Poison (Twenty-two)
The poison was hidden too well. It had been half a year since Li Minghao was the first to fall ill. The time span was so long and so many people were implicated that even Li Qingyan couldn't find it even with confidential props.
If they don't find it one day, there will be unexpected situations where new victims appear at any time. But there is no way, they are in the open, and the right time, place and people are all leaning towards the poison in the dark.
They split into three groups. Zhao Jingyun looked through the books left by her parents, while Zeng Zhiqiang and Li Qingyan used official power to intervene and understand the major and minor events in No. 6 Middle School.
Jiang Yu and Yu Shu continued to search along the poisoning list.
"You have a house full of ghosts, can't you ask them for help?"
"They are ghosts, not dogs. How can we say we've never seen them before..." Jiang Yu said halfway, then dropped his cold tone and said, "We can't find them even if we want to."
Yu Shu prepared the ointment and applied it to Jiang Yu's fingers: "I thought ghosts had their own intelligence network."
Jiang Yuyou refused Yu Shu, saying that he would mix the ointments himself and apply them himself, but Yu Shu said that if he did not mix the three ointments in a 1:1:1 ratio, the effect would be much worse, so he insisted on doing it himself.
Yu Shu's attentiveness and gentleness come from his profession and life habits, and Jiang Yu has received less care since leaving his master and entering the world, and he quite enjoys this feeling.
Jiang Yu stretched out his other infected finger, raised his eyes to meet Yu Shu's, and his eyelashes fluttered up and down. He said lightly, "You're overthinking it. And this finger."
Yu Shu pinched Jiang Yu's fingers and pulled them, then smiled and said, "You're pushing it too far. I've already mixed it for you, but you still want me to help you apply it."
He found that although Jiang Yu spoke bluntly and had an aura that made strangers stay away from him, he was actually quite easy to get along with. He was not arrogant, could crack a little joke, and was very receptive to advice.
"I refused just now." Jiang Yu tilted his head and smiled indifferently, with blatant cunning flashing in his pupils.
Yu Shu pretended to be surprised and said, "It's a small-scale infection. It will take two or three days to see the effect. The fact that you haven't gotten better must be because you didn't apply the medicine properly."
After applying the medicine, Yu Shu began to prepare the ointment.
On the way back today, he passed by a drugstore and bought a facial cream packaging box. He wanted to mix the ointment all at once, so that Jiang Yu would not have to mix it again and could just scoop it out and use it directly, which would be much more convenient.
"While No. 6 Middle School is on break, I'm going back home to see my brother and to the hospital to check on Wang Zhiyao. I'll prepare the ointment for you. Just use it three or four times a day."
Yu Shu said, then flicked Jiang Yu's forehead lightly: "My boss, did you hear that?"
"I'm not deaf." Jiang Yu responded lazily.
"Yes, you're not deaf." Yu Shu dragged out the last word, "It's just that your ears are like a communication device, mixing what I say in proportion and letting it go in one ear and out the other."
Jiang Yu raised his eyebrows but didn't respond.
Yu Shu originally planned to take a taxi back, but Jiang Yu threw the whole bunch of car keys to him and told him not to bother taking a taxi and just drive back directly.
All men yearn for luxury cars, and Yu Shu is no exception. The first time he entered Jiang Yu's garage, he wanted to try out those cars. When the opportunity came to him, he did not hesitate to refuse and readily picked a customized model.
The house was empty, but the kitchen had just been used. When Yu Shu opened the refrigerator, he saw the ingredients for the midnight snack he had talked about wanting to eat when he and Yu Huan were chatting last night.
Yu Huan should go to the hospital to see Wang Zhiyao.
Yu Shu asked Yu Huan to help take care of him, but he didn't expect that they had such a good relationship.
But it's also good. It's a good thing that Yu Huan can make friends, even if it's just a child. It proves that he is slowly adapting to city life and has a circle of connections.
The ward door was open, and Yu Shu still knocked politely.
"I knew you were here."
Yu Huan was indeed in the hospital. He was playing flying chess with Wang Zhiyao. When he heard his brother's voice, he stopped playing chess and turned his head around, his eyes shining with joy and gentle light.
"Brother Yu."
Wang Zhiyao's cheerful smile still surprised Yu Shu.
The impression of Wang Zhiyao's cautiousness was too deep in his memory, even though he had seen it once before.
"Weren't you very busy yesterday? You ran several times a day. Are you free to come to the hospital today and rest?" Yu Huan asked with concern.
Wang Zhiyao quietly sorted out the flying chess pieces, taking in every detail of Yu Huan's emotional changes.
"I guess so. I have no clue at all. But if they find any clues, I will have to go back." Yu Shu smiled softly.
He sat down next to Wang Zhiyao and carefully observed Wang Zhiyao's burns: "Are you feeling better? The weather is hot recently. If the air conditioning temperature is not high enough, please tell the nurse immediately."
The bright afternoon sun outlined the perfect curves of Yu Shu's profile. His slightly drooping eyelashes covered his obsidian-like pupils, but the warmth in his eyes was like a trickle, flowing out through the cover.
Wang Zhiyao's smile froze, and he secretly admired the master's impeccable skills.
He came back to his senses and pointed at the air conditioner and said, "Yeah, I told the nurse, look, it's 21 degrees Celsius."
"Very good." Yu Shu felt more at ease when he saw that Wang Zhiyao was in good condition.
Yu Shu spread out the flying chess that Wang Zhiyao had put away: "Play and talk at the same time?" He didn't come to see Wang Zhiyao simply, but some things would be too abrupt to say directly. It just so happened that Yu Huan brought the flying chess, which could liven up the atmosphere and make it easier to get into the topic.
"Okay, okay." Yu Huan was in his twenties, but when his brother mentioned playing together, he suddenly acted like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old kid.
Wang Zhiyao readily agreed. His gaze darted between the two brothers, wondering if Yu Shu was the calm, mature man who could feign ignorance, or if he truly didn't notice anything unusual.
But there are some things that he, an outsider, should not say, especially since Yu Shu has helped him so much time and time again, and he is his benefactor whom he has no way to repay.
Yu Shu had a good sense of proportion. He started the topic from games and gradually moved on to food and hospital life.
Although Wang Zhiyao had seen a lot of evil, he was not on guard against Yu Shu at all. Whenever Yu Shu started talking, he just continued with a smile.
However, Wang Zhiyao was still very perceptive. As they chatted, he found something strange. Yu Shu seemed to be taking advantage of the changes in hospital life to guide him to tell him some details about his family.
"Brother Yu, if you want to know about my family's situation, you can ask directly." Wang Zhiyao said bluntly.
He knew that although the parents of those three people agreed to pay for the medical expenses, they had been dragging the matter out since their children had been in trouble. Yu Shu had been paying for the medical expenses for so long, and Yu Shu had not seen his parents come to visit him yet, so it was normal for him to have doubts.
He couldn't let Yu Shu feel disappointed.
Yu Shu was stunned. He didn't expect that Wang Zhiyao could hear it.
"Have your parents...come to see you?"
Wang Zhiyao smiled nonchalantly and said, "No."
"Don't worry about the money. If they don't compensate me, I will contact the police to investigate. If they keep dragging it out, I will go back to work during the summer vacation after the college entrance examination and return it to you. Brother Yu, don't worry about it." Wang Zhiyao said as he bet on a 6, and the last chess piece finally took off.
Yu Shu's heart twitched. Wang Zhiyao had misunderstood his meaning. These words were too devastating. He immediately thought of Yu Huan in the hospital, with no one to care for him, and if he recovered, he would have to work to pay for his medical expenses. How miserable that would be.
He shook his head. "It's not about the medical expenses, and you don't have to worry about them. I want to know if they've come to see you, and I want to know their address. Even though I'm an outsider, I can't help but see it."
"There's no need. They will make you even more angry." Wang Zhiyao avoided Yu Shu's determined gaze. He didn't dare let his smile appear in such eyes, for fear that Yu Shu would think he was not motivated enough, and that he was disguising himself by not caring.
Wang Zhiyao unconsciously clutched the bed sheet; the folds formed by the blue and white stripes looked like a series of miniature mountains.
"We're friends, aren't we? I was hoping I could ask you for help if I had any problems in the future."
Yu Shu placed his hand on Wang Zhiyao's, and the sound and the warmth of his palm penetrated into his body, nourishing the dry and cracked space in his heart.
"You asked me to go to the hospital at a fixed time to take care of Wang Zhiyao when I was at work. You don't treat him as a friend, you treat him as a younger brother." Yu Huan took the opportunity to interrupt and stir up Wang Zhiyao's thoughts. He spent a lot of time with Wang Zhiyao and knew that Wang Zhiyao always wanted to repay his brother Yu Shu.
Yu Shu smiled and tapped Yu Huan's forehead: "You are my most precious brother."
Friend? Brother?
Yes, what Yu Shu did for him actually went beyond the scope of friendship.
Yu Shu used various excuses to force food into his mouth for many days in a row, just because he was afraid that he would not be able to hold on without breakfast; he was also afraid that he would get into trouble if he went to the cafeteria to eat alone, so he would take him to the faculty cafeteria; even when he pretended to be unwell and went to the school infirmary to avoid the classmates who bullied him, Yu Shu would respect his choice and help cover up.
This kind of behavior, which should appear in family members, happened to appear in Yu Shu, the elder brother he met by chance.
When Wang Zhiyao pulled his hand out, the back of his hand rubbed against the thin calluses on Yu Shu's palm, creating a cut that allowed him to confide in Yu Shu. Yu Shu treated him so well, so he should give him the same trust.
He breathed a sigh of relief and told his home address.
Yu Shu actually had selfish motives in going to find Wang Zhiyao. He discovered that all the students who were poisoned had bullying behavior, and most of them had bullied Wang Zhiyao, so maybe he could find clues about the poison from him.
Yu Shu first went to the address of Wang Zhiyao's mother, but he didn't find anything unusual. There was just a delicate and haggard woman. When he talked to her about Wang Zhiyao, she was still willing to say a few words, but she just didn't want to care.
Wang Zhiyao's residence is in an urban village with almost no lighting, and the alley is relatively clean, but there is a huge trash can every few meters, almost blocking the entire road.
Yu Shu didn't have an access card, luckily he met a resident who had just come out.
He pasted a yellow talisman in a blind spot on the outside of the door and stair railing. The talisman had his blood as a guide, so he could feel if anything happened.
The hallway is small and dim, and there's no voice-activated lighting, so it's easy to accidentally step on the wrong step. This old building looks more and more strange, but it also makes sense. It's old and dusty, as if no one has lived there for a long time.
Wang Zhiyao lives in room 402 on the fourth floor.
The door of Room 402 was covered with dust, and there was no sign of human activity for at least half a month.
Moreover, there was a bowl of uncooked rice at the door of Room 402, with three chopsticks stuck upside down in it.
"You look unfamiliar. Who are you looking for?"
The old lady in Room 401 was startled by Yu Shu.
"I'm looking for the resident of Room 402, his last name is Wang."
The old lady took two steps back and returned to the house. She thought Yu Shu didn't understand Cantonese, so she cursed him in Cantonese, "Luojiu la," then frowned and said, "The Wang in room 402 died a month ago. You've got the wrong place. Hurry up and leave."
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