NOS Chapter 14

Chapter 14 Huangsha Ridge (1)

The “Teacher Wang” that Na Fei mentioned was precisely Wang Meng, Professor Wang, whom Guan Ning had mentioned at home the day before.

She had just turned fifty this year, but her hair was still black and shiny, and there weren’t many wrinkles on her face. She looked no more than thirty-something.

Guan Ning and the other small nurses who were assigned to Za Mu Er Municipal Hospital for practical training were extremely afraid of this stern and serious expert teacher. Whenever they had the chance to take a detour, they would never meet her face-to-face.

That morning, just as Guan Ning and her colleague were hiding in the corner of the stairs, gossiping about that Professor Wang behind her back, they ran into Yu Chunming.

“Hey, aren’t you the one from my house the night before yesterday…” Guan Ning didn’t even know his name yet.

Yu Chunming replied gently, “My surname is Yu.”

“Uncle Yu,” Guan Ning said a little embarrassedly, “Are you here to…”

“Where’s your Teacher Wang? Is she still at the nurse’s station?” Yu Chunming asked.

“It doesn’t seem like she’s there,” Guan Ning exchanged a look with her colleague and replied, “She might be sitting in the doctor’s office. She just finished evaluating us.”

Yu Chunming nodded and was about to go inside. After taking two steps, he turned back to Guan Ning and said, “I’ll talk to her for you later.”

“Thank you, Uncle Yu!” Guan Ning, who had been shy just now, instantly burst into a happy smile.

Za Mu Er Municipal Hospital was small, and there weren’t many patients inside. Right now, the corridor was deserted, with only a few elderly people occasionally passing by.

When Yu Chunming knocked on the door and entered the room, Wang Meng was inside reprimanding a young nurse who had made a mistake in her practical training. The director of the nursing department of Za Mu Er Municipal Hospital was standing by listening, and the expressions on all three faces didn’t look pleasant.

However, Wang Meng immediately showed a smile when she saw Yu Chunming for the first time. She put down the teaching aids, stood up, and signaled the others to leave. Yu Chunming quickly stepped aside to make way for them.

“How have you been these past two days? Are you still experiencing tinnitus?” Wang Meng asked with concern.

Yu Chunming lowered his eyes and stood by the door, not moving. “It’s much better. No more tinnitus.”

“Headaches?” Wang Meng asked again.

“No headaches,” Yu Chunming replied.

Wang Meng sighed and waved her hand, saying, “Come here.”

Yu Chunming hesitated for a moment, then slowly walked up to Wang Meng.

“Sit down and let me see. You’re so tall. What can I see if you’re standing?” Wang Meng said.

Yu Chunming obediently sat down in front of Wang Meng, then took off his coat, exposing the scar on the back of his neck to her view.

“The tinnitus before should have been caused by bumping into the old wound, but it’s hard to say whether the bump affected the inside. When Old Wu was here a few days ago, I kept telling you to come and see him, but you always said you were busy and wouldn’t come. Now that Old Wu has returned to Songlan, with Za Mu Er’s medical conditions, who can figure out what’s wrong with you?” Wang Meng complained.

Yu Chunming replied, “It’s already better. It’s nothing.”

“This bruise hasn’t even faded yet.” Wang Meng took out some medicine from the cabinet. “You police officers, don’t you know to be careful? You’re always bumping and bruising yourselves. Your dad was the same way, not a single good spot on his body. Tell me, with a body full of injuries and illnesses, why did you have to come to Za Mu Er? Your sister was asking about you a few days ago, saying you didn’t even bother to send her a message…”

Yu Chunming sat there without moving or speaking.

“Come on, let me put some medicine on you,” Wang Meng said.

Yu Chunming didn’t object. He turned his head to the side, letting Wang Meng apply the cold medicine to his neck.

“Have you really not had a headache recently?” Wang Meng didn’t believe Yu Chunming’s words.

But Yu Chunming still gave the same answer. He said, “No headaches.”

Wang Meng put down the medicine bottle and reached out to feel his pocket, but Yu Chunming dodged backward, but still let Wang Meng find her target.

However, there was nothing in his pocket – he had left the painkillers in the office.

So, Wang Meng had no choice but to withdraw her hand with some suspicion and examine Yu Chunming’s face. “How long haven’t you slept?”

Yu Chunming honestly replied, “The case has been busy these past few days. It’ll be better once this is over.”

“What about smoking? Are you still smoking?” Wang Meng asked accurately.

Yu Chunming’s expression didn’t change. “I quit.”

These words completely made Wang Meng laugh. She looked at Yu Chunming’s calm and composed profile and took a deep breath. “Come here, let me smell you.”

“Auntie…”

“Didn’t you quit?” Wang Meng sized him up.

Yu Chunming touched the tip of his nose and forced out two words, “Trying to.”

Wang Meng looked at him helplessly.

And Yu Chunming just wanted to escape from this place as soon as possible. He quickly put on his clothes and stood up as if his butt was on fire. “If there’s nothing else, then I’ll…”

“Don’t go. I have something to say to you,” Wang Meng didn’t give him any face.

Yu Chunming was as if facing a formidable enemy. Before Wang Meng could speak, he started rambling, “Oh right, that nurse Guan Ning in this department is the niece of a friend of mine. She wanted me to help her say something so you wouldn’t fail her evaluation.”

Wang Meng raised an eyebrow. “What friend?”

Yu Chunming looked natural. “A colleague at work, my leader.”

Obviously, the word “leader” interrupted Wang Meng’s wild thoughts. She didn’t ask any further and instead asked, “How have you been considering what I told you before?”

Yu Chunming replied decisively, “I’m not leaving.”

Wang Meng looked at him quietly, without speaking for a long time.

“Besides being a police officer, I don’t know how to do anything else, and I don’t want to do anything else. Of course, if Deputy Director Yu decides to fire me from the police force, I also…”

“Chunming,” Wang Meng interrupted this cold sentence. She softened her tone and said, “I said that before, not because of your dad, but for you.”

Yu Chunming was silent for a moment, then replied, “I understand, but no matter what, I won’t take off that police uniform.”

After speaking, he said to Wang Meng, “Auntie, I’m leaving first.”

Guan Ning was standing at the corner of the corridor waiting. The little girl looked at Yu Chunming expectantly and asked, “Did Professor Wang agree?”

Yu Chunming nodded. “Agreed.”

Guan Ning breathed a sigh of relief. She lowered her head and clasped her hands together. “That’s great. My grades weren’t good to begin with. If I fail the practical training, I won’t be able to get my diploma. My uncle will break my legs!”

Yu Chunming raised the corners of his mouth. “Your uncle is so good to you. How could he break your legs?”

“Oh, Uncle Yu, you don’t know,” Guan Ning was naive and had no defensive intentions toward Yu Chunming, who was also a police officer. She said whatever came to mind, especially when facing her “savior.” With a worried look on her face, she said, “Before, when I was in junior high school, a boy in our grade was chasing me. He was sending me home at night when my uncle saw him. Oh my, he was so angry at the time that he almost caught my classmate and locked him up in their station.”

Yu Chunming laughed.

Guan Ning pouted, tugging at the oversized nurse’s uniform she was wearing, and indirectly asked, “Uncle Yu, why don’t you give me some advice and find a way to let my uncle let me go out and explore?”

Yu Chunming immediately took a step back. “I don’t have that ability. Your uncle…doesn’t like me very much.”

“He doesn’t like you? Why?” Guan Ning joked, “Could it be that he’s jealous that you’re better looking than him?”

Yu Chunming was speechless. He waved his hand and said, “Maybe that’s really it. I’ll ask him when I get back.”

At noon that day, Guan Yao, who didn’t know that he had been talked about, hadn’t woken up yet. He vaguely turned over on the recliner and faintly heard the sound of talking coming from the research and evaluation room over there.

“Everyone be quiet,” Han Chen said with some irritability, stopping the chaotic discussion. He looked at Wang Zun, the deputy director of the Linchang Police Station, and placed the newly received document on the table. “This morning, the Songlan Municipal Bureau sent a letter to our regional bureau, saying that a case from last year has new developments. The regional bureau sent a notice, requiring Za Mu Er to cooperate with the investigation. Who was the criminal police officer who was responsible for this case last year? Let him continue to follow up.”

Wang Zun took the notice and scanned it up and down. “Oh, this case, I know. The one who participated in the investigation last year was…”

“Guan Yao!” He opened the door and shouted to the person sleeping in that corner.

Coincidentally, Yu Chunming walked into the office at this time. He heard the deputy director wave to Guan Yao. “There’s been movement on the account you were keeping an eye on before.”

Yu Chunming immediately stopped in his tracks.

Which account was Wang Zun talking about? Before Guan Yao could open his mouth to ask, Yu Chunming realized that what he was talking about was the account that He Wang, the missing owner of the South Mansion Neighborhood in the 6.13 dismemberment case in Songlan, had opened at Za Mu Er Bank.

And just this morning at 10:30, tens of thousands of dollars in the account had been withdrawn in full.

Half-asleep, Guan Yao blinked hard, saw the words on the notice clearly, and muttered, “Songlan 6.13 dismemberment case.”

“I’ll go with you,” Yu Chunming said before Meng Changqing could stick his head out. “I was in charge of this case before. I know what He Wang looks like.”

Guan Yao was stunned for a moment and suddenly remembered Yu Chunming’s actions of interrogating Liu Bin in the morning. He gasped and subconsciously muttered to himself, “The money in the account was moved at this time. Could the two cases really be related?”

“Whether there’s a connection or not, we’ll know once we go,” Yu Chunming looked up at Han Chen. That person was sitting in the research and evaluation room with a serious face, seemingly deliberately avoiding someone’s gaze.

Guan Yao put on his clothes and glanced at Yu Chunming’s pale face again. “Didn’t you go back to sleep for a while?”

“Slept,” Yu Chunming unhurriedly flipped out his belt and buckled it, then took the car keys that Meng Changqing handed over.

“I’ll drive,” Guan Yao grabbed the keys. “I’m more familiar with the area around Za Mu Er Bank than you are.”

He was indeed more familiar with Yu Chunming, even though Yu Chunming had gone there dozens of times without his knowledge, but Za Mu Er Bank, this building that stood next to the Linchang Staff Family Compound, Guan Yao passed by its door almost every day.

“I told the people at the bank before that once someone went to the counter to move this account, they should notify me immediately,” Guan Yao said after confirming that he hadn’t received any information all morning. “Since no one notified me, then the money was taken out from the ATM. In Za Mu Er, besides the one in front of the bank, there’s one at the Shanyuan Street branch and one in front of the train station.”

“Train station. The address where he withdrew the money is most likely the train station,” Yu Chunming’s eyes darkened.

Guan Yao nodded. “There’s less than half an hour before the train departs. Passengers should already be lining up to board the train.”

As he spoke, Yu Chunming took out his phone and called Han Chen. Without waiting for the other side to speak, he said mercilessly, “Send a request to the regional bureau, asking Songlan to investigate the case together, and then send people over to assist.”

After speaking, he added, “I already had Liu Bin look at Yi Jun’s image data this morning. Remember to add this to my report later.”

Hearing this, Guan Yao laughed aside, “You’re really not polite to him… Vice Team Leader Han, in the end, is considered a superior.”

“In Songlan, I was his superior,” Yu Chunming replied.

Guan Yao didn’t speak anymore.

Soon, the car drove to the front of the Za Mu Er train station. Right now, there were no trains arriving or departing, so the area in front of the station was empty.

The two quickly climbed the steps. Guan Yao went straight to the monitoring room, while Yu Chunming crossed the security check and entered the waiting hall.

The only entrance to the station had already started checking tickets. Passengers filed in one after another. Amidst the noise, the ticket gates beeped from time to time, and the manual channel was crowded because of this.

And in this chaos, Yu Chunming caught sight of a familiar face at a glance.

But at the same time, that familiar face also saw him.