It was a truck full of cargo that hit and killed my dad.
He shouldn't have taken that road that day, but it was my mother's birthday in a few days, he went to order a cake for her, and on the way back, he was greedy for the convenience, so he took a road that he wouldn't normally take.
And that's when the accident happened.
He was driving normally with the battery on, when a pickup truck suddenly blew out of control and hit him from behind. A car with a load limit of 50 tons was overloaded by more than 20 tons. The driver is fully responsible, but the insurance company refuses to pay on the grounds that the contract stipulates that "vehicles are illegal and illegal transportation will not be compensated".
The driver himself bought his car with a loan, and he said that asking for money is not a life-threatening option, so if it is impossible, he will be arrested and jailed.
My mother couldn't accept that my father lost his life for no reason but couldn't even get the compensation he deserved, so she had to sue the driver and the insurance company in court.
Lawyers are public interest lawyers recommended by the court. We only need to pay a small amount of money to get services, but it also means that we cannot demand too much services.
The lawsuit has been fought on and off for two years, and the lawyer has not paid much attention to it, and often needs my mother's constant urging before reporting the progress of the case.
In the final judgment, the insurance company did not need to pay compensation according to the terms of the contract, and the driver compensated us 200,000 yuan for medical and funeral expenses.
Two years, one life, two hundred thousand...
My mother was not reconciled to the contempt of human life, so she filed a lawsuit in anger. Unbelievably, human life is so cheap.
She tugged on the lawyer's sleeve in disregard of her appearance outside the court, broke down and cried, and begged him to think of a solution, but in exchange for the other party's sullen face, she said with disgust: "I don't know what to do."
From the other party's point of view, wasting two years to fight the lawsuit for us can be said to be his best deeds and showing mercy. It's good to have 200,000 in compensation, no amount of entanglement would be a waste of each other's time. If you are sensible, you should be grateful to him and accept the verdict, instead of being insatiable and unsatisfied like my mother.
It seems that the 200,000 yuan is a pie from the sky, a big lottery winning, not the compensation we deserved by begging everywhere.
The lawyer shook off my mother in displeasure and strode away. My mother knelt on the ground and wept bitterly, calling my father's name, asking why he died like this, scolding God for being so unfair, and wondering if there is any conscience in this world.
I hugged her and patted her on the back, trying to calm her down.
The court is covered with thick marble floor tiles, each of which has a little wear and tear due to its age. When the soles of the shoes touch the stone surface, there will be a slight knocking sound. When there are no people, the only sound will echo in the long corridor, making the whole building more solemn.
In my memory, my mother's helpless crying tugged at my heart, giving me the first taste of "powerlessness". But what bothered me the most was the lawyer's relentless footsteps and his indifferent back.
"Mom, it's okay, it'll be fine..." I clumsily comforted my emotional mother, subconsciously wanting to ask my brother for help.
When I looked at Sheng Minou, I found him standing in the middle of the corridor, watching the lawyer going away very quietly, his dark eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of gray mist, making it difficult for people to find out his truth idea.
"Brother?" I was a little afraid of his expression, and I always felt that he was different from the usual one.
Sheng Minou heard the sound and looked over, stared at me for a long time, and suddenly said: "It turns out that in this world, people who kill people will not be punished."
He didn't feel resentful, as if he just suddenly realized this problem, and then felt emotional.
I was shocked and a little dazed. Sheng Minou's words, the atmosphere in which I was, mother's cries, and the lawyer who had gone away, all these things were intertwined, which made me, who was only twelve years old at the time, be at a loss and bewildered.
I don't know how to answer him, it's not even a question. It was more like a gigantic boulder, which fell on me in a daze.
"Brother..." I couldn't speak, I was overwhelmed by his words, and I was suffocated.
There is no way to appeal, there is no way, bitter and unwilling tears welled up in my eyes, I turned my face away, fearing that if I lose control of my emotions, my mother will feel even more uncomfortable, so I had to grit my teeth and bear it, making my body tremble faintly.
I don't know how long it took, it might be a few minutes, or it might just be a few seconds, when my shoulder was suddenly pressed lightly by a hand, and when I turned around, I saw Sheng Minou had come to us.
He opened his arms and embraced me. At the same time, the other hand gently patted my mother's back and my hand like a baby.
"Don't be afraid, you still have us." He whispered, not knowing who he was talking to.
My mother was emotional at that time, and I don't know if she listened or not, but at that moment, these words did give me great comfort.
More than ten years later, similar cases went round and round and transferred to Sheng Minou's law firm, where he was selected. I don't know if he was also unwilling and resentful back then, but he should have minded if he left the case alone.
In the afternoon, I felt a little tired. After all, I didn’t have a good rest last night. I just squinted on the carpet in the living room of Sheng Minou’s house for two hours. I just closed my eyes and didn’t fall asleep.
Halfway through my drowsy sleep, the door of the reception room was suddenly pushed open. I woke up from a light sleep and saw a woman in her thirties and a little girl standing at the door leading a large and a small group at the front desk.
"Ah! I'm sorry, Mr. Lu, I didn't know you were resting." Seeing that I was woken up, the front desk quickly apologized.
I sat up and rubbed the space between my eyebrows: "It's okay, I'm the one who took up your place, you can use it if you want, I'll just go and stay somewhere else."
The receptionist stepped back and looked in a certain direction outside the door, then looked at me after a while and said, "No, no, these two guests are just staying for a while. Lawyer Sheng wants to see them as soon as he is free."
She asked the woman and the child to sit down first, and then went out to pour water for them.
The woman looked tired, her face was haggard, and there were obvious creases and some stains on her clothes. She looked preoccupied. The little girl stayed close to her all the time. Although she was in better condition, there was always a layer of gloom between her brows that shouldn't be there at this age, and she always looked timid.
The woman nodded at me, then sat down across from me.
"Nana, do you see how small the building downstairs is? Is it good? Let's go and have a look, shall we?" She tried to mobilize the little girl's emotions, but the girl was not interested in new things at all, and just leaned close to her, almost shrinking. into her arms.
The woman was a little helpless, she sighed for some reason, her eyes were a little red.
"How old is the child?" I asked aloud.
The woman was taken aback, looked at me, and tried to squeeze out a dry smile: "Six years old, it's time to go to school next year."
"Is it Nana?"
The woman nodded: "Yes, the big name is Xu Na, and the nickname is Nana."
I quickly switched my tone to a brisk channel: "Nana, can uncle do a magic trick for you?" I took two tissues from the table, pulled my coat, covered my hands, and said, "This magic trick is for me. Ordinary people don't act casually for others, but today I made an exception when I saw a cute little girl like you, so don't blink."
Xu Na remained silent, she was next to her mother, but her eyes became curious.
I fiddled with the two paper towels in my hand, folded out the flower buds, turned out the flower leaves, and finally pinched the collar of the coat with one hand, and introduced it to Xu Na solemnly.
"Here it is, this is a gift only for the cuties, thump, thump, thump!" As I lifted my coat, a pretty tissue rose appeared in my hand.
Xu Na immediately opened her eyes wide, with an expression of amazement that she never expected.
I took a step, knelt in front of her on one knee, and presented her with a rose I had folded for her.
Xu Na hesitated for a moment, then reached out to take it shyly, and thanked me in a low voice.
I saw a smile on her face, and knew that she had finally started to relax, so I suggested: "Do you want to learn, uncle will teach you?"
Xu Na raised her head, looked at me, and then at her mother.
"It's okay, Nana, do you want to learn? If you want to learn, let uncle teach you." The woman showed her first sincere smile since entering the door.
Xu Na looked back at me again, nodded emphatically at me, and said in a soft voice, "I want to learn."
I started to teach Xu Na how to origami a rose, and after she learned how to fold a mouse, a swan and a rabbit. When the receptionist came in to deliver water, he stopped and watched for a while in surprise, and asked me why I had so many origami skills.
If she had nothing to do for ten years and could only stare blankly at the sky beyond the high wall day after day, she would also be able to learn a lot of boring little tricks.
For a while, I would fold the letter to Sheng Minou into a love letter and send it. Looking back, it was so disgusting that I couldn't stand it.
He came in again after the front desk, and politely said to Xu Na's mother: "Ms. Yang, Lawyer Sheng is ready to see you, please follow me."
Xu Na was having a great time with me. Ms. Yang obviously didn't want to disturb her daughter's play, so she discussed with me embarrassingly and asked if I could take care of Xu Na for a while.
"Of course no problem." I agreed.
Ms. Yang explained to Xu Na that she was next door and asked her to play here first, and they could go home when she met the very powerful lawyer uncle.
Xu Na nodded obediently, and waved goodbye to Ms. Yang when she left.
I almost folded a box of tissues with Xu Na. The little girl was fiddling with a row of roses on the coffee table, and suddenly raised her head and asked me, "Uncle, can you fold little people?"
"Little man?"
Xu Na pointed to herself: "A villain like me, let people see me at a glance."
This stick figure is still reluctant, but it would really embarrass me to fold one like her.
I shook my head regretfully: "This is a bit difficult. Uncle is not good at learning, and he can't make a cute little girl like Nana for the time being."
Xu Na was a little disappointed, and said "Oh" in a low voice.
"Why do you fold the villain?" I couldn't help asking her.
"Because..." Xu Na whispered, "Mom said, if you burn something to Dad, he will receive it. If you burn money, you will receive money. If you burn a house, you will receive a house. If you burn me, Dad will pay you back." I can receive Nana. I miss my dad so much, and my dad must miss me too... "
I never thought that the answer would be like this.
A childish talk, funny, scary, heart-warming, sad, full of ups and downs, it is really a world of flavors.