist toward the sky. “Yeah!”
Unfortunately, he was celebrating too soon.
Just then, a request to join the livestream suddenly came in.
I signaled my assistant to connect the call.
A gaunt old man, thin as a stick, appeared on the video. He was in a hospital bed with an IV and an oxygen mask.
When he realized the video call had connected, he asked the nurse beside him to remove his oxygen mask and shift his bed so he could face the audience.
“Greetings, Your Honor and judges. I’m the father of the late Tà Tịch, and I object. As an immediate family member of the deceased, I refuse to settle and insist that the trial proceed.”
Hướng Kỳ cried out involuntarily, “Dad, you’re going to die!”
“If that piece of filth isn’t sent to hell, then I really will die!” the old man shouted with all his strength.
“As you can see, I’m dying. My kidneys are failing, and I’ve been in and out of the hospital for years. Tịch Tịch was a very filial daughter. She was eight months pregnant, but when she heard I was seriously ill, she rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night.”
“I never imagined that she and my precious grandson would be killed by that beast. My daughter died from blood loss. If he’d had even the slightest shred of humanity and called an ambulance, she wouldn’t have died. My grandson was only three. He was clearly still alive, but that beast crushed him to death again and again.”
“They used all sorts of underhanded tricks to try to make my son-in-law drop the lawsuit. But he loves my daughter dearly and will never forgive that piece of filth, no matter what.”
“They know I have kidney disease and have put me on the hospital’s waiting list for a kidney. They used the kidney as leverage to threaten my son-in-law. I just watched the livestream and realized he was about to give in, but I won’t. My daughter and grandchildren are dead. What’s the point of trading their lives for a kidney?”
The old man grew more and more agitated as he spoke.
I nodded and said, “Since an immediate family member of the deceased is still demanding a trial, the proceedings will continue.”
No one had expected things to turn around like this. Everyone on Tả Huy’s team was stunned.
6
Tả Huy’s father quickly explained, “Old man, we only wanted to atone for our guilt and do our best to find you a kidney. How can you accuse us of threatening you?”
[Exactly. How could ordinary people like you easily find a kidney donor? Tả Huy is doing a good thing!]
[Talk about having it easy and still bragging!]
“Tả Huy has everything except his parents’ love. I truly envy your daughter. She must have been so happy to have a father like you. Only if you survive will there be someone in this world who remembers them, someone who visits their graves. As people say during Qingming, the scariest thing in this world isn’t death—it’s being forgotten.”
Tả Huy’s father looked at the plaintiff and said, “Can you really bear to watch your father-in-law die? Your family can’t take another blow like this, can it? Please talk him into letting this go!”
Hướng Kỳ was about to speak when the old man on the video suddenly cried out, “Son-in-law, you have to get justice for your wife and child! Don’t worry about me.”
As if from nowhere, he suddenly snatched the knife from the nurse’s tray and slashed his own slender neck.
Blood sprayed onto the camera, and the screen turned bright red.
The nurse’s scream could be heard in the video.
The assistant quickly cut the connection.
Everyone froze in place.
Hướng Kỳ cried out, “Dad!”
Tả Huy’s father turned back to me with a smile. “Your Honor, if an immediate family member dies, the trial can be put on hold, can’t it?”
The smashing and banging in the livestream room was deafening.
[Oh my God, are rich people even human?]
[The comments I just posted were wiped out by the troll army. Those barriers nearly made me throw up.]
[The death penalty! He deserves the death penalty!]
“Who says no immediate family member has to take responsibility?”
Hướng Kỳ shook his head and gripped the table. His eyes were bloodshot now, as if he were some evil demon from hell.
“Your Honor, I take back what I just said. Please try Tả Huy and send him to the gas chamber! All the judges watching online, please help me!”
I nodded impassively. “The trial will begin.”