Ruan Qiu’s sudden approach caught Zhou Yishen off guard, nearly causing him to tumble onto the sofa. Fortunately, with his solid core strength, he managed to steady himself and raised a hand to press down on Ruan Qiu’s shoulder.
“You’ve misunderstood. I just felt that your behavior was very strange, not like someone from the countryside.”
Ruan Qiu froze for a moment, realizing too late that she had acted far too modern. If this kept up, wouldn’t the man start suspecting she was an enemy spy sent specifically to get close to him?
If that were the case, she would be completely finished.
“I have a strong learning ability. I picked it up from my colleagues.”
After offering this explanation, Ruan Qiu went into the kitchen to serve the dishes on the table, then called Zhou Yishen over to eat.
“Zhou Yishen, I want to ask you something.”
With a forensic doctor’s intuition, she was simply too eager to prove the accuracy of her judgment. Pushing aside Zhou Yishen’s earlier suspicion, she chased after him with a straightforward question: “How well do you know Chen Ji’s family?”
Zhou Yishen frowned. Why was this woman always prying into other people’s business? Did she really have some kind of unspeakable secret?
Still, he answered quite seriously, “I know them a little bit. Why do you ask?”
“Then how is the relationship between Chen Ji and his wife, Xiao Tao?”
What kind of question was that?
Zhou Yishen looked up at Ruan Qiu, remaining silent for a long time before replying, “They seem fine.”
What did “seem fine” even mean?
“I’m not living their lives with them. Their relationship looks good on the outside, but whether things are good behind closed doors is strictly a matter for the two of them. I don’t know.”
Ruan Qiu gave an awkward smile.
Zhou Yishen wasn’t wrong. Whether a couple that appeared wonderful to the outside world was actually happy was something only the people involved truly knew.
“Why are you asking this?”
Ruan Qiu cleared her throat and voiced her suspicion: “I think Xiao Tao falling down the stairs is suspicious.”
Zhou Yishen put down his chopsticks, turning much more solemn. “Are you saying Xiao Tao didn’t fall down by herself?”
“Based on the posture she was lying in on the ground at the time, I can deduce that she was likely pushed down the stairs.”
Zhou Yishen suddenly grew interested. “Let’s hear it. What’s the difference between falling down the stairs yourself and being pushed?”
“First of all, if you fall down by yourself, the injuries are usually on the ankles and wrists, and you either land face down or drop vertically. But being pushed is different. The body usually falls sideways or backwards, and the landing spot is further away. Xiao Tao’s injuries are to her skull and ribs. I believe she was pushed down.”
“The protective railing in our family quarters is only eighty centimeters high, and Xiao Tao is one meter sixty-five tall. As a pregnant woman, she would definitely be very careful and wouldn’t casually get close to the railing. Even if she did approach it, she would be extremely, extremely careful. Besides, when Xiao Tao was being carried away, I noticed a red mark on her wrist. Later, when I was working at the hospital, I checked it, and that was a scratch.”
Hearing her analyze things with such professional insight, Zhou Yishen became even more surprised.
How could a rural girl not only know medical skills, but also be able to analyze accidents versus homicides?
Seeing Zhou Yishen staring at her with profound, deep eyes, Ruan Qiu immediately shut her mouth.
She couldn’t help saying too much. Now he was bound to be even more suspicious.
“I’m a person who usually likes reading casual books. Read enough, and you just know a bit more.”
“If I remember correctly, your village is just as backward as ours. There aren’t any casual books around.”
Even if there were, they were just copies of Chairman Mao’s Selected Works and Quotations, and nothing remotely like what Ruan Qiu had just described.
Ruan Qiu forced out a smile. “I like listening to storytelling performances. Every time there’s a temple fair, I go listen to them, and that’s how I know.”
If she tried to explain any further, there would be no explanation left to give.
Zhou Yishen withdrew his gaze and asked, “Then who do you suspect pushed Xiao Tao down the stairs?”
Ruan Qiu cast a sideways glance at Zhou Yishen. “I’m not certain, but based on Xiao Tao’s situation at the time and the fact that Chen Ji wasn’t home, the only person left is her mother-in-law.”
Zhou Yishen stood up and said with a serious expression, “I’m going to notify the public security bureau right now, have Chen Ji’s mother arrested, and interrogate her properly.”
What?
Ruan Qiu had thought Zhou Yishen would consider her ideas wild and far-fetched; she never expected him to actually believe her words.
“Wait! You can’t arrest Xiao Tao’s mother right now.”
“Why?”
“There’s no substantive evidence. Unless Xiao Tao wakes up and can describe what happened at that moment.”
Only then did Zhou Yishen calm down. That was indeed true. He had just acted on a hot head, wanting to arrest someone regardless of anything else. In matters like this, the authorities wouldn’t get involved unless a formal complaint was filed.
Zhou Yishen sat back down and re-examined Ruan Qiu. There were simply too many mysteries about her.
It seemed he would need to get to know her much better.
After finishing their meal and cleaning up, Ruan Qiu ran over to talk to Sister Lian.
Aside from cooking, there really wasn’t much else to do on a daily basis.
Ruan Qiu discussed with Sister Lian about going to visit Xiao Tao together. Additionally, Ruan Qiu wanted to ask the Political Commissar for help to see if she could get an auditor’s pass for the university because she wanted to earn a proper diploma.
“You want to test for a diploma?” Political Commissar Lu was quite surprised.
It seemed this little Zhou’s wife was no ordinary person!
“Commissar, I was hired by the hospital as an exception, but being a nurse is not my dream. My dream is to become an attending physician. However, without a diploma, it’s rather difficult to transfer positions. That’s why I want to take advantage of my youth to study more.”
Political Commissar Lu nodded heavily, feeling that Ruan Qiu had lofty ambitions.
“That’s wonderful. Young people should be like this, studying hard and striving to improve every day. Alright, I’ll see if I can find someone to get you an auditor’s qualification.”
“Thank you, Commissar! Thank you, Sister Lian!”
The next morning, Ruan Qiu and Sister Lian went to the hospital to visit Xiao Tao.
As soon as they arrived at the hospital, they saw doctors and nurses bustling in and out of Xiao Tao’s ward.
Ruan Qiu’s heart skipped a beat. Could Xiao Tao’s mother-in-law have made a move, leaving Xiao Tao’s life hanging by a thread?
At that thought, Ruan Qiu rushed forward, grabbed a passing nurse, and asked, “What happened?”
“The patient’s intravenous line was pulled out by someone again.”
The nurse replied and hurried off to work.
When Xiao Tao was first rushed to the hospital, there had been an incident where her IV line was pulled out. With it happening a second time, Ruan Qiu became even more certain that the person who pushed Xiao Tao down the stairs was her mother-in-law. A rural woman could only think of pulling out an IV line; she couldn’t think of anything else, nor did she have any other means.
Several department chiefs were inside the ward.
When Ruan Qiu entered, Chen Ji was talking to the chiefs about reporting the incident to the police.
“My wife’s IV line has been pulled out twice by someone. The first time could be called an accident, but the second time is definitely no accident, because someone is trying to make her die. Leaders, I must report this to the authorities!”
“Company Commander Chen, don’t be so emotional right now. We do need to properly investigate how this happened. This is a military hospital, and ordinary people wouldn’t dare commit bad deeds here. But since this has happened, it must be resolved,” Director Tian placated Chen Ji.
Director Tan, however, supported reporting it: “I agree to report it to the police. Even though we are a military hospital, if someone wants to commit murder here, it ruins our hospital’s reputation. Don’t worry about the military hospital label, because finding out the truth right now is our top priority!”
The others were split, with some agreeing and some opposing.
After all, it wasn’t a good reputation to have.
“I agree with Director Tan. Report it to the police and find the truth!” Ruan Qiu spoke up in agreement.