Chapter Twenty-Six: There Is Always a Reason

After a busy morning, as noon approached, the nurses at the station finally had a moment to breathe. Each of them sat at their desks, handling tasks at their computers. When someone approached, a young nurse looked up, curious about the visitor’s purpose.

The first person she saw was the tall figure of Huo Yan; she hesitated for a moment, then noticed Ning Shuyi beside him, and the police badge Ning Shuyi held in her hand. Instinctively, she stood up. “Hello, are you… Is there something we can help you with?”

“It’s nothing urgent, please sit. We’re just here to find someone.” Ning Shuyi hadn’t expected such a formal reaction from the young nurse and hurriedly signaled that she didn’t need to stand at attention. “May I ask if your department has a patient named Cai Yan?”

The young nurse, likely inexperienced in dealing with police, was startled by the sight of a police badge and their direct approach to the nurse station. Or perhaps it was the serious expression on Huo Yan’s face that unnerved her. Afraid she might get involved in something beyond her responsibility, she didn’t dare sit down.

“I’m not sure!” she said, backing away as she gestured to them. “Please wait a moment, I’ll ask the head nurse!”

Ning Shuyi was both amused and helpless. She quickly nodded and thanked the nurse, but judging from the speed of the nurse’s retreat, it was clear she had no mind to accept gratitude at the moment.

Who would have thought that Huo Yan, their “secret weapon” meant to intimidate hardened troublemakers, would accidentally frighten an innocent young nurse instead? What a miscalculation… truly regrettable.

After about two minutes, the young nurse returned, this time accompanied by a middle-aged woman in her forties. Two blue stripes on her nurse’s cap marked her as the head nurse of the department.

The young nurse, still flustered, had probably not explained things clearly when she’d rushed in to find help. The head nurse regarded Ning Shuyi and Huo Yan with a hint of confusion. “You are…?”

Ning Shuyi promptly presented her identification and explained, “Hello, we’re with the city’s criminal investigation unit. For work-related reasons, we’re hoping to speak with someone named Cai Xin. As far as we know, Cai Xin was in the cardiology department earlier today, so we came to find her.

Is she a patient here? Or is there any medical reason that would make her unavailable to speak with us?”

The head nurse breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. She glanced at the young nurse, then turned to Ning Shuyi with a smile. “I apologize, our new nurse here is a bit timid, and she didn’t explain things very clearly just now. I understand the situation now!

The person you’re looking for, Cai Xin, isn’t a patient in our department; she’s a family member, here as a caregiver.

She herself is fine. The patient is her mother, hospitalized with a heart condition. If you need to speak with her, I’ll call her out so you can talk outside.

I can’t interfere with your work, but the patient’s health is our responsibility.”

Ning Shuyi understood what the head nurse meant; she was likely worried that anything troubling about Cai Xin might upset her hospitalized mother and worsen her condition.

“No problem,” she agreed at once, then asked the head nurse, “Could I confirm with you: when did Cai Xin start staying at the hospital as a caregiver?”

“One moment, let me check.” The head nurse was meticulous. She checked the computer and recited the admission date for Cai Xin’s mother. “I remember her well. Her mother was brought in by emergency services after a sudden attack. Cai Xin arrived right after, and she’s been here with her mother ever since, never leaving her bedside.”

Ning Shuyi considered the timeline, nodded, and asked the head nurse to have Cai Xin brought out.

The head nurse assigned this task to the still-nervous young nurse, who promptly disappeared into one of the wards and soon returned with Cai Xin.

Cai Xin was about the same height as Ning Shuyi—neither tall nor short, rather slim, with a pale, frail appearance. A distinctive birthmark on the side of her slender neck made her instantly recognizable as the woman seen with Wang Yuluo in the surveillance footage from the cinema.

Cai Xin looked dazed, following the nurse with an uneasy step. Upon reaching the nurse station, she didn’t even notice Huo Yan and Ning Shuyi standing by, but went straight to the head nurse. “Hello, is there something you need? Has my mother’s condition changed?”

“No, don’t worry.” The head nurse quickly reassured her. “Your mother’s condition is stable—you heard the chief doctor say so during rounds this morning, didn’t you? Don’t worry!

She’s asleep now, right? These two officers from the police department would like to speak with you about something. If you have time, could you go with them somewhere to talk?”

Cai Xin looked nervous and uncertain as she glanced at Ning Shuyi and Huo Yan, but nodded.

Ning Shuyi gestured toward the elevator lobby, which they had just passed. The space there was open and quiet, especially now during lunchtime, when few people were around.

“Let’s talk over there,” she said to Cai Xin with a smile, hoping her demeanor would put the young woman at ease.

Cai Xin nodded quickly, her hands tightly clasped together, her whole body tense.

The three of them walked to the elevator lobby, which was indeed empty. Ning Shuyi led Cai Xin to the window, away from the elevator doors, where they wouldn’t be disturbed.

“You’re Cai Xin, right? Wang Yuluo’s classmate in the postgraduate prep course?” Ning Shuyi began.

Cai Xin nodded, her expression tense. “Yes, that’s me. Has something happened to Wang Yuluo? Is she in trouble?”

“Wang Yuluo is dead,” Huo Yan stated bluntly.

Cai Xin froze in shock. “How can that be? She was perfectly fine yesterday!”

“You saw her yesterday, didn’t you?” Ning Shuyi asked.

“I did,” Cai Xin admitted without hesitation. “We went to see a movie together. Partway through, my neighbor called to say my mother had collapsed and been taken to the hospital. I didn’t even finish the movie—I rushed here, and haven’t had a chance to contact her since…

How… how did she die? Was it a traffic accident?”