0057 057 A long queue formed in front of the gates of the underworld.
Early in the morning, no one came out of the small white door, which was very different from usual. The maid carefully pushed the door open, walked to the bedside, and called softly.
"Miss, are you feeling unwell?"
The pink blanket stirred, and a small head peeked out from under it. After rolling around a bit, Tu Mi's pretty little face was revealed.
Her face was very pale, and her lips were also pale. She opened and closed her mouth, but no sound could be heard. The maid leaned closer, trying to decipher her words. She said,
"Sister, I'm bleeding down there."
"Miss, your menstrual cycle has returned to normal, that's a good thing."
The maid fed her a few sips of water, then ran out to call the doctor. A group of people surrounded her to examine her, and finally, the man who claimed to be her father also came in.
He liked to stare into her eyes, saying little and having nothing to say. Tu Mi felt that he was definitely recalling Xu Mei's face through hers. The older women in the dance hall had told her many love stories, and that's how they were written.
She didn't say anything, with a hot water bottle on her waist, which made her feel much better. Over the past six months, her body had been recovering, adapting to the sunshine and life on earth. She had learned a lot, and she felt that she now knew more than Manager Chen.
But she still kept thinking about her past life, and when she looked at this luxurious world, she always felt out of place.
Her phone, hidden under her pillow, rang. She instantly flashed a shy smile, as if she'd been caught red-handed. The man looked at her and smiled back, his expression gentle.
After a brief standoff, the man left, and only then did Tu Mi pull out her phone.
She still keeps in touch with her close friends at the dance hall. She said they had just finished work and taken a shower today. Jiulixiang was asleep at the door, hugging a stick. Last time, he used this stick to chase away a drunk man who came to bully people.
She also said that starting in August, Manager Chen dragged out the abandoned gambling tables from the dance hall. A woman known as Sister Hong brought different people in to gamble every day. The most outrageous thing was on weekends. Every Friday night after get off work, she would bring a lot of people and gamble downstairs for two or three days, only leaving on Monday morning. These men were worse than others. They always tormented them in bed, and when they lost money, they blamed them. Last night, she was slapped and had a big bruise on her face.
Tu Mi sighed and put down her phone. She had been gone for so long, and she didn't know if the buildings above ground had been developed, how much longer they could stay underground, or when this kind of life would finally end.
The man who claimed to be her father was very generous and gave her a lot of pocket money. The old maid who took care of her said that she should decline before accepting it, but Tu Mi didn't understand. She felt that she deserved it all.
However, Qi Shuyao said that staying in the hospital for so long must have cost a lot of money, and I wonder if her father paid the bills.
She still had Qi Shuyao's phone number saved on her phone, but she didn't dare to call. She felt that she was an untrustworthy person, and Yaoyao would definitely not be happy.
Today is Friday, and Qi Shuyao has no classes. She met Qin Zhuohan at a milk tea shop outside the school. Qin Zhuohan, who is in reserve, frowned when he saw her holding an iced milk tea in the winter.
"Don't talk. I don't care about health; I just want to be happy."
"Aren't you happy now?"
Their schools were just across the street from each other, but they only reconnected that winter. The first snow of the year had just fallen yesterday, but unfortunately, she was engrossed in her art studio and by the time she looked up, the snow had stopped.
She looked up at Qin Zhuohan walking towards her, sized him up, and nodded.
"As expected of the handsome guy whose fame has spread to my area, he's grown taller and more handsome."
Don't listen to their nonsense.
He sat down next to Qi Shuyao, took off his hat to reveal his full face, which was somewhat pale and had dark circles under his eyes.
"No way, studying medicine is this tiring? And this is only the third month of university."
"No, I went to my dad's place to help out yesterday. The orthopedics department took in six patients, and they all booked VIP rooms."
"Just because it snowed yesterday, even luxury cars slipped?"
Unlike her teasing tone, Qin Zhuohan let out a long sigh, clearly somewhat dazed.
"What happened? What's wrong?"
She leaned closer, put her ear out, and gestured for him to whisper.
His upbringing had taught him not to say it, but now he genuinely felt something was wrong. After hesitating for a long time, he finally leaned close to Qi Shuyao's ear and whispered...
"None of the six orthopedic patients brought in yesterday were accompanied by family members, and they didn't even use their own identification."
"What do you mean?"
Qin Zhuohan swallowed, feeling a little embarrassed to speak.
"Because my family runs a private hospital, some of the verification and certification processes are very lax. We often receive people without proper identification. They just pay the money and that's it. After they are discharged, their records are deleted. The six people who were brought in yesterday were like that. One said he fell from a building and broke his leg, but his body was covered in blood. Two others said they were in a car accident, but it was strange that only their legs were injured. The remaining three did not give any explanation. They just pushed the patients in and said their legs were broken and that they were set."
Suddenly learning someone else's secret made Qi Shuyao a little flustered. She quickly organized her thoughts, and an idea popped into her head, but she felt it was unreliable.
"So you think they weren't natural accidents, but were all man-made?"
"Yes, the one who fell from upstairs has lost consciousness, but the person who brought him here insisted that he just slipped and fell from upstairs. He got angry if you asked any more questions and said that you should just focus on saving him and that the money would be enough. As for the two in the car accident, there was no information about the accident at all. The remaining three are even stranger. Their wounds are very similar, so the causes are probably quite similar."
"Could they have gotten into trouble with some gangsters and gotten themselves taught a lesson?"
"Yes, I suspect this was done by the same group of people. They may have offended some organization and been punished by various means, but instead of letting them die, they were brought here to save their lives. And most importantly, three of these six people had a piece of their little finger cut off."
Is this some kind of initiation ceremony?
"No, most people who have quit gambling cut off their little fingers."
The milk tea shop became increasingly crowded. Qi Shuyao pushed Qin Zhuohan out. Snowflakes began to fall again, creating a romantic scene, but neither of them was in the mood to appreciate it.
She knew Qi Yu was investigating the casino, and Jingyang had never quit gambling, though she knew very little about it. She pulled Qin Zhuohan's sleeve and led him to the innermost path.
Have you treated patients like this before, or similar cases?
“Every department receives some patients with unclear origins. The people who bring them in know that doctors are only responsible for saving lives, and they won’t cause trouble as long as they don’t ask why. So no one ever investigates their relationships and reasons. These six patients were also assigned to different doctors. It was only when I was in the office and saw it all on the system, and when I had nothing else to do, I went to each ward to study it, that I discovered it.”
"So this proves that they are definitely organized, or at least planned. They know the hospital's tricks so well, it can't be the first time. Go check the transfer of medical expenses, maybe they are all sent from one place."
"There's no way to check; all records of patients like this were destroyed after they were discharged."
"Oh right, you just said that. But judging from this situation, are these patients gamblers? Then why were they beaten?"
"Not only were they beaten, but I suspect that the one who jumped off the building was trying to commit suicide but failed. The two in the car accident were probably tied to the ground and run over by the car. The remaining three were probably beaten, perhaps because they couldn't pay off their gambling debts."
As they talked, they strolled casually along the street. At first, Qi Shuyao thought she was seeing things, and she blinked twice to make sure that the woman not far away was indeed Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu has been having a very uncomfortable time lately. Zhu Jiangxu's fiancée has finally shown up. She has been a playboy since she was twenty, and now that she is thirty, her family is finally urging her to come back and get married. That morning, as soon as Jiang Yu got up, the housekeeper told her that the woman had arrived.
She should be relieved that this life of confinement is finally coming to an end, but why did she still put on that gorgeous, handmade, custom-made cheongsam and press a piece of fine jade against it?
The woman stood in the living room, arms crossed, surveying her surroundings. When she saw her come down, her eyes swept over her from head to toe, a smile that made one uncomfortable, and even the way she spoke was irritating.
"It seems the most valuable collection in this room is here."
She left after a short while, her steps light and graceful, as if it were a hallucination. A little while later, Zhu Jiangxu returned. He was never home at this time, but today he didn't say anything. He simply embraced her and took her upstairs, just like always.
The housekeeper came upstairs again today, walked to her side, and pointed outside the door.
"Miss Jiang, there's a woman outside..."
“People come every day, but I don’t know any of them, so there’s no need to talk to me.”
The butler had known her for so many years, and this was the first time he had ever seen this gentle young lady lose her temper. He had already made a judgment in his mind, but today's reaction only added to the evidence.
“Miss, you’ve misunderstood. The lady outside says she’s a friend of yours from Changgang, surnamed Lu. She’s here in Jingyang for a visit and came to see you on the way.”
"Quickly, invite her in."
Lu Wen rushed in, gave her a big hug, and then, seeing her pale face, complained in her broken Mandarin.
"I told you the air and environment here aren't good. Look at you, you've been back for so long and you're getting thinner and thinner. But today you have to do your part as a host, come on, come out and have some fun with me."
"Wait, wait."
Jiang Yu pulled her hand and sat her down, brushing the snowflakes off her shoulders. A maid brought over hot tea and handed her a cup as well.
"Why did you suddenly come here without telling me beforehand?"
“There’s no time to plan ahead. Recently, fifteen people have jumped from the Huafeng Building in front of my house in less than a week. The sanitation workers downstairs count how many people jumped each day and calmly sweep up the bodies. It makes me sick. My dad also said that Changgang might be a bit unsafe lately and told me to go out and hide for a while.”
"Then why did you come to Jingyang? It's even more dangerous here."
"Oh my little darling, where is there peace now? Everyone's in a state of panic. Alright, enough of this, let's go. My car is still outside and I can't start it. The driver said it's too cold here and he can't start the car."
"Those are all rumors."
They walked out of the suburbs with smiles and went to Jingyang's famous commercial street. Just as they came out of the mall, Jiang Yu saw Qi Shuyao across the street, with a tall and thin boy by her side.
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