The Brain Science Case 87

Chapter 87: 

At his words, Zhou Jingxun’s face turned pale, and she lowered her head, not saying a word.

Shi Changyun was the first to be wheeled out by the medical staff. Vicky went with her to take care of her, leaving the other three behind.

When the operating room opened again, it was Zhou Jinglin who was wheeled out. The three of them rushed forward at the same time. “Sister Zhou.”

“Jinglin, are you okay?”

Lying on the hospital bed, she nodded slightly. The doctor explained that the anesthesia had not yet fully worn off, but the wound had been stitched up, and the cut on her finger had also been bandaged. The knife had not hit any major blood vessels or organs, which was a blessing in disguise.

“Sister… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Before she was wheeled away, she deliberately looked at the tearful Zhou Jingxun and blinked reassuringly. A moment later, she fell asleep again.

She woke up again about half an hour later, woken by the pain in her side.

Hiss… she gritted her teeth and let out a silent cry of pain. She instinctively wanted to cover it with her hand, but unfortunately, both her hands were injured.

“Sister.” Zhou Jingxun was the first to notice the movement, followed by Cai Yuwei. “How do you feel?”

“It… hurts.” She frowned and said weakly. Cai Yuwei pressed the button to call for a nurse. “The culprit… was he caught?”

“He got away. There were too many people in the night market, and we had two people injured at once. But someone saw them escape on an old Wolf from the temple side. Xiangrong has gone back to investigate. Maybe we’ll have news soon.”

“Shi Changyun…?”

“Changyun is awake. Her wound is much lighter than yours. It’s a good thing she blocked it with her bag.” The nurse arrived soon after, and Zhou Jingxun had to make way.

After the pain subsided, she was finally no longer trembling in pain. “Have you contacted the director?”

“Yes, my parents will be here in a bit.”

“Good. You remember to go home. In this state… don’t go back to my place.”

Zhou Jingxun looked guilty. “But you… don’t you need me to get things for you from home? Someone has to take care of you…”

“It’s not your fault.” She held out her bandaged hand. “In that kind of emergency, I was lucky to only get this kind of injury. And I can’t let you stay with me.”

“Sister…” she blinked and put her arms around Zhou Jinglin’s shoulder.

“You must have been so scared.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cai Yuwei’s tense expression. Zhou Jinglin was thoughtful, but she continued to pat Zhou Jingxun. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

“Xiao Xun.”

Su Huiquan arrived first. Worried about her daughter, she anxiously looked Zhou Jingxun up and down before turning her attention to Zhou Jinglin.

“If it weren’t for Officer Zhou, it would be Xiao Xun lying here now… what were you doing at the night market?” In the end, she couldn’t help but scold her daughter.

Zhou Jinglin gave a wry smile to ease the tension. “Jingxun has been following me around all day, at most just going to the convenience store at the corner of the alley. After a week, we didn’t find any suspicious people following her, so it’s natural that she would want to go for a walk.”

At her words, Zhou Jingxun felt even more guilty.

She turned to the other side. “Ah Wei.”

“Huh?”

“It’s getting late. You take the director’s wife and Jingxun home.”

He was taken aback. “But then no one will be with you…”

“Isn’t there still Vicky?” She held her wound and said seriously, “Even if I’m temporarily down, don’t forget the mission the chief has given us.”

“This…”

“I’m fine. You go.”

Since she had already said so, Cai Yuwei could only resign himself to putting the mission first.

“I’ll definitely come and see you again tomorrow, sister.”

Zhou Jingxun’s last words were heartwarming. Oh, what a lovable and hateful little girl.

The surroundings suddenly became quiet. She moved her still-numb mouth and looked around, unexpectedly finding a plastic bag with clothes in it.

Zhou Jingxun left the clothes she had bought, along with her coat and scarf, here?

Where’s my phone? She wanted to send a message to let her know, but she accidentally moved her wound and gasped in pain.

“You can’t even stay still when you’re injured?” A light sigh followed.

“T-Teacher.”

Tang Yingli walked in with her hands in her coat pockets. Zhou Jinglin looked at her, and it took her a while to find her voice. “Y-You’re here?”

“Yes, it took me a while to find this hospital… where are you hurt?” Yingli pretended to casually look.

“My hand, and here…” even with the bandage, she was inexplicably shy to expose her wound to Yingli.

“If you can talk and move around, it means you’re fine. Oh, I’m relieved.”

That tone doesn’t sound worried at all. “Where did you come from?”

“The station. I just finished the interrogation…” Yingli suddenly stopped and changed the subject. “I heard the assistant from Korea was also injured.”

“Yes, not seriously. How did the interrogation go?”

“It went smoothly. I asked Chief Fang to take the madam back to rest. By the way… your injury came so suddenly. I have to take the madam to get the professor’s ashes tomorrow.”

“It’s fine. You take care of the madam’s business first. I’m fine…”

Yingli rolled her eyes. “Then who’s going to take care of you?”

W-Wait a minute? Her saying that, does that mean… “From the way you’re talking… are you planning to stay here with me?”

“Ah,” she lowered her head and pushed up her glasses, “in any case, after I’m done tomorrow, I’ll find a way to come back.”

There it is again, that ambiguous single syllable and awkward expression. Zhou Jinglin couldn’t help but chuckle.

Yingli pointed to the plastic bag next to the hospital bed. “What’s this?”

“Some clothes, I bought them at the night market.”

“Do you need me to take them back for you?”

“No, there’s something of Jingxun’s in there.” Thinking of the scarf she was going to give her, she gathered her courage. “Actually, I bought…”

“Jinglin.”

Fang Zijun, who had also rushed over, suddenly appeared. “Look who’s here to see you.”

What came into view was Zhou Zengxiang in his uniform. “D-Director?” she exclaimed, accidentally moving her injured hand.

“Be careful, don’t panic.” Zhou Zengxiang said in a warm voice, “Thank you for protecting Jingxun. That girl has already told me everything. Because of her willful request, you got hurt… it seems the car accident before didn’t teach her a lesson.” He looked around, but only saw Yingli. “Where’s Jingxun?”

“The director’s wife came over just now… I had a colleague escort her home. After all, the hospital is a mixed place.” Suddenly facing Zhou Zengxiang, she was on pins and needles.

Zhou Zengxiang nodded in approval. “Chief Fang has taught his men well.” He looked closely at Zhou Jinglin’s face, and his expression changed slightly. “You…”

“Yes?”

He looked at her again and forced a smile. “I’m sorry, your appearance reminds me of another friend.”

Seeing this, Fang Zijun whispered in his ear, “…Jinglin is that madam’s daughter…”

Zhou Zengxiang immediately remembered. He had privately asked Fang Zijun to pick up Li Yuejiao from the hospital. “I see.” Looking at Zhou Jinglin again, his expression was a little complicated.

Zhou Jinglin was confused, but he only said, “You did a great job. You focus on recovering now. You don’t have to worry about your duties. As for Jingxun, I’ll have others and her entertainment company help take over…”

“Wait a minute.” She interrupted. “Don’t you think it’s strange, Director?”

“Strange?”

Her expression was tense. “Jingxun was targeted just a few hours after she returned to Taiwan, right after she left the station. And then, after being safe for so long, she was attacked again at the night market, even though I had specifically told her to be well-disguised… combining these two incidents, I think the culprit may have infiltrated our ranks. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to accurately track Jingxun’s movements.”

“You mean…” Zhou Zengxiang looked at Fang Zijun, “the culprit is with Jingxun?”

“That’s the only possibility.”

“Jinglin.” Fang Zijun’s expression was grim. “Are you suspecting the other two colleagues?”

“I didn’t say that. But don’t you think it’s too much of a coincidence, Chief? After all, there are only a few of us who know our movements…”

“It’s fine.” Zhou Zengxiang stopped him. “Whether there’s a mole or not, I have my arrangements.” He said with an irrefutable authority, then turned to Yingli. “Dr. Tang, regarding the interrogation just now, Chief Fang has already mentioned it to me. Well done.”

She, who had been silent all this time, lowered her head to avoid Zhou Zengxiang’s gaze. “Ah, it’s nothing.”

“It’s getting late, and there are still some things at the bureau. I won’t disturb Officer Zhou’s rest.” He took off his hat and nodded, then left with Fang Zijun.

Yingli quickly drew the curtain as if to get rid of them, but she heard Zhou Jinglin ask from behind, “From what the director said, the interrogation results are out?”

“Yes.”

“Did you find anything?”

“Yes…” her tongue rolled around, and Yingli said lightly, “actually, it’s nothing.”

“Huh?” Zhou Jinglin didn’t believe her. “The director was so full of praise for you. I thought there was a big discovery.”

“Miller confessed to the process of contacting the mastermind and the reason for the crime, but he still couldn’t confirm the mastermind’s identity,” Yingli said, pulling up a lounge chair.

“Really?”

“If you doubt it, I can get you the interrogation recording.”

“I don’t want it. It’s all in English, I can’t understand it.” In the blink of an eye, Yingli was already preparing to take off her coat. “Y-You’re going to rest?”

Yingli swung her coat. Whether it was her form-fitting dress, her knee-length skirt, or her stockings and high heels, they were all black. “Yes, it’s past nine. You thought it was still early… haah.” She even covered her mouth and yawned.

“You’re really going to stay here with me…”

“Yes.” She turned her head and frowned. “Can you stop repeating that? It’s not the first time.”

Uh, strictly speaking… this is really the first time we’ve spent the night “together.” Zhou Jinglin watched as she used her coat as a quilt and lay down.

“That… isn’t very comfortable, is it?”

“It’s more comfortable than you.”

She’s injured, it’s different. “Antisocial Personality is at home, and there’s no one to take care of her.”

“She’s so fat, she won’t die from being hungry for one night.”

Zhou Jinglin pouted, and for some reason, she thought of the little trip she had reluctantly given up before. This… also counts as sleeping together, right? It’s just in the emergency room.

Although she was very tsundere, Yingli had really done a lot of heartwarming things for her. Could she be called a “warm woman”?

“What you said to the director just now,” Yingli opened her eyes, and her vision was blurry without her glasses, “did you notice any suspicious points?”

This question made her, who had been relaxed, tense up again. “I just think it’s really strange. Don’t you think so?”

“Of course I don’t think it’s a coincidence.” She turned over and faced Zhou Jinglin. “But… do you really think the other party has infiltrated the station?” This was a great humiliation for the Criminal Investigation Bureau, especially for Fang Zijun.

Zhou Jinglin was silent. First, she had already ruled out Cai Yuwei. Although Xiangrong was a rookie, he had been working closely with Cai Yuwei these past few days… could he be the culprit?

And then there were the two assistants. Shi Changyun had already been stabbed, so the more suspicious one was… Vicky?

Could it be her? “I was thinking, could it be…”

“It’s better not to jump to conclusions.” As if she had seen through her thoughts, Yingli smiled and closed her eyes with composure. “Perhaps things are not as simple as they seem.”

“Mm…” she was thoughtful, and after a while, she said, “although the director didn’t say it outright, I have a feeling our mission is over… if something happens again, then it means we weren’t infiltrated, right?”

Huh? No response?

“Teacher?”

She looked up, and sure enough—the person who had said she would take care of her had fallen asleep first.

Looking at Yingli’s sleeping profile, she couldn’t help but chuckle. “Pfft, hahaha… ouch, it hurts.”

Joy turned to sorrow.

**

After visiting hours were over, the emergency room was almost completely silent.

After an unknown amount of time, a figure quietly approached and peeked through a gap in the curtain.

The person first looked at Zhou Jinglin on the hospital bed, then found Yingli sleeping next to her.

At that moment, Yingli, who had noticed the movement, suddenly jumped up. She quickly left the lounge chair and looked outside the curtain.

The hallway was empty.

She frowned. “They’re quite fast.”

Zhou Jinglin was woken up by the big movement. “Teacher, what’s wrong…” she tried to get up, still dazed.

“It’s nothing.” Letting go of the curtain, Yingli pushed her back onto the bed. “Go back to sleep.”

**

After learning that Tang Yingli was guarding the emergency room, Cai Yuwei gave up on the idea of going back to the hospital and instead returned to the office to join the investigation.

According to the report, after stabbing the two of them, the culprit had fled on an old Wolf from the direction of the Ciyou Temple. They had originally thought they would be able to find a clue quickly, but the culprit had clearly come prepared, not only covering the license plate beforehand, but also planning the escape route.

“Ah, what a hassle…”

He yawned and walked to the pantry, and was about to make a cup of coffee when he unexpectedly heard a low whisper from the corner—

“I’ve done what you asked me to do…” the voice was mixed with anger. He silently approached and was startled to find that the person on the phone was Xiangrong. “Hey, this is not what we agreed on.”

What we… agreed on?

“I don’t care. I’ll give you three more days. If you don’t give it to me, we’ll see… that’s all for now. I have to go back to work.”

Cai Yuwei quickly hid in the pantry. Xiangrong didn’t notice and walked back to the office as if nothing had happened.

“I’ve done all I can? What we agreed on?” he chewed on the words, and an inexplicable sense of unease arose in his heart. “Could it be…”

Now, he was wide awake.