Chapter 114: How Could a Perfectly Good Life Turn Out Like This!

Just as he was preparing to head home, he suddenly encountered such a situation. Zhou Yi was a bit bewildered, but he immediately realized that this was just like Liu Xu's parents—another attempt at moral kidnapping!

It was just that the method seemed a bit different; Liu Xu's parents were hysterical, while this Li Zhitao was playing the victim.

Driven by curiosity, Zhou Yi looked at the brat. The small face, as well as the exposed arms, were covered in bruises; it was indeed a heavy beating.

The little brat's eyes were now filled with tears, along with a trace of confusion and resentment; he probably didn't even know why his parents were hitting him this time.

This is a common failing of many "bear parents": they usually don't care about anything, and whatever the child does is fine, because after all, he is still a child, he is still young.

"You adults shouldn't hold a grudge against a child."

They spoil them to the heavens, and no matter what happens, they tell the child: "It's okay, Daddy and Mommy are here."

But this world is vast, and eventually, there will come a day when the trouble the child causes will be more than the parents can handle, and when that time comes, the "bear parents" will suddenly get very angry!

They will act out of character and beat the child severely. At this moment, rather than saying they are educating the child to make him understand reason, it is actually more accurate to say they are venting their emotions...

This is also the reason why many parents nowadays are incompetent; they either talk without acting, or act without talking.

Nowadays, all sorts of laws and regulations strictly forbid hitting or scolding children, but in fact, from Zhou Yi's perspective, corporal punishment—such as hitting the palm—is still necessary.

It's just that you have to make it clear to him why you are hitting him; hitting him is to make him remember this matter, not simply for the sake of hitting him!

It's just a pity that once many parents get into a temper, they simply disregard everything; as long as they feel satisfied with the beating, that's all that matters.

Seeing that Zhou Yi was silent and seemed somewhat moved, Li Zhitao hurriedly added, "Mr. Zhou, if you don't think this is enough, you can continue to hit him!"

As she spoke, she swung her hand and slapped him twice, causing the little brat to cry again.

"Hurry up and apologize to the uncle, hurry!"

The little brat stepped forward and said while crying, "Uncle, I'm sorry..."

He didn't know about the previous events, but beating a child in such a public place soon drew comments from others.

"What are you doing, woman? If you have something to say, say it properly; don't hit the child!" an old man said there.

Hearing this, Li Zhitao immediately began to pour out her grievances: "You don't know, sir, I have no other choice."

"A while back, when we were eating, my son accidentally broke someone's camera. Later, they demanded tens of thousands from us, saying it was for the camera, and now it has even gone to Court."

"The verdict came down today, and I really have no other way..."

Qiu Xiaoshuai had also caught up by now and likewise began to complain.

It was a real sob story: their family was poor, raising two children, so where would they get the money to compensate the other party? They had no other choice now but to do this, have the child apologize, and hope the other party would forgive them.

Li Zhitao looked at the old man beside her and said, "Sir, you tell me, what should I do now? If I weren't at my wit's end, would I do this?"

"Exactly!" A passing middle-aged woman couldn't help but chime in: "Young man, you look like a wealthy person; there's no need to make things difficult for others. They've apologized with such sincerity, what more do you want!"

"Do you have to see the child beaten to death before you're satisfied?"

Holy crap, hearing this, before the old man could even speak, Zhou Yi felt like he wanted to take action!

Forcing himself to hold back, Zhou Yi looked at Li Zhitao in front of him and said, "Ms. Li, and Mr. Qiu—no, I'm very curious about one thing now: is this kid actually your biological child?"

What?

Li Zhitao's pouring out of grievances was interrupted, and a trace of confusion appeared on her face as to why the other party would ask such a thing.

As for Qiu Xiaoshuai, he had already subconsciously looked at Li Zhitao at this moment.

Yes, it was truly just a subconscious reaction...

And Zhou Yi had already begun to say: "If he is your biological child, and you, as a mother, don't feel heartache when hitting him, why should I feel heartache? You hit your own child and want me to forgive you?"

"No, I can't wrap my head around this logic!"

"Also, ma'am, you tell me, why should I forgive him just because he hits his own child? If her son commits murder one day and hits his son to make the victim forgive him, should the victim forgive him?"

"On what grounds? Why should I have to forgive him!"

He truly couldn't understand why he had to forgive them just because they beat their child so miserably.

That is your child, you are the guardian, and the child is indeed young and ignorant, so I am seeking compensation from you guardians. Now you are using the method of beating the child to make me forgive you?

This reminded Zhou Yi of his cousin's ridiculous maneuvers—also in front of that piano shop, beating the child in front of the owner, as if he couldn't show his sincerity without doing so...

If they had the energy for this, why didn't they do it earlier? That night, the waiter had reminded them twice, but they just ignored it. And now it's come to this?

Li Zhitao was stunned for a moment; she didn't quite know how to answer.

Because logically, there was indeed no connection. Her own child, and she as a mother doesn't feel heartache, yet she beats him in front of others, saying, "Look, if you don't forgive me, I'll keep hitting my child!"

Pfft! Su Dama couldn't hold it in anymore. After laughing out loud, she saw everyone looking at her and hurriedly shut her mouth, indicating that she was just watching the show.

"Young lady, don't talk about whether you have a way or not for a moment. I want to ask, regarding this matter, did the Court rule on it? Did they rule that you have to pay him tens of thousands?" It was the old man who spoke up.

This reaction made Li Zhitao and Qiu Xiaoshuai feel that something was wrong; this was different from the situation they had imagined.

At the time, they planned that as long as they beat the child—the harder the better—the passersby wouldn't be able to stand it and would come over to help persuade the other party.

Everyone would chime in to criticize the other party, talking about empathy, about knowing how to be compassionate, and not pushing people into a dead end, and so on...

Then the other party, persuaded by everyone, would have no choice but to say they wouldn't make their family pay, and their family would leave after expressing endless gratitude.

Wasn't that how it was supposed to go?

But now, only one passing middle-aged woman was speaking up for them, while the others were unmoved, and this old man was actually asking her this question, which made Li Zhitao feel very strange.

But no matter how strange it was, she had to answer at this moment; whether they succeeded or not depended on this.

"This... the Court, the Court should have ruled it that way..." Qiu Xiaoshuai muttered.

The old man shook his head and said, "Don't 'should have' it. If it is, it is; if it isn't, it isn't. If the Court ruled that way, it means this young man's item definitely is worth that much money!"

"So for you to say that he is extorting you is pure nonsense."

"Besides, you hitting your child has nothing to do with him; that is your child, not someone else's."

"But sir, then you tell me what I should do? He is pushing my family to the brink of death. I've beaten my child, and I've apologized, and he still won't let my family go. What can I do!" Qiu Xiaoshuai said.

The old man shook his head: "You, you still haven't recognized the reality. What does your beating the child and apologizing have to do with him wanting compensation?"

"I think I've finally understood: you just want to avoid paying him a single cent. But there is no such logic; if there is a problem, you have to think about how to solve it!"

"Furthermore, if you don't have the money for the moment, you can ask the other party to pay in installments, you can take it slow, you can keep your minimum living expenses and pay month by month. There is always a way to solve things, but with you acting like this, are you here to solve the problem?"

Li Zhitao and Qiu Xiaoshuai were already stunned; this old gentleman was actually reasoning with them!

At this moment, the old gentlemen and ladies watching from the side also spoke up.

Especially Su Dama.

"You young couple, remember this: this is the Court, and everything here must be based on law, evidence, and facts. Damaging property requires compensation; isn't that a matter of course?"

After a pause, Su Dama said to the old lady passing by: "Old sister, don't try to persuade them. Whether they have money or not is their own business. They can choose to do good deeds, but don't you go trying to persuade them!"

"The matters in this Court are complicated. If you stay here long enough, you will discover that those who look miserable are sometimes not miserable at all; the truly miserable ones are those who have exhausted every method and still cannot obtain Legal Aid..."

Su Dama's words made the group of old gentlemen and ladies nod in unison. It was indeed so; the classic case of owing money and refusing to pay had happened here more times than anyone could count.

Facing those "deadbeat debtors" who had no assets under their names but still lived carefree lives, Creditors could only secretly wipe away their own tears.

Even if one had them sent to jail, what of it? The money wouldn't come back anyway...

Zhou Yi breathed a sigh of relief; fortunately, this was at the entrance of the Court, and the old gentlemen and ladies had seen plenty of such things.

Moreover, after experiencing the affair with Xu Yufeng, he did not want to argue with the old ladies ever again.

That was truly impossible to win... Having reason and being able to win an argument are two different things.

Only an old lady can deal with an old lady!

After Su Dama's persuasion, the passing old lady didn't say anything more and turned to leave.

Li Zhitao now didn't know what to say. Seeing that Zhou Yi and that Lawyer were already turning to leave, then looking at the child beside her and thinking of that compensation, Qiu Xiaoshuai only felt a surge of anger rush to his head!

"Why, why did you have to pull his things? Why? Making me pay so much money, ah!"

While speaking, he had already unbuckled his belt and swung it down again, covering the child's head and face.

The little brat, who was already at a loss, was now completely terrified, unable to even cry.

"What are you doing! You only know how to hit the child; are you even a man!"

Seeing this, Li Zhitao hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, but was pushed aside.

Seeing this scene, Zhou Yi and Fang Dazhuang, who had already intended to leave, stopped again.

Just as he took out his phone, he saw Fang Dazhuang beside him nod: "I already called the police five minutes ago."

Fang Dazhuang is indeed capable!

Meanwhile, Su Dama and the others nearby had already gone up to hurriedly persuade and pull them apart.

"What are you doing, young man? Is this how you act as a father?"

Zhou Yi also went up and snatched the belt away. From those few strikes just now, the bruises were extremely obvious; one could tell this man had used ruthless force.

Having been blocked from Qiu Xiaoshuai, Li Zhitao went up to scratch and claw at him, cursing non-stop.

The old ladies went up again to pull the two apart...

Zhou Yi was speechless; how could such terrible parents raise an obedient and sensible child?

Just then, two police officers had already arrived.

"Comrade, I called the police. This man just hit his child; take a look, he hit him very severely," Fang Dazhuang said, stepping forward with a serious expression.

Hitting the child?

The police officers hurriedly stepped forward; Qiu Xiaoshuai had already been grabbed by a group of old gentlemen and ladies.

It was fortunate he still had some sense; he had originally wanted to shake off the old gentleman holding him, but then he saw the old gentleman's snow-white hair...

He made a rough estimate: if he really shook him off, not to mention anything else, he would probably have to pay for at least five camera lenses...

After confirming the situation with the old gentlemen and ladies, one of the police officers stepped forward to comfort the child and began to check the injuries on his body and face.

Those few strikes just now were particularly vicious; the marks were clearly visible.

After a brief check, the police officer was shocked: "Your child? Why use such heavy force!"

Qiu Xiaoshuai was still in a fit of rage and shouted: "If I don't hit him, who do I hit? Causing such big trouble, I want to beat him to death!"

The police officer shook his head and said: "Alright, come with us; the beating you gave this time is not light."

Because it was only a brief check, the specific extent of the injuries would require a professional assessment.

However, the police officer was quite experienced; he could roughly tell that the child likely hadn't reached the level of Slight Injury, but the injuries were already enough for Detention.

Seeing that the other party intended to take him away, Qiu Xiaoshuai was a bit confused.

"No, Comrade, what are you doing? I'm hitting my own child, what's wrong with that?"

This is his own child, not an outsider; does he have to go to the station just for a couple of beatings?

Li Zhitao, who had been at daggers drawn with her husband because he hit the child, also hurriedly stepped forward and said: "That's right, Comrade, it's just, just educating the child a little, there's nothing wrong with that, right..."

This is actually one of the reasons why Domestic Violence is repeatedly prohibited but never stops.

Many family members are muddled; when their partner commits Domestic Violence and hits people or the child, they subconsciously choose to call the police, but after calling, seeing that the partner is about to be taken away, they change their minds.

They feel that if the person is taken away, then if something happens, wouldn't the family be ruined?

Thus, this kind of appeasement further fuels Domestic Violence...

To emphasize, Domestic Violence does not distinguish between men and women, thank you!

Regarding this, the police officer could only say: "This lady, your husband hit the child to this severe degree; that is no longer just a matter of hitting a child. Do you know he has already broken the law?"

"But the child is our own child..."

"Even if it is your own child, you cannot hit him like this. Do I need to explain it again? His behavior is already illegal!" the police officer said again.

"If you really want to help him, I suggest you go and prepare some clothes for him."

This is the benefit of having a lot of grassroots work experience; one becomes very patient with such matters.

But seeing that Qiu Xiaoshuai seemed very unwilling to leave and was struggling a bit, the police officer took out his Handcuffs.

And so, Mr. Qiu instantly calmed down.

He didn't know what to feel now; his perfectly fine life, why did it turn out like this...

The person was taken away, and Li Zhitao, unable to worry about anything else, hurriedly followed.

Zhou Yi looked ahead and suddenly asked a question: "Fang Dazhuang, why do you think some people never shed tears until they see the coffin?"

Fang Dazhuang shook his head; he could not explain it, as that was simply human nature.

The two said their goodbyes, and Zhou Yi drove all the way back to the Small Residential District; he intended to go home and edit the video of this child to farm some engagement, but he received a call from Yuan Jie while on the road.

The first chapter to quench your thirst is here; thank you all for the tips and monthly votes. There is more coming later.

(End of this chapter)