prefer silence

When I got back to the hotel, the proprietress was cleaning the front desk. When she saw me, she asked, "Did you see me? Is that your friend's sister?"

I replied: "It should be her. She seems to be doing well, so my friend can feel relieved."

The proprietress put the mop in her hand and asked me curiously: "Your friend doesn't know what she looks like, how did you find it? Don't blame you for finding the wrong one in the end." She clicked her tongue again, "You young man That's right, I went out so early in the morning. I haven't had time to tell you her appearance and name, aren't you just looking around?"

"Her... her name is Meifang, isn't she? She also has a little girl with her."

"That's right, her name is Zhou Meifang, and she has a baby girl." The landlady's face became weird, "Let me tell you, this girl is a bit... She likes to take advantage of small things, and there is no one else in the ten miles and eight towns except men. I went to her place to buy vegetables, and my relationship with her husband is not very good. Her husband has a bad temper and beats her when he drinks."

"Her daughter is also suffering. I heard from their neighbors that she took out her daughter as soon as she was beaten. Her husband is not good to his wife, but he is good to his daughter. Anyway, they are all poor people. Let me tell you this , You asked your friend to think clearly... It's not that I don't want your friend to recognize relatives, this may be a bit troublesome."

The heart that I just let go hangs up again.As a stranger who has nothing to do with this matter, the proprietress is really kind to be able to say this.

"Thank you so much, Eldest Sister. My friend just let me see it. I'll ask him about it." I asked again, "Eldest Sister...do you know where she lives?"

"I'll show you the way after lunch, and I'm going to send the baby to a cram school soon."

……

The proprietress said she was showing me the way, but she actually took me through it.Crossing two small roads and turning a corner to a small supermarket, the total journey is only about ten minutes.It was a dilapidated blue building with creepers growing on one side of the building.

Fangfang's house is on the second floor, but I don't know which house.According to the proprietress, Fangfang's husband is going to buy goods every weekend, so he should not be at home today.

The proprietress is a know-it-all.She said that an old lady lived on the third floor and married a man ten years younger than her, which became a local joke.A man and a woman lived on the sixth floor. Without proof, they had five children.

She talked about such gossip with relish.I was grateful to her for helping me so much, so I stood still and listened to her chanting for about twenty minutes.

I told Yu Qingshan about Fangfang's situation.Yu Qingshan didn't expect things to get complicated, he said: "It's very troublesome for you to take care of this matter. The most important problem is that you have no qualifications and no position. You are a stranger to her. She doesn't care about it." I will believe you, but I may feel that you are here to destroy her family and her life."

The two of us stared at each other, faced each other for an hour, and finally came up with a solution that was not a solution.

Yu Qingshan once made amateur documentaries, which inspired us.We decided to knock on the door of her house with a video camera and persuade her to cooperate with us to make a documentary micro film with a generous reward, guiding her to talk about her daily life.If she is really suffering from domestic violence and does not know how to seek help, we can help her.

After making an appointment in the evening, I hurried back to my room to make a video call to Chen Zheng.Chen Zheng's background is the small lounge in the law firm, his handsome face looks distorted in the filter of the video call.

I was as excited as a bear seeing Honey, wishing I could go across the screen to catch him, "Brother Zheng—" the sentence "Brother Zheng" dragged on for a long time, and I even got goosebumps when I heard it.

Chen Zheng laughed and replied, "Yuan Yuan."

We called each other back and forth like this more than ten times, and finally we were willing to talk about business.

I roughly told Chen Zheng the whole situation, "She is suffering from domestic violence, I want to try... can I help her."

Chen Zheng's face became serious, and he said: "First observe her attitude towards calling the police and divorce. If she doesn't object, then you can contact me. If she rejects and you can't convince her, then you can come back, okay?" ?”

I didn't say anything, because I can't guarantee that, if she doesn't listen, I really don't care?Think she is my sister... she is Fangfang... that Fangfang who once protected me...

Chen Zheng sighed, and said, "Yuanyuan, you should know that if she doesn't stand up, you have no position to help her, and you can't help her either. This is the reality."

I finally nodded, I know Chen Zheng provided the best solution.If Fangfang insists on not asking for help or getting a divorce, the only thing I can do is to give her a sum of money to make her life easier.

In the evening, Yu Qingshan came to the downstairs of Fangfang's house with me carrying his precious belongings.Before the two of us went upstairs, a man suddenly stumbled out of the dark corridor.Immediately afterwards, a woman with disheveled hair ran out and kept screaming, "Help, help!"

The man and woman passed in front of us and ran further away.There was only one street lamp on the small road, and it kept flickering due to poor contact. I couldn't see the faces of the man and the woman clearly. Before I could speak to Yu Qingshan, another man ran out, holding a torch The knife seemed to be chasing the person in front and ran over.

He roared, his voice was hysterical, and his anger was shocking.

"You two sons of bitches! Put a hat on me! Zhou Meifang, you haven't been slept enough by your father and I! You want to die!"

Zhou Meifang?Thinking of the words of the proprietress, my heart skipped a beat.After hesitating for a while, I became ruthless and courageous, and chased after him.

Yu Qingshan didn't stop me, and shouted behind me: "Li Yuyuan, why are you joining in the fun? Don't die!"

I chased to the intersection at the end of the alley, and the man who ran out at the beginning had disappeared.Fangfang knelt on the ground and wept bitterly. She grabbed her husband's hand and begged for something.

Her husband was tall and full of flesh. He grabbed Fangfang's hand and kicked her hard.I was panting heavily, and before I could think of what to say, the knife in the man's hand slashed at her back.

——That is a meat cutter commonly used in the vegetable market.

My brain was about to explode, and at that moment, I didn't care about anything, and shouted: "Don't hurt anyone—" But he had already been stabbed, and Fang Fang fell to the ground, blood spattered and flowed all over the place. back.

The man didn't seem to hear me, and quickly chopped a few more times.Fangfang fell in a pool of blood, not knowing whether she was alive or dead. The cruel and bloody scene was reflected on my retina, making my brain go blank. I rushed over and stopped the man's hand holding the knife.

When I ran closer, I realized how terrifying his state was.The man breathed heavily with the smell of alcohol, and the veins on his neck were covered with tangled knots.Because of the obstruction of me, an uninvited guest, he stopped and turned his eyes to me, his eyes were particularly fierce.

This man, he's out of control.

The author says:

mass tragedy.