Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 144

Chapter 144: Survivor’s Bias

The annual leave was over in the blink of an eye, spent working overtime.

Shen Yiyi walked out of the high-speed rail station and saw Qin Luo at a turn.

A gray cardigan and jeans, she was too tall in the crowd. Shen Yiyi stood where she was, waiting for her to come.

Qin Luo came to pick her up alone today. She had no assistant, no driver. She was holding a bottle of mineral water in her hand, and a coat was draped over her arm. She walked toward her with a smile.

“It’s getting cold.”

The first thing Qin Luo said when they met was a reminder. She draped the coat over Shen Yiyi’s shoulder. “Put it on before you go out.”

The temperature in Shanghai had dropped too quickly. The cold wind was indeed bone-chilling when she got off the high-speed rail. Shen Yiyi wrapped her clothes tightly. “How is Liu Jia today?”

In the past two days in the mountains, Qin Luo had told her about Liu Jia’s situation. Yesterday, she had heard that she had woken up. The doctor had said that the patient had passed the critical period and did not need to undergo high-risk surgery such as a craniotomy. But the patient’s consciousness was intermittent, and she had severe lung damage. Her memory might be affected.

Qin Luo’s eyes darkened, and she was at a loss for words.

After a long time, she said, “There’s a problem with her language ability. She can’t speak, can’t remember things, and can’t recognize people.”

Shen Yiyi was very calm. “Language impairment and memory impairment can be treated with later intervention. It’s a great fortune in misfortune that she could wake up.”

Qin Luo fell silent.

In these past few days, she had received calls from all sides, asking about the situation of Logos and Liu Jia. She had heard the same comfort countless times.

Seeing that she was not speaking, Shen Yiyi made her own arrangements. “Let’s go and see her now.”

The two got into the car. Qin Luo did not mention the old case of the Shen family and instead asked about Zhan Luo.

“Did he confess?”

Shen Yiyi smiled. “He’s on a hunger strike.”

Ever since Piao Zheng had arrived at the county work group and had negotiated with the local police for two days, everyone had wanted to seize the opportunity to interrogate the criminal. But Zhan Luo had not opened his mouth at all. He had not even drunk water. The only condition he had discussed with the police was to see Qin Luo. Piao Zheng would naturally not agree easily and had been in a stalemate with him for a whole day. In the end, he had had no choice but to hand over the procedure of transferring the criminal to the local procuratorate. Maybe in a day or two, he could be successfully returned to Shanghai. At that time, Qin Luo might really have to assist in the interrogation.

Shen Yiyi did not want to put pressure on Qin Luo and pretended that nothing had happened. “The case has been settled. You don’t have to think about it carefully.”

Liu Jia had been transferred to the international department after she had left the ICU. It was a separate rehabilitation department, with more than a dozen medical staff accompanying her around the clock. The luxurious inpatient department had stunned Shen Yiyi. There were no arguing family members, no urging nurses. The entire corridor was extremely quiet. Compared to the ward she had stayed in when she had had her appendix removed, it was a world of difference.

She pushed open the door. It was a large suite. Auntie Wang was sitting in the living room, watching TV.

When she saw Qin Luo bring someone in, she immediately stood up to greet them. After walking half a meter, she recognized the Shen Yiyi she had not seen in many years, her expression a mix of crying and laughing. “Little Shen… it’s Shen Yiyi.”

“Auntie, you still remember me.” Shen Yiyi said politely.

“How could I not?”

Every parent knew the top student in the school. How could she forget?
Not to mention that Shen Yiyi was now her daughter’s savior.

She held Shen Yiyi’s hand, the words of gratitude on the tip of her tongue, and tears fell down her face. “You saved Jiajia. Thank you. I really don’t know how to thank you.”

Shen Yiyi could not stand an elder kneeling on the ground. That half-bent waist was as heavy as a thousand pounds, and it made her chest ache. She quickly held Auntie Wang’s arms with both hands and half-hugged her. “Auntie, please don’t be like this.”

“The doctor said that if it had been half an hour later, Jiajia would not have survived…” Auntie Wang was sobbing, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. “I can’t imagine if she had died. What would I have done?”

Shen Yiyi was the worst at dealing with emotional problems. She cast a pleading look at Qin Luo.

Qin Luo understood and stood in the middle, reaching out to separate the two. “Auntie, don’t cry. Shen Yiyi is just here to see Liu Jia. If you’re like this, she won’t dare to come next time.”

“Go and see her.”

Auntie Wang knew that she was a little emotional. She wiped her tears and pointed to the ward. “Jiajia has been in a daze and asleep. She doesn’t wake up many times a day.”

Shen Yiyi walked around the front hall and saw the person lying on the bed through the glass window of the room door.

Qin Luo gently patted her shoulder. “Go in and see.”

Auntie Wang did not disturb them and sat back down on the sofa to watch TV. Qin Luo took Shen Yiyi into the ward and closed the door.

“Liu Jia.”

Shen Yiyi walked up and patted the blanket twice without any politeness, and saw Liu Jia slowly open her eyes.

The two were not far apart and looked at each other for a long time. Liu Jia did not give any reaction. Her eyes were vacant, as if her soul was still in the basement. Shen Yiyi called her name, and she only moved her eyelids slightly, her lips trembling.

Liu Jia had no expression.
No pain, no surprise, only a wooden expression. Her emotions were frozen like the surface of the water, as slow as a videotape at 0.5x speed.

Shen Yiyi had her hands on her hips and joked with her, “Why don’t you have any expression when you see me? Do you know that I saved you? You have to be more respectful to me after you’re discharged. You’re not allowed to curse me anymore.”

…

Qin Luo’s hand was tightly pinching the edge of Shen Yiyi’s coat. She really couldn’t stand Liu Jia’s slow appearance. A machine that had been completely powered off, with only an empty shell left, and even her breathing was so light it was unreal.

The eighteen-year-old Liu Jia would walk between the three of them, nagging and cursing the math teacher, the gossip in her mouth never having a pause button. The twenty-year-old Liu Jia, when she was wronged, would call her all night. If she was not happy, she did not want others to be happy either. The thirty-two-year-old Liu Jia, at three in the morning, would be aggressive in the company group chat, and urgent matters could not be delayed for a moment.

Her world had never had a low volume. Now, she had suddenly become a mute.

This drop was too great. Qin Luo could not accept it.

“It’s good to be quiet for a while.”

Shen Yiyi looked down and reached out to pull the blanket to cover her arm. “A friend likes to be noisy, and a boss has to be talkative. Now, as a patient, you have to learn to be quiet and think about what you want to do after you’re discharged.”

“Don’t be afraid.”

Shen Yiyi’s tone was calm, as calm as she had been in high school. “In the future, I’ll have Qin Luo read to you every day. After a few more days of reading, your brain will be fine.”

Patients with hypoxic brain damage would usually have expressive aphasia in the early stages of recovery. As the director of the identification center, Shen Yiyi had often encountered such cases of injury.

Some patients could not even say “water” when they had just woken up, but two weeks later, they could express their needs intermittently. Three months later, they could talk to people in short sentences. Although they might never be able to recover to their previous speed of expression, their daily communication could gradually recover.

With that, Shen Yiyi became serious again. “Blink if you understand.”

The person on the bed stared at the two of them without blinking. She blinked with difficulty, and after a long time, the corners of her mouth twitched faintly.

Liu Jia slowly smiled.

“See?” Shen Yiyi was so pinched by Qin Luo that she was in pain. She nudged her ribs with her elbow. “I told you she’s not a big deal. She can understand instructions now. Don’t worry. I guarantee she won’t become a fool.”

Ever since Liu Jia had woken up, Qin Luo had been running back and forth between the hospital, the company, and home. She had never cried in front of Liu Jia. She did not want to use her tears to highlight the patient’s vulnerability. But Liu Jia’s squinting smile made her a little unable to hold it in. Qin Luo used the excuse of going to the restroom and quickly fled the ward.

Only the two who had been the most at odds in the past were left in the room.

“Catch…”
“Catch… catch…”

The second word that she couldn’t spit out was completed by Shen Yiyi. “Catch.”

Liu Jia slowly nodded.

“Don’t worry.” Shen Yiyi placed her hand on the corner of the blanket and patted it gently, as if she were lulling her to sleep. “We’ll definitely catch him.”

Liu Jia nodded again and said “okay” with great effort.

Seeing that she was in a good mood, Shen Yiyi quickly asked, “Have the police come?”

Liu Jia nodded, but then she shook her head.

Shen Yiyi, for some reason, actually understood her expression. “The police came to ask you questions, but you don’t remember much, so they left.”

Liu Jia looked at her, unwilling to look away for a long time.

In the corner of Liu Jia’s eye, Shen Yiyi noticed a fear that she was particularly familiar with. It was the fear of forgetting, of blaming herself for not being able to remember the scene, of the dark traces turning into blurry, fine light and shadow, so hazy that she couldn’t see clearly.

She understood, so her chest was in a dull pain.

“It’s a good thing not to remember.”

Shen Yiyi took a tissue and folded it into a neat square along the four corners, gently wiping away the line of tears that had fallen down Liu Jia’s cheek. “The person has been caught. The police will have other ways to convict him. No one will blame you for not being able to remember, so forget about those things.”

She smiled and comforted her, “It’s best to forget what happened that day, but you can’t forget Qin Luo and me.”

Liu Jia shook her bald head.

“I know you won’t forget us.”

Shen Yiyi threw the tissue into the trash and said in a low voice again, “I heard about the money laundering. After you’re discharged, remember not to have any more dealings with Liang Wei, you know?”

With that, Liu Jia blinked.

“Alright, it’s getting late.” Qin Luo had returned to the bedside at some point. She took a soft tissue, dipped it in water, and gently wiped the corners of Liu Jia’s mouth. As she was wiping, she said, “We should be going too.”

“You… you…” Liu Jia’s gaze shifted from Shen Yiyi to Qin Luo’s face. “You guys…”

“You can say it slowly.” Qin Luo repeated Liu Jia’s words, as if she were very patiently trying to hear her finish. “You guys, and then?”

And on the side, Shen Yiyi was the translator.

She did not give Liu Jia a chance to speak at all and said bluntly, “Yes, we’re living together.”

…

Was that right?
The patient was still lying there. Was it appropriate to talk about living together?

Qin Luo looked back at Shen Yiyi and frowned, indicating that she should not mention this kind of thing in the ward.

Shen Yiyi shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she did not understand her winks. “What’s wrong with that?”

Qin Luo pushed Shen Yiyi out and turned to pat Liu Jia’s arm. “Alright, alright, we’re leaving. I’ll come and see you again tomorrow morning.”

Auntie Wang had gone out to learn about intervention from the nurses. Qin Luo did not say hello and closed the door, taking her away.

“Can’t you tell Liu Jia that we’re together?”

Qin Luo crossed her arms, her head buzzing. She had wanted to argue with Shen Yiyi a little, but she had been unexpectedly provoked by the three words “together.”

This relationship had finally been acknowledged by the other.

They were not just living together for the past few days. They would be together in the future.

Shen Yiyi had her hands in her pockets and said lightly,

“Survivors hate it when others pity them.”
“You have to believe that she has the ability to accept happiness.”