Chapter 382: Pity The Hearts Of Parents (2/2)
The old man couldn’t bear the thought of his beloved son rotting away in prison so he bribed the doctor to perjure his son’s death. They deceived the coroner with the body of another suicide jumper.
Since his son “committed suicide,” the responsibility was borne by the old man alone. He emptied his savings to compensate the victims’ families, but in his view, nothing outweighed his son's life...
However, when it rains, it pours. Ever since the accident, Su Junting suffered from serious mental illness. During these violent episodes, he either hurt himself or others. Any medicine he took didn’t work!
The doctor said he was suffering from a rare mental illness in which he remained closed-off from the world. In his head, he repeatedly returned to the day of the accident to make up for his mistakes. And there was only one way to treat it, that is, to remove the frontal lobe of the brain which would turn him into a fool.
The old man asked the doctor if there was any other way to treat his son, to which the doctor replied–satisfy his desires!
Taking advantage of his position, the old man obtained a scrapped bus and allowed his son to drive around late at night so that his mind could stabilize. In the eyes of patients with such a personality disorder, except for the accident, everything else around them didn't exist.
Even though it was late at night, people occasionally got on the bus. Worried that the truth would be revealed, the old man followed behind the bus and prohibited anyone from going on board. But the truth would come to light sooner or later so he pondered about the best solution. Couldn’t he turn it into a ghost bus that no one dared to get on?
Thus, he welded several iron boxes under the bus, placed dry ice inside, and made the windows from special optical glass. Even from a distance, such a vehicle looked eerie and suspicious. Who would dare get on?
A few years ago, things were much simpler. It didn’t matter if the bus was noticed by a few people occasionally. However, in the past two years, as the Internet gradually developed, the ghost bus spread like wildfire online. Worried something might go wrong, the old man followed his son in his car from a distance every night.
Earlier, he assumed someone was deliberately making things difficult for his son so he showed up to stop them. He never expected it was the police!
Upon hearing his story, we were all taken by surprise. It turned out such an inside story was actually hidden behind the ghost bus. The old man was a typical example of a parent spoiling his child.
”This ghost bus has been driving in Nanjiang City for ten years?” Xiaotao asked incredulously.
”No!” The old man waved his hand, ”It's only been five or six years, and my son's illness is periodic. He doesn’t come out every night.”
”No wonder we haven't seen him for days!” I remarked.
”Please have compassion,” begged the old man. “My son is my only spiritual sustenance. Please don't arrest him. You’ll destroy our family!”
Xiaotao and I exchanged a meaningful look. ”He needs to be sent to a mental hospital,” said Xiaotao.
”But if he goes, they’ll remove his frontal lobe,” I argued. “He’ll become an idiot!”
Xiaotao sighed, ”What a headache! Well, let's go back and study countermeasures. But this bus cannot continue driving around Nanjiang City. It’s very dangerous to let a mental patient out at night, much less allow him to drive a bus!”
The old man wiped his tears, ”If I had any other way, I wouldn't have made such a risky decision... Please forgive us and let us go! Otherwise, my son’s illness will flare up! I’m at my wit’s end.”
”Leave your contact information,” ordered Xiaotao. “You can go for now!”
After a show of gratitude, the old man left us his contact information and the two vehicles drove off into the night.
”Xiaotao-jiejie, that was really kind of you,” commented Bingxin.