Chapter Eleven: The True Culprit

  Joanna and Jiang Xueer had a fight at the mall on August 15th. That day, Joanna drove her red BMW to a bar for drinks, got drunk, and on her way home that night, she accidentally hit Jiang Xueer with her car. The next day, after waking up from her drunkenness, she thought back to the scene from last night, it was like a dream, unclear what had really happened.

  People's Hospital, Xue Er was lying in the emergency room, a night of rescue had not yet escaped danger. Outside the emergency room door, Ruan Lingfeng walked back and forth, occasionally going to look at Jiang Xueer through the glass window. The nurse who came out would either shake her head or walk away with a wave of her hand. Chen Xiaohui sat on one side, crying non-stop, muttering: "Xue Er, it's all my fault that you're in this state. If I hadn't been rescued, the one lying there now would be me. Xue Er, you must be okay..."

  Ran Lingfeng was annoyed by Chen Xiaohui's nagging and suddenly remembered to ask Jiang Xue'er about the car accident.

  "What's going on with Xue Er? How did it end up like this?" Ruan Lingfeng asked painfully.

  "It's all my fault, Xue Er, I'm sorry," Chen Xiao Hui said with tears.

  Ran Lingfeng couldn't control his emotions, pulled Chen Xiaohui up from the chair, wanted to punch him, but lowered his hand and slammed Chen Xiaohui back into the chair. He slowly calmed down and said: "Tell me everything."

  Chen Xiaohui wiped away tears and choked with sobs: "Last night after 11 o'clock, Xue'er wanted to go home, but I didn't let her leave. I dragged her to a bar to have some fun. We played till we were tired and came out, walking on the main road. Who knew that a red car was speeding like crazy? Xue'er saved me without regard for her own life, but ended up in this state."

  "What about the car owner?"

  The car owner ran away.

  "What kind of person is he? Did you see clearly? Do you remember the car's appearance or license plate number?"

  Chen Xiaohui said: "At that time, I was dizzy from drinking too much wine and didn't see clearly who it was. The car seemed to be a BMW and drove in the direction of Tanhua Park. The last digit of the license plate might have been 1, but I'm not sure about the others."

  When Chen Xiaohui said that, Ruan Lingfeng's first thought was of his cousin Qiao Anna. His aunt had bought her a house in Tanhua Park (Tanhuapark is adjacent to Tanbin Park). Anna drove a red BMW and the last digit of her license plate was also 1. Although Ruan Lingfeng didn't like Qiao Anna, he didn't want anything to happen to her either - after all, she was his cousin, his aunt's only daughter. Just as he was thinking this, his phone rang; it was Qiao Anna calling him.

  "Hey, Anna, what are you looking for me?" Ruan Lingfeng asked nervously.

  On the other side, Joanna sat on the sofa in the hall, holding a glass of wine in one hand and calling Rang Lingfeng with her mobile phone in the other, saying: "Brother, I'm so scared, can you come over to keep me company?"

  Ran Lingfeng heard Qiao Anna's words and began to worry, asking: "Anna, what's wrong with you? Where are you?"

  "I'm home alone, brother. Now I want to find someone to talk with, but I don't know who to look for. Will you come and keep me company?" Joanna asked.

  "Anna, I'm busy now, let Chen Sen accompany you." Ruan Lingfeng's mind was filled with Xue Er's shadow, seeing the person he loved still in the emergency room, had no mood to talk more with Qiao Anna, hung up the phone, and arranged for someone to investigate the accident situation while letting Chen Sen accompany Anna.

  The Tuanhua apartment is shrouded in wine and sorrow.

  "Ding dong, ding dong..." Joanna heard the doorbell and got up, staggering around, walking to the door with a bitter smile. Ruan Lingfeng sent Joanna's address to Chen Sen, and when Chen Sen arrived at Joanna's doorstep, he was hit with the strong smell of alcohol. Unexpectedly, as soon as Joanna opened the door, she fell into Chen Sen's arms. Chen Sen shook his head at the sight of Joanna, helped her onto the sofa, and went to make some sobering soup.

  Chen Sen had been to Ruan Lingfeng's home before and had seen Qiao Anna a few times, thinking that Qiao Anna was a lovely girl, but didn't know much about her situation. Today, seeing her drunk, he felt puzzled and asked: "Anna, what's wrong with you?"

  Joanna's whole body was shaking, tears streaming down her face as she said: "I think I hit someone last night, I'm so scared, Sen, I don't want to go to jail, I don't want to go to jail..." She burst into tears again.

  "What did you say? You hit someone with your car last night." Chen Sen asked in surprise, asking again.

  Joanna said: "I'm not sure if it's true or not, last night at the bar a man kept pouring me drinks, and I was feeling down, so I drank too much. The man seemed to help me into my car, got in himself, told me to drive, saying something about getting some excitement. At that time the car was going very fast, I'm not sure if we hit anyone or not."

  Joanna thought of going to prison and was terrified, she was only 17 years old this year, she didn't want to give her youth to the prison, but she encountered this matter. At this time, she also remembered Jiang Xueer, and said in her heart 'If it wasn't for Jiang Xueer snatching my brother away, yesterday I would still be with a crazy woman in the mall giving me a warning, how could I end up like this today? Jiang Xueer, this is all your fault, even if I become a ghost, I won't let you off.

  Chen Sen was about to ask about Joanna's situation when he heard the doorbell ringing 'ding dong, ding dong...' Chen Sen went to open the door and saw two policemen.

  The police came in and said: "Who is the owner of Guangdong A9... 1?"

  "Officer, what's going on?" Chen Sen asked urgently.

  "The police said: 'There was a car accident last night, and after investigating the video footage and the vehicle at the entrance, it is confirmed that the owner of the vehicle is indeed the perpetrator. Please follow us to the Public Security Bureau.'"

  Joanna had already collapsed on the ground after listening to the police, holding her head and crying loudly.

  Chen Sen looked at Joanna, and the police knew it, so they took Joanna away immediately.