Chapter 7: Stripping Away the Truth

  Zhang Tong rushed into her mother's bedroom without a word, pulled open the drawer, took out the medicine bottle, and with trembling hands, twisted off the light yellow cap of the small bottle. She poured out all the pills inside and looked at the few pills in the palm of her hand. Zhang Tong's heart suddenly rose to her throat. She put the pills on the table and then took out the remaining eight bottles one by one, pouring out the pills inside as well. As expected, if she hadn't looked carefully, Zhang Tong wouldn't have dared to believe that what her mother was taking was actually vitamin tablets. At first, all the prescription medications her uncle had prescribed were put in by herself. How did they become vitamin tablets now? No wonder her mother's reaction became so dull.

  "Yes, it was a robbery. After my brother-in-law passed away, my sister raised the child alone and had a very difficult life. But my sister was very stubborn, working and raising the child by herself. Zhi Gang, this child, has been sensible since he was young, especially after getting sick; he became very self-abased and didn't fit in with others. I don't have a son, so I passed on our family's traditional craftsmanship to him as a way for him to make a living. I had hoped that they could live a peaceful life from then on. However... nine years ago, on a cold winter night, my sister was working the night shift and encountered robbers. My sister was stabbed eight times and died on the street. But when I received the news from the police and rushed to the hospital, her body had already been taken away by Zhi Gang. From then on, I rarely saw this child again. However..." The old man stopped talking."

  "But what." Liu Chunxiao asked immediately.

  The old man hesitated. He thought for a moment: "I still don't know where my sister is buried."

  Wang Yan immediately asked: "Do you have your sister's photo from when she was young?"

  The old man nodded: "You wait a minute, I'll go take a look."

  The waiting time is always extra long. Wang Yanan anxiously paced back and forth in the living room.

  "I said, Captain Wang, please sit down. Professor Ding is older and not as agile. It's natural for him to be slower in finding things." Liu Chunxiao was almost dizzy from watching Wang Yan walking back and forth.

  Wang Yanan glared: "You're just like Xiao Tong, call me 'Yanan' instead. It sounds more comfortable to my ears. Only my subordinates call me 'Captain Wang'. We're on the same level, no need to flatter me."

  Liu Chunxiao pouted and didn't make another sound.

  "I'm sorry to have kept you two waiting for so long. These are all old photos, some of which have become outdated." Professor Ding carried out two large yellowed photo albums.

  Open the album. It's as if a long-sealed memory has been lifted. Wang Yan quickly recognized the woman in the photo, young and slender with two long braids. She pointed at the woman and asked: "Professor Ding, is this your sister when she was young?"

  "Yes, this was taken when she was eighteen years old. My sister is twenty-one years younger than me. My father had her when he was sixty years old. The age gap between my sister and me is quite large." Professor Ding smiled faintly.

  "How old was she when she passed away."

  "Only three days left until she's 39 years old. But when she's alive, you can't tell her age at all. She loves beauty."

  Wang Yan tightly stared at the young woman in the photo: "Professor Ding, are you certain that your sister's burial site has not been found yet?"

  I later asked Zhigang about it. He said he was buried at sea because there wasn't enough money to buy a grave.

  After leaving Professor Ding's house, on the way back to the Public Security Bureau, Liu Chunxiao suddenly said: "Captain Wang, oh no, Yanan, I have a friend who is in the Civil Affairs Bureau. They have our Tianchang City's funeral records, which can be traced back to 20 years ago. I heard him mention this last week."

  "That's great, I'll drive. You call him right away." As she said that, Wang Yanan pulled out the piece of paper from her pocket with Huang Zhi Gang's mother's name and time of death on it, which she had asked Professor Ding for before leaving, and handed it to Liu Chun Xiao. "Call now, don't delay."

  Liu Chunxiao parked the car by the side of the road and exchanged seats with Wang Yanan.

  The next morning, looking at her mother busy in the kitchen, it was as if nothing had happened the night before. Zhang Tong hesitated to leave when she walked back to her mother's room, opened the small drawer of the bedside cabinet, and counted the few pills inside again. Only after making sure that the number was correct did she say goodbye to her mother and leave home.

  When passing by the entrance of his uncle's building, he met his uncle who was exercising early in the morning. Zhang Tong remembered the content of his father's will and hesitated for a moment.

  "Tongtong, what's wrong? Is your mom being unreasonable again today?"

  "No, Uncle. Don't worry. My mom is fine today. The medicine you gave her yesterday must have taken effect."

  "That's good." The old man took a deep breath, his face full of worry. "Your mother was also a poor soul."

  "Uncle... why was Dad willing to leave me and Mom behind when he left this world." Zhang Tong looked at the old man in front of him with a serious expression.

  "Never mind, it's all in the past. Take good care of your mother, she has suffered enough in this life." With that, the old man took a painful glance at Zhang Tong and silently turned around, leaving without looking back.

  Yes, now she only has her mother left. She must take good care of her mother. Mother... A thought suddenly flashed through her mind... Medicine. There must be a problem with the medicine. Otherwise, why didn't her mother's condition worsen after taking it for so many days? But last night... Zhang Tong dared not think further. She quickly turned around and ran towards home.

  "Tongtong, how did you come back?" Mother's face was full of surprise.

  Zhang Tong rushed into her mother's bedroom without a word, pulled open the drawer, took out the medicine bottle, and with trembling hands, twisted off the light yellow cap of the small bottle. She poured out all the pills inside and looked at the few pills in the palm of her hand. Zhang Tong's heart suddenly rose to her throat. She put the pills on the table and then took out the remaining eight bottles one by one, pouring out the pills inside as well. As expected, if she hadn't looked carefully, Zhang Tong wouldn't have dared to believe that what her mother was taking was actually vitamin tablets. At first, all the prescription medications her uncle had prescribed were put in by herself. How did they become vitamin tablets now? No wonder her mother's reaction became so dull.

  "Mom, someone has touched this medicine."

  Her mother shook her head vaguely: "I don't know."

  "Has anyone come home these past few days?"

  Her mother frowned and thought carefully: "Your uncle...and only you Chen Bo Bo, the courier..."

  "No, it's impossible." Zhang Tong exclaimed loudly, her voice rising unconsciously. She looked up to see the fear in her mother's eyes and couldn't help but feel deeply regretful. She took a deep breath and made her tone softer. "Mom, don't worry, take a rest. I'll call Uncle for you."

  "Oh." Her mother nodded and walked out of her bedroom with a nervous look on her face.

  After Zhang Tong opened the door, he quickly dialed his uncle's phone number: "Uncle, I'm going to send my mom to your hospital right away and have her stay for a while... No, there's no other reason. I don't feel at ease leaving her alone at home... Okay, I'll take a taxi over now."

  After hanging up the phone, Zhang Tong looked at the large pile of vitamin tablets on the table in front of her and suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of unease. She subconsciously raised her head to glance at the photo of her father on the wall, gritted her teeth, and walked out of the bedroom.

  "You have concerns, Dr. Zhang." Zhao Junjie hesitated for a moment before carefully speaking out his mind. It's been over a month since he started training at the grassroots level. He has taken a lot of notes and has spoken out what he needed to say. However, despite putting in so much effort, achieving his true goal still seems far away. This has caused him great distress.

  Today's Zhang Tong seems to be a bit different. As soon as she walked into the office, Zhao Junjie saw the heavy heartache on her face. The most important point is that she, who has never been late, was actually late today. Has his own chance finally come?

  "I'm fine." Zhang Tong responded dryly, not even bothering to lift his head to look at him, and walked straight into the inner changing room.

  The door was closed afterwards. Pan Jian glanced at the opportunity and stared at Zhao Junjie: "Why are you talking too much? Didn't you see her with a fierce face today? Be careful to be scolded."

  "I'm worried about her." Zhao Junjie muttered with a hint of grievance, yet couldn't help but glance at the tightly closed changing room door with a lingering sense of discontent.

  It was early in the morning. Wang Yanan, who had just rushed to the entrance of Chengnan Hospital, was furious. The medical records clearly showed that at more than 2 o'clock in the morning, the patient had come for a follow-up examination and had successfully taken away the medication. However, Zhao Yun and his two subordinates did not see anything. This also meant that this clue had been cut off. After walking out of the hospital gate, Wang Yanan was so angry that he slammed the car door and shouted loudly, with his fingers almost poking at Zhao Yun's face: "I've told you how many times, don't arrange new hands to be on duty. Now it's good, someone has been under your noses for a while, but you didn't even see a ghostly figure. Where do you want me to go and catch him again?"

  Zhaoyun's face turned red and white alternately. He lowered his head.

  "Coach Wang, it's my fault. I shouldn't have done this. I request punishment."

  "What a fart." Wang Yan frowned and roared in anger. "Another person died. Can you afford to take responsibility for this?"

  "Captain Wang, it's my fault. I made a mistake. Deputy Captain Zhao was on guard for most of the night. It was during the shift change that I fell asleep carelessly. It has nothing to do with Deputy Captain Zhao. It's my responsibility..." The subordinates beside Zhao Yun continued to criticize themselves.

  Wang Yanan waved her hand in annoyance, ignoring him and continued to grit her teeth: "Zhao Yun, you're also an old police officer, how can you be so forgetful? When tailing someone, you have to keep your eyes wide open. Even if a fly flies in front of you, you have to see it clearly. I didn't send you here to sleep and enjoy yourself. What do you want me to say to you?" She let out a deep sigh: "Forget it... we'll talk about this when we get back."

  Just as everyone was about to get on the car, Wang Yan's phone rang. It was a call from the Internet Monitoring Group. Wang Yan suddenly became spirited: "Deputy Captain Cheng, what's up."

  "The suspect had just completed a transaction five minutes ago. Although I didn't find his IP address, I locked down the IP address of the other party to the transaction. The IP address shows that she is in Donghe Garden, Building 3, Room 402, in the eastern part of the city. Due to the hot weather, the pet owner requested immediate delivery."

  Did he promise?

  "Alright. See you in half an hour."

  "Alright, let's go right away." After hanging up the phone, Wang Yanan seemed to have thrown all the unpleasantness from earlier far away. Excitedly, she said to Zhao Yun who was driving beside her: "A turn for the better has come. Hurry and head to Donghe Garden in the east of the city. We must arrive within fifteen minutes. Can't let him get away again."

  Due to the recent death of her pet, Donghe Garden Building 3 Room 402 resident Wang Xiaoyue was in a daze when she heard the doorbell ring. Her first reaction was to go and open the door. However, after showing their credentials, the several people standing in front of her were police officers, which she had not expected even in her dreams.

  "You are..."

  Wang Yan did not intend to tell the truth to this emotionally depressed woman in front of her. Her eyes glanced at a dead pet dog lying on the floor in the inner room, and she said calmly: "You don't have to worry. We are here to verify whether you ordered a customized pet model from Tongcheng Network just now."

  Wang Xiaoyue nodded: "Yes, what's wrong?"

  "It's nothing. We hope you can cooperate with our work." Wang Yan said, turning to Zhao Yun and instructing him, "You stay here and protect the client's safety. I'll go downstairs with Little Zhang and the others."

  "I'll go."

  Wang Yanan glared: "This is an order." As she spoke, she turned and walked out the door without looking back.

  Time passed minute by minute, second by second. Before long, a cream-colored Jinbei van turned into the corner of the residential area, heading in the direction of the three buildings. Wang Yanan furrowed her brow. The color was wrong. Had she made a mistake?