Chapter 537

Ju Jingyi asked. As a girl herself, although she felt this girl had committed a grave sin, seeing a child about to disappear still struck her as deeply tragic.

Chen Fan said, "She's still being resuscitated. The specifics aren't clear yet."

Peng Xiaoran said indignantly, "I hope that man saw our livestream and feels some remorse, and hurries over to turn himself in!"

Ju Jingyi nodded in anger as well.

Although this girl had done something unforgivable...

The man was unforgivable too.

Chen Fan shook his head and said, "You're being far too idealistic. It's impossible. A man who could force a girl to eat human flesh, who could rape a woman — how could he possibly come to turn himself in?"

Peng Xiaoran and Ju Jingyi fell silent.

Chen Fan was right.

25　Judging from the story this girl told, that man really was rotten to the core.

Hoping he'd step forward on his own was absolutely impossible.

And the man had already left the country, making it doubly difficult.

Everyone fell silent, the atmosphere slowly congealing.

Half an hour passed.

The red light above the emergency room turned green. A doctor walked out and called to everyone in the corridor, "Which of you is her family?"

Li Tian stepped forward. "This girl has no family left. She committed a crime and is currently under police custody. Just tell us directly what's going on."

The doctor nodded and said, "The child couldn't be saved. The adults, due to extremely poor physical condition, have fallen into a coma. It's hard to say when — or if — they'll wake up, and there's a certain chance they could become a vegetable."

At the words "vegetable."

Everyone stood up. The girl might not have looked all that healthy, but surely it wasn't bad enough to become a vegetable?

"How could this happen?"

Peng Xiaoran stepped forward and asked in disbelief.

The doctor sighed and said, "There are many conditions that can lead to becoming a vegetable. Although she didn't suffer any particularly major physical harm — aside from the miscarriage — her heart must be in tremendous pain. So her coma isn't caused by her body; it's that she herself is unwilling to wake up."

"If she refuses to wake up, she could become a vegetable."

So that's how it was.

Everyone fell silent again.

The girl must have felt the sins she committed were too heavy, so she wanted to escape — she didn't want to wake up.

Even if she did wake up, knowing her child was already dead, she probably wouldn't want to live either.

Not long after.

The girl was wheeled out of the emergency room, her face terribly pale.

Since the girl had no family, she could only be looked after by the police.

At this outcome, the viewers were also engaged in heated discussion.

"Just because she became a vegetable, we're supposed to let her off? If you ask me, we shouldn't have saved her at all — just let her bleed out, consider it one life to match that girl's!"

"Her becoming a vegetable is really just running away. It's shameful. Hmm, she should stay alive and bear this sin forever."

"That really lets him off easy!"

"Do you people have any basic humanity left? Is the reason she ended up like this not because of many complicated factors? If she'd had parents from childhood, been loved and cared for, she wouldn't have become like this. Her becoming a vegetable — yes, it's running away — but that doesn't mean everyone should just stand by and watch her die. Anyway, if it were me, even if the person in front of me was a murderer, I'd still save them."

"Upstairs commenter, ever heard the story of the farmer and the snake? You save someone, and the moment they wake up they might just slash you with a knife. Don't be so saintly. In life, when you run into a criminal like this, never save them."

……

Night fell.

Because of what happened during the day, everyone felt especially awful.

So at dinner that evening, the mood was very low.

Chen Fan returned to his room, lay down on the bed, and sleep swept over him.

Knock knock knock.

His door was suddenly knocked on.

Chen Fan walked to the door and opened it. Standing outside was Peng Xiaoran.

"Chen Fan, I wanted to come find you to chat — is that okay?"

Peng Xiaoran asked cautiously, as if afraid Chen Fan might refuse.

Chen Fan naturally welcomed anyone who came. He stepped aside and let Peng Xiaoran into the room.

After sitting down on the sofa, Peng Xiaoran said, "What do you think about what happened today?"

Chen Fan brought Peng Xiaoran a glass of water, then sat down beside her, shrugged, and said, "I don't really have any thoughts."

As for the girl's ending, he felt it was another form of punishment in itself.

If she hadn't become a vegetable, she would definitely have been locked up in prison for life.

One was locking yourself away, the other was a prison cell.

The former was probably more tragic — after all, you were the one who locked yourself in.

Peng Xiaoran lowered her head and said, "After I got back to my room today, I went online and read everyone's comments."

"I don't know why, but after reading them I just felt like I couldn't breathe."

"Some people think this girl got off easy — becoming a vegetable is a way of dodging punishment."

"Others say she's already pitiful enough, so just let her be a vegetable."

"Anyway, there are tons of people online cursing her, saying she should be treated the same way the dead were treated."

Chen Fan could tell that Peng Xiaoran was genuinely feeling terrible.

"What's the big deal? In a case like this, there absolutely cannot be — ever — only right and wrong. We can only stand on the side of the law and judge the crimes the criminal committed as fairly as possible."

"And then punish them accordingly."

Chen Fan spoke in an official, fair tone.

Peng Xiaoran raised her head, looked into Chen Fan's eyes, tears welling up.

"I know. I just feel this girl is really pitiful. Her family of origin shaped her inferiority, and her inferiority shaped her own suffering."

Chen Fan raised his hand, and as if possessed, patted Peng Xiaoran's head, saying: "No need to pity her. This was her own choice; she bound herself, which is even more painful than being bound by others."

"If she could let it go, she would have long ago. Why wait until now?"

Peng Xiaoran didn't know what was going on either, but after Chen Fan patted her head, she actually wanted to cry even more.

So she buried herself straight into Chen Fan's arms.

After a great bout of crying, Peng Xiaoran's eyes were bloodshot, and her cheeks completely flushed.

"I-I'm sorry, I think I may have been a bit of an offense to you just now."

"If you have such feelings in the future, I'd advise you to drink some alcohol. Letting it out a little will feel more comfortable."

Chen Fan casually took two bottles of beer from the cabinet and handed them to Peng Xiaoran.