Chapter 17 Disturbed

Wu Peng and Jia Wenjun left the hospital. Jia Wenjun felt a bit agitated and didn't want to go straight home, fearing her mood would worry her parents. So, she took a walk in the park near the hospital.

Wu Peng passed a coffee shop and came out with two cups of black coffee, handing one to Jia Wenjun.

Jia Wenjun hadn't expected him to remember she liked bitter coffee. She took it and said, "Thank you. Do you like it bitter too?"

She remembered the last time she went to the law firm with him, the receptionist brought them drinks. She had asked for unsweetened black coffee, while the receptionist, knowing his preferences, had brought him a cappuccino with milk and sugar.

In her early twenties, she had also enjoyed the sweet, milky coffee. But as she got older, she preferred the pure, natural fragrance, not even wanting sugar, so she could savor the original taste and lasting flavor.

The two found a bench and sat down. Jia Wenjun watched Wu Peng frown slightly with each sip and found it amusing. "Why did you order it if you don't like it?"

Wu Peng swallowed the bitterness. "I wanted to try what you like."

He had been a difficult pill-taker since childhood, wanting to add sugar even to cold medicine. He never ate anything bitter if there was a sweet option. But seeing that Jia Wenjun liked bitter coffee, he wanted to try it. Even if it was hard to swallow, he wanted to taste it. He childishly and stubbornly believed that by tasting the bitterness she tasted, he might understand her a little better.

Although Jia Wenjun felt something was different, she never let herself get carried away, especially not in this situation.

She brought the topic back to the case: "I think it's no coincidence that so many people suddenly showed up at Zhao Di's hospital room today."

Wu Peng took several gulps of the bitter coffee, which was now truly "invigorating." He suppressed the urge to gag and nodded. "When I went back to the car to get something, my old man called me. He said that Hao Jiening had called him earlier, asking if he wanted to go see Zhao Di together. He refused."

He had felt something was wrong after that call, which prompted him to return upstairs and witness the Lin family harassing Jia Wenjun.

Thinking of the Lin family's faces, Wu Peng cursed Lin Yang in his heart, calling him a coward who only dared to talk big. If he had really dared to fight him, he would have helped Jia Wenjun teach him a lesson. Too bad he ran into such a coward who only dared to hit women.

Jia Wenjun, unaware that Wu Peng was sticking up for her, continued to share her thoughts. "Hao Jiening and Zhao Di didn't have a good relationship before. I don't think they went to see Zhao Di together just because they were once in the same boat."

If they really wanted to help, they could have offered support when Lin Yang was raising medical expenses for Zhao Di, but as far as she knew, none of them had contributed a penny.

Wu Peng took another sip of the extremely bitter coffee, his features contorting. "I'll inquire about Hao Jiening's side, who exactly asked them to come, or if it was Hao Jiening's own idea. I'll figure it all out."

Meanwhile, in the hospital, a group of intern medical students entered the neurology doctor's office in turn. They gathered around Doctor Tan, all diligently taking notes on the key points for observing the surgery tomorrow.

The surgery had garnered a lot of attention from the outside world, and the hospital itself wanted to use it to gain recognition, so they attached great importance to it. Of course, they wouldn't miss the opportunity to have the hospital's young medical students observe and learn from this rare live demonstration.

Tonight, Zhang Lin was personally guarding Zhao Di's hospital room door. So many people had come this afternoon that he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

The long night stretched on. He and his colleagues had been taking turns sitting on the long chair, guarding the night for the past few days. It was impossible to sleep. They could only close their eyes and rest while sitting on the chair, but sitting all the time was unbearable, causing aches and pains in his back. He had to get up and walk around from time to time, and that was how he managed to get through the night.

Around four o'clock in the second half of the night, Zhang Lin couldn't hold on any longer and kept yawning. After another half hour, he was sitting in the chair, finally tilting his head and closing his eyes.

He didn't know how long he had dozed off, but in his drowsy state, Zhang Lin seemed to hear footsteps coming from the distant corridor. He instantly woke up, but he still maintained his current sleeping posture, only slightly opening his eyes in the dim corridor, and fixed his gaze on the corner.

Each footstep was very light, but Zhang Lin had been trained for many years, and his hearing was more sensitive than the average person.

The footsteps stopped at the corner, just one step away from revealing the person, but then suddenly there was no movement.

Zhang Lin and the other person were holding their positions. Zhang Lin hesitated whether to run over and grab the person now. He didn't know if the footsteps were aimed at Zhao Di. What if he guessed wrong and stirred up a hornet's nest?

But if that wasn't the case, why would a normal person walk so carefully?

As soon as this thought flashed through his mind, Zhang Lin jumped up from the chair and ran towards the direction of the footsteps.

The other person seemed to sense it and turned to run towards the stairwell.

By the time Zhang Lin reached the corner, the person was gone. The stairwell was even darker than the hallway, with only the faint green emergency exit sign shining with dots of light.

Zhang Lin knew the person must have gone this way, but he didn't dare to go in, fearing that he would fall for the other person's trick of luring him away from the main target. He glanced towards the hospital room and finally went back.

If it weren't for his exceptional hearing, no one would have known that someone had been here.

He wondered if his running over here had already stirred up a hornet's nest.

He didn't dare to take it lightly at this time. He quickly walked to the front of the hospital room and glanced at Zhao Di, who was still lying on the hospital bed. His face darkened.

By this time, the sky had already begun to show a faint glimmer of light. He sat back down in the chair and recalled the feeling from before. His mind was buzzing. He was sure he had really heard footsteps, but the other person was very alert. He had only taken a few dozen seconds to run over, but the other person had disappeared.

Thinking of this, his heart grew heavier, and he lost all sleepiness.

After five-thirty, orderlies and family members came out of many hospital rooms. After the colleagues who were coming to take over the shift arrived, Zhang Lin told them what had happened in the second half of the night, asking everyone to perk up and pay more attention. He then walked towards the still-dark stairwell.

If Zhang Lin could have convinced himself before that the video evidence and the hair DNA evidence were enough to prove that Jia Wenjun was a suspect in pushing Zhao Di down, then since Jia Wenjun sold the house to treat Zhao Di, and after what happened last night, he couldn't convince himself anymore.

He walked alone from the stairwell all the way to the lobby on the first floor and happened to see Wu Peng and Jia Wenjun's family. He nodded to them.

Seeing his heavy dark circles, Jia Wenjun nodded to him and said, "Officer Zhang, thank you for your hard work."

"It's my duty." Zhang Lin didn't say anything more to her and pulled Wu Peng aside.

Jia Wenjun knew the two had something to say and wisely took the elevator up with her parents first.

Today, they would be waiting outside the operating room, wanting to know Zhao Di's condition as soon as possible.