After transferring to bus route 320, Wang Tao obediently paid the two yuan fare. Since this bus had a dedicated ticket seller, it was impossible to evade the fare. He was already very grateful that the seller didn't mind that he was dirty and smelly.
...
The taxi stopped more than 100 meters away from the pharmaceutical factory gate. The driver was unwilling to continue driving, saying that there were too many people and traffic jams there and it would be difficult to turn around.
Lin Yao had no choice but to get out of the car. Following him were Elder Yi Potian and Yi Zuojun, as well as four Heaven-level experts from the Pei and Sun families in the car behind.
"What's going on here?" Lin Yao looked at the group of pitiful people shivering in the snow and his expression was not good.
"Sir, this..."
Yi Zuojun glanced quickly at Elder Yi Potian, but received no hints.
Now that he had advanced to the Heavenly Rank, Elder Yi Potian would no longer treat him as an ordinary family member as before. With increased ability, he naturally deserved more respect. This was a matter for him to decide and say, but the clueless new Heavenly Rank expert was left in a difficult position, forced to grit his teeth and say with a bitter face:
“These people all came to Minhong for help. Some asked for special treatment, some asked for sponsorship for surgery, some wanted money, some wanted to seek justice, some wanted to cause trouble, there were all kinds of people.”
"However, those who are still here in this kind of weather, even though it's almost evening, are mostly people who are really having a hard time at home. Those who cause trouble are usually not around anymore."
Seeing Lin Yao's face darken further, Yi Zuojun quickly added, "I just... heard about it..."
"Seeking justice?" Lin Yao raised an eyebrow and glanced at Yi Zuojun. "This isn't a government office."
The words weren't spoken loudly, yet they provoked a strong reaction from another person.
"You! You are..." Wang Tao seemed to draw strength from nowhere. Upon hearing this, he rushed forward without thinking, grabbed Lin Yao's hand, and stammered, "You are... this... that..."
"presumptuous!"
Pei Tianzong, who got out of the taxi behind him, glared and waved his hand, about to summon the energy of heaven and earth to stop Wang Tao. It would be too shocking to personally step forward to stop him in public, so he had no choice but to use the energy of heaven and earth from a distance of six meters. This was like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.
"Hello! What's the matter?" Lin Yao asked Wang Tao, who was sitting down slowly with a sorrowful expression. With a wave of his other hand, the energy from Pei Tianzong around him was dispelled.
"Please... save us..."
The tears that Wang Tao thought he had long since run dry reappeared on his face. He felt he should risk his life to grasp at this lifeline, but he couldn't resist the sudden weakness. His legs were so weak that he didn't even have the strength to stand.
"It's alright, don't rush, talk slowly, I won't leave." Lin Yao became even more gentle, sending a wisp of medical true energy through to allow Wang Tao to hold on.
“Sir…” Yi Zuojun looked worried, hesitating to speak.
Lin Yao slowly shook his head and led Wang Tao, who was in much better condition, to a quiet spot by the roadside.
Lin Yao had noticed this man long ago. Of the more than a thousand people near the pharmaceutical factory gate, only his condition was the worst. He had severe pneumonia, and his right arm and left leg were fractured and not fully healed, with obvious bone misalignment causing slight deformities. His other organs and tissues were also in bad condition. He could be said to be on the verge of death, and could die suddenly at any moment. That's why Lin Yao let the other man hold his hand.
Wang Tao didn't consider that Lin Yao and his group got out of a taxi. Recently, Minhong's people had been either traveling in private cars or escorted by armed police officers in and out of the pharmaceutical factory; even ordinary factory workers couldn't get close to this place. He was on the verge of despair when he overheard Lin Yao's conversation, and seeing that they weren't surprised or refused his request, he had come to see Lin Yao as his family's last hope.
After receiving an encouraging look from Lin Yao, Wang Tao gritted his teeth and recounted his family's ordeal. As he listened, Lin Yao's brows furrowed more and more, while Yi Zuojun, standing beside him, felt extremely uncomfortable, as if he had lice all over his body.
Wang Tao is 26 years old, from Shantang County, Chukou City, Sichuan Province. He is a college graduate and unemployed.
Wang Tao, who came from a poor family, studied very hard. His parents worked hard and saved every penny to support his education. Even his 16-year-old sister, Cui'er, dropped out of school to work as a waitress so that he could continue his studies. The whole family hoped that he would find a good job after graduation.
Just as Wang Tao was about to graduate, he received devastating news from home: his 18-year-old sister had committed suicide. The young girl in the prime of her life had passed away without him even having the chance to see her one last time. The two siblings had not seen each other for two whole years, but when they met again, they were separated by death.
Wang Cui worked as a waitress at a rather upscale hotel in Shantang County. Her youth, beauty, and excellent figure made her stand out among the other girls, earning her the position of supervisor and raising her income from 800 yuan to 1100 yuan. The innocent and lively girl eagerly awaited her brother's graduation so she could return to school and her family would grow happier. However, misfortune struck. Because of her youth and her appearance, she became a victim of powerful figures.
Xiao Weiyan, the county head of Shantang County, was a native of Shantang. Within the entire county, he was practically a local tyrant; no one could defy his will. His words were law, and opposition was strictly forbidden. Even the county party secretary was relegated to a mere figurehead, a position frequently filled by high-ranking officials seeking to accumulate seniority. No county party secretary had ever dared to oppose Xiao Weiyan.
During a banquet hosted by a private business owner, Xiao Weiyan met and fell in love with the young and beautiful Wang Cui. Without even needing to take advantage of her drunkenness, County Chief Xiao directly gave the order, and the poor Cui was blatantly abducted to a hotel bed, where she suffered the most severe abuse.
Afterwards, someone specifically tried to persuade and convince Wang Cui, promising her a bright future and endless money. The simple-minded Cui'er endured the humiliation and accepted the truth for the sake of her parents' and brother's future, but she did not accept a single penny of compensation from the other party. She felt that the money was dirty, dirtier than her body at that moment.
Naïve Cui'er thought that she would be fine after enduring the humiliation and quitting her job to go home. Little did she know that her beauty and fragility had already caught the eye of County Magistrate Xiao. Three days later, when she returned to the same place and found Wang Cui missing, County Magistrate Xiao flew into a rage, causing his henchmen to search for her in a frenzy. They eventually found her at Wang Cui's house and forcibly took her away to provide for the county magistrate's lust.
The endless humiliation, the begging and torture of her parents when she was kidnapped, and the beatings she endured were too much for the girl, whose mind was not yet fully mature. After being humiliated again, Wang Cui took advantage of County Chief Xiao's rest when he was tired and escaped from the room with only her underwear. When she was blocked by County Chief Xiao's henchmen in the corridor, she made a desperate decision and jumped from the window at the end of the hotel corridor, thus ending her life.
Upon hearing the devastating news, Wang Tao immediately returned to his hometown. After learning the truth, filled with guilt and longing for his sister, he embarked on a legal battle, but still encountered numerous obstacles, and now he is struggling to survive.
Three years of appeals and complaints yielded no results.
Before Wang Tao returned to Shantang County, his sister Cui'er's body had already been cremated. The cremation process was carried out without the consent of any relatives, and even her parents in Shantang County were unaware of it until Cui'er's death was confirmed as an ironclad case.
Poor Cui'er was even smeared and her family disgraced after her death because the case concluded that Wang Cui was a prostitute who had stolen money and valuables from a client and was fleeing when she encountered hotel staff. In her panic and fear, she tried to hide by the window but accidentally fell to her death.
Cui'er's former hotel colleagues have become strangers. When Wang Tao was investigating and collecting evidence, they said they didn't know Wang Cui at all. The extra "sisters" were all prostitutes. They swore that they were Cui'er's best friends and frequented various nightclubs in the county every day. Some of the prostitutes even said that Wang Cui's hands were not clean and that she had previously taken money and gifts from them.
These are all testimonies and reports that appeared in the case file. When Wang Tao collected evidence privately, several witnesses insisted on their own testimonies, but he heard different information from other people. After peeling back the layers, he restored his sister's true experience, but he could not shake Xiao Weiyan, the local tyrant. Even the court believed that Wang Tao was making trouble and slandering a state worker.
After reporting the issue on Minhong's website, the report was questioned because the reporter could not provide concrete evidence. Minhong's staff refused to accept the report and have now stopped responding altogether.
Lin Yao, who was getting angrier the more he heard it, let out a soft snort. Yi Zuojun next to him shrank his neck and even jumped up violently, reacting quite strongly.
"Do you dare to take responsibility for what you say, even at the cost of your own and your parents' lives? If you lie or exaggerate, you and your parents will forever lose any eligibility to work for Minhong and will be liable for any losses incurred by Minhong. Are you still going to sue?"
Lin Yao's words were cold, and he stared intently at Wang Tao's dirty face.
"I dare! My parents would be willing to risk their lives to guarantee it!" Wang Tao stiffened his neck, his expression turned ferocious, and the hatred in his eyes made Lin Yao believe him almost immediately.
"If it weren't for the fact that I couldn't get close to Xiao Weiyan, I would have taken him down with me long ago!" Wang Tao further expressed his true feelings. For three years, no one had been willing to listen to him talk about these things. He was willing to tell Lin Yao, even if these words would be very detrimental to him.
“Sir…” Yi Zuojun carefully glanced at Lin Yao’s expression, “I remember the name Wang Tao. He comes to Minhong to register almost every day, but he has no evidence, while the other side has all the witnesses and physical evidence, making it an ironclad case. Our investigators simply couldn’t find a breakthrough, which is why we gave up on this report and appeal…”
"To hell with the evidence!"
Lin Yao suddenly shouted, startling the people in the distance who looked over curiously, "We're not a court, who said we have to get evidence?"
"As long as that County Chief Xiao is the kind of lawless person, as long as the people there hate him, what evidence do you need?"