Zhejiang University had already started summer vacation. Last week, the campus was bustling, but now it appeared rather deserted.
Today, Professor Yan Liang from the Mathematics Department had just returned to his office after attending an academic conference. It was already noon, and he called out a male and a female PhD student who were helping him grade papers and took them out for lunch.
After leaving the campus, he took his phone out of his briefcase. He had turned it off during the conference and now checked for messages. As soon as he turned it on, the phone rang several times. Squinting against the midday sun, he saw that there were three missed calls from Xu Jing, along with a text message: “Uncle Yan, please call me back as soon as you see this message.”
Yan Liang frowned, unsure what had happened, but the message seemed urgent. Xu Jing’s father was Yan Liang’s cousin, a former director at the Ningshi Tobacco Bureau, now retired. Xu Jing was his niece. Though not very close originally, Xu Jing had entered Zhejiang University, and Yan Liang, as her uncle, had taken care of her. Their families had become close. Additionally, Xu Jing’s husband, Zhang Dongsheng, was Yan Liang’s student and a prized one at that. Xu Jing had met Zhang Dongsheng through Yan Liang, and the two had quickly fallen in love and married shortly after graduation. Yan Liang was not only Xu Jing’s uncle but also a matchmaker for their marriage.
Whenever he thought of Zhang Dongsheng, Yan Liang couldn’t help but sigh. Yan Liang had taught many undergraduates, and Zhang Dongsheng was one of the few who stood out. Zhang Dongsheng had a natural talent for mathematical logic, and Yan Liang had high hopes for him.
Before graduation, Zhang Dongsheng had the opportunity to pursue a direct PhD, and Yan Liang was willing to mentor him. However, Zhang Dongsheng unexpectedly gave up the chance and looked for a job instead. Despite Yan Liang’s multiple attempts to persuade him to continue his studies, Zhang Dongsheng explained that he came from a poor rural background and had financed his education with loans. He wanted to start earning money as soon as possible to alleviate his burden, especially since he and Xu Jing were planning to get married. Not long after, Xu Jing returned to Ningshi and, through family connections, secured a job at a tobacco company, while Zhang Dongsheng found a position as a high school math teacher in Ningshi.
Returning to the message on his phone, Yan Liang was about to call Xu Jing back when the male PhD student suddenly exclaimed, “Oh no, an elderly person fell over there!”
Yan Liang stopped dialing and quickly followed the student.
On the sidewalk at the corner, an elderly woman lay on the ground, her hands and knees bleeding. She clutched her ankles and cried out in pain.
Without hesitation, Yan Liang moved to help her, but the male student quickly pulled him back. “Professor Yan, wait a minute!”
“Wait for what?”
The student whispered warily in his ear, “There have been many reports of elderly people faking falls to extort money. If you help her up, she might claim you knocked her down and demand compensation. It would be hard to explain then.”
The female student agreed, “Yes, it’s better not to get involved in helping the elderly.”
The old woman heard their conversation, opened one eye to look at them, and then extended a trembling hand, “Help… help me up. I fell on my own.”
The male student remained unmoved, still holding onto Yan Liang. Yan Liang hesitated, remembering the numerous stories of elderly people faking falls. At this moment, a middle-aged man riding an electric scooter passed by. Seeing the scene, he immediately stopped, ran over to help the old woman, but then paused and glared at the three of them, “You knocked her down and now just stand there? Help her up and take her to the hospital!”
The male and female students instinctively stepped back, distancing themselves from the old woman, and protested in unison, “We didn’t knock her down. She was already like this when we got here!”
The middle-aged man frowned, his tone softening slightly, “If you didn’t knock her down, you should still help her up and take her to the hospital.”
The male student immediately retorted, “Uncle, why don’t you help her?”
“Me?” The middle-aged man was taken aback, then raised his eyebrows and said righteously, “I have work to do at the construction site. If I had time, I would’ve helped already!” He glanced at the work badge on Yan Liang’s chest and clicked his tongue, “Are you from Zhejiang University?”
“I’m a professor, and these are my students.”
The man sighed repeatedly, “Even professors and students from Zhejiang University are afraid to do good deeds now. What has the world come to? Is it that hard to do a good deed? You call yourselves educated people.”
Yan Liang felt embarrassed by the man’s words, even though he had never called himself an “educated person.”
Seeing their hesitation, the man said, “I have work to do, but I can help you. I’ll record a video on your phone to prove that the old lady fell on her own and it wasn’t your fault.” He took the phone from Yan Liang, brought it close to his face, and said, “Professor, is this recording okay? Look, it clearly shows she fell on her own and it has nothing to do with you.”
Yan Liang thought for a moment and found his suggestion reasonable. With both a witness and video evidence, it seemed safe. He then helped the old woman up with his students.
“Thank you so much! You are all good people!” The old woman clung tightly to Yan Liang’s hand, trembling as she walked a few steps.
Yan Liang smiled gently, “Are you okay? Should we call a car to take you to the hospital?”
Hearing the word “hospital,” the old woman quickly refused, “No need, I can walk. Thank you, thank you.” She quickly broke free from their support and walked away, gradually picking up speed until she was running.
The male student watched the old woman’s swift departure, his expression changing from surprise to anger, “I knew it. She’s definitely a scammer. Look, she’s practically flying. If we weren’t so many, she would’ve extorted a few hundred from Professor Yan. Now that she failed, she ran off as soon as she heard about going to the hospital! That old fraud!”
The female student nodded in agreement.
Yan Liang stood there, frowning and scratching his head, feeling something was off. He muttered, “I have a strange feeling something happened.” He rubbed his forehead, then suddenly exclaimed, “Wait! Where’s my phone?”
Looking around, the middle-aged man who had offered to record the video was nowhere to be seen, and the old woman could be seen in the distance, riding away on an electric scooter at high speed.
Thus, Yan Liang couldn’t call Xu Jing back.
