Chapter 414: Guo An's Questioning

In his view, what Liu Miao had just said was tantamount to telling him that Yu Dazhang had run into trouble.

What trouble could a criminal investigator run into, if not injury or corruption?

He still knew Yu Dazhang well enough — he wouldn't do anything that violated his principles.

Because that fatty simply had no principles to begin with.

"I never said he was injured," Liu Miao hastened to deny.

"Yes, yes, yes, it wasn't you who said it." Ye Zhiyu naturally knew what was going through his mind right now.

He wanted to speak up, but still had reservations.

So he handed him a step down directly:

"I was guessing, you didn't tell me."

At this moment, Qu Tuotuo's eyes were wide open; she looked very tense, yet forced herself to stay calm.

She stepped forward.

Coming to the side of the hand Ye Zhiyu was holding the phone with, she tilted her head and listened carefully to the voice on the line.

"Dazhang really is injured."

Seeing Ye Zhiyu being so cooperative, Liu Miao simply laid out the truth:

"He took two bullets, lost too much blood, and is still in a coma right now, but…"

Before he could finish, Qu Tuotuo snatched Ye Zhiyu's phone away and held it to her ear:

"Which hospital is he in right now?"

Her voice was tightly restrained, as if she were forcibly holding back some emotion.

When did it turn into a woman's voice… Liu Miao was stunned for a moment, but still answered instinctively:

"In Baling… Oh wait, who are you?"

"My name is Qu Tuotuo, I'm Yu Dazhang's girlfriend." She answered very formally, her tone extremely serious.

Liu Miao knew Ye Zhiyu worked at Yu Dazhang's girlfriend's place, so he had no doubts about it.

"He's at Baling City Fourth Hospital, but…"

This time Qu Tuotuo simply hung up the phone.

Liu Miao listened to the busy tone coming from his phone and suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.

Can't you let me finish what I'm saying?

Twice he had wanted to tell the other party: although Yu Dazhang was injured, the injuries weren't serious.

But each time he was cut off, so in the end he never got to say the rest.

Qu Tuotuo handed the phone back to Ye Zhiyu, immediately pulled out her own phone and dialed out:

"Book me a ticket to Baling City right now."

"Baling?" the person on the other end immediately replied:

"There's no airport there either."

Qu Tuotuo finally could no longer hold back her irritable emotions and said loudly:

"Then book me a ticket to a city near Baling, the faster the better! In short, I want to get there as fast as possible!"

"Okay, okay, I'll book it right away." The person on the other end acknowledged, then immediately hung up.

Qu Tuotuo calmed her emotions slightly, then said to Ye Zhiyu:

"Come with me."

After saying that, she quickly left the office, took the elevator up one floor, with Ye Zhiyu following close behind.

Arriving at the chairman's office, she didn't even knock, just pushed the door open and went straight in.

Ye Zhiyu hesitated, and in the end didn't dare follow her in.

Qu Tuotuo didn't bother with him either; once inside, she walked straight toward the desk.

At that moment, an executive was reporting work to Qu Wannian. Seeing Qu Tuotuo burst in with such aggressive momentum, he was momentarily at a loss.

"You, get out." Qu Tuotuo waved a hand at him.

The executive hurriedly stood up and left the office.

"What happened?" Qu Wannian asked, frowning.

He knew his daughter too well — if something big hadn't happened, she would absolutely not be this lacking in manners.

In fact, this was also the first time he had ever seen Qu Tuotuo like this.

"Dazhang's been injured." Qu Tuotuo said quickly:

"Took two bullets, lost too much blood, and is still being resuscitated right now."

What Liu Miao had said was that he was still in a coma; she had heard it directly as still being resuscitated.

It just goes to show that this kind of distortion in transmission is unavoidable.

Once a person is in an emotionally agitated state, whatever they hear automatically transforms into whatever they've imagined.

"He was shot!"

Qu Wannian's face changed drastically, and he abruptly stood up from his executive chair:

"Is his life in danger?"

Qu Tuotuo shook her head, her expression panicked:

"I'm not sure either, that's why I need to get there immediately."

After a pause, she stated the purpose of her coming here:

"I remember our group's major shareholder has a private jet — I'd like to borrow it."

Qu Wannian, who had also been very anxious, showed a hesitant look on his face upon hearing his daughter wanted to borrow the jet.

After a moment, he waved his hand:

"Just book a flight. Private jets aren't something you can just fly on—you need to file a flight plan in advance, and there are even more restrictions."

"How long does filing take?" Qu Tuotuo asked immediately.

To be honest, she'd never flown on a private jet before, so she wasn't familiar with this at all.

Qu Wannian thought for a moment, then replied:

"About one to three days."

It'd be better just to book a flight… Qu Tuotuo, unwilling to give up, pressed on:

"What if you don't file and just fly anyway?"

"That's called smuggling a flight," Qu Wannian hurriedly explained.

"If nothing happens, you get fined and jailed. If something does happen, you're basically dead. So just go to the airport like a normal person."

When she stepped out of the office, Qu Tuotuo told Ye Zhiyu, who was waiting by the door:

"Forget it. Go back. I'll go to Baling myself."

She'd originally planned to borrow a private jet and take Ye Zhiyu along—he could help her.

Now it seemed better to go alone.

That evening.

Baling Fourth Hospital.

In the intensive care ward, Li Mingzhao and Ye Lin stood beside the bed, silently watching Yu Dazhang, still unconscious.

Li Mingzhao, usually so easygoing, now had a dark expression, radiating thick malice.

Ye Lin clenched her teeth tightly, her face frozen with ice.

Hua's team stood nearby, watching cautiously, not daring to breathe.

He'd dealt with National Security colleagues before, but never ones at this level.

Put it this way—he wasn't even qualified to know the identities of these two people.

"Why did you act alone?"

Li Mingzhao asked this while staring at Yu Dazhang, but Hua's team knew the question was meant for him.

He didn't dare hide anything and answered honestly:

"The case was already moving toward closure. I don't know how he figured it out, but he suddenly ordered us to head to the port, saying the main suspect hadn't been caught yet."

Then he recounted everything he knew, exactly as it happened.

After he finished, silence fell over the ward.

After a moment, one voice broke it:

"Did you tell him to hold them off?"

Li Mingzhao's voice was as cold as ice shards, showing not a trace of warmth.

"I…"

Hua's team knew he was in the wrong, so he could only lower his head and admit:

"Yes. The situation was urgent—I panicked and…"

"You let someone else risk their life?" Li Mingzhao cut him off.

"Knowing full well they were numerous and likely armed, you still told him to hold them off?"

Li Mingzhao had turned his head now, his gaze icy as he fixed it on him.

The ward fell into dead silence again—quieter than before, even breathing audible.

Hua's team had no answer to Li Mingzhao's accusation.

He had nothing to explain—because it was true.

"Do you know," Li Mingzhao suddenly roared, "you gave him the reason to charge forward!"

At these words, Hua's team immediately looked up, stunned.

Until now, he'd had a question in his mind.

With this fatty's intelligence, he shouldn't have acted so recklessly.

Even if I told him to hold them off, to this fatty, that was at most a suggestion.

In his eyes, Yu Dazhang was someone with strong will.

No matter the situation, if he didn't want to do something, no one else's opinion could sway him, let alone determine his decision.

Hearing Li Mingzhao's words now, he suddenly understood.

Yu Dazhang had wanted to charge forward himself—but hesitated.

It was my words that removed his hesitation and gave him the reason to go.

Brother, you had your moment of glory.

But you've screwed me over… Hua's team looked at Yu Dazhang on the bed and suddenly felt ridiculous.

You can't scheme against your own comrades!

(End of Chapter)