Chapter 413: This Leg Can't Be Broken

Do foreigners have privileges and preferential treatment in the country?

That depends on the situation.

He injured someone with a gun right here in the country, so the only "preferential treatment" he gets is having the Ministry of State Security send someone to handle it personally.

Another day passed, and Yu Dazhang still hadn't woken up.

However, he had been transferred from a regular ward to a special care ward.

A senior leader from the provincial department came to the hospital in person to visit the patient, and even made a point of checking in with the hospital's leadership. With that connection in place, the hospital naturally didn't dare slack off.

So over these two days, the doctors came in frequently to run checks.

But after multiple examinations and consultations, the doctors found that all his vital signs were perfectly normal.

Steady breathing, strong heartbeat—every indicator showed that there was nothing wrong with his body.

That was starting to get frustrating.

Faced with Lu Zhongxin's questions, they couldn't offer a definitive explanation either.

The reason they finally gave, helplessly, was: he's too tired.

Perhaps the patient had endured too much fatigue and stress before, causing his body and brain to need more time to recover.

Though the reason sounded a bit far-fetched, the doctors had done their best.

They really couldn't come up with anything better.

Songhai.

Yisheng Group.

Qu Tuotuo sat behind her desk, scrolling with her mouse as she looked at the stock trend chart displayed on the computer.

Judging from her expression, she seemed a little disappointed and irritated.

Yet the stock trend chart on the screen clearly showed an excellent upward trend.

After a moment, her gaze left the computer screen and she picked up her phone from the desk.

"Bastard, why did you turn your phone off!" she growled at the phone in frustration.

She then dialed that familiar number again, and the reply was still the same electronic prompt:

"The number you have dialed is powered off. Please try again later."

Qu Tuotuo had tried to reach Yu Dazhang the night before last, but he never picked up even after the ringtone finished.

She figured Yu Dazhang was working, so she didn't keep calling.

This had happened before—in her view, it was perfectly normal for a criminal investigator to mute his phone during a case.

But when she tried to reach him again the next evening, Qu Tuotuo discovered that Yu Dazhang had actually turned his phone off.

That had never happened before.

Can a criminal investigator just turn his phone off?

Maybe he lost his phone... With that guess in mind, Qu Tuotuo held back for another night.

But when she called again this morning and it was still off, she finally couldn't sit still.

Could he have blocked me? Even that thought popped into Qu Tuotuo's head.

They say the girls over in Province N are passionate as fire—could this bastard be...

The more she thought about it, the more her mind wandered off track, and the more anxious she became.

Leaving her desk, Qu Tuotuo began pacing back and forth across the room.

"I told him about my brother's situation before—could he have misunderstood?"

She was already starting to replay the conversations she'd had with Yu Dazhang, trying to find the reason he'd gone silent.

"It probably wasn't because of that." Qu Tuotuo shook her head and dismissed that guess.

At the time, Yu Dazhang had even helped her reach the economic crime investigation unit, and from his tone she hadn't picked up any displeasure.

So why had he suddenly stopped responding to her?

There was one more possibility...

Something happened to him!

Once that thought surfaced, Qu Tuotuo felt as if something had slammed hard into her heart, leaving her so stifled she could barely breathe.

Her palms began to sweat too, and she clenched her fists tightly.

Recalling the scene of Yu Dazhang being ambushed, and the savage faces of those brutal thugs before they died, Qu Tuotuo trembled all over as an inexplicable fear welled up inside her.

His job, his personality... both destined him to attract a lot of trouble.

That kind of retaliation, once it happens, will happen again.

The more Qu Tuotuo thought about it, the more frightened she became. Finally, she gritted her teeth hard and forced herself to calm down.

Was there any other way to find him?

She quickly searched her mind for people connected to Yu Dazhang.

If she couldn't reach him, contacting his parents was definitely out too.

That left only Ye Zhiyu and the criminal investigators at Hongkou Sub-bureau.

With that thought, she immediately called Ye Zhiyu.

"Where are you?"

"Human Resources."

"Come to my office."

Two minutes later, Ye Zhiyu knocked and walked in, just in time to see Qu Tuotuo standing in the room.

Before he could say anything, Qu Tuotuo immediately asked:

"Do you have any other way to get in touch with Yu Dazhang?"

Other channels? Ye Zhiyu was momentarily stunned.

Can't we reach him through normal channels?

They seemed to be playing some new kind of game, but there was no need to drag him along to play with them.

Seeing the blank look on Ye Zhiyu's face, Qu Tuotuo hurriedly explained:

"He's lost contact. Since the day before yesterday, I haven't been able to reach him."

"That can't be right." Ye Zhiyu was somewhat skeptical:

"As a criminal police officer, his phone should be on 24 hours a day."

Saying so, he took out his phone and dialed.

Upon hearing the electronic tone, Ye Zhiyu fell silent.

Unlike Qu Tuotuo, he didn't share such complicated feelings with Yu Dazhang, so he immediately judged that the other party had very likely had an accident.

"President Qu, don't panic for now."

Ye Zhiyu panicked.

The first thing he thought was, if Yu Dazhang really had an accident, he would most likely have to go back to sorting parcels.

This thick thigh absolutely couldn't break!

"Last time I went out with him to handle a case, I exchanged phone numbers with two of his colleagues."

Ye Zhiyu immediately thought of Ma Jian and Liu Miao. As he spoke, he was scrolling through his contacts:

"I'll call them and ask—maybe I can find him."

Hearing this, Qu Tuotuo hurriedly nodded in agreement, while also making a decision in her heart: if there was a chance, she would also add the contact info of Yu Dazhang's colleagues.

Soon, Ye Zhiyu dialed Liu Miao.

The moment the call connected, he asked urgently:

"Are you with Yu Dazhang?"

"No." Liu Miao on the other end answered somewhat evasively:

"I'm also here in Province N, but I'm not with him at the moment."

In fact, Liu Miao was hesitating.

He knew Ye Zhiyu was calling to ask about Yu Dazhang's situation, and he couldn't quite decide whether he should tell the other party the truth.

So far, even the Hongkou Branch Bureau didn't know Yu Dazhang had been injured.

The Provincial Bureau had discussed it with Lu Zhongxin and the other three. Since Yu Dazhang's injuries weren't serious, they decided to temporarily not tell the Songhai side, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

They were well aware that Yu Dazhang was a hot commodity at the Hongkou Branch Bureau, and even at the Municipal Bureau.

If they knew he was injured in Province N and unconscious, Songhai would definitely have to make some move.

First, to hold someone accountable.

Second, they wouldn't agree to let Yu Dazhang continue staying in Province N.

If things really turned sour, it wouldn't be good for either side.

So the Provincial Bureau put forward a relatively prudent suggestion: wait until Yu Dazhang woke up, then notify the Songhai side.

By then, Yu Dazhang's body would be out of danger, and Songhai naturally wouldn't react too violently.

"I can't reach him right now, so I can only ask you."

Ye Zhiyu asked tentatively:

"Did something happen to him?"

From Liu Miao's somewhat halting tone, he had already guessed the gist of it.

When it came to psychological warfare, ten Liu Miaos couldn't match Ye Zhiyu.

"Nothing's wrong." Liu Miao answered ambiguously:

"Handling cases—how could everything always go smoothly?"

Liu Miao was a meticulous person, but that didn't mean he was good at lying.

And Ye Zhiyu's questions came straight on, like a sharp sword, leaving him no room to dodge.

So Liu Miao could only find excuses to stall.

"Yu Dazhang is injured!"

Ye Zhiyu suddenly raised his voice, his tone carrying both questioning and anxiety:

"Where is he hurt? Is it serious?!"

(End of this chapter)