Chapter 167 Infertility

Chapter 167: The Infertility Case

The two sprang into action without returning to the station. After contacting Zhou Qiming and the others, they proceeded directly to the traffic bureau.

Soon after, all three units arrived. The colleagues at the traffic bureau, understanding their purpose, promptly retrieved the surveillance footage from the specified time period. Each of them scrutinized a computer screen, narrowing it down to three Audi cars that had passed by the hospital during that timeframe.

Later, Zhou Qiming and Wei Zhengyi took the information of these three cars to the relevant department and obtained the basic details of their owners.

Among them were two men and one woman.

None of these individuals matched the description given by Ms. Shan, but the team remained vigilant. After all, anyone could have been behind the wheel—relatives, friends, family members—who knows whose car the suspect might have driven?

After further investigation, the family backgrounds of all three were laid out before them. After some deliberation, they first ruled out the suspicion of the woman surnamed Han.

Ms. Han was 43 years old, single, unmarried, and childless. She wasn’t local but had moved to Pingjiang alone back in the ’80s, building her life there over the next decade and eventually putting down roots. She had few close friends, most of whom were around her age, and rarely interacted with women in their thirties, making her involvement in the case unlikely.

They then focused their efforts on the remaining two car owners. One, though older, had a daughter who was just 27—the right age. The other was relatively younger at 37, with a wife two years his junior, aged 35.

—Though 35, she had aged well, looking no older than 30 in photos.

Both women fit the age range, had long, straight black hair, and possessed graceful and polished appearances, closely resembling Ms. Shan’s description.

Unable to determine which of the two was the suspect, the team split their forces. One group went to confirm with Ms. Shan whom she had seen, while the other returned to the hospital for another round of questioning with the doctors and nurses.

·

On their way to the hospital, Shen Qingye, Yue Lingchuan, and Jiang Cheng received an answer from Zhou Qiming’s group, who had gone to see Ms. Shan:

"It’s Tan Yuwei."

The voice on the phone was a bit staticky as Zhou Qiming’s voice dropped, "Ms. Shan said the woman she saw at the hospital was Tan Yuwei."

Tan Yuwei—the younger one, the wife of Mr. Wu.

Thirty-five years old.

Yue Lingchuan, who was driving, exchanged a glance with Shen Qingye in the passenger seat and replied calmly, "Copy that."

Holding the phone in one hand and steering with the other, he added, "You all head back and look into Mr. Wu’s situation. We’ll go to the hospital and see if we can find more leads."

"Understood."

·

The doctors and nurses were gathered once more, and Tan Yuwei’s photo was circulated. Most drew blanks at the name and face, while a few recalled her but had no direct interactions, leaving them with no useful information.

It wasn’t until the photo reached the last nurse that the woman’s brow furrowed slightly, her expression seeming unsure as she studied the elegant, refined face.

Shen Qingye’s eyes gleamed as she quickly asked, "Have you met her?"

The nurse shook her head, then after a pause, nodded. "You said earlier… her surname is Tan?"

Shen Qingye confirmed, "Yes."

The nurse asked, "Is it the ‘Tan’ written as 'west' + 'early'?"

Shen Qingye replied, "That’s correct."

Observing her expression, Shen Qingye pressed further, "You’ve seen her before?"

The nurse hesitated for a moment before saying, "I guess I’ve seen her before."

She looked at Shen Qingye, then at the tall Yue Lingchuan beside her, choosing her words carefully before continuing, "Actually, I only joined this hospital half a year ago. Before that, I worked as a nurse at a private hospital."

Shen Qingye perked up as she listened:

"Back at that hospital, I did see this Ms. Tan."

"What stuck with me about her is, first, her surname is quite rare. At first, I thought it was pronounced 'tán,' but later I learned it's actually 'qín.'"

"Second... she kept coming back to that hospital."

"Kept coming back?"

Visiting a hospital multiple times...

Shen Qingye squinted. "What department did she go to at that hospital?"

"Obstetrics and gynecology," the nurse replied. "She was seeing an OB-GYN doctor."

"From what I heard... Ms. Tan has been married for many years but has never had a child."

"They ran every test imaginable, and all the results were normal, but she just never got pregnant."

"Ms. Tan tried every hospital in town, big and small, but nothing worked. Later, she came to my previous hospital—also to find out why she couldn’t conceive."

Married for years, yet childless.

Combined with the fact that she had killed someone and specifically cut open the victim to take their child...

Her pulse jumped, and she instinctively exchanged a glance with Yue Lingchuan.

Because she couldn’t have a child of her own, she took someone else’s?

But that didn’t make sense. Again, the child was already dead—what good would that do?

Yue Lingchuan asked, "What was the name of that hospital?"

"Sacred Heart."

·

While Zhou Qiming and the others were investigating the Wu family, Shen Qingye and her team weren’t sitting around either. After leaving the hospital, they went to various medical institutions, including Sacred Heart, to pull Tan Yuwei’s medical files.

Some hospitals had records from just the past few years, while others went back ten-plus years.

Without exception, all the records were OB-GYN reports. The results were largely the same, indicating that there was nothing wrong with Tan Yuwei’s body.

Yet, from the time of her marriage until now—over ten years—she had never gotten pregnant.

Some of the doctors who had treated her still remembered the patient, their voices full of frustration:

"Her physical condition was excellent, no issues at all. Her husband too—both of them were perfectly healthy. But she just couldn’t get pregnant!"

"Y’know how it is... sometimes it might be the patient’s physical condition, other times it could be related to their mental state. Or, to put it less scientifically, having a child also comes down to luck. Maybe it just wasn’t in the cards for them."

"There’s nothing we could do. We tried everything we could, but beyond that, it was out of our hands." — She sighed.

...

They spent two days visiting hospitals in the city and surrounding provinces.

By the time they left the last hospital, the sky had already darkened.

Having worked nonstop for days, even dreaming about the case, everyone felt groggy and worn out as they gazed at the crimson clouds in the distance.

Shen Qingye blinked her tired eyes and, after a moment, summarized slowly, "No matter what, the fact that Tan Yuwei falsely claimed to be pregnant—despite not being pregnant—and frequently visited City First Hospital to deceive Zhou Xiangyun is inherently suspicious."

And as long as there was suspicion, they had reason to bring her in.

The three of them exchanged glances. Yue Lingchuan reached out to rub her temples and said, "Let’s head back for now."

"See how Lao Zhou and the others are doing with their investigation."

Shen Qingye gave a tired nod.

·

On the way back, Jiang Cheng drove while Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan sat in the back.

At first, Shen Qingye was still thinking about the case. But as the car rocked rhythmically, her eyelids grew heavy. Noticing this, Yue Lingchuan guided her head to his shoulder.

Shen Qingye struggled to sit up, but Yue Lingchuan held her firmly. "Sleep," he said.

"We’ve got a long night ahead."

After hesitating for a moment, Shen Qingye stopped resisting.

None of them had gotten proper rest these past few days, and they really needed to nap now—otherwise, they’d be too exhausted to function later.

She burrowed her cheek against Yue Lingchuan’s shoulder and mumbled, "Then I’ll rest for an hour. You should sleep too."

If she was busy, Yue Lingchuan was even busier.

Without waiting for his response, she glanced at Jiang Cheng in the front seat and added, "Brother Jiang, I’ll take the wheel later. You should rest too."

Their relationship hadn’t been explicitly disclosed to the rest of the team. Like those two oblivious guys Wei Zhengyi and Luo Kaiyang, who still hadn’t caught on, assuming their closeness was just due to being colleagues, Shen Qingye hadn’t felt the need to explain. But perceptive ones like Zhou Qiming and Jiang Cheng had long noticed the chemistry between them, so Shen Qingye didn’t put on airs and was more physically comfortable with Yue Lingchuan.

Jiang Cheng opened his mouth to say something, but Shen Qingye had already made the decision. "Alright, I’ll rest now. Wake me in an hour, Brother Jiang."

Through the rearview mirror, Jiang Cheng watched her close her eyes and finally relented with a quiet "Alright."

As a man, he instinctively wanted to look out for the women on the team—not out of any romantic feelings, but simply due to how he was raised.

But as Yue Lingchuan had once said, Shen Qingye was a woman, but she was also a police officer.

She didn’t need special treatment.

In fact, she outperformed most of them.

Jiang Cheng kept his focus on the road, his expression as calm and reserved as ever.

An hour later, Jiang Cheng woke her up as scheduled. Shen Qingye took a deep breath, cracked the window to let the cool air wake herself up, and then switched places with Jiang Cheng.

She forced Yue Lingchuan to keep resting, while Jiang Cheng sat beside him and slowly closed his eyes.

By the time they returned to the station, it was past eight, and the sky had darkened completely.

On the entire third floor, only the third team’s office still had lights on.

Team One had just finished their case a couple of days ago and were taking some time off, while Team Two was at a critical juncture. Since no one was back yet, they were probably still out on fieldwork.

As soon as the office door opened, the smell of ramen hit them. Zhou Qiming, Wei Zhengyi, and Luo Kaiyang were slurping their noodles and glanced up at the noise, mumbling between bites, "Back already? Had dinner? There are a few more cups of noodles over there—grab some if you want."

The three of them had only managed one quick meal all day and were genuinely starving by now. Without hesitation, they grabbed the thermos and started making their noodles.

Three minutes later, the noodles were ready. No one minded as they tore into them, slurping loudly, even finishing every last drop of the broth.

Once the bowls were empty, everyone finally caught their breath, wiping their mouths with napkins. Yue Lingchuan asked, "How’s the investigation into the Wu family going?"

Zhou Qiming sprawled lazily in his chair and replied, "Pretty much done."

"There aren’t many people left in the Wu family—just Wu Yuehua and Tan Yuwei. Their backgrounds were easy enough to dig into."

"Wu Yuehua built himself up from nothing. He started his company right after college, dealing in household chemical products. The business has done alright over the years, and he’s made a name for himself locally."

"Opinions about him in the business world are mixed. Some say he’s a decent partner—efficient and generous. But as a friend? Not so much. He’s stingy—never once picked up the tab when they went out, always letting others pay."

"Others say he’s got some integrity. When one company ran into trouble and couldn’t cover their cash flow, Wu Yuehua stepped in to help them stay afloat, which is why they’re still around today."

"Anyway, the rumors are all over the place, but nothing too damaging. I also looked into their marital relationship, and it’s pretty much as you guessed, boss."

"Everyone says they’ve been married for years but never had kids of their own."

"At first, Wu Yuehua wasn’t too worried. He figured it’d happen eventually—he was healthy, after all. But as the years dragged on and he hit his late thirties with no sign of a child, he started getting anxious."

"They’ve been to countless hospitals over the years, done all kinds of tests, taken all kinds of medicine—nothing worked. Eventually, Wu Yuehua got so desperate he decided to take matters into his own hands and started seeing other women, probably thinking that no matter what, he had to have his own child."

"But it didn’t take long for Tan Yuwei to find out. She showed up at one of his places and had a huge fight with him. Even though she made a scene, Wu Yuehua had already made up his mind. He placated her to her face but kept doing what he wanted behind her back."

"For a while, it was like a game of cat and mouse—Wu Yuehua hiding his lovers, Tan Yuwei hunting them down, and then causing scenes whenever she found one."

"At one point, things got ugly. Apparently, one of Wu Yuehua’s girlfriends got pregnant, and he was over the moon—until Tan Yuwei tracked down the love nest. Another fight broke out, and the girlfriend got dragged into it. In the chaos, Tan Yuwei shoved her down the stairs, and she lost the baby on the spot."

"Wu Yuehua was furious. He lashed out at Tan Yuwei and even threatened divorce. She was terrified but refused to back down. They’ve been stuck in this stalemate ever since, with Wu Yuehua barely even coming home anymore."

"As for Tan Yuwei, all this drama ruined her reputation in high-society circles. Fewer and fewer people wanted anything to do with her. But she didn’t care—she just kept traveling all over to see doctors and occasionally causing scenes with Wu Yuehua’s mistresses."