area51novel Chapter 2 Abuse
Chapter 2 Abuse
Yu Xingge put the phone away, and the lit screen clearly showed: Teacher Gu Ping from the welfare home.
"Xiao Ge, Chu Jing is currently hospitalized and in critical condition at Dongjiang People's Hospital. Teacher Gu saw your post on WeChat Moments; you're working at the law firm now. Could you please help her...?"
Xingge regained some composure. She sat up, went to the wardrobe, and pulled out an umbrella from underneath. "Don't worry, which building and which room? I'll be right there."
It was late at night and raining, and the heavy rain couldn't wash away the sweltering heat of the past few days; instead, it added to the disheveled state of the pedestrians. Yu Xingge hailed a taxi for a long time without anyone accepting her fare. Taxis slowly drove past her, honking their horns. She lowered her head, sweat mixed with raindrops sliding down her temples. The streetlights illuminated her face; the brightly lit Dongjiang City was nothing like her hometown.
It's always so dark.
In rural areas, there's a strong belief in returning to one's roots. A father's suicide was considered unlucky, and her grandfather used his life savings to finally be allowed to choose a burial plot for him in the eastern part of the village. On the night of the burial ceremony, she overheard members of the Women's Protection Association discussing her future with her grandfather.
Although he disliked her mother, her grandfather was still willing to raise her father's only child after her mother's disappearance. However, her grandmother had passed away early, and her grandfather was too old to even take care of himself, so the two burdens had to live together at her aunt's house.
Looking back now, things were alright when Grandpa was alive. Even though she had to put up with her aunt and uncle's attitudes, at least it was a home. It wasn't until Grandpa passed away less than two years later that she was sent to an orphanage, which truly made her homeless.
It's so cold in the orphanage...
Yu Xingge's skin felt cool.
At this moment, at the entrance of the emergency room at the far east end of the fifth floor of Building 1 at Dongjiang City People's Hospital.
"Help! Help! Everyone come and see, look at this executioner, this murderer! My poor daughter's life is still unknown, it's all his fault!"
The white T-shirt was slightly yellowed, probably because she was in a hurry and had put on some mismatched pajama bottoms underneath. Gu Ping, always concerned with her appearance, disregarded her clothes and image, and tearfully attacked the blond-haired youth she was fighting. The youth retreated step by step, struggling to avoid her pulls. His pale back and bony shoulder blades jutted out from behind, and his earring glittered against his blond hair. His stubble face and dark circles under his eyes suggested that Gu Ping's movement had accidentally shoved his earring; the youth hissed, clutching his newly pierced right ear, and shoved her away. "Mom, are you ever going to stop?!" Liu Xi glared at Gu Ping, and the two struggled for a long time, attracting more and more people.
When Yu Xingge arrived, she immediately spotted the two shoving each other. She ran over and helped Gu Ping, who had been pushed to the ground, up. After several years, the strong and clean-cut Teacher Gu in her memory was instantly replaced by this frail woman. Only her freshly dyed, still jet-black and shiny hair testified to her former respectability.
"Teacher Gu, what is Chu Jing's condition now? Why did she attempt suicide?"
Gu Ping's face was covered in snot and tears, but she didn't bother to wipe them away, tightly gripping Xingge's arm: "Xiaoge, you're here! I didn't even know the doctor wasn't out yet. It's all his fault! That damned Liu Xi, I should never have let Chu Jing marry him back then!" Before she could finish speaking, Gu Ping choked up and couldn't continue. Yu Xingge saw that she was emotional.
"Teacher Gu, don't worry, come here." She half-pushed, half-carried Gu Ping to the iron chair at the entrance of the emergency room, gently patted her back rhythmically, and sat down with her: "Tell me slowly."
She pulled a tissue from her pocket and handed it to Gu Ping. Gu Ping wiped her nose, crumpled the tissue in her hand, and it took her a while to calm down: "Back in junior high, you were a good student, and you were recruited by the provincial experimental school before you even graduated. My girl, Chu Jing, wasn't doing so well. Her dad was a serious alcoholic those two years, and before I knew it, she was hanging out with some hooligans. She hung out until junior high, and then she absolutely refused to go to school anymore. Her grades weren't good to begin with, and then her dad passed away, and the family had no money. She said she wanted to go out and work, so I let her go. And then... and then she met him..."
Gu Ping pointed at Liu Xi: "Chu Jing was determined to like him and be with him, saying he was good to her. After all these years of back and forth, when he proposed last year, he had no money, no dowry, no gold jewelry, but Chu Jing didn't care; she just wanted to be with him. I hit her, I scolded her, but she's young and thinks that love makes everything possible. Liu Xi, on the other hand, swore to me that he would be good to her, that he would be good to her for life. And what happened..."
She stood up excitedly: "Yesterday I learned what verbal abuse is for the first time! Do you even know what verbal abuse is?! What did Chu Jing do wrong? She told me that since we got married, you've resented her, mocked her, and insulted her without a single day off." Gu Ping collapsed to the ground, completely losing her composure: "If Chu Jing hadn't finally told me last night because she couldn't take it anymore, I wouldn't know what kind of life she's been living all these years... I, I should have visited her more often... Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so despondent as to try to commit suicide by taking pills, sob sob."
She stepped forward and shoved Liu Xi again: "What did she do wrong to deserve this? Tell me!"
Many people in the crowd began taking out their phones to take pictures and videos. The condemning looks and pointing fingers from the crowd made Liu Xi extremely embarrassed and ashamed.
"Stop filming!"
He roared, "Is this my fault? I didn't even lay a finger on her! Why don't you ask your good daughter why she didn't talk back when I scolded her, why she didn't tell you? I'll tell you, it's because she's guilty! Because she's a whore! When we were dating, I cherished her so much, I wouldn't even touch her. She was like a chaste woman, not letting me touch her at all. Who knew that on our wedding night I'd find out, damn it, she wasn't a virgin. What was she pretending for? I cherished her so much. After waiting all these years, I received a second-hand product! What's wrong with me scolding her! Bah!"
His face darkened. "She deserved it!"
"How dare you talk like that? Look at this era! Good heavens, the Qing Dynasty is over, and there are still people like you around." The onlookers were displeased: "If you value chastity so much, then live your own life. Don't ruin other girls' lives."
"Of course."
"That's right, that's right."
Liu Xi retorted, "It's none of your business how I discipline my own wife! Besides, she committed suicide, it has nothing to do with me. Stop making a fuss."
Gu Ping turned pale with anger. She turned around and pleaded, "Xiao Ge, do you have any way to send this bastard in? I don't ask him to feel Chu Jing's pain, I just want him to suffer as much as possible."
Send it in? How do I send it in?
Article 260 of the Criminal Law stipulates: "Whoever abuses a family member, where the circumstances are egregious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years, criminal detention, or public surveillance. If the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph results in serious injury or death to the victim, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than two years but not more than seven years." Does Liu Xi's prolonged use of verbal abuse to mentally torment Zuo Chujing constitute the crime of abuse?
Seeing that she didn't speak, Gu Ping thought that Yu Xingge was holding a grudge about what happened when they were children: "Xiao Ge, I know." She started crying again: "I know that Chu Jing was a little hostile to you when you were little, but she was still young. She didn't understand right and wrong. She just felt uncomfortable because I was nice to her and wanted to make amends. Please forgive her and help her, for the sake of how good Teacher Gu has been to you. I... I'll kneel down for you."
"No, no." Yu Xingge: "Teacher Gu, I'm thinking."
"Who's bullying my son!" A middle-aged woman shouted angrily as she rushed over, glaring at the crowd. "What are you filming?! Put it down! Delete it!"
"I'm telling you, that suicide has nothing to do with us!"
"Mom, what are you saying?" Liu Xi's face was grim.
The woman rolled her eyes at him and pulled Liu Xi back, saying, "You two haven't even registered your marriage; you're just boyfriend and girlfriend at best." She turned her head, "What? You can't blame my son for this? That's not true!"
Yu Xingge was surprised. She lowered her voice and asked, "Teacher Gu, Chu Jing and Liu Xi didn't get a marriage certificate?"
"No, I think Liu Xi is unreliable. He never gave Chu Jing her household registration book. Besides, the wedding banquet wasn't that long ago, so... how could this have any impact? They already had a banquet..."
Yu Xingge sighed, "If it doesn't have any impact, why not let them get their marriage certificate?"
The crime of abuse requires that the perpetrator be a family member living together. But what about cohabiting boyfriends/girlfriends, or couples who live together as husband and wife but are not legally married? Are they considered family members living together?
That's not necessarily true...