Novice Forensic Doctor

Chapter 400: Chapter 379 Aunt_1

Zhou Ning took out his phone and dialed He Shancun’s number; it wasn’t long before he answered.

"What’s up?"

"How is Chen Xiangyu doing after his dialysis?"

"Better than we expected. The kid is young, but the results of various tests are still pretty decent. Despite constant vomiting and less absorption, it shouldn’t impact his lungs much. He’s already awake and has been transferred to the ICU. Are you guys planning to do an interview?"

Zhou Ning laughed. It seemed He Shancun had somewhat grasped their procedures. But it was good that the child woke up—his biggest worry didn’t occur, which was the best outcome for Liu Yufei.

"We’ll be over soon. Have you eaten yet, or should I bring you something?"

"Forget it. Don’t be polite to me. We’re family—what’s the point in bothering with that? Come on over, your female leader is here too. It so happened that she scared everybody into behaving just now when someone tried to make trouble. She really does have a commanding presence!"

"Alright, I won’t keep you from your work then. See you in a bit." freёwebnovel.com

Zhou Ning had used speakerphone for the call, clearly heard by those around him. Mr. Zhao clicked his tongue in amazement.

"I can guess what that was about. Just now, at the entrance to the ER, Mr. He got furious. Four siblings, all over fifty, brought their old mother in for emergency care, refusing to pay the expenses while arguing over property right at the door, asking Mr. He to play the judge.

Mr. He got mad. But he must have dealt with these kinds of things plenty, knowing to have the head nurse record it. I guess it’s those siblings causing trouble again. It must break that old lady’s heart. They grow big and strong, and in the end, they treat her like this, so cold!"

Tao Zhenshan stood up, put on his hat, and patted Mr. Zhao on the back.

"Why are you getting sentimental? It’s not anything new. In the police station and the hospital, you see the worst of human nature. When faced with money, property, desire, interests, temptations, there are those who can stay true to themselves, with integrity, but what we often see is the evil side.

Now that we’ve all eaten, Director Zhou and you will come with me to the hospital. It’s better for Mr. Zhao to handle talking with the kid since I’m not good with words."

Zhou Ning nodded.

"Rest up for a minute. Once the lab report is out, Gao Tie will let us know right away. Director Tao is waiting for it!"

Sun Gaotie stood up, saluted, and after making arrangements for Mr. Zhao and Zhou Ning to follow Tao Zhenshan, they went straight downstairs. Two detectives were sitting in the car, indicating Tao Zhenshan had planned this in advance. Zhou Ning didn’t say much.

Twenty minutes later, the car arrived at the Central Hospital Emergency Building.

There, Doctor Chen happened to be at the entrance. Zhou Ning went up to greet him.

"Hello, Doctor Chen!"

Doctor Chen came to a realization and quickly grasped Zhou Ning’s hand.

"You’re the forensic doctor, right? I thought you looked familiar this morning. I just remembered, sorry about that. Are you looking for Mr. He?"

Zhou Ning shook his head.

"If he’s busy, let him be. We’re mainly here to check on the kid. Mr. He said the child has woken up. We need to take a statement from the kid. Do you know if he’s in the ICU?"

Doctor Chen nodded and led Zhou Ning and the others straight to an ICU room in the corner. Liu Yufei was standing at the door. Just as a nurse came out, they could see there were only four beds inside, with someone on the bed furthest to the south.

Seemingly hearing footsteps, Liu Yufei turned around and hurriedly nodded and came to greet them when she saw the four of them.

"Is the interrogation over there done?"

Tao Zhenshan sighed and spoke from the corner:

"Not smoothly. Only Mrs. Zhu confessed the details but indirectly this confirms Zhu Weihua’s criminal process. Director Zhou just inquired with Doctor He. He said the child is awake and in a reasonably good state to give a statement, so I came over."

Liu Yufei nodded in understanding.

"My cousin and I just looked in and saw the child is doing well and even spoke a bit about what happened. Then I let my cousin go check on my aunt. The poor old lady must be so worried. The child is scared of strangers. I’ll go in with you guys in a moment, don’t worry, I won’t interfere with the recording process."

Tao Zhenshan waved his hand dismissively.

"What are you talking about? As if I don’t know your character? But considering Zhu Weihua’s ex’s reaction, she has an intermittent explosive disorder and has seen a psychiatrist. I’m worried they might use this to make a fuss, so I took the initiative to have Director Zhou and his mentor produce a mental evaluation report, along with an independent third-party evaluation. With two reports in hand, we won’t fear Zhu Weihua’s nonsense."

Liu Yufei looked at Tao Zhenshan and the others appreciatively. She knew these things were easy to say, but to really see them through wasn’t simple—it took considerable effort.

"Later, I’ll take you all out for a meal to say thanks. I won’t say much now, but if there’s anything you need, just tell me."

Mr. Zhao leaned in, grinning:

"Great, another meal! I’m craving barbecue."

Liu Yufei laughed along, relieved that the child was unharmed and the case was progressing well.

"Fine, we’ll have barbecue. Happy now?"

Doctor Chen coughed to catch their attention, and Zhou Ning promptly turned back, remembering the doctor was still with them. According to Mr. Zhao, this Doctor Chen seemed to have taken a liking to Liu Yufei.

"Sorry, Doctor Chen, for bothering you as soon as we arrived. I know He Shancun has asked you for a lot of help. Let’s go in and see the child and take his statement, shall we?"

Tao Zhenshan made a phone call and the two policemen walked in. Together, they entered the intensive care unit. In fact, Chen Xiangyu’s condition was stable enough to leave the ICU, but due to the paraquat poisoning and the fear of potential relapse, he still needed intensive care to monitor any changes closely.

After all, each person reacts differently, perhaps with some experiencing slower progression in lung damage. This couldn’t be generalized, and furthermore, the investigation was not yet concluded, so he definitely needed to stay here a few more days to settle the nature of the incident.

Seeing so many people, Chen Xiangyu on the bed became a bit nervous, his big eyes constantly watching everyone. It was only after seeing Liu Yufei coming in behind them that he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Auntie, why are there so many people?"

Liu Yufei walked to the other side of the bed and stood beside it, gently touching the child’s hair.

"Xiangyu, be good. These uncles are all colleagues of your auntie. That chubby uncle is the one who rescued you from the bottom of the pit. Do you remember him?"

Mr. Zhao grinned as he moved closer and waved at Chen Xiangyu.

"You little brat, you grabbed the collar of my shirt and got it all dirty with dirt."

Chen Xiangyu laughed. Children don’t tend to hold onto fear for long, and for him, what he had been through felt like a terrible nightmare. Now, he was not in pain, and his auntie was there, so all his fears were gone. Clutching Liu Yufei’s index finger, he nodded vigorously.

"I remember you. Thank you, Police Uncle!"

Mr. Zhao pulled up a chair and, together with the other policeman, moved closer with a notebook, ready to take notes. Mr. Zhao glanced at the computer, which had several prepared questions, and said to Chen Xiangyu: fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"Your auntie is here too, there’s no need to be afraid. We just want to ask you a few questions. Just tell us whatever you know, there’s no need to be shy about telling the truth, okay?"

Chen Xiangyu nodded, the oxygen tube wobbling slightly with the gesture. Zhou Ning glanced at the various data readings on the monitor, which were fairly stable. Doctor Chen thoughtfully gave the nurses some instructions, and the ICU, apart from the sounds of the equipment, quieted down.

"What’s your name? Where do you live? Where do you go to school? How old are you? Can you tell me these things?"

Chen Xiangyu nodded.

"My name is Chen Xiangyu. I’m eight years old this year. I live in Beizhai Cherry Gully Village. I go to school at Beizhai Primary School, and I’m in the second grade already."

"Very good, Chen Xiangyu, well done. Can you tell me, did you sleep at home last night? Or somewhere else? Who woke you up in the morning? What did they give you to eat? And then where were you taken? Can you tell me what happened? Don’t rush it, just say whatever comes to mind, okay?"

Chen Xiangyu thought for a moment and didn’t rush this time. He held onto Liu Yufei’s hand tightly, gripping hard as if the thought of those events still frightened him.

Fearing that Liu Yufei would get anxious, Tao Zhenshan hastened to reassure in as soft and gentle a voice as possible:

"Don’t be afraid, with so many police uncles here, you don’t have to worry, just tell the truth."

Chen Xiangyu nodded, pulled down his oxygen mask a bit, and then said:

"Last night, after dinner, I hadn’t finished packing my schoolbag when my aunt came in and told me to go to sleep. I saw she was a bit angry, so I hurried to bed. After lying down, I heard her arguing with my grandma, saying something about my grandma being biased and calling her ’an old thing that won’t die.’ After that, I fell asleep and didn’t hear anything else.

Early in the morning, when it was still dim out, my aunt woke me up. I said it was still early, but she slapped me and scolded me, calling me a lazy pig, and told me to get up quickly and go out with her. Scared from the slap, I hurried up without even going to the bathroom, and quickly folded my blanket and got out of bed.

Before I could go out, my aunt handed me a bottle of ’Nutrition Express,’ which is my favorite kind of milk, a yellow bottle with a red cap, pineapple-flavored. But after I took a sip, I found that it tasted wrong, like it had gone bad, a very stinky smell.

I felt like vomiting at that moment but got yanked up by the collar by my aunt, and accidentally swallowed it. My throat felt full of that stinky smell. She scolded me for wasting money, saying that the stuff costs several yuan per bottle, and Liangliang didn’t even drink it, and here I was making such a fuss about it.

If I didn’t drink properly, she said she would complain to my dad when he returned so that he would beat me. I got scared at the thought because my dad always listens to my aunt. She had already gotten me beaten several times before this by complaining to him, so I quickly pinched my nose and drank it, but I kept wanting to vomit.

After I finished drinking, my aunt took the bottle and left my room. At that moment, my stomach started gurgling, and I ran out of my room, wanting to go to the toilet to throw up. My aunt caught me and twisted my thigh, making me squat in front of the electric bike before taking me away on it.

I couldn’t hold it in and vomited once on the way, and my head felt dizzy. Soon, it seemed we had arrived at Liangliang’s grandma’s house, where my aunt threw me in the courtyard. After that toss, I threw up again, and I heard my aunt talking to Grandma Zhu about throwing a child into a cave and specifically into the deepest one in the south.

I wanted to get up, to run home and find my grandmother, but I couldn’t move or even breathe, so I just lay on the ground vomiting non-stop. After a while, my aunt left, and in my daze, I realized I was stuffed into some kind of bag.

I tried to struggle, just moved a little, and got kicked. Grandma Zhu cursed me as a cursed child, then I was carried off into a very dark place. When the bag was opened, I fell down.

After waking up, I discovered I couldn’t move or speak at all, police uncles were shaking me, and I don’t know how you all got me out. When I woke up again, I saw my aunt and a sea of white around me."

At this point, Chen Xiangyu cried, shaking uncontrollably, while Liu Yufei kept comforting him. Mr. Zhao hurriedly asked:

"Chen Xiangyu, you are a strong young friend. The police uncle has one last question for you, who is the ’aunt’ you mentioned?"

Chen Xiangyu sniffled, wiping the tears from his face.

"That’s the wife my dad found afterwards. Her name is Zhu Weihua, and she’s not nice to me at all. But my grandmother said I should just bear with it, so I tried to endure it."

Chen Xiangyu pouted, showing clear distaste.

This expression made the adults understand; despite being young, he could discern people’s true colors, he could sense when someone wasn’t good to him.

"Your dad and your grandma don’t let you call her ’mom’?"