Chapter 410 — You're Welcome

"Xiaoyi, haven't seen you in days! Your Uncle Tang is fine now, so I've set up my stall again!" Tang's mother had meant to chat with Wei Zhao a little longer, but then she saw him pull out his car keys and make to drive off. "You're heading out?"

"I'm going to the hospital to pick up Tang Zhi, and to look in on Uncle Tang while I'm there," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

"Then off you go! Drive safe!" Hearing that he was going to fetch her daughter, Tang's mother was instantly overjoyed; nothing made her happier than seeing Wei Zhao treat her daughter well. "Oh, right — have you eaten anything?"

"Not yet. I'll deal with it later," Wei Zhao said, making no effort to hide it.

"Perfect timing — I've got two chicken legs just off the grill. Take them and eat them, don't go hungry!" Tang's mother quickly sprinkled seasoning over the two roasted chicken legs and handed them to Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao did not stand on ceremony either; he took the chicken legs with a smile, nodded to Tang's mother, and got in the car and drove off...

The moment Qiu Lingshan received her subordinate's report, she rushed straight to Songshan City First People's Hospital.

Qiu Lingshan rubbed her temples, feeling the weight of enormous pressure.

In less than a week, six vagrants, beggars, or disabled people had had a kidney cut out and been dumped near the hospital!

This was no longer a matter of simple criminal offense. Qiu Lingshan suspected that a criminal syndicate was at work.

"What's the situation?" The moment Qiu Lingshan stepped out of the police car, she spotted her subordinate Liu Wangli at a corner by the hospital entrance, stringing up the police tape.

"Captain Song, the victim's already been taken into the emergency room. I've got people canvassing the scene. This isn't the primary crime scene — the victim had his left kidney removed and was dumped here. We estimate the crime took place sometime after four in the morning, and the victim was likely left here around eleven. But there's too much vehicle traffic in and out of the hospital, and we haven't found any witnesses yet..." Liu Wangli reported his preliminary findings with a bitter smile. He knew full well how much pressure Qiu Lingshan was under. Six cases now — this was no laughing matter! No deadline for closing the case had been handed down from above yet, but it was surely only a matter of time.

The victims were all beggars, vagrants, and disabled people, but in Qiu Lingshan's eyes they mattered just the same! Whatever their station in life, Qiu Lingshan was determined to crack the case and bring the mastermind to justice.

Having heard Liu Wangli's report, Qiu Lingshan gave a weary nod. "How is Liu Bojia?"

Liu Bojia was the victim whose entire family had been wiped out by that madman killer earlier. Though Liu Bojia had never opened his mouth, Qiu Lingshan had never let up on investigating him.

At last she had found a rather suspicious lead: on the night Liu Bojia's family was murdered, at around six in the evening, a call had been placed to the police from the public telephone booth downstairs from Liu Bojia's apartment block.

According to the operator who took the call, a man had said in great panic that he had discovered an organ-trafficking ring and that they had very likely already found him out; he was seeking police protection...

What he said at the time was confused and unclear, and when asked for his contact details he refused to give them. The operator could only have the responding officers call back the number of that public booth, but no one answered. A team was dispatched to the booth at once, but nothing out of the ordinary was found in the vicinity, and they had no choice but to withdraw.

The matter had simply been let drop at the time, since no one paid it much mind. Only later, when Qiu Lingshan went through all the call records from that night, did she discover this lead.

An organ-trafficking ring? Could it be connected in some way to these six kidney-harvesting cases? Only now did Qiu Lingshan begin to feel, dimly, that the massacre of Liu Bojia's family seemed to be tied to the kidney cases.

"Liu Bojia still hasn't woken up. He's on a ventilator around the clock keeping him alive. The doctors say the moment they take him off it, he's gone..." Liu Wangli heaved a sigh, shook his head with a bitter smile. The implication was clear: there was no point in trying anymore.

Qiu Lingshan frowned, but there was nothing at all she could do. She knew the situation with Liu Bojia well enough; she had always hoped for a miracle, even if only a moment of lucidity, enough for him to give the police some clue. But no miracle came.

Before the attack on Liu Bojia, he had kept silent every day, as though in great fear of something. If pressed too hard, he would tell Qiu Lingshan and the others that his whole family was dead, that he had suffered enough, that he did not want to die, and would beg Qiu Lingshan to let him be.

At the time, since Liu Bojia's injuries were still unhealed and he remained in the hospital, Qiu Lingshan had not been in too much of a hurry; she figured that once he was discharged, a firmer psychological approach would surely get something out of him. But then the unexpected happened.

"Beep, beep..." Wei Zhao honked the horn twice, thinking to himself, what's this Miss Song blocking the hospital entrance for? Does she expect anyone to get a car through here?

The other cars spotted Qiu Lingshan and Liu Wangli standing at the hospital entrance in full police uniform, along with a crowd of ** inspecting something, and one by one they detoured to enter through the back entrance. Only Wei Zhao dared to lay on the horn.

"What's all the honking? Can't you take the back way in?" Qiu Lingshan was irritated — she had been turning the case over in her mind when a car horn shattered her train of thought, and she couldn't help but scowl.

"You think everyone got into the police force through the back door, like you?" Wei Zhao curled his lip and jeered.

Only now did Qiu Lingshan realize that the one honking was Wei Zhao himself. Hearing his words, she was so furious her face went white. "What did you say? Who are you saying got in through the back door?"

"Whoever did it knows." Wei Zhao curled his lip again. "Step aside. I've got things to do — no time to dawdle with you!"

With that, Wei Zhao started the engine, intending to drive into the hospital.

"Wait!" Qiu Lingshan suddenly planted herself in front of his car, blocking his way. The more eager Wei Zhao was to leave, the less she wanted to let him get his way. "I need you for something!"

"..." Wei Zhao slammed on the brakes, and the car jerked to a stop again. He was nearly speechless. "Look, silly girl, even if you've got the lowest case-closure rate in the whole force, that's no reason to go committing suicide. If you want me to run you over, at least find somewhere deserted and do it on the quiet. Pulling this staged-crash stunt right in front of all your subordinates — even if I did kill you, I'd never be able to explain it!"

"You..." Qiu Lingshan was livid, her silvery teeth clenched tight, glaring at Wei Zhao. "Call me a silly girl one more time, or say again that I got into the police force through the back door, and I won't be so polite!"

"Oh? So you've been so polite to me all this time?" Wei Zhao grinned. "Well then, I'd love to see what impolite looks like. By all means, don't hold back."

"Ahem... Captain Song..." Liu Wangli couldn't bear to watch any longer. Qiu Lingshan bickering with Wei Zhao in front of so many of her subordinates — what would people think?