Han Bangsun, the father of Han Zhixiang, has become a quick study. During a break in the trial, Han approached a reporter and pulled out a copy of an Aug. 13 article in the official People's Daily.
It was about a boy in Henan Province who drowned last summer in the company of older boys. The boy's parents sued the other families for failing to protect the boy. This summer, the court awarded the plaintiffs roughly US$730 -- a princely sum here.
"It's the same case as ours, so I'm confident we can win," said Han, a 38-year-old construction worker.
In an interview, the Hans suggested that their son, who they said could not even swim, was lured to the river by Lin Qiang, the leader of the pack. Had the boys at the scene simply cried for help, the Hans' lawyers argued in court, Han Zhixiang might have been rescued. But because the boys did not tell anyone what had happened, his body was not found until four hours after he disappeared, about a half-mile downriver.
A few days after the drowning on June 15, the Lins and the Nies, despondent, scraped together US$365 from friends and relatives -- the equivalent of what the Lins make annually from selling produce on the street. They delivered it to the Hans for the funeral expenses. The Hans accepted the money, and even signed some papers acknowledging the gift.
But a few hours later, the Hans returned most of the money and the next month, they filed a lawsuit demanding more than US$3,100 in compensation.
"We're not doing this for the money," Han said. "We're doing this to get justice."
After a three-and-a-half-hour hearing, the three-judge panel announced that it needed more time to weigh the evidence. It still has not ruled.
The families no longer talk to each other. They barely look at each other. If one family's door is open, the other keeps its door shut.
Perhaps it was not surprising, then, that after a reporter met for an hour with the Hans, Huang Juju, Nie Dao Erhuang's mother, called and tried to get the last dig in.
"Are you done with them yet?" she asked. "All you'll hear from them are lies."
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