Free Web NovelChapter 419: Chapter 302: It’s Human Nature to Sympathize with the Weak
The sudden, sharp stop of the carriage sent Lin Li, who was sitting inside, lurching forward. Luckily, his quick reflexes allowed him to grab a protruding handrail, steadying himself and avoiding a fall.
Then, he heard the panicked coachman muttering to himself, and his brow furrowed.
Climbing out of the chilly carriage, Lin Li said to the bewildered coachman, "Don’t just stand there. Go check on the person you hit!"
"Ah, right, right, I should go see how he is..." The pale-faced coachman, snapped out of his daze by Lin Li’s words, immediately came to his senses. He jumped down from the carriage and hurried toward the person he had sent flying.
But just as he was about to check on the condition of the pedestrian, five burly, able-bodied men in linen shirts rushed out from the crowd of onlookers.
The leader was a hulking man, one meter ninety tall, with bulging muscles and a full beard.
As the panicked coachman prepared to go and check on the person he had sent flying, the bearded leader beat him to it. He threw himself onto the motionless pedestrian lying on the ground, crying out in anguish.
"Liu! You can’t die! If something happens to you, how will I ever face your mother?!"
The panicked coachman was blocked by the other four burly men. He could only watch from a distance as the motionless pedestrian, struck by the horse, lay on the ground.
"Boss, hurry and check if Liu is still breathing!" reminded a bald man among the four thugs blocking the coachman.
Hearing his bald underling’s reminder, the bearded man finally, as if just realizing it, began to check on his injured brother’s condition.
After a quick examination, the bearded man let out a sigh of relief. He turned to his men and said, "Thank heavens! Liu is still breathing. We need to get him to a clinic right away."
"That’s great! Liu is alive!" The bearded man’s four underlings wore expressions of excitement upon hearing their companion was still alive. Then, they all turned in unison, glaring angrily at the panicked coachman.
"What kind of driving was that?"
"Don’t you know the street is crowded?"
"You came rushing out of an alley without even looking to see if anyone was there?"
"My brother’s lucky he’s tough. Otherwise, you would’ve killed him on the spot."
The four burly men bombarded the terrified coachman with questions, one after another.
"I-I’m sorry! I didn’t do it on purpose..." the pale-faced coachman stammered in a flustered apology.
He had only ever been an honest farmer before this. He’d never encountered a situation like this and had no idea how to handle it, so all he could do was apologize repeatedly.
"If sorry was enough, what would we need the authorities for? You’re coming with us to the magistrate’s office. Let them handle this accident."
As they spoke, the four burly men moved to surround the terrified coachman, looking like they were about to drag him to the authorities.
Hearing they wanted to take him to the magistrate, the coachman wanted to beg them not to, but the words wouldn’t come out.
After all, he was the one driving the carriage that hit the man. It was perfectly reasonable for them to want to take him to the authorities.
But if he went to the magistrate’s office, he would surely be thrown in jail.
Jail! For a man who, until recently, was just an ordinary, hardworking farmer, the thought was a bolt from the blue.
Just as the dejected coachman was sinking into despair, the bearded man stood up and stopped his four underlings.
"Alright, that’s enough. I can see he really didn’t do it on purpose..."
The coachman’s eyes lit up when he heard the bearded man’s words. He nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes! I didn’t do it on purpose..."
"Boss, even if he didn’t mean to, he still injured Liu. It’s his fault," one of the thugs said. "Even if we don’t take him to the authorities, he should at least pay for Liu’s medical fees!"
Before the bearded man could speak, the coachman, seizing this sliver of hope, quickly said, "It’s my fault. I’ll definitely pay the medical fees."
A strange glint flashed in the bearded man’s eyes when he heard the coachman offer to pay. He then put on a magnanimous expression and said to the coachman,
"Fine. Since you know you were wrong and you’re willing to pay the medical fees, we won’t take you to the authorities. We’ll settle this privately."
"Thank you, thank you." The coachman was full of gratitude, hearing the bearded man was willing to settle things privately.
"Boss, given Liu’s condition, taking him to a clinic... the medical fees will be at least this much..." One of the burly men held up five fingers as he spoke.
"Fifty thousand Copper Coins is too much. Forty-five thousand should be about right." The bearded man furrowed his brow, then looked at the coachman.
"Forty-five thousand Copper Coins? I couldn’t come up with that much money even if you sold me!" The coachman had just breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he would only have to pay a small medical fee to settle the matter.
He never expected the compensation would be forty-five thousand Copper Coins. The amount was completely beyond his imagination.
His entire family’s savings amounted to no more than fifteen thousand Copper Coins. Even if he sold everything he owned, including the few acres of poor land his family had, he could barely scrape together forty thousand.
Seeing the coachman’s reaction, the bearded man and his underlings exchanged a subtle, fleeting glance, having a quick, unspoken conversation with their eyes.
