There is another reason for this incident to be particularly serious. It is that the little girl"s family is in extremely poor conditions. The news has been reported online for several days.
"Netizens are all like this. If the victim is a child of rich family, they may say that she deserved it! Why doesn"t she take a private car but to take a taxi..."
Chen Hong puts down her mobile phone. "This is human nature."
Netizens are rubbing their hands one by one, and some people even cyber manhunt the driver and post his personal data such as name and home address online.
"This is too much!" Fei Ying raises her head. "Even if the driver himself is not good, but his family are innocent. Maybe he also has children. They raise a colossal uproar to make everyone know this matter. How will his wife and children live?"
The three women are having afternoon tea in the cafe of the foundation. In recent days, G City has entered the plum rain season, and the rain has kept falling continuously for several days.
"Recently there are few asking for help." Yan Hua looks at the information and finds that all those need legal aid. They just need help them contact lawyers.
Chen Hong takes a bite of the cake made by Fei Ying. "It"s a good thing that few people ask for help. It proves that the world is peaceful."
Yan Hua bows her head and reads private messages. Many women are too timid to call them directly, so they will leave messages in private.
"There is one asking for help." She really finds one.
Fei Ying and Chen Hong leans over to have a look.
"The help was asked yesterday!" Fei Ying clicks in. But there is not personal data of that person.
There is only one sentence asking for help: Please save my father and my family.
"Obviously it is a youngster."
Yan Hua nods and replies, asking her to contact the foundation. For fearing that the other party cannot see the phone number, she leaves the phone number of the cafe. Two days has pa.s.sed. Yan Hua has been thinking about this matter, but unfortunately the other party never calls.
Till one week later, a post suddenly appears on the Internet, aiming to rehabilitate the former taxi driver. The post says that the driver did not touch the girl from the beginning to the end. The girl and her companion directed and performed this farce by themselves.
"The post also said that they didn"t want to pay the taxi fare on the way. They asked the driver to cancel the order and extorted money from the driver." Fei Ying reads and feels it interesting. "The driver refused them. Then they wanted to get off the taxi in the suburbs. But after paying the fare, they told the driver that they would retaliate him."
The two women are on the phone. Yan Hua cannot see Fei Ying"s expression, but she knows that Fei Ying is mocking at the post. "Do you think it is not credible?"
"Of course!" Fei Ying shouts over the phone, "I won"t accept this kind of whitewashing for bad reputation. Think about it! Did the girl go crazy and make such a big show for a taxi fare?"
To tell the truth, how much money can a taxi driver have? It will be more cost-effective to find a pa.s.ser-by to extort money...
"What do you think about it?" Haven"t heard her reply for a long time, Fei Ying asks curiously, "Do you believe it?"
"I don"t know." Yan Hua puts down the book in her hand. "But there are many things on the Internet reversing within minutes. Who knows whether it is true or not."
Hanging up the phone, Yan Hua looks at her watch. It"s time for Gungun to have a nap. Every weekend at home, the little guy won"t have a nap easily and Yan Hua has to coax him for a long time. The same is true today. She makes various promises before getting Gungun into bed. But as long as he goes to bed and closes his eyes, he will fall asleep within minutes.
Coming out of Gungun"s bedroom, Yan Hua finds a missed call. The caller ID is a stranger. She dials if for a long time before getting connected.
"h.e.l.lo..." That is a girl"s voice, somewhat immature, which sounds very young.
Yan Hua has a premonition that this should be the phone call she has been waiting for several days.
The next afternoon, Yan Hua and Fei Ying meet the little girl who had sent a private letter previously and called Yan Hua yesterday.
"My name is Yang Le, and I am at Grade Two in the junior high school." The girl is neatly dressed, white and clean. Her behavior and manners show that her family education is very good.
However, she keeps wearing an anxious look and her eyes are always full of horror.
"My father is the taxi driver mentioned online, but he is really wronged!" Yang Le sits opposite, with her fingers scratching on the tablecloth and her eyes full of anxiety and bewilderment.
Yan Hua pushes a gla.s.s of juice toward her. "Don"t worry. Just take your time."
"The two girls who hailed the taxi that day were my cla.s.smates. A few days ago, our school wanted to choose representatives to take part in the national composition compet.i.tion. Two people in our cla.s.s were selected, a girl named Meng Ze and me."
"Meng Ze and I are not very friendly at ordinary times..." Yang Le glances at them.
Fei Ying smiles and nods. "I see. Is she jealous that you study better than her?"
Yang Le bites her lip and is somewhat shy. "I never annoy her. She is the commissary in charge of literature and art in my cla.s.s. She is good at speaking, singing and dancing, and has a very good relationship with our cla.s.smates."
"You mean she retaliated against you and framed your father because of failing to be chosen?" Yan Hua and Fei Ying look at each other. "Then how did she know your father"s license plate number?"
Even if Meng Ze knows something about her cla.s.smate"s family situation and parents" occupations, it is impossible for her to know so clearly and even knows the license plate number.
"That day was a weekend and the school held a meeting for the students who would go to the compet.i.tion, so my father took me to school in the afternoon." Yang Le said slowly, "Meng Ze must have seen us. After I entered, she used car-hailing app to hail a taxi. My dad"s taxi was the closest at that moment."
"So you posted on micro blog, and that"s what happened later?" Yan Hua takes a deep breath and can"t believe children can be so bad now.
Yang Le"s eyes turn red. "Meng Ze and her cousin designed it from beginning to end. My dad didn"t... didn"t do anything bad to her..."
"No wonder..." Fei Ying takes a sip of coffee. "The public security department did not file a case or come out to explain the situation even it was so hot online."
"Meng Ze has done all of those things." Yang Le says hastily, "She keeps looking for people to b.u.mp up the thread and talks about it everywhere in the school. She also posts the address and information of our family on the internet. My mother... My mother doesn"t dare to go out."
Yang Le cries. "Our relatives have been brought into trouble. My father"s company clearly knows the truth, but because of public opinion, my father has been suspended. Someone scold me every day in the school, I..."
"Don"t cry." Yan Hua hands her the facial tissue, "We have known all of it."
"It"s all because of me... It"s all my fault." Yang Le cries with a loud voice, "I won"t compete with her about anything. I just want her to let off my family and tell the truth."
Fei Ying puts the cup on the table severely. "Too shameless... Too much! She is so black-hearted when she is so young. How can she become in the future?"
Yang Le probably has been held back for a long time, when she is finally able to let go of her crying, she can"t stop crying and cries out of breath, almost getting choked.
Yan Hua gently touches her back. "We will help you, but you should cooperate with us."
"I... What should I do... Woo-woo..."
"First of all, we shall take lawyers to find your cla.s.smate." Yan Hua changes a cup of hot milk tea for her. "If she still refuses to apologize and tell the truth publicly, then we will call the police."
Yang Le wipes her face. "If we call the police, she... Will she go to jail?"
"No." Fei Ying shakes her head. "Silly girl, you are still worried about her!"
Yang Le bites her lips and says nothing. Yan Hua pats her on the shoulder. "Don"t worry. Just leave everything to us to handle!"
She also does not want to call the police. After all, Meng Ze is only 14 years old and not an adult. What the children in this period need is guidance from parents and society to help them establish correct values and world outlook.
And even if she does call the police, Meng Ze is not old enough to go to jail. However, her parents, as guardians, should be fined.
"On Monday, we will go to your school to find Meng Ze. You will go home and tell your father that if Meng Ze refuses to cooperate, we will send her parents a lawyer"s letter and your father may be required to appear in court."
After sending Yang Le away, Fei Ying sighs with emotion. She asks her a.s.sistant to make a doc.u.ment of what Yang Le says and then send it to the foundation"s cooperating lawyer. When the two women go home at night, Fei Ying says at the door.
"I have decided to cultivate Xiaojiu to be more fierce and tough. I"d rather apologize to others for her bullying others in the future than hear her cry when she is bullied by others."
Although this shares a bit of negative values, it is understandable and reasonable from a mother"s point of view.
"You don"t have to worry. Mingxi, the flower guardian, will take good care of Xiaojiu." Yan Hua comforts her, then sighs. "The one really need protection is Gungun."
"Sn.i.g.g.e.r!" Fei Ying smiles, "Yes, yes, even if you have another child, that will be Gungun"s younger brother or sister. What should you do?"
Yan Hua rolls her eyes at her. "Hurry to go home. It is meaningless to talk about that."
"You are back?" When Yan Hua enters the door, she sees Lang Ruoxian playing with Gungun in the sitting room.
Seeing her come in, both Lang Ruoxian and Gungun stare at her.
"Mommy!" Gungun runs over, holding a small cake, "Uncle bought it."
Yan Hua kisses him. "Good boy. Mother will wash hands before eating!"
"How is it?" Lang Ruoxian follows her into the kitchen. The man hugs her from behind and kisses her on the face.
Before she went there, they had a phone conversation, so Lang Ruoxian also knows a little about this matter. Yan Hua tells him what Yang Le says and hears him ask, "Are you sure?"
"Did you think she lied?" Yan Hua wipes her hands and turns around.
Lang Ruoxian bows his head and rubs her nose. "Since a 14-year-old junior high school student can frame the father of a cla.s.smate, the other one cannot guarantee that she has told the truth."
"But I have already let the lawyer handle it."
Lang Ruoxian takes her hand to walk to the sitting room. "It"s okay. I"ll have someone investigate it."
The result of the investigation is the same as what Yang Le says. And Meng Ze doesn"t think it is serious at all. She tells everyone this as a joke when she goes to the bar with some hooligans.
"I have let people control those hooligans. They can prove that the junior high school student lies." The next day Lang Ruoxian tells Yan Hua the result. Yan Hua can trustingly follow up the entrustment.
Early in the morning on Monday, Fei Ying goes to send the two children to the kindergarten. She takes three lawyers to Yang Le"s school and stops Meng Ze at the school gate.
"Are you the woman who is abandoned by the rich and powerful family?"
Yan Hua mentions what she has come for. But the girl chewing gum on the opposite directly says so.