Chapter 9: The Car Accident

  "How can that be? I'm the host, I should be inviting you!" Wang Lin's face was filled with gloom, nowadays even young women were offering to treat him to meals. Not to mention who would ultimately foot the bill, just this sentence alone made it difficult for Wang Lin to refuse. So he could only force a smile and become polite.

  "Alright, don't be polite with me anymore. I'll treat this meal as a gesture of apology for the inconvenience our group's visit has caused you." Zhang Ling responded with a smile, and then her beautiful small eyes blinked at Wang Lin, seemingly indicating that he should lead the way.

  Wang Lin could only shake his head and smile wryly, leading Zhang Ling to a random restaurant where they sat down and ordered some food. They chatted sporadically until Wang Lin finished eating and it was time to pay the bill. Zhang Ling looked at Wang Lin with some embarrassment. The small restaurant that Wang Lin had chosen was a humble business, but Zhang Ling was a wealthy young lady who never carried cash when going out. In the end, when it came time to settle the bill, Zhang Ling enthusiastically pulled out a bank card to pay, but this caused the boss to be embarrassed for a while.

  Eating here costs only a few dozen yuan, at most eighty or ninety yuan for eight or nine people. Even if you order a big table of dishes, it will only cost one or two hundred yuan in total. For such a small business, the boss would not spend money to buy a card reader. Besides, although this place has been planned as an urban area, there are still many rural areas around, so even if the boss buys a card reader, it's unlikely to be used. In the end, after all the commotion, Wang Lin was the one who paid the bill.

  It's just a matter of tens of yuan, which Wang Lin can afford. Moreover, since the beginning, Wang Lin had no intention of letting Zhang Ling pay. Zhang Ling eats and Wang Lin pays the bill, which is quite reasonable.

  Out of the small restaurant, Wang Lin and Zhang Ling walked on the main street, looking at the crowds coming and going, with different expressions on their faces. Some were anxious to return home, some were sweet lovers, or happy children.

  "I'm really sorry about this, they said it was on me to treat you, but they don't accept cards here and I didn't bring any cash with me when I went out. So..." Zhang Ling looked at Wang Lin with a somewhat embarrassed expression, the apologetic look on his face deeply moved Wang Lin.

  These years, Wang Lin had never seen such a scene. In the past when he was with Zhang Ran, it was always Wang Lin who paid the bills and Zhang Ran who consumed them. Moreover, it was always Wang Lin who apologized, and he had never seen Zhang Ran lower his head to admit his mistakes even once. At this moment, Zhang Ling's sincere appearance made Wang Lin somewhat unable to bear it. Although there was always a different aftertaste in his heart, every time he thought of the gap between them, Wang Lin could only shake his head and sigh. The pain that Zhang Ran brought him, Wang Lin did not want to fall into again for the second time. Moreover, now Wang Lin had not been able to thoroughly walk out from Zhang Ran's shadow.

  "It's nothing, just one meal."

  Listening to Wang Lin's bland response, Zhang Ling clearly felt Wang Lin's resistance. Zhang Ling always wanted to treat Wang Lin as a friend, but in subsequent meetings, Wang Lin gave off an unfamiliar feeling that made Zhang Ling feel like he couldn't recapture the feeling of their first meeting no matter how hard he tried.

  At that time, Zhang Ling could feel that Wang Lin was indeed treating him as a friend, but now, Zhang Ling did not feel the friendship between friends, what he felt was a stranger's aura.

  "Can you tell me about what's going on between you and your girlfriend?" Zhang Ling obviously didn't plan to continue with this matter, last time it was because of Zhang Ran that allowed Zhang Ling and Wang Lin to sit together, so this time, Zhang Ling wanted to use this topic to bring the two closer.

  From young to old, Zhang Ling has never had any real friends. Her desire for friendship is no less than anyone else's. The friends she currently has on the surface are either arranged by her family or infatuated with her appearance. There isn't a single person who can truly communicate with her heart-to-heart. Zhang Ling attaches great importance to her friendships with others, but over the years, there hasn't been anyone who makes her feel like they're worth befriending. Now that someone has finally appeared, no matter what, Zhang Ling is determined to seize this opportunity.

  "Hehe, it's all in the past now, and there's nothing much to say about it. Besides, people always have to go through some things, right?" Wang Lin and Zhang Ran exchanged a glance, and suddenly felt a sense of nostalgia in their hearts.

  "People need to go through some things to become more mature, but those who don't dare to speak out about their past will not become more mature. You loved her so much, can you really put down the feelings between you two? If one day you have the chance to make up with her again, would you choose to make up with her?" Zhang Ling's behavior at this moment was more like a psychologist, but the reason behind it made Wang Lin think deeply.

  Wang Lin looked at Zhang Ling with some speechlessness, since she wanted to know so much, it didn't matter if he told her. After all, the two people's identities and status were destined to be worlds apart, and Wang Lin didn't believe that he would have too much interaction with Zhang Ling in the future. At most, they would just nod at each other, or not even bother to interact. Telling her these things wouldn't hurt either. As a person from the capital city, she was bound to return there eventually. He might as well let her take some of his own worries back to the capital with her.

  "No!" Wang Lin looked at Zhang Ling with determination.

  Zhang Ling's eyes widened in surprise at Wang Lin's choice, "Why?"

  "There's no why, after going through this matter, I've seen clearly what kind of person Zhang Ran is. Even if one day we have the chance to go back to how things were before, I would still choose to move on alone. Between Zhang Ran and me, it's destined that there won't be a good outcome, even if we're really together, we won't be happy. Marriage is something that as long as the people involved are willing, then it's fine, but as the people involved, we also need to consider our family's opinions, even if we can't find someone who will make our family 100% satisfied, at least we should find someone who won't make them angry after seeing them." The words below, Wang Lin didn't continue saying, now in Zhang Ran's parents' eyes, Wang Lin is obviously the type of person that they would get angry just by looking at.

  Choosing Wang Lin, the Zhang family is equivalent to choosing death. In politics, they have lost a usable pawn. If they are lucky, they will stay in this position forever. If they are unlucky, they may be targeted by the disciplinary department. At this time, if they don't find someone who can protect themselves, the future of the Zhang family is obviously difficult to guarantee.

  It's a pity that Wang Lin has always been foolishly thinking that as long as he is willing, his family will eventually agree. But the final fact tells him that in these political families, status determines everything, and politics is above all else. Without the halo of their outer appearance, they would have nothing; it can be said that their current life is built on the basis of this halo. Wang Lin does not possess this halo, so he has no capital to continue in front of Zhang Ran.

  No matter whether this choice was made by Zhang Yan or not, or whether Zhang Yan was willing or not. But the last words that Zhang Yan said that day completely awakened Wang Lin. What kind of person should have what kind of social circle, Wang Lin and Zhang Yan are obviously not in the same circle.

  After hearing Wang Lin's words, Zhang Ling felt that his heartbeat seemed to be accelerating. The dim light concealed the expression on Zhang Ling's face, and Wang Lin, who was also in a state of melancholy, did not notice anything unusual about Zhang Ling either.

  "So you must be eager to make a comeback and take revenge on your ex-girlfriend now?" Zhang Ling hurriedly shook off his abnormality and spoke out in concern, afraid that Wang Lin had seen his previous actions. However, after seeing Wang Lin's gloomy expression, Zhang Ling also more or less put his mind at ease, as long as he hadn't been seen.

  "I did have that intention, but the interpersonal relationships in the officialdom are chaotic. I'm just a university graduate who hasn't been out for long, and it took a lot of effort to keep my current position. To stand out, it's not easy at all? Without someone backing me up from above, I reckon I can only be mediocre for the rest of my life in the grassroots." Wang Lin smiled bitterly, sarcastically commenting on the current state of officialdom. Without a powerful backer, ordinary civil servants like him are just going through the motions, and thinking about getting promoted is simply out of the question.

  "Oh!" Zhang Ling seemed to have understood and nodded, but also seemed to understand what Wang Lin had said. At the same time, his little brain quickly spun around, but he didn't say much.

  "Woooowww..."

  Wang Lin and Zhang Ling were chatting quietly, unaware of their surroundings, when a burst of crying sounds suddenly came from beside them. After being startled awake, Wang Lin took a look around and found that they had unknowingly arrived at the intersection of Jinling Avenue and Chengxi Road. Zhang Ling was also startled awake by the crying sounds, and the two immediately looked around, discovering that behind them not far away, there was a girl about 14 or 15 years old, holding a sign with words like "Seeking eyewitnesses".

  Wait, isn't this the intersection of Jinling Avenue and Chengxi Road that Wang Lin passed by when he returned to his hotel in the afternoon? Looking for eyewitnesses? Wang Lin slapped his own head in frustration. This little girl must be a family member of the woman who was hit in the afternoon, and now she's looking for eyewitnesses. However, this intersection is a main road, and even in the newly developed high-tech zone, surveillance cameras are installed above each main road to monitor the situation at these intersections.

  That woman was hit on the main road, and no eyewitnesses were needed at all. The traffic police department only needs to retrieve the surveillance video from the intersection of Jinling Avenue and Chengxi Road, and the truth will be revealed. Is there any inside story that can't be done? Thinking back to the high-end car that hit someone in the afternoon, it's certain that the other party has money, but these days, people with money are also influential. Ordinary civilians are not their opponents at all.

  She glanced at her watch, the hour hand was already pointing to half past ten, this little girl still stood on this somewhat desolate street, holding a sign seeking witnesses, the sad wailing sound made Wang Lin's heart ache.

  This matter also involved Wang Lin, no matter what, Wang Lin is also one of the culprits. Although he was not driving, he did not stop the driver from running a red light, which led to the woman being hit. At that time, because the car was traveling at a relatively high speed, Wang Lin could not see the true face of the woman who was hit, but judging from her figure, she should still be very young.

  "Hum, it's really hateful. I didn't expect that there would be such irresponsible people in the high-tech zone." Zhang Ling finished reading the explanation letter placed on the ground in front of the little girl and couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness and anger, repeatedly scolding Wang Lin.

  At this time, Wang Lin didn't have the heart to explain anything to Zhang Ling. Since he was involved in this matter, it seemed that some problems had arisen in the subsequent handling of the case. Naturally, Wang Lin needed to figure out where the problem lay before making a decision. If he ignored it and directly became a witness, he would definitely be the one to die. Not only would he offend the deputy director, but also the person who was hit.

  Wang Lin quickly took out his mobile phone. After all, he had been in the district government for more than a year and knew several traffic police officers who could chat with him. He'd better figure out the truth of the matter first.

  "Hey, Yang Ge, I wanted to ask about the car accident that happened at the intersection of Jinling Avenue and Chengxi Road at around 2 pm..."

  P.S: Still seeking recommendations, please help Yóu Xiǎo out!