But if this young lady had worked in this manner for one to two months, or even for years, he would really have to investigate whether that young lady had been hospitalized because of the accident or whether she had been hospitalized due to exhaustion.
In the face of Ding Jiayi’s harassment and absurd reasoning, the driver could only feel that he was down on luck. If not for the lack of money, he would have chosen to simply spend five hundred thousand yuan to end this once and for all. In that way, he would never need to meet the Qiao family ever again. Unfortunately, he had not been able to do so, and the matter was thus unresolved.
Upon receiving Qiao Nan’s call, he was actually quite surprised. Even though he had already been troubled by Ding Jiayi’s unreasonable demands for the past three days and his life was now in a mess, he was still rather rational when speaking to Qiao Nan. “Oh, it’s you, Miss Qiao. I’m really sorry about what happened that day. You’ve suffered so much because of me. I was about to send my car for repair that day.”
But who would have expected that to happen on the way to the car workshop? The driver could only blame his rotten luck. If he had known that such an accident would happen, he would never have driven past the hospital just to beat a few traffic lights.
“What happened that day was an accident. You’re to be blamed, but so am I.” Qiao Nan did not pin all blame on the other party. It was because she had gotten into an argument with Ding Jiayi that day and had gotten into a fight on the road, with Ding Jiayi even pulling her hair. Otherwise, given her usual cautious and prudent character, she would definitely have avoided it. “As for the issue of compensation, I would like to ask a favor of you.”
Upon hearing the word ‘compensation’, the other party’s face immediately darkened. This was entirely Ding Jiayi’s fault. But Qiao Nan was the party involved, so he was still willing to listen to Qiao Nan patiently. “Miss Qiao, you can be straightforward with your words. But I’ll say it again. I’ll do my best and do whatever I can. I’m sorry, but I won’t accept anything too excessive and demanding.”
Money did not grow on trees. He thought that he was already paying for his actions, but the problem was that someone was trying to treat him as a sacrificial lamb. How could she dare to ask for five hundred thousand? No one had even died!
“I know that my mom has been harassing and bothering you about the issue of the compensation. I have to apologize to you for that. You can do whatever you like to placate my mom or simply not open the door for her. I’m the party involved. Even if we were to have a settlement, I’ll have to be the one going down to the police station to authorize it. Five hundred thousand yuan is quite a lot indeed. How about you prepare three hundred thousand? But remember that you must hand the money to me directly, and not to anyone else in my family. Once I’ve gotten the money, I’ll go to the police station to sign the settlement with you immediately. What do you think?”
It was not as though she had died. Even though she was already reaching her forties, she would work hard to earn money if she really wanted it. If Ding Jiayi wanted to make a fortune, she should just put her hopes on Qiao Zijin. As for her…
“Yes, sure.” The other party was stunned. He had never expected that Qiao Nan would be so decisive. He had no choice. Ding Jiayi had been too domineering and had repeatedly told him that she had the final say and that her younger daughter would definitely listen to her. If she said they would have a settlement, then they would have a settlement. If she refused, her younger daughter would never go against her.
Seeing Ding Jiayi’s fierce appearance, the driver completely believed her words. With such a stern and fierce mother, there was no way a child would dare to disobey her.
But the woman who had been knocked down was so bold as to secretly contact him. She even reduced the compensation amount from five hundred thousand to three hundred thousand. Moreover, she requested that the money be handed over to her personally. Only then would the matter be resolved.
He could not care less about what the Qiao family’s situation was like. Now that this matter could be resolved and Qiao Nan was not too demanding in terms of the compensation, it was a good thing for him. “Miss Qiao, it’s great that you’re so understanding. Let’s do as you said. Are you feeling alright in the hospital? Rest well and we’ll get everything done once you’ve been discharged.”
Even if the driver had managed to guess that there was a conflict amongst the Qiao family, he simply acted as though he knew nothing about it at all. His responsibility and guilt were toward the party concerned, Qiao Nan, not Ding Jiayi. With Qiao Nan’s permission, the driver immediately started avoiding Ding Jiayi. Once Qiao Nan had recovered and could personally settle this matter, he would get in contact with Qiao Nan then.
Because the driver hid away, Ding Jiayi was unable to find him and continue quarreling. As such, Ding Jiayi was getting more riled up lately. “People nowadays really have no conscience. He knocked down someone who was alive and well, causing her to almost lose her life! It turns out that human life isn’t worth much, after all. I only asked for five hundred thousand, not even a million yuan! But he’s gone into hiding! Unless he wants to be imprisoned, I’ll see where he can hide and how long he can continue hiding!”
With such a huge sum of money, there would still be half of it left even after using it for Zijin’s kidney transplant. With the money, they would no longer have to worry about leading good lives even though Zijin had gotten a divorce.
Greed flashed past Qiao Zijin’s eyes. Five hundred thousand yuan was not a lot, but it was still a rather significant sum of money. Even though she had been married to Chen Jun for so many years, the Chen family had never given her so much money. She had never expected Qiao Nan to be rather useful in this aspect. She had simply allowed herself to be knocked down and this would bring about five hundred thousand yuan! “Mom, Qiao Nan got into an accident and she’s still lying on a hospital bed. So what will happen to her kidney?”
Qiao Zijin got anxious thinking about her illness.
For every day that the transplant was delayed, her risk of succumbing to her illness only increased. Unfortunately, it just so happened that kidneys were not an abundant resource. Donors had to be willing volunteers. A good eighty to ninety percent of donors were people who were already dead. Qiao Zijin would only get to undergo a kidney transplant if someone was a willing organ donor.
Qiao Nan had been extremely lucky and had not been killed in the car accident. Indeed, one had to have a string of bad luck before the tides turned. If Qiao Nan had been killed in the accident, the compensation would not just be a measly five hundred thousand yuan. It could possibly have gone up to a million yuan! Then, she would not only have a kidney. After her surgery, she might even have a million yuan in her bank account!
With a million yuan, she would have no problems getting a divorce from Chen Jun. She was confident that she would be able to get remarried to another man. At that time, she would have money and a house, and perhaps, she might even be able to find herself a handsome young man.
Anyway, no matter how good the Chen family’s conditions were, Chen Jun had only always given her a paltry allowance every month after their marriage. Every time he handed the money over, Chen Jun never failed to show his disdain for her. Spending someone else’s money would not be more comfortable than spending one’s own money.
Unfortunately, all these were nothing but fantasies. The reality was that Qiao Nan was still alive. And it was also true that the kidney was still in Qiao Nan’s body. Why had Qiao Nan not died? What a pity!
“What do you mean? There’s nothing we can do but wait.” Ding Jiayi sighed. “Qiao Nan’s not dead. Since she’s still alive, I can’t make decisions for her about her kidney. She’ll have to agree to it. She just woke up the day before yesterday, so her body’s still frail and weak. I asked the doctor in private, and the doctor said that there’s no way Qiao Nan can undergo surgery to donate her kidney to you.”