Life Plan

Chapter 40, Speechless

Four hours later, the door to the emergency room finally opened. Jiang Xiaonv was temporarily out of danger. The doctor suggested that they transfer to another hospital. Liu Chichi called Dr. Li, who agreed to accept her.

Sun Zhixiao hopped off to complete the transfer procedures, but after taking only two steps, she hopped back, her lips pursed, her teeth chattering uncontrollably from the cold or something else. Before she could even speak, her face flushed red. As if she had mentally prepared herself, she suddenly knelt down in front of Liu Chichi with a thud: "Sister, please, lend me some money, okay? I'll write an IOU."

Shortly after Jiang Xiaonv fell ill, Sun Zhixiao borrowed money from almost all of her and her mother's relatives and friends. Initially hesitant, she eventually became shameless, even resorting to moral blackmail. Jiang Xiaonv was already on medical parole, and now seriously injured, surrounded by four or five police officers, with Yan Shaohai standing at the edge of the corridor. Her family's situation was clearly bottomless pit, and Sun Zhixiao knew that her greatest hope lay with this young girl before her.

She had borrowed money from many people and knew that young girls are easily embarrassed and have a lot of sympathy. It wasn't that she didn't want to pay it back; if Jiang Xiaonv hadn't cared about her studies and wouldn't allow her to drop out, she would have been willing to work tirelessly to earn money for her mother's medical treatment.

Sun Zhixiao's swollen leg fell to the ground. She immediately knelt down and then quickly straightened up to grab Liu Chichi's hand.

It's not uncommon to see people crying and kneeling in hospitals, but seeing someone kneeling right in front of her still startled her. She blushed and quickly reached out to help the person up, saying, "I'll lend it to you, please get up."

Sun Zhixiao felt a little embarrassed but also relieved. She put her hands together and bowed to her. With Liu Chichi's help, she stood up, nestled half of her body in Liu Chichi's arms, and walked towards the elevator.

Sun Zhixiao admitted that she was full of malice. She and Liu Chichi were not related, and she was just afraid that the other party would run away. She was too desperate for money to care about her reputation.

They needed to settle their fees at their current hospital before proceeding with the transfer. The payment window was more crowded than a supermarket during a big sale; they had to queue.

Suddenly, someone grabbed Sun Zhixiao's arm, pulling the person in Liu Chichi's arms away. She subconsciously looked in that direction. A middle-aged woman wearing a sweater had a face bruised and purple from exhaustion. She reached out and brushed aside the messy, wet hair on Sun Zhixiao's face. Her cloudy eyes widened sharply the moment she saw the latter.

In that instant, Liu Chichi was certain she saw solid hatred in the woman's eyes. She screamed, "It's you! Where's your mother, that murderer?!"

Sun Zhixiao also recognized her; she was Huang Li, the wife of Lin Guang, the victim in the Jiang Xiaonv murder case.

Huang Li's screams were shrill and loud, attracting the attention of many people. Sun Zhixiao desperately tried to break free from Huang Li's grasp, blinking her eyes frantically and waving her hands haphazardly.

When the police tried to stop her, Huang Li grabbed Sun Zhixiao by the hair and pulled her face up to the onlookers, saying, "Her mother seduced my husband, and when she failed, she slashed him and sent him to the hospital. She only served a few days in jail before running away."

Huang Li was emotionally agitated, and the police couldn't use force. Liu Chichi reached out to block Sun Zhixiao's face, but Huang Li scratched her, leaving several bloody marks.

The farce continued until Huang Li's two children came out, wearing dark raincoats with their backpacks bulging under them.

The slightly taller girl was holding her younger brother's hand when they saw Liu Chichi reach out to Huang Li. Suddenly, she bumped into them, and the half-human-sized child hit them in the waist. Liu Chichi and Sun Zhixiao lost their balance and fell down.

Huang Li held onto her hair tightly, and Sun Zhixiao felt as if her scalp was being torn apart.

The two children shielded Huang Li behind them, took erasers from their pockets, and threw them at her, shouting, "Don't bully my mom!"

Perhaps because the children were present, Huang Li only glared at them resentfully and did not touch them again. She put her arms around the shoulders of the two children and stood at the payment window.

Because of her previous experience of being photographed at the hospital, Liu Chichi lowered her head and helped Jiang Xiaonv up, wishing she could bury her face in her collar. Only when they reached a corner did she look up and realize that no one was paying attention to them anymore. For patients facing life and death, no one had the energy to be a bored bystander.

This was the first time Liu Chichi had seen the victim's family. Jiang Xiaonv had transferred all her money to the victim, but it was far from enough to cover medical expenses. Lin Guang was still lying in the hospital. His wounds were not only in a dangerous location, but he was also taken to the hospital too late. It was already a miracle that he was able to barely stay alive.

Lin Guang was occasionally lucid, but mostly confused. When questioned by the police, he only said one thing: "She wanted to kill me!"

When Sun Zhixiao reached out to take her hand again, Liu hesitated.

She suddenly realized that her actions had exceeded the professional scope of a CRC. Perhaps it was because Jiang Xiaonv seemed pitiful yet strong when they first met, or perhaps it was because she lacked professional ethics and brought her personal feelings into her work.

She was just a CRC who delivered documents and packages; she was not a doctor, a nurse, or a savior.

Liu Chichi felt her back hurt even more. Sun Zhixiao's hand was stubbornly stretched out in front of her, and she looked into the other person's hesitant eyes.

Blood-red eyes, half-filled with tears.

Liu Chichi glanced at Huang Li's retreating figure. She wore old sneakers, her hair casually clipped back, and as she spoke to her child, stray strands of hair fell across her cheeks. When it was her turn, she took a wad of pink banknotes, about half a finger thick, from her purse. The banknotes were processed in the money detector in less than five seconds. One note failed the detector and was returned. Huang Li argued loudly for a moment, but finally took it back and carefully put it back into her purse.

All around were hurried crowds and medical staff. The hospital was a magical place; it seemed like there were no bad people or good people here, and everyone looked pitiful.

Liu Chichi looked at Sun Zhixiao in front of her, her eyes full of doubt, as if asking: Life is so hard, why kill someone?

The meaning was too obvious, and Sun Zhixiao blushed with embarrassment. She lowered her head for only two seconds, then, as if she had made up her mind, she propped herself up.

Before Sun Zhixiao could kneel down again, Liu Chichi grabbed her hand as she pulled away: "Don't kneel anymore."

After a pause, she added, "Remember to write an IOU."

Sun Zhixiao nodded as if granted a pardon: "Of course, I'll write it now."

In the past few months, Liu Chichi only spent the money in the bank card connected to her mother's account. She carefully saved more than 20,000 yuan with a card she secretly opened herself, and transferred the round number 20,000 yuan to Sun Zhixiao.

They were transferred to the Central Hospital. Jiang Xiaonv was still unconscious, and Sun Zhixiao accompanied her in the car.

Liu Chichi sat in Yan Shaohai's car. Before getting in, Liu Chichi saw a black file box on the seat, numbered 1106. Without much guesswork, this should be Jiang Xiaonv's file.

Liu Chichi's hair was still wet. She had just left the hospital, and when the wind blew, she felt a splitting headache. Yan Shaohai turned the heater to the maximum, so she simply turned her whole head towards the vent.

As soon as the car started moving, Yan Shaohai asked her, "Have you seen her husband?"

"Sun Qiang?"

Where is he now?

"I don't know, he ran away as soon as the siren went off."

"He is crucial."

"Because of hitting someone?"

"No, it's the case with Lin Guang."

Lawyers are obligated to maintain confidentiality in ongoing investigations. Yan Shaohai glanced at the file box on the control panel and said only, "He's crucial, but the most important person is Jiang Xiaonv. She's hiding something from us. Remember what Sun Zhixiao said today?"

Sun Zhixiao told the police a lot of information today, but Liu Chichi couldn't help but recall that strange sentence that Sun Qiang said: "Brother Lin's situation was an accident. Your money was a deposit. It was only a few dollars, and you still want it back. Next time, put some drugs in it, and it will definitely work."

Sun Qiang must be involved in that assault case, and today's conflict between Jiang Xiaonv and him must also be related to it.

But no one spoke up.

Sun Qiang went missing, Lin Guang was furious, and Jiang Xiaonv was speechless.