Hospital, outside the operating theatre.
When Lu Zheng arrived, almost the entire third team was present.
“What’s happened?” Lu Zheng looked at the red “Surgery in Progress” sign on the operating theatre door, then turned to Huang Xiumin.
“Car accident!” Huang Xiumin gritted her teeth, “But it was definitely not an accident!”
“Xiumin, mind your discipline!” Liang Yuandong reminded her from the side.
“Damn it!” Huang Xiumin cursed angrily.
On the other side, Li Jinglin’s face was grim, Liu Leng’s eyes flashed with ferocity, and the others were either silent or visibly indignant.
Lu Zheng narrowed his eyes, glanced at Liang Yuandong, then turned back to the operating theatre.
Now was not the time to dwell on these matters.
Lu Zheng was Lin Wan’s boyfriend, a fact no longer a secret within the city bureau’s third team, so his arrival was not unexpected.
On a normal day, they might have chatted a bit, but in this situation, no one, including Huang Xiumin, was in the mood to talk.
…
The surgery lasted until four in the morning.
The light went off, the door opened.
The doctor walked out expressionlessly, and Lu Zheng’s eyes flashed.
Huang Xiumin rushed forward first, “How’s Lin Wan?”
“No life-threatening danger,” the doctor shook his head, but there was no smile.
“Then…”
“The patient’s second lumbar vertebra suffered an explosive fracture due to the impact, with many fragments, some of which entered the spinal canal, damaging the spinal cord nerves. We did our best.”
“Damn it! Speak plainly!” Liu Leng couldn’t help but growl.
The doctor’s face stiffened momentarily, but he shook his head, sighed, and bluntly said, “Lower limb paralysis.”
*Bang!*
Li Jinglin slammed his fist against the hospital wall.
A silence followed.
“The patient is still unconscious. We’ll transfer her to the inpatient ward. There are too many of you; one or two can stay to accompany her.”
“I’ll stay!” Huang Xiumin said immediately.
“I…” Liu Leng started, but Lu Zheng clapped a hand on his shoulder.
“Hiss—”
Lu Zheng withdrew his hand and said calmly, “Alright, you all go back. I’ll stay with her.”
…
Lin Wan had no family in Haicheng. The surgery consent form was signed by Li Jinglin as her superior. Now that Lu Zheng was here, as her boyfriend, he signed various documents.
“Is there a single room available?”
“Yes, but the cost…”
“Switch to it!”
“Alright.”
Lin Wan had once told Huang Xiumin about Lu Zheng selling games, so seeing him now spending heavily to get Lin Wan a better room, Huang Xiumin felt relieved and didn’t intervene.
Once everything was settled, Lin Wan was hooked up to an IV, and the other third team colleagues left as dawn began to break outside.
Lu Zheng sat by the bed, looking at Lin Wan, still unconscious.
Pale-faced, breathing faintly, she looked exhausted and frail.
“What happened?”
Lu Zheng turned to Huang Xiumin, asking the same question as before, but it carried a different meaning.
Huang Xiumin remained silent.
“As her family, don’t I have the right to know the truth about what happened to Lin Wan?”
“You should,” Huang Xiumin said carefully, “but this might be connected to a case…”
Lu Zheng frowned, a name suddenly flashing in his mind, “Liu Yifan?”
Huang Xiumin looked up sharply, “You know?”
Then she frowned, “Did Lin Wan tell you?”
Lu Zheng shook his head and told Huang Xiumin about the events of Lin Wan’s birthday.
“So, it’s really him?”
Huang Xiumin took a deep breath, then deflated, “We don’t know…”
Lu Zheng frowned, “Why not? What’s going on?”
Huang Xiumin shook her head.
Lu Zheng cut off her attempt to refuse, “Don’t talk about discipline. If you don’t want me to go find Liu Yifan and punch him to death when daylight comes, you’d better tell me.”
Huang Xiumin was stunned, then after a moment, made up her mind, “Damn it, this involves you anyway, so telling you is fine!”
Lu Zheng nodded, “Go on!”
“Do you remember Li Yanjie’s murder case?” Huang Xiumin asked suddenly.
“Yes, could it be…”
Huang Xiumin nodded, “We suspect Liu Yifan is the mastermind.”
“Then…”
“But we have no evidence,” Huang Xiumin said, “Liu Yifan and Li Yanjie had a conflict abroad five months ago, and Liu Yifan’s family has deep connections in Southeast Asia and the Beacon Country.”
Huang Xiumin paused, “We reviewed Li Yanjie’s list of enemies, and only Liu Yifan had the resources and motive to kill.
But this list came through foreign channels, and even the killer didn’t know the employer’s details, so we found no evidence.”
“And then?”
“Although there’s no evidence, because you caught the killer, we traced the Southeast Asia lead to Liu Yifan, which put him on our watchlist.”
Huang Xiumin paused, “And this might have prompted Liu Yifan to retaliate against you.”
“What?” Lu Zheng was stunned.
“The city bureau’s psychological profiler analysed Liu Yifan’s personality and concluded that, because your actions led to him being noticed by the police, there’s a forty percent chance he’d retaliate against you.”
“Bloody hell! Is he insane?”
“No, he’s not insane, he’s ruthless.”
Huang Xiumin said gravely, “In the Beacon Country and Southeast Asia, he’s suspected in at least a dozen murder and assault cases, but…”
“No evidence?”
“Exactly, no evidence,” Huang Xiumin nodded, “Also, he’s been clean in China, with no criminal record.”
“What about Li Yanjie?”
“That’s why a leopard can’t change its spots. He couldn’t hold back.”
“So…”
“So Lin Wan has been investigating possible evidence of Liu Yifan’s crimes in China. If we can put him behind bars, you’ll be safe.”
Lu Zheng fell silent, looking at the unconscious Lin Wan, his face expressionless.
Huang Xiumin continued, “Liu Yifan has been living in China for two years. With his personality, it’s hard to believe he’s been a good boy in Haicheng all this time.
More likely, he’s covered his tracks well, and the police haven’t noticed.
So, if we find a breakthrough, get authorisation to investigate his emails and overseas accounts, we might find evidence of him being the mastermind in this case.”
Lu Zheng’s face remained blank, then he suddenly asked, “Did she find it?”
Huang Xiumin was silent, then nodded, “One drowning and one car accident.
Both were previously treated as accidents, as the direct causes were indeed accidental, just like Lin Wan’s case this time. Even the victims and their families didn’t suspect anything.
But because Liu Yifan was involved, Lin Wan followed up, and then…”
