Chapter 422: Could That Person Be Aunt Lan?

Chapter 422: Could That Person Be Aunt Lan?

Seeing how vividly the woman was describing the scene, Su He quickly stepped forward and asked, "About how old was the woman? Could you tell?"

The woman glanced at Su He, her eyes lighting up at the sight of such a pretty face.

"Miss, are you married? I have a son about your age—still single, works at the steel mill. Would you like to meet him?"

Su He: "......"

"Ma’am, I was asking about the woman you saw this morning. Do you know roughly how old she was?" Su He pressed.

"Oh, such a gruesome thing—why would a young girl like you want to know about that? How about meeting my—"

Before she could finish, a smooth voice cut in, "She's already married."

The woman turned toward the voice and gaped when she saw Fu Tinghua.

Someone recognized him and immediately greeted, "Is that Dr. Fu?"

"Dr. Fu! It really is Dr. Fu!"

"Dr. Fu, my father’s been trying to book an appointment with you but couldn’t get one."

"Same here."

"Dr. Fu, I finally get to see you in person!"

Most folks hanging around the hospital were there for medical visits, and their admiration for Dr. Fu was unmistakable.

In Wencheng, people had quietly begun calling Fu Tinghua the "Miracle Doctor."

That malpractice scandal had caused quite a stir in the city, but it only amplified Fu Tinghua's reputation.

"I’m off today. Sorry, everyone, I can’t help you right now," Fu Tinghua said before pulling Su He away.

Nobody chased after them, knowing it was his day off and not wanting to disturb him.

After all, they were afraid of annoying him—what if they finally got an appointment, and he refused to treat them?

Su He, letting herself be pulled along by Fu Tinghua, kept glancing back at the woman before turning to him and asking, "You’re done asking?"

Fu Tinghua shook his head. "They won’t tell us anything useful. Let’s go straight to the police station."

"Shouldn’t we stop by the hospital first? What if Aunt Lan’s still in the hospital—"

Before Su He could finish, Fu Tinghua suddenly said, "She checked out a week ago."

Su He stared at him in surprise.

"You—" She was at a loss for words.

If Aunt Lan truly had no connection to Dr. Fu, he wouldn’t have been keeping an eye on her.

"Yes, I’ve been keeping an eye on her. But after she checked out, I lost her trail. I figured she’d gone back to the capital." Though he sounded calm, Su He could sense the hushed urgency in his voice.

They hit the main street, where the snow was cleared, and pedicabs were still running.

Fu Tinghua hailed one, and they made a beeline for the police station.

Seeing the breakfast shops on the street, Fu Tinghua asked the tricycle driver to stop, then got off to buy some breakfast for Su He to settle her stomach.

"I'm not hungry." Su He couldn't eat much, unsure whether the victim was Aunt Lan.

"Eat quickly, or you'll hurt your stomach." Fu Tinghua reassured her, though he wasn't eating anything himself.

Noticing this, Su He broke a meat bun in half and offered it to Fu Tinghua.

After hesitating for a moment, Fu Tinghua finally took a bite.

The two made quick work of the bun and soon arrived at the nearest police station.

Generally, homicides near hospitals were handled by the closest police station.

As soon as Fu Tinghua and Su He entered, they encountered a junior police officer who had previously assisted Su He under Captain Liu's orders.

Recognizing them, the officer acknowledged them.

"Oh, Dr. Fu, Miss Su, what are you doing here? Are you reporting a case?" Given the time and place, it was obvious they were here for that reason.

Fu Tinghua glanced at him and got right to it. "Where's Captain Liu?"

The junior officer knew Captain Liu was on good terms with Fu Tinghua and his wife, but the captain was tied up at the moment.

Another homicide had occurred in Wencheng that morning, which had the mayor furious, who demanded a city-wide investigation.

Unfortunately, the heavy snowfall the night before had covered up all evidence, leaving no clues about the killer.

"Captain Liu is out handling the case right now—completely swamped, probably no time to spare. What do you need? I can pass it along," the officer replied.

"Has the identity of the victim from this morning's case near the hospital been confirmed?" Fu Tinghua asked with a frown.

A closer look would reveal his face was unusually pale.

The junior officer was surprised they were asking about the woman's body found that morning but shook his head.

"Still unidentified, and no family has come forward to report anything. Usually, we'd start by checking missing persons records. If no one reports it, we might have to conduct door-to-door inquiries. The worst part is, last night's heavy snow made patrols impossible—officers had to leave early. And in just one night, this mess happened." The officer said with frustration.

Wencheng was now under heightened security. Maintaining the city's security had already kept junior officers like him working nonstop.

With the heavy snowfall, it was impossible to maintain patrols. One night of letting up, and something happened.

The two officers on duty last night were likely to face disciplinary action, possibly even termination and a permanent blacklisting from government jobs.

Come to think of it, Wencheng People's Hospital seemed jinxed—incidents always happened nearby. Weird.

At this thought, the officer gave Fu Tinghua a strange look.

Noticing, Fu Tinghua asked, "What is it?"

The officer coughed twice and whispered, "Dr. Fu, no disrespect, but... maybe you should consider switching hospitals. That People's Hospital seems to have bad luck. You know, all of Wencheng's incidents this year happened near there..."

Su He: "..."

She could attest to that—she'd been involved in two cases.

As for Dr. Fu, there was at least one.

"The problem lies with people," Fu Tinghua replied coolly, giving the junior officer a sidelong glance.

The officer didn't press further. Seeing they weren’t leaving, he added, "You should head home for now. We don’t even know who the victim is. Waiting here won’t help. This case hasn’t reached the stage of city-wide searches yet, so identifying the deceased might take a while."