Chapter 1 An Accident

• "Damn it! Who drives like that?" Ben Walton rubbed his aching legs and scolded the car stopped near him.
• He was furious, not because he had fallen, but because the things he had spent so much time securing onto his tricycle were scattered all over the ground.
• It was around two hours past midnight. Ben had always closed his stall around this time and piled the grills, barbeque equipment, table, and chairs onto his tricycle before cycling home.
• Ben sat on the ground and cursed. Although the car engine was off, the headlights were still on. They were so bright that Ben could barely open his eyes. He vaguely saw the car door open, and a figure stepped out.
• The headlights hurt Ben's eyes. He covered them with his hand, stood up, and cursed, "Can you turn off the headlight? Do you even know how to drive?"
• "Ah… Sorry. I'm sorry about that." An apologetic female voice sounded. Then, the woman got into the car and turned off the headlights.
• She was pretty tall. Although Ben could not see well due to the surroundings, he could sense that she had a good figure and was likely quite pretty. Furthermore, he could smell a refreshing and pleasant fragrance from her as soon as she approached him.
• "Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?" The woman came to Ben and asked urgently. It seemed she was panicking.
• Ben rubbed his bum and grumbled, "A lady driver, no wonder. It seems I've bumped into a road hazard."
• The woman asked again, "Do you need to go to the hospital? I'll call an ambulance for you."
• "I don't need an ambulance. I'm not that weak. It's only a fall, so I'm fine." Ben bent down, picked up a half-smoked cigarette, and continued smoking it.
• The woman's frown deepened as she watched him. Then, she said, "I'm sorry. I was rushing somewhere, so I drove faster than usual. If you are alright, I'm leaving."
• The woman sincerely apologized and turned around to rush back to her car.
• "Hey! What are you doing?" Ben shouted as soon as he saw the woman leaving.
• The woman turned around and asked, "What's wrong? Is there anything else?"
• Ben replied furiously, "How can you do this? You knocked me down, and you're leaving? I'm warning you. You will be charged with hit and run if I call the police."
• "I'm not running away. I checked if you were alright before leaving. How can you be so unreasonable?" The woman sounded a little annoyed.
• "What? Am I unreasonable? I'm physically alright and won't falsely claim any injuries, so don't worry. After all, I only felt a little pain from falling. However, shouldn't you compensate me for the things you damaged? My tricycle is completely out of shape. Also, look at my things all over the ground." Ben pointed out the damaged things to the woman.
• Before Ben could list out all the damages, the woman interrupted him, "Sure, I will pay for these. It was my fault for failing to stop the car on time and crashing into you. Can you calculate the total cost of your tricycle and the things on the ground? I will pay for them."
• Ben widened his eyes in surprise and asked, "Do you mean everything?"
• The woman replied anxiously, "Yes, everything. Name a sum. Can you estimate how much they are?"
• Ben looked at the woman from top to bottom but could not see her clearly. He asked, "Do you perhaps not have a driver's license? Or are you drunk?"
• "I know what you're thinking, but I assure you I have a driver's license and am not drunk. I'm rushing to pay you because I have an urgent matter and must leave as soon as possible. If we call the traffic police to determine the person at fault and wait for the insurance company, it might not even be done by morning. I don't have time, so can you give me an estimate? I will pay you now." The woman sounded a little cold.
• "You don't have to pay for everything. I'm not greedy, so you can pay for what you damaged. This tricycle is out of shape here, so it will take around two hundred to fix. This one is probably broken, so fifty. This one's twenty…" Ben turned on his mobile phone flashlight and checked the things on the ground.
• The woman interrupted Ben again, "Tell me the total I have to compensate. Can you estimate a sum? I'm in a rush."
• "Woman, why do you keep rushing me? I'm the victim here. Even I'm not in that much of a hurry."
• The woman asked urgently, "Can you please tell me a sum? I've something urgent. Three thousand. Is three thousand enough?"
• "No, you don't have to give me three thousand. This is a free country, and I'm an upright man. When I was young, my teacher taught me that…"
• The woman interrupted Ben again and asked impatiently, "Can you please tell me how much you want?"
• Ben estimated his losses and replied, "Five hundred. You need to pay me at least five hundred. I won't allow you to leave if there is even a cent less."
• "Fine, five hundred it is. I'll pay you." The woman immediately went to her car and searched for something.
• "What an unlucky day. It's bad enough that my things are damaged, but I have to pack them up again." Ben grumbled as he cleared his things.
• As Ben was still gathering his things, the woman came out of the car and stood before him. She hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'm sorry. I forgot to bring my purse."