"Going home for New Year's Day and encountering a car accident, your whole family paid money to save the victims. If you encounter another accident going home for the Spring Festival this time, would you still help?" "Why wouldn't I help?" Yesterday, Liu Congyu, who works at the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Justice, accidentally revealed a story during a casual chat with his colleagues about how a week ago, his family of three had stopped to pay money and save people on the Shanghai-Ningbo Expressway. In response to many friends' well-intentioned reminders about "being kind and getting scammed," Liu Congyu smiled faintly: "In my view, being a good person isn't difficult."
Encountering a Terrible Car Accident - A Family of Three Unafraid of Trouble
On the afternoon of December 31, 2011, Liu Congyu, a disciplinary inspection official from the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Justice, and his wife Jiang Jing, who works at the Jinling Women's Prison Center, were driving back to their hometown for the holiday with their child. When they reached the Jurong section of the Shanghai-Ningbo Expressway, they suddenly noticed that traffic was blocked. They immediately realized that something must have happened. It turned out there was a five-car pile-up, and the accident scene was quite terrible. Due to complex road conditions, the flow of vehicles was slow.
"Please save us, please save us!" At this moment, Liu Congyu and his wife saw an elderly aunt anxiously waving down cars by the side of the road. She had flagged down many vehicles, but none had stopped. Hearing her cries, Liu Congyu and his wife quickly got out of the car and found an old man lying next to a crashed vehicle. The old man, speaking a heavy, barely understandable dialect, cried while gesturing towards his arm: "My arm is broken, my arm is broken, please save us."
Seeing the old man lying on the ground curled up in pain, pale-faced, and groaning incessantly, Liu Congyu and his wife quickly helped him into their car. After getting in the car, a relative beside the old man burst into tears: "You are truly good people. I've already flagged down many vehicles, and none have stopped..."
Liu Congyu and his wife consoled the old man not to worry while calling a friend in Zhenjiang to inquire which hospital had the best orthopedic department. Their friend told them that the orthopedic department of the PLA 359 Hospital was the best. After obtaining the two elders' consent, Liu Congyu and his wife drove directly to the 359 Hospital in Zhenjiang.
Upon arriving at the hospital, the Liu family split up to take action. One stayed with the child to look after the two injured elders, while the other busied themselves with registration, X-rays, tests, and admission procedures until they sent the injured elder into the operating room. Watching the doctors and nurses rushing in and out, and seeing the elder's condition under control, with his son also arriving from afar, the Liu family quietly left the hospital.
Later, the elder's son sent many text messages on behalf of the entire family to thank Liu Congyu: "I represent my entire family in thanking you and your family for your selfless help and great kindness" and "Thanks to your righteous actions, my father received timely treatment, and his injuries are well controlled. The doctors all said that if it weren't for your timely help, my father's hand might have become disabled. We can't express our gratitude in words."
Rescuer Liu Congyu: Being a Good Person Isn't Hard
"Wouldn't you be afraid that the other party wouldn't repay the money you advanced?" After advancing the money to save the victims, many people asked Liu Congyu such questions. "I didn't think about it. If they don't return it, then so be it." Liu Congyu was very calm about it. He said that in many people's eyes, his act of helping required time, money, and risk. But if he had done the same as the other drivers and hadn't stopped the car, there might have been one more case of "refusing to help" in the media, becoming another example of society becoming increasingly cold-hearted. But he didn't want that.
"Reality is like a mirror reflecting human hearts. When you actively show kindness, reality will never give you a grimacing image in return," said Liu Congyu. In his view, being a good person isn't hard, nor does it come with so much risk. Those individual cases of "doing good and being scammed" shouldn't become excuses for people to avoid doing good deeds. He hopes more people will express their kindness to the world.
Reporter Mao Qun