Chapter 1: Are you sick?

  "How could Tang Chong possibly kill someone? He's just a student!" Luohuan said with a shocked expression. For these girls in their flower years, killing was always something distant, only appearing on TV shows and in the suspense novels they bought. They never thought that it would actually happen right next to them.

  "I don't believe it either," Cheng Pei echoed. "Tang Zhong is such a good person, how could he possibly kill someone?"

  In their minds, people who kill are bad guys. Tang Zhong is a good guy, so he can't be the killer.

  Hanna grasped Rouyuan and Cheng Pei's shoulders tightly, looking at Liang Tao and asked: "Have you guys found them to ask clearly? What exactly happened?"

  "How could they possibly tell us this?" Liang Tao said with a gloomy face. "We are neither his guardians nor his teachers ----- maybe they have already called the school."

  "Huh? Then Tang Chong... isn't he finished?" Luo Huan said. "If we call the school, won't everyone in the whole school know about it?"

  "First, let's figure out a way to get him out of there," said Liang Tao. "Who still cares if the school finds out?"

  Hua Ming crouched on the edge of the rail at the station platform, one by one lowering his head to smoke.

  After a long while, he tossed away the cigarette butt in his hand and then fished out his mobile phone from his pocket to dial a number.

  The phone rang again and again, but no one answered on the other end.

  Hang up and call again.

  This time, someone finally answered.

  "What's up?" A man's calm and serious voice came from the other end of the phone.

  "Uncle, I'm sorry." Huā Míng said in a low voice.

  "Mm." The man's voice softened a bit. "The past is the past. Don't hold onto it. Look forward more. Your road is still long."

  "I know," said Hua Ming. "I know what I'll do from now on."

  "Alright. I have another meeting. That's it."

  "Uncle----" Hua Ming cried out in a loud and urgent voice.

  "Anything else?"

  Silence.

  "Hurry up and speak. You old men shouldn't learn from that woman's tone." The man urged on the phone.

  "Uncle, a friend of mine is involved in a murder case and has been detained by the Yúnǚ Shān sub-bureau. I was wondering if you could make a call to the Míngzhū City bureau... Uncle, please don't be angry. I'm not asking you to cover up for my friend or change the investigation results. I just want to ask you to make a call to them and let them handle the case fairly... I believe he's innocent." Huā Míng spoke out his request with great trepidation.

  This time it was the person on the other end of the phone who fell silent.

  "I'm really curious, who is that person?"

  "Thank you."

  "As expected." The man chuckled softly. "Hua Ming, you're too naive. If I made this call, could the case still be handled fairly?"

  "But uncle----"

  Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Huaming could only bite his lips tightly.

  Bitten until bleeding without realizing it.

  Hua Ming rummaged through the phone book again, her finger stopping at a name for a long time without moving.

  "Alas..." He recalled how the police had been indifferent to him and Liang Tao when they ran over to ask about the situation earlier, but he finally managed to dial that number.

  One person's power is very small, especially in ordinary people without identity support.

  The phone rang twice before being answered, and a man's uncertain voice came from inside, saying: "Qian Ming?"

  "Brother... it's me." Hua Ming said in a hoarse voice, his fingers fiercely pinching his thigh.

  "If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time you've actively called me in so many years?" The man said with a light laugh.

  "There's something I'd like to ask for your help with," said Hua Ming.

  "That 'brother' wasn't called out for nothing. You're starting to show your hand so quickly----I say, can you drag it out a bit longer and let me fully savor the brotherly love between us?" The man's voice was playful, as if he were playing an interesting game.

  Hua Ming pulled the phone away from his ear, with an urge to smash it into pieces.

  "What? Can't take it anymore? If you can't take it, just hang up the phone anytime." the man said.

  "I have a friend who's involved in a murder case, I was wondering if you could help me make a call to the Mingzhu City Bureau - you just so happen to work in the police system, they should give you that much face." Huaming said through gritted teeth.

  "Oh. A murder case?" The man hesitated for a moment and said: "Why should I help you?"

  "Qian Ming, what you did last time already made our family very angry. What do you want to do this time? Whoever I call for help, I'll owe someone a favor. A huge favor - how will I repay it in the future?"

  "And another thing, this phone call isn't something that can be made casually. It involves a murder case, and no matter who goes to clean up the mess, they'll have to take on the risk of being turned in later - why are they willing to take such a huge risk? Of course it's for an even greater benefit. Ming, what kind of benefit should I use to exchange with them?"

  "I'm not asking you to be biased towards my friend, I just want someone inside----"

  "It's all the same." The man interrupted Hua Ming's words and said, "As long as I make this call, they will understand my relationship with that suspect. In that case, can this case still be handled fairly? No matter what I say, as long as I make this call, the case will definitely go in the direction I expect - my good brother, do you understand? This is the horror of power."

  "I understand." Hua Ming said in a low voice, his heart like a knife stabbing.

  "You don't have to call others for help anymore. Without Uncle and Dad's phone calls, they won't be able to help you with things." The man said, and then 'click' hung up the phone.

  Hua Ming was about to smash his phone in frustration.

  His hand hovered in mid-air, and his movements paused again.

  After some thought, he put his mobile phone back into his pocket.

  Maybe they will change their minds?

  Li Botao, director of the Yúnǚshān sub-bureau, Chen Feng, political commissar of the sub-bureau, Wei Ming, deputy director, Jiang Kai, captain, and a group of police officers stood at the gate of the small building of the Public Security Bureau.

  They would occasionally gaze into the distance as if noble guests might appear before their eyes at any moment.

  Indeed, a distinguished guest is coming. Li Bo received a call from the Mingzhu City Bureau an hour ago, and Executive Deputy Director Huang Chao will come to Yúnǚ Shān Sub-bureau for inspection.

  Yunü Mountain Sub-bureau has only been inspected by a deputy director with a lower ranking since its establishment. Someone like Huang Chao, who holds actual power in the entire Mingzhu police system, has never come here before, and it's possible that he has never even set his sights on this place.

  Because Yúnǚshān sub-bureau is too small and also too remote. In their own words, coming to work here is equivalent to being "exiled".

  Now, the deputy director who can decide their fate is coming. They have no choice but to receive him with caution.

  Even if you drive from Mingzhu at a very fast speed, it will take at least 40 minutes.

  However, after receiving the phone call, Li Botao immediately rushed to the bureau and, after briefly understanding the situation, brought a group of leading cadres from the bureau to wait at the door.

  "Here." someone shouted.

  Li Bo Tao secretly stretched his muscles and tendons, a rare smile spreading across his face.

  A black Mercedes-Benz stopped in front of the police station. Li Botao ran over and opened the rear car door.

  As expected, sitting in the back were Huang Chao, the deputy director of Mingzhu Municipal Bureau, and a young man that Li Bo had never seen before.

  "Director Huang has had a hard journey." Li Botao asked respectfully.

  "Hmm." Huang Chao nodded indifferently and turned to the young man sitting beside him, saying: "William, do you want to go in and sit for a bit?"

  "It's okay, I'll just go take a look at Yihan first." said the young man named William with a smile. "Something big happened, Xiao Yao must have been scared to death."

  Li Bo's eyes jumped and he thought to himself that they had indeed come for the sake of the Qiu family's daughter.

  "Hmm, it's fine this way." Director Huang said with a smile.

  He got out of the car and said to Li Bo-tao standing in front of him: "I heard that a homicide case occurred here?"

  "Report to the director. Yes." Li Botao gave a salute and then briefed him on the situation he had just learned about.

  "Hmm. That girl named Qiuyi Han, what's her connection to this murder case?" Huang Chao asked with a furrowed brow.

  "Report to the director. She is a victim." Li Botao replied loudly. "She and her friends went to Tianyi to enjoy the scenery, but unfortunately encountered this incident. Whether it's the testimony of the suspect Tang Chong or others, they can all prove this point."

  "Is she all right?" asked the handsome young man named William with a smile.

  "We've already had a doctor examine Miss Qiuyi Han's body, and there's only a minor external injury." Li Botao didn't know what identity this young man held, but the fact that he could bring Huang Chao along proved that his background wasn't ordinary. Therefore, he treated the young man with the same respect as he did Director Huang.

  "What about him?" William's slanting eyebrows rose. Obviously, he was not satisfied with Qiuyi Han's 'superficial injury'.

  "In the rest room resting. I'll have someone go invite her?" said Li Bo Tao.

  "It's all right." William waved his large hands, which were whiter and more delicate than a woman's, and said, "I'll go pick her up."

  "Director Guo, if Yichan has nothing to do with this murder case and is just a victim, I think we should send her back first - her grandmother must be worried sick. If there's anything else, you can communicate with my lawyer."

  He pointed to a location not far behind him, where three senior lawyers, two men and one woman, were standing.

  "No problem at all." Guo Botao said with a smile. "That Tang Chong----"

  "Tang Zhong?" William's mouth curled up with a hint of coldness. "I don't know him."

  (PS: I heard that today is Yunyun's birthday? Happy birthday! Thanks for your selfless dedication to me and the Imperial Guard.)