Free Web NovelChapter 125: Chapter 124 Ask Whatever You Want to Ask_1
It seemed that the signal on Mr. Zeng’s side was bad, and there was no sound.
Mr. Zhao became anxious and hurriedly knocked on the door of office 507, not a gentle knock, but three hard pounds.
Xu Dayuan opened the door and saw the urgent expressions on their faces, and asked:
"What happened?"
"Mr. Zeng just called to say that Luo Suqin is being resuscitated. I don’t know what exactly happened, but then the phone lost signal."
Hearing the commotion, Mr. Hu also came out quickly. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and an air of integrity.
"Quick, use the landline to call back and ask."
Xu Dayuan hurried back into the room and called Mr. Zeng’s number. Zhou Ning and the others also came in, placing all materials in front of Mr. Hu.
"What exactly is going on?"
"I don’t know what happened. Just now, a nurse ran towards Luo Suqin’s room, saying the monitor kept beeping, then several doctors went in, saying it was cardiac arrest."
"Wait for me, I’ll be there immediately!"
After hanging up, Mr. Hu waved his hand.
"You and Zhou Xiaozhou go quickly and see, Xiao Pang, you stay. Tell me about the evidence related to this case."
Xu Dayuan wasted no words and dashed downstairs with Zhou Ning.
Mr. Zhao was sheepish, not because the leader called him Xiao Pang, but because he was being asked to report, which was somewhat difficult for him. Bragging and joking he could handle, but when it came to serious matters, he seemed not quite up to it.
Zhou Ning glanced at him, leaving behind a look that wished him good luck, then followed Xu Dayuan out of the city bureau’s building, speeding their way to the Sixth Hospital’s inpatient department.
Just as they rushed into the hospital corridor, they saw several criminal police officers who had remained there, all anxious. Seeing Xu Dayuan and Zhou Ning, they quickly ran over.
"Mr. Xu, things aren’t looking good. Several teams of doctors have already gone in for resuscitation."
Zhou Ning approached the door of the ward and looked through the glass panel. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Inside, everyone was busy. The monitor beside Luo Suqin kept flickering, emitting a piercing beep. Blood oxygen saturation, blood pressure, heart rate, breathing—none of it was good.
A doctor was performing defibrillation; with each shock, Luo Suqin’s body jerked up before falling back down, but her heart rate slowly turned into a flat line. Zhou Ning sighed, turned back to Xu Dayuan, and shook his head slightly.
Xu Dayuan grabbed Zhou Ning, his jaw clenched tight, obviously trying to control his emotions.
"How is it?"
"Not good, the defibrillation doesn’t seem to be working."
"When we left earlier, she seemed fine..."
Before he could finish, Xu Dayuan didn’t continue, perhaps she had always been waiting to send out the last manuscript, along with the explanation for the whole incident. And having done all of that, she no longer held any hope for life. Had it not been for the need for Zhang Min’an to finish the draft, perhaps the two of them would have chosen death together.
The door of the ward opened, and the doctor came out, giving Xu Dayuan an apologetic shake of the head.
"We did all we could, but she’s gone."
Xu Dayuan nodded dumbly, while Zhou Ning thanked the doctor. The medical professionals had done their best; they would not refuse to save someone because the person was a suspect, or a vile criminal. Their responsibility was to save lives, not moral judgement.
The doctors and nurses all left the ward, and Zhou Ning walked in swiftly with Xu Dayuan. Luo Suqin’s face was covered with a white sheet. Zhou Ning walked over and lifted it, noticing her hospital gown was still unbuttoned, and her eyes were not closed.
Xu Dayuan tried to help Luo Suqin close her eyes, but didn’t succeed.
Zhou Ning smoothed out Luo Suqin’s hospital gown and buttoned it up. Crouching beside her, he slowly said:
"Luo Suqin, rest assured, I will help you fulfill your wish. I will urge the publisher to confirm both your and Zhang Min’an’s authorship and then scatter your and Zhang Min’an’s ashes on Xiaolong Mountain, so that you can still be together."
As he spoke the last word, Zhou Ning gently closed Luo Suqin’s eyelids. With that, her eyes were closed. Xu Dayuan let out a breath and walked straight out of the ward; the two criminal officers followed him out too.
Zhou Ning stood up, knowing Xu Dayuan couldn’t control his emotions. A tough man, he had witnessed such a wistful affair, and now all that was left was anger toward Zhang Guoqing. But they were police officers and couldn’t make any other choice. That was what hurt the most.
Getting up and straightening his clothes, Zhou Ning also stepped out of the ward, holding Luo Suqin’s laptop.
"Let’s store Luo Suqin’s body for now. We’ll take care of the arrangements after dealing with related matters and cremate her, since Zhang Min’an’s remains also need to be cremated."
Xu Dayuan put on his cap, his eyes slightly bloodshot.
"You two handle this. Store the body in the morgue for now, but get a nurse to help change Luo Suqin out of her hospital gown."
Having said that, Xu Dayuan walked outside, with Zhou Ning quickly catching up.
"Xu Da, give me Mr. Guan’s phone number. I’ll contact him, see if the manuscript was received, and then ask him to bear witness, before handling the cremation for Luo Suqin and Zhang Min’an."
Xu Dayuan nodded, handed his phone to Zhou Ning, who noted down the number. They were sitting in the car when Zhou Ning was about to make the call, but he unconsciously opened the laptop. There was an image file on the desktop named "Last Will."
Zhou Ning hurriedly hung up the call and nudged Xu Dayuan to open the will.
I am Luo Suqin. Knowing that my days are numbered, I hereby arrange for my estate as follows:
My property in phase one of Dongsheng Garden has already been entrusted to a lawyer for sale. There’s eighteen thousand yuan in the bank account, and this time round the manuscript settlement will likely net over ninety thousand. After paying the lawyer’s fees and my own funeral expenses, the remainder will all be donated to the Red Cross Society.
I only wish for my ashes to be scattered on Xiaolong Mountain, along with Zhang Min’an—let us return to dust together.
At the bottom was the signature and the contact information of the lawyer.
The date was written as April 1, 2011
Clearly, Luo Suqin had made her preparations long ago; however, Zhou Ning’s unintended remark had unexpectedly coincided with Luo Suqin’s last wishes. Upon reading this, Zhou Ning looked up at Xu Dayuan.
"Mr. Xu, how will this case be announced?"
Xu Dayuan was silent for a moment and glanced at Zhou Ning.
"There’s no need to involve my army; in a moment, I’ll go to explain to Mr. Hu. I absolutely cannot let anyone bully a deceased person."
When they arrived at the city bureau, Zhou Ning headed to the technical department in the back. On the corridor bridge, he saw Mr. Zhao, who looked worried.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, you’re back. How’s Luo Suqin?"
Zhou Ning shook his head, and Mr. Zhao fell silent. After glancing at the time, Zhou Ning waved his hand.
"Let’s go, we’re off work. I don’t want to be staying in the dormitory every day."
Mr. Zhao grabbed Zhou Ning’s arm and gestured toward the direction of the city bureau building with his chin.
"Aren’t you concerned about how the bureau will decide on this matter?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"That’s for the leaders to worry about. Our part in the work is already done, but after the city bureau releases the investigation results, I’ll help them with the follow-up matters."
Mr. Zhao followed Zhou Ning, incessantly asking what exactly the follow-up matters were. Zhou Ning briefly talked about Luo Suqin’s will, and at the end of the narration, Mr. Zhao also sighed incessantly.
"These two really had it tough. True love must be painful, right? It’s that feeling of both love and hate, unable to let go, unable to forget—lifelong concern. Forget it, I want to live a few more years. I don’t want to touch these things. It’s really nice to feed oneself well without worrying about the rest of the family, and besides, it’s enough to enjoy the sight of pretty ladies once in a while."
Zhou Ning didn’t respond, sitting in Mr. Zhao’s car, looking out the window.
On the transparent screen, the sentence "Would you like to submit the task?" appeared.
Zhou Ning clicked to submit, and then the remaining times for completing the task flashed by, so tightly packed they were alarming. Zhou Ning still did not choose to exchange for rewards; in the short term, he really did not have the energy to learn anything else, and besides, with an unsettled heart, he was tormented by the case.
The love between Luo Suqin and Zhang Min’an moved him and felt shocking, but he did not envy it; he felt even more that this had nothing to do with the marriage that his grandfather was urging.
Thinking of this, Zhou Ning’s brows furrowed slightly. That troubling image recently kept appearing in his mind, and its content was constantly increasing—like a series of ten-second short videos without any connection to each other.
Even lying down made Zhou Ning resist sleep. He no longer wanted to endure such torment, and it seemed he had to have a proper talk with his grandfather.
The drive was silent, and by the time they reached their neighborhood, it had already become dark.
Zhou Ning called his grandfather on the way home to say he would return home that night, but would not go to his uncle’s place. His grandfather offered to bring him dinner and then wait to eat together—Zhou Ning did not refuse.
He rushed home in one go, and as his key entered the door lock, the lock was already opened from the inside.
His grandfather stood at the door, smiling at Zhou Ning.
"It’s hot today, isn’t it? I didn’t expect the sudden rise in temperature. Come in, wash your hands, and let’s eat. My stomach is growling."
"Alright, I’ll go wash up and change clothes right away. It was very hot today, and I ran around a lot outside. You sit down first, Grandpa."
With that, Zhou Ning changed his shoes and quickly went to freshen up. He then returned to his room, changed into a set of short-sleeved home clothes, and finally approached the dining table. Grandpa had laid out the bowls and chopsticks, with two plates of dishes on the table—smoked Spanish mackerel, blanched prawns, spicy braised pork intestines, and stir-fried lettuce.
"This is lavish! Grandpa, did you bring over all the dishes Auntie made for me?"
The old man poured himself a glass of wine and glanced at Zhou Ning.
"These were set aside for you by your aunt. Xiaoyu just helped me bring them over. Hearing you hadn’t come back in the last two days, everyone was pretty worried about you. Are you very busy with your new job? If it’s busy, don’t bother going back and forth; stay at the dormitory. If it’s too much, consider selling this house and putting down a payment for your own place in the city center."
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"Busy, yes, we were urgently transferred to the city bureau because of a case. But there’s no rush about the house. The unit provides dormitories, and besides, Qindao University is arranging a staff apartment for me. They said after the software sales, they’ll deduct the cost from my share, and I just need to go through the normal property procedures."
Grandfather paused, not as delighted as Zhou Ning had imagined, but a bit worried instead.
"Is that arrangement proper? If it’s not in accordance with the rules, we can’t accept it."
Zhou Ning smiled, clearly understanding what the old man was worried about.
"Don’t worry, Grandpa. My income is completely legal. If the software starts to sell usage rights, then there’s no need to worry about food, clothing, housing, and transportation. But what makes me happiest is that Qindao University has been in touch with Professor Li Chengbin. He’s very interested in me and even hopes I can be his Ph.D. student."
The old man was taken aback and then widened his eyes.
"Is it that Professor Li Chengbin who went to Mi Country to teach and even helped them solve cases?"
Zhou Ning nodded—no one in Hua Country didn’t know about Li Chengbin. He was like Hua Country’s modern Sherlock Holmes, constantly making headlines.
"Yes, that’s him. I couldn’t believe it when I heard the news."
The old man laughed even harder and drank the wine in his glass.
"My grandson is making progress. This is a form of recognition. Since you have such a plan, then live in the apartment at Qindao University. Don’t run back and forth just to see us. Your grandpa is still in good health. I want to see the day when my grandson becomes a doctor."
Zhou Ning smiled, and the grandfather and grandson enjoyed a cheerful meal. The old man drank quite a bit, and Zhou Ning also had a few glasses of liquor. Sitting on the sofa, Zhou Ning pondered for a while, and after a long time, the old man watched him and finally asked leisurely:
"Xiao Ning, do you have something to say? Don’t hold back, just ask whatever you want to ask."
