Chapter 725 — Let Him Give Up

"The doctors must be out of options..." Qiu Lingshan shook her head.

Chen Yuxuan was no fool. From that one sentence of hers, he caught a certain something: the doctors were out of options, but from Qiu Lingshan's tone, it sounded as though someone else still had a way. So, with a flicker of hope, he asked, "Lingshan, is there another way?"

"Call me Qiu Lingshan, or Officer Song." Qiu Lingshan was rather displeased with the way he addressed her. Lingshan — as if that were his to call.

"All right, Qiu Lingshan. Is there another way?" Chen Yuxuan said, a little helplessly.

"I don't have one... but someone does..." At the thought of Wei Zhao, Qiu Lingshan felt a headache coming on. Was she really going to beg Wei Zhao for Chen Yuxuan's sake? If it were for herself, that would be one thing, but for Chen Yuxuan... Ai, favors were like that — the more you used them, the fewer you had left. Playing the brainless airhead or the little fool had long since lost its novelty. What if Wei Zhao got sick of it?

But for public reasons and private ones alike, Qiu Lingshan truly could not wash her hands of it. Publicly, she had a stake in this matter herself — the armed police were working with the local police, after all. Privately, setting aside the personal friendship between her and Chen Yuxuan, cracking this case would be a great merit in her own record. Joint operation or not, no one could take away the local police's share of the credit.

"That troublesome?" Chen Yuxuan asked cautiously.

"It's all right... let me make a phone call." Qiu Lingshan sighed. It seemed she would have to be the one to call Wei Zhao. She could have let Chen Yuxuan ask his sister and have her talk to Wei Zhao, but that would mean going the long way around, and it felt rather unreliable. After all, she had been the one to ask Wei Zhao in the first place. If she let Chen Yuxuan get involved now, and Wei Zhao took it as her using Chen Yuxuan to make Shen Yushu pressure him, that would be terrible.

"All right." Chen Yuxuan nodded.

Qiu Lingshan dialed Wei Zhao's number, her heart fluttering with unease. Once the call connected, she felt a pang of regret — she should not have made this call in front of Chen Yuxuan. If Wei Zhao refused, would she not have to start acting coy? What a sight that would be for Chen Yuxuan.

She had always been a forceful sort of girl. Not once from childhood to now had she been like this. If word got out, she would lose face completely.

But before she could think it through, Wei Zhao had already picked up. He was on the road at that moment, driving Tang Zhi back to the hospital. "Hello?"

"This is Qiu Lingshan. Last time you agreed to treat Liu Bojia — how is that coming along?" Qiu Lingshan asked cautiously.

"Who is Liu Bojia?" Qiu Lingshan had guessed right: Wei Zhao had long since forgotten about Liu Bojia. She had never brought it up again afterward, so why would he keep such things in mind?

"The one at the hospital, the one hurt by the madman killer..." Qiu Lingshan explained.

"That one? Hard to save. Leave it for now — I've got things to do here." Wei Zhao hung up as soon as he finished speaking. He had already parked the car at the hospital and needed to say a few parting words to Tang Zhi.

Earlier, Wei Zhao had not been confident he could save Liu Bojia — the man's injuries were too severe. But after what had happened with Feng Xiaoxiao and Gu Mengyao, and with his own injuries, Wei Zhao had discovered that the energy within his body could rapidly heal wounds, his own and others'.

Liu Bojia's injuries were truly too grave; saving him would surely consume most of the energy in Wei Zhao's body. There was no need for Wei Zhao to drop a level on his account. True, he would recover most of it overnight, but this man was neither kin nor friend to him — why should Wei Zhao spend his strength saving him?

Qiu Lingshan was rather annoyed at being hung up on, but she had caught a message in Wei Zhao's words all the same. He had said it was hard to save, not that it could not be saved. That meant there was hope?

Qiu Lingshan hesitated a moment, then dialed Wei Zhao's number once more.

Chen Yuxuan, standing to one side, saw nothing amiss in it. Generally speaking, big shots were entitled to their tempers; asking them for a favor was never something one phone call could settle.

Wei Zhao had seen Tang Zhi off and had not expected Qiu Lingshan to call again. Rather than getting back into the car, he stood beside it and answered: "What else is it?"

"Good sir, please help me..." Qiu Lingshan blurted out, then suddenly remembered Chen Yuxuan was right there — she had been a little too eager. But on second thought, this was the perfect chance to make Chen Yuxuan give up. With someone stronger to measure himself against, Chen Yuxuan would stop pestering her in the future — one big headache solved. At that, Qiu Lingshan felt quite at ease again. "The little fool needs your help. Won't you save him for me? At most, I'll repay you later — I'll cook you something nice to eat?"

Chen Yuxuan's eyes went wide with shock. This was Qiu Lingshan? He had not seen wrong, had he? When had Qiu Lingshan turned into this? If the person before him had not so unmistakably been Qiu Lingshan, hearing only the voice, Chen Yuxuan would have taken her for some young girl coaxing her boyfriend.

How was it possible? Chen Yuxuan rubbed his eyes, unable to believe it. Qiu Lingshan had always been the most forceful of women — how could she possibly have become like this?

Could it be that the person on the other end of the line was a woman? But that did not seem quite right either. Qiu Lingshan's tone made it unmistakable that she was speaking to a man—and one she addressed as "Little Silly Girl"? Hearing that name, Chen Yuxuan's heart nearly exploded!

Qiu Lingshan calling herself Little Silly Girl—that was simply too astonishing! That name... it was plainly the sort of pet name lovers used for each other, was it not?

Hearing Qiu Lingshan's pleading, Wei Zhao was somewhat at a loss for words, but in the end his heart softened. "Fine. If I have time tomorrow, I'll go take a look..."

"That's wonderful—I'm so grateful I could die!" Qiu Lingshan made her voice sound sweet and cloying...

"No need to thank me. All right, I'm hanging up." Wei Zhao ended the call and returned to the car.

Qiu Lingshan let out a long breath. Done! This trick worked without fail every time—the moment she turned on the coquetry, Wei Zhao gave in. It really did seem promising! She was gloating when it suddenly occurred to her that Chen Yuxuan was still sitting across from her, and her expression froze.

"Qiu Lingshan... you..." Chen Yuxuan stared at her in disbelief.

"What? Is there a problem?" Now that Qiu Lingshan had resolved to take Chen Yuxuan down a peg, her expression turned natural again...

"Just now... the person you were on the phone with..." Chen Yuxuan could not help asking.

"That is my private business." Qiu Lingshan spoke coolly. "It has nothing to do with the case, does it?"

"That... naturally it doesn't..." Chen Yuxuan smiled bitterly, a note of dejection in his face. Qiu Lingshan had a boyfriend?

"Tomorrow my friend will come to the hospital and bring Liu Bojia back from the brink. If you have any questions after that, ask Liu Bojia directly." Qiu Lingshan said, "And I will be taking part in the operation as well."