After the Infiniti car crashed into the Fiat car, it then collided with the No. 639 bus. Photo by reporter Zhang Mo of Beijing Times, source: Beijing Times.
The Infiniti tragedy resulted in 2 deaths and 1 injury. The dance-floor couple from Tsinghua and Peking University were permanently separated. A year after the incident, the pain for the victims' families remains unresolved - "Sometimes, the living feel even more pain." Video: The drunk driver of Beijing's Infiniti was prosecuted. Source: CCTV News Channel.
Opening the black 12-inch IBM laptop, on the bottom right, a bright pink Hello Kitty sticker was still as new. Wang Hui raised her stiff right hand and laboriously touched it, tears streaming down her face. This was where her youngest daughter Zhu Zhu had placed the sticker before she passed away.
Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the Infiniti accident.
At 5:35 AM on May 9th last year, at the Yonganli crossroads on Jianguomenwai Avenue, a black Infiniti sedan sped past at nearly 120 kilometers per hour, colliding with the Fiat car ahead that was waiting for the red light. This caused two deaths and one injury in the Fiat car driven by Wang Hui. The offending driver fled the scene after abandoning the vehicle.
Wang Hui suffered fractures in 13 places and fell unconscious at the scene. Her husband Chen Weinin and their youngest daughter Zhu Zhu lost their lives forever.
A full year has passed since the incident, but for Wang Hui, the pain remains unhealed.
On May 11, the case will go to trial. However, the criminal case is not yet resolved, and the driver responsible for this accident, Chen Jia, is now being sued by the Tongzhou branch of the Bank of China for failing to repay over 660,000 yuan in mortgage loans. Whether Wang Hui will receive compensation remains uncertain.
Over the course of two months, the Lian An Investigation journalist uncovered the story behind this major traffic accident.
The Accident Occurs – The Rapid Infiniti Causes a Tragedy
At 5:35 AM on May 9th, 2010, dawn had already broken, and there weren't many cars on the road. The green light at the Yonganli intersection had just turned yellow when a white three-box Fiat gradually slowed down and came to a stop. Chen Weinin shifted into neutral, and the indicator turned red.
In the back seat, Zhu Zhu frowned and lay in her mother's arms, her little hand covering her stomach. Wang Hui lovingly held her child tightly.
Zhu Zhu had been suffering from stomach pain for several days, and today it had worsened. Before dawn, the couple rushed their child to the Children's Hospital.
An ultrasound appointment had been scheduled for 9:00 AM, and they had already paid. There were still a few hours to spare, so Weinin thought it would be better to let the child rest at home for a while.
Inside the car, everything was quiet, time slipping away second by second, all was peaceful as usual.
Suddenly, a deafening crash shattered all memories in an instant.
A black Infiniti sedan suddenly accelerated as it approached the intersection, crashing into the rear of the Fiat car without slowing down. It continued forward until colliding with the No. 639 bus turning horizontally ahead, finally coming to a stop.
The Fiat car spun rapidly due to the impact, moving forward more than 20 meters before stopping. The car body was severely deformed. Witnesses saw a girl burst through the right rear side window of the car, hanging on the door, blood everywhere.
The offending driver, Chen Jia, fled the scene.
Twenty minutes later, the ambulance arrived, and the family of three inside the Fiat car were separately taken to Chaoyang Hospital, Tiantan Hospital, and the Armed Police General Hospital for emergency treatment.
However, no one could have imagined that this separation would be their final farewell.
Surviving the Disaster – “Living people feel even more pain”
Half-reclining on the bed, legs stretched out flat, Wang Hui quietly stared at the notebook computer, moving her right hand laboriously to type a few words, then pausing to rest.
Due to the accident, Wang Hui's left-side motor nerves were severely damaged, making them almost uncontrollable, while her right-side sensory nerves were also impaired. Every time she touched the keyboard, her entire body felt unbearable discomfort.
It has been a year since the incident, enduring countless major surgeries, but Wang Hui sometimes still finds it hard to adapt to her current state. "Getting dressed, washing hair, walking—these things that used to seem so ordinary now require help from others."
At the bedroom door, her mother worried about her daughter and peeked in every so often under some pretext. Wang Hui immediately looked up and smiled. "Sometimes, the living feel even more pain. I've only truly understood this phrase now." Lowering her head slightly, Wang Hui managed a weak smile as tears streamed down her face.
The Lushan Agreement – Revisiting the Old Place After 50 Years
On the blog "My Pearl Treasure," all the layouts remain unchanged, with a tender green background and a vibrant rainbow that seems to appear and disappear.
This was started by Wei Ning and Wang Hui for their twin daughters Zhen Zhen and Zhu Zhu on their fifth birthday, recording their growth step by step for future memories.
Behind the blog name, Wang Hui lifted her right hand and lightly tapped a dash, then typed another line, "The last family portrait."
In the blogger photo position, Wei Ning and his father-in-law held Zhen Zhen and Zhu Zhu, with six family members smiling and hugging together, sitting on a stone bench, with lush greenery behind them.
The scenery in the picture was Mount Lu.
During her undergraduate years, Wang Hui met the handsome Chen Wei Ning from Tsinghua University at a dance party at her alma mater, Peking University, and they fell in love.
After graduation, the two got married amidst blessings from family and friends, and had these adorable twin daughters Zhen Zhen and Zhu Zhu. For a long time, their family of four was admired by everyone.
In the May Day holiday of 2010, just after the pearl babies celebrated their sixth birthday and were about to enter primary school, Wei Ning, for the first time, took a long leave from work, taking his wife, children, and parents-in-law on a trip to Jiangxi province, stopping along the way at Mount Lu's Wulao Peak.
Among the five peaks of Wulao Peak, the fourth peak was the highest. Standing on the summit looking down, there was a sea of clouds and mist.
Wei Ning held his wife's hand and fastened a palm-sized lock onto the wooden railing, with all their names engraved closely together. "Hui Hui, in fifty years, when we're all old and gray, we'll come back here together." Wei Ning smiled, looking up and promised his wife.
However, just a few days later, Wei Ning and Zhu Zhu left this world forever. Staring blankly at her husband's smile on the screen, Wang Hui sobbed uncontrollably, "Fifty years, how could such a promise last so long?"
Critically Injured – Relatives Conceal Death News
At the Yonganli intersection, following a loud crash, everything returned to silence.
For a long time afterward, Wang Hui's memory was a blank slate. When she woke up again, she found herself lying in the intensive care unit of the Beijing Armed Police General Hospital, her body immobilized, unable to move her arms or legs, and filled with various tubes.
Wang Hui didn't know what had happened, only feeling excruciating pain. A nurse walked in, giving her a shot of Demerol, allowing her to barely fall asleep.
Due to the collision, Wang Hui suffered fractures in 13 places and developed hemopneumothorax, putting her in critical condition. The doctors and family decided unanimously to temporarily withhold the news that Wei Ning and Zhu Zhu had passed away.
Whenever Wang Hui asked, everyone gave the same response, "Wei Ning and Zhu Zhu are in another hospital, still unconscious, but their injuries aren't as severe as yours."
In reality, Wang Hui didn't realize how serious her own injuries were. Friends invited experts from the 301 Hospital for consultation, but the initial prognosis was amputation, and no one had the courage to tell her.
Wang Hui missed Zhu Zhu and obtained an iPod from a friend, recording a message to play for her daughter and Wei Ning, "Wei Ning, this is Hui Hui. You must be strong, and Zhu Zhu must be strong too. Mom will get better and then come see you. You must get better quickly and come see me..."
Her close friend, holding back tears, took it away and returned a few days later.
Painful Persistence – "To Get Better and Take Care of Husband and Daughter"
Wang Hui's leg was saved, but due to the severity of the comminuted fracture, the doctor removed 5 centimeters below her left knee and connected the lower leg bone with the upper part, fixing it with more than ten steel nails.
To enable Wang Hui to stand up again in the future, the family decided she should undergo bone-lengthening surgery, "Pulling the bones above the fractured joint apart by 5 centimeters." Wang Hui said that each day, the bone-lengthening procedure was performed four times, rotating the screws by 90 degrees each time, extending by 1 millimeter daily. "That was the bones, tendons, nerves, and blood vessels all being extended."
For a whole two months, 24 hours a day of pain, Wang Hui described it as "a life worse than death."
But as long as she could endure, she wouldn't cry out in pain, cooperating fully with the doctors, driven by one resolve: "To get better quickly and take care of my husband and daughter."
Her neck, chest, and legs were all fixed, unable to move. To prevent bedsores, each time she needed to turn over, five people had to hold different positions and apply force simultaneously.
The skin on her leg had necrotized, and the doctor grafted a large piece of skin from her abdomen, wrapping the wound in layers of gauze, with bloody flesh adhering to the gauze. "Each dressing change felt like peeling off the skin alive." A flash of pain crossed Wang Hui's face.
The most unbearable was the debridement surgery. To prevent the necrotic tissue from affecting the surrounding skin, every so often, scissors were used to cut away the dead flesh, and the debridement surgery was performed without anesthesia.
Each time after the surgery, Wang Hui's bedsheet would be soaked with sweat, and her family couldn't bear to watch, crying outside the door.
The doctor consoled Wang Hui, "Just hang in there a bit longer, and it will be over soon." Pale-faced, Wang Hui weakly raised her hand, forming a V-shape gesture.
She kept telling herself, "Once I recover, I can see Zhu Zhu and Wei Ning immediately."