Chapter 96: The Cold White Robe

Yu Dazhang would rather risk charging into danger than handle a case like this.

This sense of helplessness made him feel deeply stifled.

Having no money for treatment is helplessness.

Hospitals are not charitable institutions; that too is helplessness.

And this situation is not an isolated case; one could say people experience this helplessness every single day.

After comforting the little girl for a while until she fell asleep again, Yu Dazhang finally left the ward.

From beginning to end, Liu Ying never put down the picture frame.

Inside the frame was a group photo of Liu Ying's family of three.

In the photo, she was held in her parents' arms, and happy, sweet smiles beamed on all three of their faces.

After coming outside, Yu Dazhang found a bench in the corridor and sat down.

He wanted to smoke... His mood was so terrible at that moment that he wanted to light a cigarette to relieve his emotions.

About half an hour later, Ma Jian called.

"Nothing found. There is no check-in registration information for them in the online system."

"Did you check the previous ones?" Yu Dazhang asked.

"Checked." Ma Jian spoke very quickly:

"I checked the last month. They definitely did not register in Songhai."

"Then where are they staying?" This question was both for Ma Jian and for Yu Dazhang himself.

It is more likely they are staying in those small inns.

In 2014, many small inns in Songhai allowed check-ins without ID cards, but the accommodation conditions were extremely poor.

They didn't even have windows; the damp, moldy air was suffocating.

Those with poor physical constitution could easily suffocate inside.

There is another possibility: staying in the park.

Given Songhai's current temperature, staying in the park is better than staying in those small inns; at least one can breathe fresh air.

There is just one downside: it hurts the waist.

Park benches are not that easy to lie on; if you doubt it, go try sleeping there for a night.

"How about..." Ma Jian hesitated and said on the other end:

"We go look in the small inns?"

"No." Yu Dazhang immediately thought that was unreliable:

"The workload is too huge; it's not something the two of us can complete."

Not to mention all of Songhai, just the small inns in Hongkou District number in the hundreds; even if the two of them ran their legs off, they couldn't screen them all.

The case is too small; applying to mobilize police forces for a city-wide screening would definitely not be approved.

"Mobilize police forces to search, then what are the two of you for?!" The leader only needed to say this one sentence to shut them down.

"Tomorrow then." Yu Dazhang had no other options either.

Cases like this cannot be solved just by rushing to find the people.

If it won't work in a short time, then put it aside for a bit; he didn't believe that couple would never return home.

Tomorrow, he would inform the police station in their residential area to pay closer attention recently.

If they return home, they will be taken into custody.

For now, this is the only option; continue the stakeout here. If they come to the hospital, it will be even simpler.

Blocking both sides; many cases are solved by waiting out the time.

Yu Dazhang stayed at the hospital until ten o'clock at night, when a nurse later informed him he must leave.

The Zhuyuan Force closes its access control at ten o'clock at night and refuses all visitors.

This is a private hospital, so the hours are somewhat more lenient.

If it were a public hospital, people are usually not allowed entry or exit by eight or nine o'clock.

For the next two days, Yu Dazhang went to the Mental Health Service Center for psychological counseling in the morning, and after coming out, he went to the hospital to continue the stakeout.

He didn't catch the person, but he got to know Liu Ying better and better.

The little girl was very sensible; even when she was in terrible pain, she always gritted her teeth and endured it, never showing it in front of Yu Dazhang.

The more she did this, the more distressed Yu Dazhang felt.

He had a feeling that Liu Ying's parents were nearby; they never thought of leaving their daughter. The reason they committed abandonment was perhaps just to find a path to life for their daughter.

During these two days at the hospital, he also gained some understanding of Liu Ying's condition.

Liu Ying suffers from pediatric encephalitis, and it is the more severe type.

Both the mortality rate and the disability rate are relatively high; for children, it belongs to the category of major illnesses.

Just on the third night since Yu Dazhang arrived at the hospital, Liu Ying's condition suddenly worsened, with a high fever that would not subside.

He originally thought the doctors would treat her in time, but the medical staff did not appear for a long time.

He went to the nurse's station to inquire and learned that the hospital had no intention of continuing treatment at all.

"In this situation, you won't continue treatment?" Yu Dazhang asked the female nurse who had reported the case earlier.

His tone was very urgent, but his eyes were calm.

The hospital should have relevant regulations and procedures for treating abandoned infants, even if it is a private hospital.

This was not Yu Dazhang guessing; he had handled similar cases in his previous life.

Please... you... collect... 6... 9... Book... Bar...!

"Please do not disturb our work." The female nurse looked very impatient and replied perfunctorily:

"If a patient has outstanding fees, even continuing treatment has to follow the regulations."

Such a cold look in her eyes… Yu Dazhang's heart went cold at the look she gave him.

If someone frequently encounters this kind of thing because of work, it would indeed make a person numb.

But numbness and coldness are not the same thing.

Numbness means being insensitive to something, slow to react.

Coldness, on the other hand, means not caring at all anymore.

Can a female nurse really be so indifferent to life? Is that normal?

He, a criminal police officer, couldn't do it himself… Yu Dazhang suddenly realized that compared to this nurse, he was nothing but a little white rabbit.

"That child is running a high fever. At the very least, you should bring her fever down first."

Yu Dazhang could never be indifferent to life.

This isn't being a busybody — it's human instinct.

"Officer, do you understand pathology? Do you know what it means to prescribe the right medicine for the illness?"

The nurse's tone grew sharper and sharper, even somewhat caustic:

"If the wrong medicine is used, who takes the responsibility? There are many causes for a high fever — it's not something that can be solved just by giving a fever-reducing drug."

There was nothing wrong with what she said either.

It was just that hearing the nurse say it at this moment struck Yu Dazhang as oddly off.

He truly knew nothing about medicine, but at least he knew you couldn't let someone keep burning with fever.

What's more, it was a six-year-old child.

But before he could speak again, the nurse had already hardened her face:

"Please stop interfering with our work."

After saying that, she turned around and ignored Yu Dazhang.

Is it that my heart is too soft, or is your hospital heartless… Yu Dazhang looked at the lavishly decorated pediatrics ward and couldn't help shivering.

Seeing that the other party had already ignored him, he could only leave.

Sitting down on a bench in the corridor, Yu Dazhang felt as if a stone were lodged in his chest, the pressure unbearable.

Ma Jian walked over at that moment.

"Dazhang, I've finished eating. You go ahead."

These past two days they had been taking turns eating, to make sure someone was always watching the hospital room.

"Oh, alright." Yu Dazhang answered vaguely.

Going outside the hospital, he found a noodle shop at random and ordered a bowl of clear broth noodles.

Normally at this hour he would be starving, but today, looking at the steaming hot noodles, he had no appetite at all.

Not only did his chest feel blocked, Yu Dazhang found his throat was blocked too.

Just as he was staring blankly at the noodles, the phone in his pocket rang.

The moment he answered, Qu Tuotuo's voice came through:

"Can't you take the initiative to call me once?"

(End of chapter)