At this point, the others came back to their senses and crowded into the hospital room one after another.

Su Ma steadied herself and said to the doctor, “Since you’re here, please arrange a full examination — the more comprehensive the better. We want to rule out any hidden risks and put our minds at ease.”

The doctor gave Su Ma a suspicious look. “Are you a family member of the patient?”

“No.” Su Ma straightened her back, her bearing elegant and composed. “My daughter accidentally knocked this gentleman unconscious. We want a clear picture of his injuries before we discuss compensation.”

The doctor understood and gave a slight nod. “Full workup?”

Su Ma nodded. “Full workup.”

The weeping woman nearby quickly lifted her head and said, “Yes! Full workup! Bill her for the cost!”

So the doctor arranged a cranial CT scan, a cranial MRI, a head and neck CTA, an electroencephalogram, a magnetoencephalogram, a cerebral angiography, and so on and so on.

While writing up the orders, the doctor asked casually, “Do you also want a lumbar puncture and cerebrospinal fluid analysis?”

The woman’s face turned white as snow. “A puncture?… That… that, that — let’s skip that one.”

“How can we skip it?” Su Ma cut in coldly. “What if he falls into a coma after being discharged and they end up blaming us? I think we should run every test on the list — it’ll save everyone trouble.”

“No — no, we can’t!” the woman stammered. “My boyfriend is very weak right now; he can’t handle this many tests at once… You’re bullying us!”

“You were the one who asked for the full workup, and now you’re saying no! What exactly do you people want?!” Su Ma pressed down on her with imperious force. “Then write a written guarantee — swear that any future brain problems he has have nothing to do with us!”

The woman burst into tears at Su Ma’s outburst. “Neither of you is a good person — you or your child! Your daughter knocked my boyfriend out, and now his own mother is trying to finish him off!”

“What nonsense are you spouting?!” Su Ma raised her hand and pointed at her in fury. “Say that one more time! I’ll sue you for defamation!!!”

Li Li’s parents rushed to calm both sides down, and the doctor and nurses stepped in to mediate as well.

— This farce dragged on until two in the morning, finally ending only after the police intervened.

After all that commotion everyone was exhausted. Su Ma took a ride home in Li Li’s family’s car, while Su Man drove Lu Yuwen back to his hotel herself.

By now her mood had fully recovered, and she could chat about the evening’s events with Lu Yuwen the way you’d laugh off a joke. When she talked about that man, the contempt came naturally; when she thought about the woman, her feelings grew complicated.

“I saw that guy punching and kicking her, so out of kindness I went to help — and then she turned around and blamed me.” Su Man couldn’t make sense of it and sighed, gripping the steering wheel. “How can anyone want to be with a man who has a tendency toward domestic violence…”

Lu Yuwen sat in the passenger seat and said slowly, “The reasons can be all kinds of things. Maybe she has a masochistic streak; maybe she has nowhere else to live and is forced to stay with him out of necessity; maybe she has no job and has been financially dependent on him; maybe the abuse has gone on so long that her mental state is no longer that of a normal person; maybe she herself did something she’s ashamed of — like cheating and getting caught — and is hoping to earn his forgiveness, so she tolerates a certain degree of his violence toward her…”

Su Man clicked her tongue and couldn’t help glancing at him. “I just said it offhand, and you analyze out this much…”

Lu Yuwen smiled. “I’m in the restaurant business, so I meet all sorts of people — especially couples, I see more of that than anything else.”

He continued, “In any case, a person who’s sound of mind and heart would not stay with that kind of man. To be humiliated, trampled upon, enslaved — no person with a whole and healthy character would endure a life like that.”

“…” Su Man drove in silence.

Her heart felt strangely unsettled. He was clearly talking about the abusive man from tonight — so why, as she listened, did she keep involuntarily thinking about herself and Li Li…

—