As Jing Yunzhao retold the story, Lu Jia looked horrified and stared at Jing Yunzhao as if she was a freak.
It was shocking that she could remember every single detail about their encounter - a memory like hers was terrifying.
"I don't believe you! Why would my son stop you on the road when he does not know you? You must have been doing something inappropriate for him to stop you, and instead of listening to him, you beat them up!" Lu Jia's aunt said aggressively.
Her son would be doomed if what Jing Yunzhao said was true, but she wasn't going to believe what Jing Yunzhao said anyway. She knew her son well after all.
"I understand now why your son plotted to frame me. Perhaps he learned this kind of maliciousness from you; it's true that a crooked stick will have a crooked shadow!" Jing Yunzhao said bluntly to Lu Jia's aunt.
"You jinx!" Lu Jia's aunt lunged at Jing Yunzhao but missed when Jing Yunzhao sidestepped and went crashing to the floor instead.
"As you can see, officer, it is not impossible for the perpetrator to end up injured," said Jing Yunzhao calmly, "Also, although I am young, there is no way that I will take the blame for something that I didn't do. I did not ask for trouble, and my fingerprints were not on the murder weapon. It is illogical for you to put the blame on me based on one-sided allegations."
She might be outnumbered but she would not yield, especially since there was no conclusive evidence to suggest that she was the perpetrator.
Jing Yunzhao stared at Lu Jia and her gang sharply, her eyes filled with determination.
"She is right! Do you think you will win by sheer weight of numbers? One of you is still in the hospital, and I am sure he will tell the truth when he wakes up!" Gan Songbo added angrily.
It was too hard to tell who was right or wrong no matter how they argued.
The accident took place at a remote place with no CCTV surveillance, and as such further investigation was needed before the truth could be unveiled.
Pending the investigation, none of them accepted defeat and all they could do was stare at each other indignantly all night.
The next morning, they received a call from the hospital saying that the operation was over.
"In a vegetative state because of excessive bleeding?" The lady who answered the call repeated in shock while looking at the others, then said into the phone quietly, "they are still investigating, the girl won't admit to anything and insisted those were not her fingerprints on the murder weapon…"
Knowing that the lady was saying bad things about her, Jing Yunzhao couldn't be bothered to listen.
The fact that the boy was now in a vegetative state brightened up Lu Jia and her other cousins' faces, although they did not get to rejoice over the news for long.
One of the officers received a call and turned to look at Jing Yunzhao and the rest with a serious expression after the call ended.
"One of our officers who went to the scene to investigate has found something. One of the residents from the apartment facing the alley happened to witness the entire incident," the officer paused briefly, then continued, "I know you are all still young, but this case is serious and my advice is to turn yourselves in while you still can. Soon it will be too late even if you want to turn yourselves in…"
Jing Yunzhao smiled coldly while the faces of Lu Jia and her gang started to turn pale again.
The officer had been observing everyone's expressions and could guess what really happened by now.
They were all too young and inexperienced to be good at hiding the truth when something as serious as this had happened.
"It wasn't me!" One of the boys who had been silent all the while suddenly shouted in panic. "It was an accident! It - it was him who did it accidentally, it had nothing to do with us…"