Free Web NovelChapter 659: Chapter 627: Coma_1
Zhou Ning fell silent.
He sorted through all the events in his mind. It could be said that Mr. Zhao’s analysis of the earlier part was not wrong. Xu Dayuan’s visit to Ganzhou City was definitely not solely because of this case.
His purpose was very clear, what he came here to investigate.
But what was it?
What could have convinced Mr. Hu, and perhaps Qindao City’s support for Ganzhou City, wasn’t a casual choice either. With such a complicated and large-scale arrangement, how significant was this matter to warrant such measures?
Of course, there might be mandatory support regulations for Western regions from first-tier cities, which he had read about in the news. However, choosing such an unrelated and distant place must have its reasons.
"I can’t figure out the reason, but I do know that Director Xu’s visit to Ganzhou, including the local support policies and a series of actions, all have their reasons, and they are related to Director Xu’s visit. The reason you mentioned is unlikely, not significant enough to justify such major actions."
Mr. Zhao heaved a sigh.
"I say, let’s not waste our brain cells. When it’s time for us to know, we will know. When it’s not, no amount of analysis will help. Let’s go up and check their progress.
Lucky guy, you’ve been in Ganzhou for quite a few days without tasting any of the local food, hugging takeaway boxes every day. Since we need to prepare for long-term work, can I request that tonight we go out for a meal and not follow their local arrangements?"
Zhou Ning nodded and went out with Xia Momo. They came for a honeymoon trip; the two couples followed, but now this mess had somewhat dampened the spirit.
These days had been endlessly busy, and he hadn’t taken Xia Momo’s feelings into account. Instead, she had been taking care of everything for him, which made him feel somewhat remiss. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
"Let’s take a look first."
The two went upstairs, Zhu Xingxing and the others were finishing up. Zou Jialong’s left arm was still in a sling, but it didn’t stop him from recording on the whiteboard, with Zhu Xingxing narrating behind and talking fast, causing Zou Jialong to sweat profusely.
Sun Gaotie was laughing with his arms crossed, while Peng Shinian was stirring trouble on the side, all of them picking on Zou Jialong. He didn’t seem to mind, instead smiling and writing diligently.
Mr. Zhao strode over, arms folded, looking at Zou Jialong. The guy was really irritating. During the previous incident where the three of them faced danger, it could have resulted in a serious stampede if not for their timely discovery.
"Tell me, Xiaolong, what heinous crime have you committed that you’re taking such teasing?"
Zou Jialong was startled and quickly waved his hands.
"Mr. Zhao, I didn’t do anything wrong. They blame my sharp eyes that led us to danger, and I do feel quite guilty..."
Before he could finish, Zhu Xingxing glared at him.
"Cut the crap. Am I scolding you for this? If your arm wasn’t dislocated, I would dislocate it for you now. What are we here for? Have you all forgotten?
We are here for technical support. Look at what you’ve recorded, all messy. You can’t even take proper notes; am I supposed to praise you for that?"
Zou Jialong sighed.
"I’m sorry, team leader, but how many people have brains like yours? They look once, and it’s photocopied in their mind, no need for notes, remembering all kinds of data gets hard. Isn’t that like facing a mismatch?"
Mr. Zhao grinned.
"Okay, enough whining. Hurry up with your current work. Zhu Xingxing and Zhou Xiaozhou, report your findings. We’ll process everything accordingly, send things off for testing when necessary. Afterward, clean up, change your clothes, and we’re sneaking out for some food. I can’t stand the thought of another boxed meal."
Peng Shinian’s eyes lit up, rushing to Mr. Zhao’s side. After all, the decision to return to work in China was largely influenced by his love for food, and he was nearly livid when the hosts had arranged Western food for him.
"What’s special about the local cuisine?"
Mr. Zhao glanced sideways at him.
"Don’t act like you’re innocent. You played a big part in causing trouble. Without your instigation, Zou Jialong wouldn’t have dared to do anything. As for Pang Tianhang, he just got egged on by you since he can’t make decisions on his own."
Peng Shinian scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed.
However, the allure of good food already made him disregard whatever Mr. Zhao had said. He moved closer to Zhu Xingxing and signaled with his eyes for her to control her man, as Zhu Xingxing, holding back laughter, waved off Mr. Zhao.
"Alright, what have you decided to eat?"
Mr. Zhao patted his chest, a little notebook appearing in his gesture.
"The travel guide I made earlier is still here. I’ve found a restaurant with local specialties. Let’s wrap up the finishing work quickly. We’ll take two taxis. I’ll drive one, and we’ll navigate straight there."
Zhu Xingxing nodded and hastily began the finishing work. Zhou Ning walked up to the whiteboard, where the characteristics of the six victims, the findings from the autopsies, were all recorded in great detail.
Similar to the previous two victims, from their ages to the various techniques used, they were identical, as if they were processed on an assembly line, even the size of some incisions was nearly exact. This made Zhou Ning even more certain that the person behind this had medical training, and the kind with practical experience.
He wondered how many times such practice had been done to achieve such proficiency. Glancing at Xia Momo and Mr. Qu, the two were already bringing their laptops over.
Without prompt, Xia Momo flipped the screen, and the computer displayed composite images of people. At a glance, one could tell these six kids shared the same lineage with the previous two. Although there was such a direct comparison, everything was pending the DNA test results.
"The test results aren’t out yet, right?"
Mr. Zhao reminded from the side:
"Mr. Huang said that the reason he personally went to the provincial office to expedite the matter was that the test results hadn’t come out. Looks like today is doubtful."
Zhu Xingxing came over, holding the submission records, and said:
"The samples were extracted first after our return yesterday and sent directly to the provincial office for examination. We just need the electronic results, without asking them to do any comparison. After all, some things inside might be unclear. Logically speaking..."
Mr. Zhao glared, interrupting Zhu Xingxing’s words.
"Cut the ’logically speaking.’ That’s your habit and procedure in Qindao. Here in Ganzhou, we follow the proper procedures. If we can’t process it, we can mail it back and have Mrs. Cui help, but don’t jump to conclusions, okay?"
Zhu Xingxing stuck out her tongue. Although Zhao Xinli spoke harshly, it was for her own good. After all, it was easy to offend people with just a sentence or two, especially since this place wasn’t Qindao.
"Let’s go, time to eat."
After tidying up, everyone happily descended the stairs, hailed a taxi, told the driver the address of the restaurant, and with Mr. Zhao following the GPS, they headed toward the restaurant.
As they walked, three lakes appeared, unexpectedly. In such a high-altitude region, which also contains a desert, the large lakes were quite a surprise to Zhou Ning.
He was also drawn to the scenery outside the window and couldn’t help opening it. The cold wind howled. Although it was only mid-October, the evening temperature had already dropped significantly.
"You can’t deny that Ganzhou’s overall urban planning is impressive. To create its own features in such a geographical location, without a significant amount of capital investment, is truly remarkable. It’s beautiful here."
Mr. Zhao also took a glance.
"It looks like construction isn’t finished yet. It’s hard for such a large body of water to be stagnant. There are streams and underground rivers on the mountains. I think it’s water drawn from those rivers to create a landscape, somewhat like an oasis in a desert. It would be nice to promote it along with the Colorful Danxia."
"How much farther to the restaurant?"
Mr. Zhao grinned.
"Right by the lake, it’s definitely a local feature—eating inside a yurt."
As he spoke, the car turned the indicator to go right. Zhou Ning had been absorbed in the scenery until then. He noticed that on the opposite side of the turning road was a row of old residential buildings, surrounded by green metal hoardings with large demolition marks written on them at intervals.
The bright red characters dripped with paint, resembling streaks of blood.
A wave of familiarity made Zhou Ning pause, but by the time he looked back, the residential buildings had already passed by. Zhou Ning shook his head and decided not to dwell on it, as the car arrived at the yurt restaurant, where everyone indulged in the meal. Of course, when it was over, Xia Momo went to pay the bill. Since Zhou Ning hadn’t hosted a wedding banquet, it was only right that he chipped in this time.
Everyone enjoyed the meal, and afterwards, Zhou Ning told Xia Momo and Zhu Xingxing to take a taxi back. Mr. Zhao blinked but didn’t dare to say much as Zhou Ning’s complexion didn’t look right—not angry, but somewhat pale.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, what’s wrong with you?"
Zhou Ning shook his head. freewebnovёl.ƈom
"Just now, at the corner we turned, there was a row of residential buildings enclosed with the demolition sign. I suppose they’re slated for demolition, right? Come with me to have a look."
"Why go there?"
Zhou Ning didn’t respond, simply getting into the passenger seat. Mr. Zhao sighed, knowing that once Zhou Ning was determined, there was no changing his mind. Reluctantly getting into the car, they drove a few hundred meters, then, at Zhou Ning’s signal, pulled over to the side.
There was a gap here through which they could walk in, and Zhou Ning squeezed past.
Mr. Zhao turned on his phone’s flashlight, following from behind and shouting:
"I’m saying, Zhou Xiaozhou, slow down a bit. What’s the rush? This is just an area awaiting demolition, it looks quite old already."
Zhou Ning didn’t speak, staring intensely at the dilapidated residential buildings.
The brick-red walls, the carved patterns on the corridor walls, the green outdoor light over the small door of the guard house—although the bulb was gone, and the light seemed to be hanging by a thread, lingering traces of Lysol could still be detected.
This sense of familiarity made Zhou Ning’s skin tingle, and his vision seemed to blur.
With the phone in hand, the flashlight illuminated the guard’s hut and the few damaged characters at the entrance, with parts of each character missing, barely making out the words ’People’s Hospital Staff Housing.’
Looking across at the nearest building, a light seemed to be on in the balcony on the second floor, with the distance appearing to close, Zhou Ning could hear a woman humming while hanging clothes, occasionally glancing down from the balcony.
"Xiao Ning, time for dinner, come home!"
"Xiao Ning, come back, it’s time to do your homework!"
"Xiao Ning... Xiao Ning... Xiao Ning..."
With each call, with each tender shout, Zhou Ning felt enveloped by warmth, a smile on his lips, as if his consciousness was being pulled away by the calling voices, falling toward the ground.
Mr. Zhao was stunned, dashing forward to catch Zhou Ning, who had fainted and lost consciousness.
"Zhou Ning, what’s wrong with you, wake up, don’t scare me!"
