CHAPTER 55: CHAPTER 55: TRICKERY

"Oh dear, you’ve run someone over, you’ve killed this old lady."

An old lady lay in front of the bicycle wheel, holding her leg while wailing.

Song Moting was startled.

He hurriedly got off the bike.

Jiang Xiaoxiao jumped off too.

Did they actually hit someone?

Song Moting squatted in front of the old lady.

He saw the old lady clutching her leg, furrowing her brow, and gritting her teeth, looking as if she was in unbearable pain.

Uneasily, he asked, "Madam, how about I take you to the hospital to have it checked? We can’t just stay here."

He had been too engrossed in talking with Jiang Xiaoxiao to notice someone appearing right in front of his bicycle.

"Hospital? What hospital? Look at what you’ve done to me. How can I go to the hospital? My leg has been broken by you, if you move me even a bit, it’ll hurt like hell."

The old lady held her leg, her expression seeming genuinely painful.

Jiang Xiaoxiao chuckled.

She had figured it out.

They had run into a scammer.

And speaking of scammers.

This was just starting to become popular in this era.

She had just wanted to remind Song Moting.

He sure seemed like a nice guy.

But before she could say anything.

Song Moting stood up, arms crossed.

"Madam, what if you don’t go to the hospital? If you say I’ve broken your leg, you have to get it checked at the hospital, otherwise, this can’t be sorted out."

His tone changed instantly.

Jiang Xiaoxiao keenly sensed that the currently speaking Song Moting had a bit of a cheeky tone.

Different as night and day from the pitiful Song Moting earlier.

"My leg is indeed broken. You clearly broke it just now, look at the tire mark on my pants, I’m telling you, pay me 20 bucks and that’s it, I’ll go to the hospital myself to get checked."

The old lady’s demand for 20 bucks finally settled the situation, evidently a professional scam move.

Song Moting had a cold smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Madam, that’s not right. Even if your leg is fractured, I’ll take you to the hospital; including dressing and plastering, it won’t cost more than five bucks.

Besides, I can’t tell if your leg is broken. If you have other issues caused by this accident, you must go to the hospital to check, otherwise, you’ll blame me forever, and I won’t be able to explain it later.

We should go to the hospital and get checked, the doctor has the final say, you don’t, I don’t. Out of responsibility for you, I still have to take you to the hospital."

The old lady was anxious; what’s up with this young man?

"Let me tell you, young man, my leg is fractured if I say so, whose leg is it, yours or mine? I surely know myself. Do I need the doctor to tell you that? Although getting treated and plastered at the hospital only costs five bucks, my leg is broken, I’m old, I have to recuperate, need someone to take care of me, can’t just be left without money.

I’d tell you 20 bucks is cheap. People say bones and muscles take 100 days to heal, if really counted like that, giving me 200 bucks would be fair."

The old lady was so anxious her words were increasingly unreasonable.

With the current wages being only about 20 bucks a month, asking for 20 bucks was already greedy.

Demanding 200, might as well reach for the stars.

Passersby laughed.

Some sympathized with the old lady, but some felt something wasn’t right.

The young man, having hit the woman, was willing to take responsibility and offer to go to the hospital, yet the old lady adamantly refused and just wanted money; that wasn’t normal.

"Madam, it’s better to get checked at the hospital, if your leg really has no trouble, that’s fine, but if other problems pop up later, it’ll be a big issue, and 20 bucks won’t be enough."

The speaker was kind, mainly concerned about the old lady’s age; if she was knocked by such a sturdy young man, who knows if it might cause other problems.

Song Moting also smiled, "Yes, everyone, don’t you think I’m right? Madam, if we hit you, we have to be responsible for this, how can we not go to the hospital to check? If other issues arise later, we’ll be back to where we started and can’t explain.

Should I admit it was me who hit you or not? So out of responsibility for you, we should definitely go to the hospital to have a look."

"Oh, this young man is right, he wants to own up to his responsibility, madam, don’t be stubborn here, let the young guy push you to the hospital on his bike, check how much to pay, isn’t it good for peace of mind for everyone?"

"Exactly, the young man’s being upfront. You should go have it checked."

The old lady was getting frantic, where did all these people come from!

"I won’t go to the hospital; I just won’t! Why do you care? If the young man gives me 20 bucks, we’ll settle it privately, I won’t seek you out later even if I have problems."

The old lady was eager for the money.

Grab the money and go.

If she stayed longer, who knows what else might happen.

"Hey, madam, why is there a bug on your pants?"

A sudden exclamation.

The old lady jumped up instantly, slapping her pants vigorously while shouting.

"Where? Where is it? Where’s the bug?"

Her movement was swift, faster than a young guy.

The surroundings turned silent, everyone present stared at the old lady.

The old lady finally realized something was wrong.

Slowly stopping like in slow motion.

Her old face reddened.

Although she was scamming, she still had her pride, having been publicly exposed wasn’t easy to bear.

The old lady slapped her butt and ran off in a hurry.

"Geez, society is deteriorating; at this age doing such indecent things, what is going on?"

A voice called out.

Others shook their heads and left with sighs.

Song Moting glanced at Jiang Xiaoxiao with admiration in his eyes, he knew it was this girl who shouted about the bug earlier.

And she was convincing, her tone was filled with terror.

Otherwise, how could the old lady’s immersion be so strong, jumping up immediately?

"How did you figure it out?"

No need to say, this little girl must have seen through the old lady’s trick earlier; otherwise she wouldn’t have done what she did, believing she accidentally revealed it would be insincere.

"Didn’t you see it too?"

"Honestly, my dad is a doctor; since childhood, I’ve been taught, I can tell if a leg is broken or not."

Song Moting pushed up the bicycle.

Jiang Xiaoxiao walked beside him.

"I really couldn’t tell if it’s a broken leg or not, but what I do know is if a leg is broken, the person would be sweating cold, and you see the old lady’s face is rosy, nowhere near pale like she’s in pain!

Just wanted to tease her a bit, who thought she couldn’t stand it and revealed herself. Too unprofessional!"

Jiang Xiaoxiao’s serious critique amused Song Moting.

"Hop on! I’ll take you back."