The Brain Science Case 122

Chapter 122: The Collapsing Tower – 3

Cai Yuwei, who was washing his chopsticks with a little soap, had just shaken off the water droplets when he looked up and met a pretty face.

“Uh, Jinglin, you… you’re done eating?”

“Of course.” He, who was in charge of the special project investigation, had a later dinner time than the other colleagues in the office. It was already two in the afternoon. “I have something to ask you.” She pursed her lips slightly and, in a chicken-like posture, pulled Cai Yuwei, who was the same height as her, to the side.

“What do you want to ask? You’re being so mysterious…”

Jinglin glanced at the smoking area, and after confirming that the distance was far enough, she asked bluntly, “The key person in the special project investigation is my mom, right?”

His eyes widened, and although he did not answer directly, she had already gotten the answer she wanted. “When did you know? The first day you joined the team? Or when you were selected for the team list?”

“W-Wait a minute. H-How did you…”

She interrupted. “How I know is not important. Answer my question.”

Cai Yuwei was completely overwhelmed by her aura. “Okay, okay, okay. You calm down first…” seeing that he couldn’t hide it anymore, he told Jinglin what had happened.

“…I was really shocked. I also thought your mother was already… I was just saying how hard you were investigating, but I didn’t expect the chief, the teacher, and the others to have known all along. It was like they had all colluded to hide it from you.”

She glared at him. “You have no right to talk about them.” Now he was one of them.

“What do you want me to tell you? Everyone told me not to discuss it with you, especially Senior Ah Mu. He knew I was close to you, and he was watching me so closely.” Cai Yuwei’s face was filled with bitterness. “By the way… I just thought of it. Besides work, you don’t seem to have had any contact with the teacher recently. Is it because of this?”

Jinglin put her hands on her hips and couldn’t help but think of the night she had left Yingli’s place. That night, she had been crying while driving, and had gone back to her original rental apartment to heal, and was glad that she still had such a place to go.

After she had vented her emotions, what she had thought of, besides her doubts about Li Yuejiao, was everything that had happened between her and Yingli.

Why did Mom do this?

Why did she think that she could escape the pursuit by faking her death? She knew that as a detective, she would very likely be drawn into this case, but she still went ahead with her plan… so many baffling questions.

And all of this, Yingli must have also thought of.

She couldn’t guess Yingli’s considerations—just as Lian Huizhu had said. But even if she had used the excuse of concern and thoughtfulness as an explanation for why she hadn’t said anything, it would have been better than that “I have nothing to say.”

That poker face and that clumsy, comforting mouth had completely broken her heart at that moment.

From that day on, besides work, at all other times, Jinglin had pretended she didn’t exist. The other colleagues had more or less noticed some abnormality, but they still talked, so they didn’t pay much attention.

“Yes, I didn’t expect her to hide it from me so completely, and the clues from your investigation, a part of them were also contributed by me, right?” And his silly smile once again confirmed this speculation.

“Well, to be honest, don’t be angry.” Cai Yuwei lowered his voice. “When I first learned of this, I was very curious about how the teacher would explain it to you.”

“How could she explain it?” she was angry at the thought of it, “she just pretended to know nothing.” It was better not to talk about it. Every time her emotions flared up, her eyes would well up with tears.

“She’s living with you, and yet she can still do this to you. Even if it’s for your own good, I think this is a bit too much.”

“Do you think this is for my own good?”

“Could she possibly be bad to you…” he trailed off, and suddenly realized he was taking Tang Yingli’s side, so he changed his tune, “that’s right. It’s your mom who’s in trouble, after all. She should have told you what she knew. What she did was indeed wrong.”

Although she did blame Yingli in her heart, hearing Cai Yuwei’s blunt criticism made her inexplicably repulsed. Her eyes were red, and she silently turned to wipe her tears.

This is not right either. He scratched his head. “Did I say something wrong?” A woman’s heart is an ocean of needles.

“No, you didn’t say anything wrong… anyway, she doesn’t plan to defend herself. I’ll just treat it as if I trusted the wrong person and met a liar.” She wiped away her tears and forced a smile.

“Then… you don’t blame me?”

She rolled her eyes at him and gave him a punch. “Of course I do. But what’s the use of blaming you? The crux of the problem is not on you. In the end, you were also kept in the dark until the end, weren’t you?”

Hearing Jinglin say that, he quietly let go of a heavy stone in his heart. “Oh, it hurts…” as expected of someone who often practices boxing, her strength was almost comparable to a man’s.

“I haven’t even used my full strength yet. You’re so weak…”

“Since you’ve figured it out, what are you going to do now?” Jinglin’s situation had not changed. She was still excluded from the special project. If Fang Zijun and the others found out that she knew that the mastermind of “Mountain Wind” was Li Yuejiao, and she insisted on getting involved in this case, it might lead to unexpected consequences.

“I’ll go and talk to the director myself.”

“That’s not a good idea…”

She interrupted. “You don’t have to worry. About my mom’s case, I can’t be a bystander. Even if the chief and he plan to exclude me, I will find a way to do it myself… in my own way.”

And this was exactly what he was most worried about. Cai Yuwei suddenly realized that perhaps it was more appropriate to do as Tang Yingli had, and to hide it from Jinglin as much as possible before things became clear.

But the information blockade had unexpectedly been broken, and now, he could only try to hold Jinglin back and stop the bleeding.

“Alright, you go and do your thing. I have to continue with my ‘paperwork’.” She smiled, a little helplessly.

“Wait a minute, Jinglin.”

She stopped. “Hm?”

“You’re probably not going back to the teacher’s place now, are you?”

“Of course. After all that, to continue to live under the same roof, it would be so awkward.”

“Then, then… why don’t we go to my friend’s bar tonight? We’ve been talking about it for a long time and never had the chance. We can have a drink together… ah, I almost forgot you don’t drink. We can eat there.”

She was taken aback. “Oh, okay.”

Cai Yuwei’s surprise instantly turned to joy. “Really?” She agreed.

“Yes, is it necessary to be so surprised?” Seeing him jump up in joy, she couldn’t help but laugh again. “Also, I’m starting to drink a little now.”

“Oh, I thought you said you didn’t drink before… when did you change?”

The smile on Yingli’s face when she had encouraged her to drink flashed through her mind. She bit her lip. “In any case, I’m drinking a little now. Are we going right after work?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Okay, then I’ll wait for you.”

This simple sentence made his heart beat faster. As he came back to his senses, Jinglin was already walking toward the office. “I’ll finish my work as soon as possible. See you after work.” he shouted after her, and a triumphant cheer echoed in his heart.

**

Yan Kaiwei’s mood had not been very happy since he had been confirmed to be hospitalized.

But he had no choice. His arrhythmia had been happening on and off since last year, and for the sake of the competition, he had been constantly delaying his treatment. Now it had reached a point where it could no longer be ignored. At his parents’ insistence, he could only come back for medical treatment.

But the promised news blackout, as soon as he arrived at the municipal hospital, what was waiting for him was a group of reporters. He was forced to spend an extra twenty minutes, and it wasn’t until his bodyguards had arrived one after another that they accompanied him into the hospital. After he came in, as before, it was a series of physical examinations.

Although he had tried his best to remain calm, when he learned that there were no single rooms available for the time being, and that the hospital, in order to accommodate him, had moved the patient in a double room to another room, he finally spoke.

“I told you there was no need to kick someone else out… I’m not unable to stay in the same room with other people.”

“It was the madam’s wish, young master.”

This sentence was like his Achilles’ heel. Yan Kaiwei pursed his lips and did not say anything else.

The nursing staff quickly placed the hospital bed in position, and the two bodyguards next to him checked everywhere and also opened the window to keep the air circulating.

“The attending physician will be here soon, and the test results will also be out soon. Please wait a little longer, young master.”

“I understand… is the attending physician the same as before?”

“That’s right. It will be Dr. Cui Jinlong, who operated on you before.”

It must have been specially designated by Mom. Yan Kaiwei nodded. “Then…”

“The Go board will be here in a bit. The boss and the madam will be here in the evening. I’ll go and ask again when there will be a single room. As soon as there’s an empty bed, I’ll have you transferred immediately.”

Since everything had been arranged, he had nothing more to say. “Do you have any other questions, young master?”

“No.”

“Please bear with it for a little while. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” The phone suddenly rang, and the bodyguard apologized in a low voice and quickly walked to the door to answer.

It was finally quiet for a while.

Even though he knew that when he came back to Taiwan for hospitalization, what was waiting for him was this kind of grand reception, he had to come back. Who knew if his mom would have flown to Japan to personally escort him back? Rather than making the scene so ugly, it was better to be a little more resigned.

This is the seventh floor, right? Yan Kaiwei got out of bed, wanting to see the view outside the window, but there was a movement outside the door. He pursed his lips and could only pretend to be fine and shrink back into the hospital bed.

The person who came in, Cui Jinlong, was profusely apologetic. “Kaiwei, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what the reporters heard…”

“It’s fine, Dr. Cui. Although I was a little scared too, I’m quite used to being followed by reporters.”

“Oh, is that so? The director will be here with your father in a bit, and a single room is also being prepared. If not tonight… there should be an empty one by tomorrow at the latest. You just have to bear with it a little longer.”

Cui Jinlong and his team had always been in charge of his condition, and with his and the Yan family’s certain degree of friendship, it was no surprise that he would continue to be in charge of the surgery.

“I haven’t seen my dad since I came back… is that so? I understand.”

“In any case, whether it’s the surgery or the post-operative recovery, we’ll take care of everything. There will definitely be no problem.”

Because of his congenital heart defect, going in and out of the hospital had already become a habit. Yan Kaiwei did not show any anxiety about this. He just hoped that the surgery would be successful and that he could return to the competition as soon as possible.

And also to escape this suffocating atmosphere.

“The test results have been coming in one after another. Let me explain them to you in detail…”

Unexpectedly, the report that was supposed to be handed to Cui Jinlong fell to the ground, and the sound startled Yan Kaiwei.

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault.” The young doctor next to him quickly apologized and handed the folder back to Cui Jinlong.

He glared at the doctor, but when he faced Yan Kaiwei, it was as if he had changed his face, and he put on a smiling expression. “Then, let me explain…”