After leaving the City Bureau, Zhou Yi first retrieved the stalled motorized tricycle he had parked on the side of the road earlier.
By the morning light, he could see the yellow police tape cordoning off the alley from afar. He figured a crowd of onlookers would soon gather around it, whispering among themselves. In truth, however, the heavy downpour had essentially washed away the blood in the mud.
Zhou Yi returned the tricycle directly to his neighbor and did not head to his second uncle’s house. Second Uncle’s problem was extremely serious, but now was not the time to rush into dealing with it. After all, Grandpa had not woken up yet.
He hopped onto his old 28-inch bicycle parked downstairs and rode straight to the hospital, picking up some breakfast for his father on the way.
Zhou Yi’s grandfather was named Zhou the Fourth. The reason was simple: he was the fourth child in the family, and in the old society, people believed that a humble name made a child easier to raise. By his father’s generation, naming conventions had taken on a strong sense of the era. His dad was named Zhou Jian Country, his second uncle Zhou Jianjun, and his third uncle Zhou Jianye.
Rumor had it that his aunt was originally named Zhou Jianhua, but Grandma said it sounded too awful for a girl, so they eventually changed it to Zhou Aihua.
Just as Zhou Yi returned to the hospital room, he ran into his father head-on. Seeing Zhou Yi covered in bruises and his clothes torn, his father immediately asked anxiously what had happened and why he had been missing for half the night.
Looking at his father’s bloodshot eyes and exhausted face, Zhou Yi lied, saying the station had a sudden mission and that he was fine. He then smoothly changed the subject, asking about his grandfather’s condition.
"The doctor came to check on him. His condition is stable for now, but it’s hard to say when he’ll wake up."
Zhou Yi nodded. As long as his life was saved, it was fine. He figured Grandpa would wake up once the blood clot in his head was drained.
"Dad, why don’t you go back and get some sleep? I’ll keep an eye on Grandpa here."
"It’s fine. Your aunt said when she left yesterday that she would come to relieve me this morning. You go ahead with your own work."
"Then go wash your face and eat your breakfast while it’s hot."
Zhou Jian Country nodded but didn’t move.
"Zhou Yi."
"What is it, Dad?"
"Thanks to you this time, or else a huge disaster would have happened."
"Dad, you’re treating me like a stranger," Zhou Yi said. "I’m Grandpa’s biological grandson, his eldest grandson at that. It’s my duty to do whatever I can."
A glimmer of light flashed in Zhou Jian Country’s eyes, and he smiled, nodding repeatedly. "Yes, yes, yes, Dad misspoke. It’s your duty, it’s your duty.
"My son has grown up. He can be relied on now." Chuckling, Zhou Jian Country walked out of the room to wash his face in the restroom.
Zhou Yi’s expression, however, darkened. He knew that in two months, a major event would occur in Hongcheng, and even across the entire Han Zhong Province. That would be the continuous wave of layoffs.
Hongcheng Second Steel Plant, where Zhou Yi’s parents worked, would be among the first enterprises to declare bankruptcy. Those with some savings could still manage by tightening their belts. Take Zhou Yi’s family, for instance; they barely scraped by on his meager police salary.
Ever since his rebirth, he had been pondering how to change all of this. But doing it alone would be next to impossible; he needed to find helpers.
Just as he was thinking, a young nurse walked in holding two IV bottles. After confirming the patient’s name, she deftly began inserting the needle for the IV drip, though she couldn’t help but let out a yawn.
"Working the night shift must be tough," Zhou Yi said with a smile.
"Sigh, it can’t be helped. We chose this profession. The worst part is that I still can’t leave after my shift ends later. I’m exhausted."
"Why can’t you leave?"
"Who knows? They said it was a notice from the security department. So annoying," the young nurse complained.
He wondered if the security department’s notice had come from Chen Yan. No, under those circumstances, Chen Yan was unlikely to directly disclose details of the case. It had to be Du Xiaolin’s parents, then. They probably had nowhere else to vent their anger and were taking it out on the hospital.
"Then your work is really strenuous.
"Hey, how many nurses do you have in the emergency department? Why do I only see the two of you on the night shift?"
"Ugh, don’t even bring it up. There are about twelve or thirteen nurses, but half of them only work the day shift."
"Why?"
"Because they have more seniority and families to take care of, so naturally, they refuse to work nights. That leaves us younger ones to rotate the shifts," the young nurse spoke with resentment.
In truth, she had already set up the IV drip, but since her shift was ending soon, she didn’t feel like rushing to do anything else. Besides, she was more than happy to chat with this tall, handsome young man.
"I remember there was a nurse yesterday with big eyes..."
Before Zhou Yi could finish, the young nurse smiled as if she had uncovered some juicy gossip. "You’re talking about Xiaolin, aren’t you? Beating around the bush—so she’s the one you wanted to ask about."
"No, no, I just noticed how hard she hustled yesterday when they were resuscitating my grandpa. I originally wanted to thank her in person, but I didn’t expect her to get off work so soon."
"Really?" the young nurse asked with a teasing smile.
"Of course it’s true. But it’s fine, I’ll just thank her when I get the chance."
"There’s no problem thanking her, but if you’re thinking of pursuing her, you should just forget about it."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because there are tons of guys chasing after her. Who can blame them? She’s gorgeous."
Zhou Yi was actually already well aware of Du Xiaolin’s social life with the opposite sex. The case file recorded that because of her good looks, she had practically never been without a boyfriend. Her four ex-boyfriends had naturally become key subjects of investigation.
Three of them had solid alibis: one was married and at home, one had stayed up all night playing cards with friends, and another was completely out of Hongcheng.
Only the most recent ex, a man named Wang Dawei, claimed he had been at home sleeping the whole time. However, living alone, he had no evidence to prove his claim, so he was treated as a primary suspect and interrogated for a long time.
In the end, naturally, nothing came of it. Although Wang Dawei did harbor a grudge against Du Xiaolin for dumping him, as he put it, "Is it really worth risking my own life over a woman?"
Since the police genuinely couldn’t find any evidence, the matter was eventually dropped. Now, however, Zhou Yi didn’t even need to meet Wang Dawei to know that he wasn’t the killer. Because Wang Dawei was nearly 1.85 meters tall and weighed over two hundred pounds, it was highly unlikely that he would leave only a size-forty-two footprint.
The simplest logic was that a small foot could fit into a large shoe, but a large foot could never fit into a small shoe. The results of the crime scene investigation alone proved it wasn’t him.
"Then are there a lot of women who hate her, too?"
The young nurse was taken aback. "Why would women hate her?"
"What if the guys pursuing her include someone else’s boyfriend, or even... someone else’s husband?" Zhou Yi said, feigning an expression of deep curiosity, looking exactly like someone who relished a good dose of drama.
The young nurse suddenly lowered her voice mysteriously. "You know, that’s actually a possibility. I stumbled upon something before, but I’ve never dared to tell anyone else."