Two days later.

“Ning Ning, I got in contact with Chen Hui’s ex-wife, An Ling.” Cai Qin pushed open the door and walked in, her face full of fury. “You were right. That Chen Hui’s a straight-up pedophile! He kept preying on children even after they moved away, and An Ling accidentally ended up finding out about it. Afterwards, An Ling secretly installed surveillance cameras and went through his computer, and she found some horrible photos!” 

Shu Ning scrambled to close his translation work. He didn’t know how he would explain why he knew German so well if he was caught.

Cai Qin usually knocked on his door. However, this time, she was so emotional that she ended up barging straight into his room. She shook her fists as she spoke, “After An Ling found out, she was afraid that he would lay a hand on their daughter. So, she demanded that they get divorced, but Chen Hui wouldn’t agree!”

“They fought over it for a whole year. It was only after An Ling got evidence that he molested children that she managed to get divorced, and she got full custody of her daughter.”

“He put on such a nice façade! Who knew he was actually a pervert! Damn!” 

Cai Qin was beside herself with anger.

Shu Ning said, “You should let everyone in the neighborhood group chat know. This way, we’ll be able to get donations for Yin Mingzheng.”

Cai Qin said, “Alright! I’ll let them know right away!”

Shu Ning suddenly remembered that he still had the video of Chen Hui blocking Yin Mingzheng at the school gate. He quickly followed up, “Cai Cai, I’m gonna send you a video.”

Cai Qin wondered aloud, “What video?”

“Chen Hui harassed Yin Mingzheng twice. One time, he was caught on camera. I’ll send it to you right now. You should send this to the neighborhood group chat as well.”

“Okay!” Cai Qin made an OK sign and left the room.

Shu Ning opened up QQ on his computer. He took the video and cut it down to the first thirty seconds. After editing it a little, he sent it to Cai Qin’s WeChat. 

Heh. With his ex-wife’s remarks and the video as evidence, Chen Hui would never be able to escape the pedophile label. It would definitely be able to wash away the injustices Yin Mingzheng suffered in the past.

After passing the video on to Cai Qin, Shu Ning ran to the living room and sat next to her. “So how is it?”

“The group chat’s totally blown up! I also sent screenshots of my messages with An Ling. Everyone’s totally ripping into him. Chen Hui lived in the community for a really long time. Who knows how many kids he hurt! All the parents are all a little afraid about what could have happened!”

Shu Ning stretched out his head to look at her phone. On the screen, everyone was cursing Chen Hui to hell and back. 

[Fuck, I remember Chen Hui smiling weirdly at my house’s direction! Now that I think about it, there was definitely something wrong there!] [He also bought things for my family, and he was very good towards the kids. Damn, I’m getting angry just thinking about it!] [I always thought he was a little weird. I accidentally saw him touching this one boy’s butt, but it wasn’t convenient to say anything…] One of the group chat members revealed that he had actually seen Chen Hui acting indecently towards children. That person was immediately attacked by the entire group chat. Everyone asked him why he didn’t speak up back then.

That person defended himself. [Chen Hui’s a company executive. Plus, he looks like a normal person, and he’s always been gentle and polite towards others. How was I supposed to know that he’s a pervert? Besides, it was just a touch. I would have never thought in that direction if I hadn’t learned about it today!] The group chat started completely blowing its top. Those who had children in the family were especially angry. When they thought about how Chen Hui could have been taking advantage of their children right before their eyes, they were overcome with fury.

Once the group had pretty much vented all their anger, Shu Ning grabbed Cai Qin’s phone and typed: [My Ning Ning also mentioned that Chen Hui touched him and invited him over to his house to play. When Ning Ning told me about it, I didn’t think in that direction either. Ah, I’m really so pissed!] Shu Ning didn’t hesitate to spread rumors about Chen Hui. Actually, it couldn’t really be considered spreading rumors. Chen Hui did, in fact, ask him to go to his house many, many times. Now that Shu Ning thought about it, the man definitely had ulterior motives.

Cai Qin instantly became worried when she saw that message. She grabbed the phone and asked, “Did this really happen?” 

Shu Ning said, “He didn’t touch me, but he did invite me to his house. I didn’t agree to go, though.”

Cai Qin breathed a sigh of relief.

Shu Ning took her cell phone and continued typing. [My family’s Ning Ning gets along pretty well with Yin Mingzheng. It turns out Yin Mingzheng didn’t actually steal back then. It was Chen Hui who invited him into his house and wanted to lay his hand on him. Yin Mingzheng resisted and smashed his camera and phone. He was only able to escape by threatening him with a knife. Who knew Chen Hui would bite back and accuse him of stealing? Yin Mingzheng’s parents didn’t stick up for him either, so he ended up being accused of something he didn’t do.] [Is that the truth?]

[I thought it was strange at the time. How did a primary school student manage to get into Chen Hui’s house? And why go to Chen Hui’s house specifically?] [I was there at the time. I also thought it was strange. But the kid’s parents already admitted to it, so I couldn’t really say anything.] [Me too. Chen Hui was home at the time. Are you telling me he can’t beat a child in a fight? Now, it seems like he tricked the kid and tried to molest him, but Yin Mingzheng resisted with a kitchen knife and barely managed to get away.] [In the end, he ended up getting falsely accused of stealing! Tsk, tsk, Yin Mingzheng’s too pitiful. Chen Hui is so disgusting!] [Am I the only one who thinks Zhou Juan is the one in the wrong? The child must’ve gone home and told her about it, yet she still dragged him over to apologize. Wasn’t this basically admitting that he’s guilty?] Someone immediately followed up. [They’re not his real parents. Why would she speak up for him? Now that I think about it, Zhou Juan’s always been very strange. She never bought any clothes for Yin Mingzheng. She would only pick clothes out of the trash or ask others for their old clothes. They didn’t even let Yin Mingzheng attend preschool!] [Yeah, what kind of parent would treat their child that way? They would rather spend their money on alcohol instead of clothes for their kid!] [Yin Mingzheng, this child is really too pitiful!] 

Ktf wbgf atf ugbeq ajixfv, atf wbgf ralggfv eq atfs yfmjwf. Ktfs veu eq fnfgs ilaaif vfajli ogbw atf qjra jcv nfgyjiis ijrtfv Itbe Aejc jcv Tlc Hljcu bnfg jcv bnfg jujlc.

[I’ll donate 200. Cai Qin, I’ll send you the red envelope.]

Ktf qfbqif lc atf cflutybgtbbv ugbeq mtja rajgafv vbcjalcu.

When Cai Qin saw the red envelope being sent to her, she wanted to stop them, but Shu Ning quickly replied. [Alright, the donations are being organized by Ning Ning.] Thanks to the neighborhood’s combined sympathy and guilt, Cai Qin was able to collect 60,000 yuan from the neighborhood group chat alone! There were two good-natured business owners in the chat, both of whom donated 10,000 yuan. There were still people sending red envelopes to her one after another! 

Ktf rmtbbi kjr jirb jmalnfis mbiifmalcu vbcjalbcr. Ktfs wjcjufv ab gjlrf 30,000 sejc atgbeut atf rmtbbi. Ktf tbwfgbbw afjmtfg qfgrbcjiis wjvf j aglq ab atf tbrqlaji ab qjs atf offr.

The advertisement that Shu Ning bought on Weibo also had an effect. The donation platform gradually raised 100,000 yuan, which wasn’t really that much. Those news reports about people who raised hundreds of thousands or even a million yuan were actually very rare. Such a massive amount of money could only be raised with the right time and conditions. However, the platform would continue to slowly raise funds.

The issue of money was finally resolved. Shu Ning breathed a sigh of relief.

The most urgent matter at hand was settled, and Yin Mingzheng was also transferred to the general ward. Shu Ning made a phone call to the police station to report Yin Qiang for intentionally harming someone. 

The police accepted the case and started investigating the situation. They received information that Yin Qiang had a reputation for domestic violence. Furthermore, because Yin Mingzheng was hospitalized with a serious injury, there was a high possibility that Yin Qiang could end up in jail. Yin Qiang was completely scared silly.

When she heard that Yin Qiang might end up going to jail, Zhou Juan finally made a trip to the hospital. She draped herself in front of Yin Mingzheng’s hospital bed and started wailing.

“Mingzheng! Please, wake up! I’m begging you!”

“If you don’t wake up, Dad’s going to go to jail! What do you want Mom to do?!” 

Shu Ning, who had been wiping down Yin Mingzheng’s body, asked contemptuously, “If it wasn’t for Yin Qiang going to jail, you wouldn’t have come to see Yin Mingzheng, right?”

Zhou Juan ignored him. She continued crying with her face in her hands.

Shu Ning shook his head. He took the basin of water into the bathroom and poured it out. When he returned to the room, he found that Zhou Juan was still crying. Completely dumbfounded, he said, “Mrs. Zhou, is it really that bad if Yin Qiang goes to jail? He won’t be able to hit you. You’ll be able to spend your own money how you like. You’ll have the house to yourself. Isn’t it better that way?”

Zhou Juan raised her head. Her nose was red. She shook her head and said, “You don’t understand.” 

Of course Shu Ning didn’t understand, and he didn’t want to. Her behavior was completely unfathomable to him.

The two stayed at the hospital until evening. Shu Ning headed home after Mrs. Cai urged him several times. In order to take care of Yin Mingzheng’s situation, he ended up skipping a lot of class, causing Mrs. Cai to be a little unhappy.

She could overlook everything else he was doing, but going to school was nonnegotiable.

Cai Qin and Papa Shu didn’t really understand why Shu Ning was so good to Yin Mingzheng. 

When faced with two overbearing parents, the only thing Shu Ning could do was silently relent. The most inconvenient thing about being a child was that he didn’t have the ability to make his own decisions.

He just hoped that Yin Mingzheng could wake up soon.

The police had already collected evidence. Now, they were just waiting for the prosecutor’s office to bring charges. Zhou Juan and Yin Qiang were truly panicked now. They showed up at the hospital everyday, hoping for Yin Mingzheng to wake up sooner.

When Shu Ning saw Yin Qiang’s scaredy cat appearance, he couldn’t help but find it despicable. He couldn’t even be bothered to curse him out. Some people were completely beyond saving. It was a waste of time to speak to him. 

Shu Ning didn’t know where they heard this, but, apparently, so long as Yin Mingzheng woke up and chose not to pursue the case, the police wouldn’t arrest Yin Qiang.

Did the law really have such a clause?

Shu Ning specifically searched online about it, and it turned out that it was true. Plus, once Yin Mingzheng woke up, his “serious injury” could be written off as a “minor injury”. With Zhou Juan also in the mix, it was really likely that Yin Qiang wouldn’t actually go to jail.

That’s why, for the past couple of days, Zhou Juan and Yin Qiang were very enthusiastically visiting him every day, greatly relieving Shu Ning’s workload. He didn’t mind taking care of Yin Mingzheng, but Mrs. Cai and Papa Shu were a little unhappy that it was interfering with school. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. Now that Zhou Juan and Yin Qiang were willing to take care of him, Shu Ning could take his hands off of it. 

Just as the prosecutor’s office was about to bring a criminal case against Yin Qiang, Shu Ning got a call from the hospital. He was in literature class when his phone rang. The hospital informed him that Yin Mingzheng had woken up.

“Really?” Shu Ning was absolutely ecstatic. As soon as school was over, he bolted out of the classroom and flew straight to the hospital.

Long Qiao and Wang Shenshen gave each other a look.

“Isn’t Shu ge a little too nice to Yin Mingzheng?” 

“I’m almost getting jealous!”

There were also some other students who would visit Yin Mingzheng at the hospital, but none of them stayed at the hospital every day like Shu Ning did. Fortunately, the hospital wasn’t too far away, so it wasn’t too inconvenient going back and forth.

Once he arrived at Lanzhou Hospital, Shu Ning took the elevator to the general ward. He walked through the half-opened door and instantly caught sight of Yin Mingzheng sitting on the bed. There was gauze wrapped around his head, and his face was pale. His beautiful eyes were open.

Shu Ning quietly approached him. He walked very slowly, and his eyes were fixed on Yin Mingzheng. He was almost afraid that Yin Mingzheng would close his eyes if he got too close. 

Yin Mingzheng quietly stared back at him.

“Mingzheng, are you awake?” Shu Ning asked tentatively.

After a long moment, Yin Mingzheng finally spoke, “Shu Ning.”

That single comment was almost enough for Shu Ning to cry out of joy. He wanted to reach out and hug Yin Mingzheng, but, just as he reached forward, he saw the gauze on Yin Mingzheng’s head and quickly withdrew his hands. 

“You…” He hesitated for a moment. Then, he stood in front of the hospital bed and asked, “Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

Yin Mingzheng shook his head.

Shu Ning asked Zhou Juan, who was eating an apple, “What did the doctor say?”

Zhou Juan’s expression was cheerful. “The doctor said that there’s no problem. Now that he’s woken up, he’s all good.” 

“There’s really no problem?” Shu Ning asked her distrustfully.

Zhou Juan avoided his gaze and stuffed the rest of the apple into her mouth. “Yes.”

Shu Ning knew what her personality was like. He sat on the edge of the hospital bed and worriedly asked, “Yin Mingzheng, what’s wrong? Can you tell me?”

Yin Mingzheng was silent for a moment. Then, he said, “I can’t see…” 

“What?”

Shu Ning was dumbfounded. His whole body went stiff.

“You can’t see? You’re blind?” Shu Ning stretched out his hand, shaking it in front of Yin Mingzheng. “Can you see this?”

Then, he held up two fingers. “How many fingers am I holding up?” 

When he walked in the room, Yin Mingzheng was clearly looking at him. Those eyes were so bright and limpid. How could he be blind?

This flame of anxiety was burning in his chest. If Yin Mingzheng was really blind, what was he supposed to do in the future? He was only fifteen years old. Would he be blind for the rest of his life?

“Two,” Yin Mingzheng said.

Shu Ning was stunned. Then, he held up four fingers. “How many fingers?” 

“Four,” Yin Mingzheng said flatly.

“You can see?” Shu Ning was extremely surprised.

Yin Mingzheng said, “Yes.”

“You just said you couldn’t see…” Shu Ning covered his face with his hands. The rims of his eyes started turning red. “I thought…” 

“I can’t see colors,” Yin Mingzheng added.

Shu Ning looked up and blinked. “What?”

Yin Mingzheng said slowly, “I can’t see any colors at all.”

In his eyes, there was only black and white. 

The world no longer had the color and splendor that it used to.

Shu Ning was speechless. If the only thing he lost was color vision, it would be rather difficult to argue that it was a “serious injury”. Yin Qiang definitely would not be going to jail. However, Yin Mingzheng was already extremely fortunate to only lose his color vision after going through such a dangerous ordeal. This was something to be happy about.

“There aren’t any other problems? Can you recognize words? Do you have any memory loss?”

Yin Mingzheng shook his head. “Everything else is fine.” 

Shu Ning was so happy that he cried. He quickly wiped his tears away and smiled. “That’s good. That’s good.”

Yin Mingzheng smiled lightly. Actually, he didn’t just lose his color vision. There were changes in his brain as well.

Moreover, he had already woken up when he was still in the ICU. He knew everything about Yin Qiang and Zhou Juan abandoning him.