Finally, through Zhang Li's explanation, everyone finally understood the whole story.
In order to buy medicine to treat her illness, Zhang Li targeted her own husband.
The old man had been paralyzed for many years and wasn't very clear-headed. Zhang Li had been taking care of him for three years, and naturally felt resentful inside.
What's more, by comparison, her own life was clearly more important.
So Zhang Li began researching how to scam people, wanting to use the old man's life to extort money for medicine. This way she could both get rid of the old man and gain a new lease on life - truly killing two birds with one stone.
The reason for choosing a large truck was also simple - she was worried that a small car might not be enough to kill someone.
—Yes, that was her simple, unadorned thinking.
This elderly woman actually believed she still had some compassion left. Even though she was using the old man's life to get money, she didn't want him to suffer too much. So Zhang Li specifically chose a large truck, hoping it would kill him instantly on the spot without leaving any pain.
This would make it easier to negotiate compensation, and she wouldn't have to worry about him surviving with just a breath left, requiring her to spend energy taking care of him again.
Hearing Zhang Li's inner thoughts, the police officers present were completely stunned.
Zhang Li's thinking could be described as utterly vicious.
In all their years on the job, this was the first time they had encountered such a malicious elderly woman.
She talked about years of affection, but her actions showed absolutely no mercy!
After hearing this, Officer Yang fell into deep silence.
Clearly, he hadn't expected Zhang Li to be so cooperative.
—Without any exaggeration, Zhang Li was almost too cooperative.
She seemed eager to dissect all her dark thoughts and show them to everyone!
It was truly chilling to listen to.
But if that was the case, then the nature of this car accident would change again. After all, the old woman had planned murder, which constituted attempted murder. And now that she had admitted it herself, she would bear primary responsibility for this accident.
Now the main issue was the fraud case revealed by this accident, which would require careful consideration...
Just as Officer Yang was still considering the next steps, his phone suddenly rang.
Officer Yang stood up: "You first calm her emotions."
Then he walked outside.
Opening the door, Officer Yang met eyes with Xiao He.
Earlier had been police questioning, and with so many officers present, Xiao He hadn't actively joined in, instead waiting outside.
But... he had heard about ninety percent of what happened inside.
Xiao He leisurely removed his earphones, pretending ignorance as he asked Officer Yang: "Was that one of the elderly people who fled the accident scene earlier?"
Officer Yang nodded: "This case is quite complex and will require more time. Please return first and wait for news!"
Then he gestured to his ringing phone, bid farewell to Xiao He, turned and walked toward the nearby fire exit while answering the call: "It's me, yes, I'm handling this case... What? Your team took down a counterfeit drug fraud ring? What happened? Undercover journalist's work? That's fantastic! Young people these days are getting more and more impressive..."
Xiao He watched Officer Yang leave, casually turned his head, and through the transparent glass of the hospital room door, once again met eyes with the old woman inside.
The previously weeping old woman looked up and met those gloomy, icy eyes, couldn't help but shudder violently.
Xiao He curled the corners of his mouth, slowly raised his hand through the door glass, and gently tapped his own chest—right where the heart is.
He didn't make a sound, just opened his mouth, silently forming a few word shapes.
Zhang Li's pupils contracted sharply.
The next moment, she felt a sudden swelling pain in her chest, as if needles were piercing her heart, causing her face to instantly turn deathly pale.
"Ah—"
She clutched her chest and screamed in agony.
"Ah, doctor! Doctor! I really have heart disease! My heart disease is acting up! It hurts! It hurts! Ah ah ah!"
Instantly, Zhang Li was writhing in pain on the floor.
This scene completely stunned everyone.
"What, what exactly is going on here?"
Officer Ye was truly confused by this old woman's bizarre behavior now.
They had clearly examined her and found nothing wrong! She herself had said she was tricked by someone, so why was she having an attack now?
"I, I'll call a doctor right away—"
Officer Ye immediately ran out and opened the door.
Seeing Xiao He, he paused for a moment, then didn't have time to say anything, slightly nodded to show courtesy, and immediately ran to call a doctor.
Xiao He stepped aside to let Officer Ye pass, looked down at the old woman writhing in pain on the floor, showed not a trace of sympathy in his eyes, lifted his leg and leisurely walked toward the ward where Sister Liu and the others were.
Ten minutes later, the doctor who had been called back had a dark expression, looking seriously at the old woman restrained on the bed. After pondering for a moment, he said to Officer Ye beside him: "Given her condition, I recommend sending her to the psychiatry department for evaluation."
Officer Ye was stunned: "Huh? Psychiatry?"
"Yes, I suspect there's something wrong here."
The doctor tapped his own temple.
"Elderly people indeed can have such conditions. She's not actually experiencing heart pain, but phantom pain."
"Phantom pain?"
Officer Ye was amazed.
"This is psychological, the brain nerves deceiving herself, making her truly feel pain." The doctor explained, "There's nothing we can do about this situation. At most we can give her some sedatives first. As for the details, we should send her for evaluation first."
When it involves brain nerve issues, it becomes much more complex. Looking at the severity of this old woman's condition, the doctor wasn't very optimistic about her future treatment prospects.
I'm afraid this old woman would truly become a heart disease patient in the future—except while others have real conditions, hers would be psychological. Others' heart diseases might still have some control, but this old woman's "heart disease" would be completely unsolvable. She might have attacks from time to time, just like now, experiencing pain like ten thousand arrows piercing her heart, pain that drives people mad, yet without any relief, unless constantly given sedatives and sleeping pills.
This would be truly torturous...
The doctor shook his head.
He heard this old woman had committed crimes and caused many deaths.
Hehe, quite fitting—let such pain accompany her for the rest of her life! Serves her right!
-
Xiao He walked to the other end of the corridor, passed through the hall, and was about to take the elevator when he suddenly heard a man's hoarse cursing: "Where exactly have I wronged her? Where have I wronged you all? Are you deliberately trying to drive me to death?"
Xiao He slightly turned his head and, unsurprisingly, saw an old man in a wheelchair and a haggard middle-aged man by the window over there.
This old man was precisely Zhang Li's husband, that poor old man who was almost exchanged for money, and this middle-aged man was naturally their "filial son," Zhou Mingjun.
The old man seemed somewhat clearer now, struggling to lift his hand, mumbling incoherently, reaching toward the middle-aged man before him. But the middle-aged man very impatiently slapped the old man's hand away, loudly saying: "Can't you just not go out for one day? If you have to die, die at home! Why cause so much trouble? And reporting me for gambling to the company—was that your scammer son's doing? You bunch of fools, why do you always have to tell him everything? Giving that money to that scammer would be better than giving it to me! Damn it!"
The old man's hand was violently brushed aside, finally dropping powerlessly outside the wheelchair armrest, and the old man slowly lowered his head. But the son before him continued his endless complaints about him, complaining about everything in the past, until even Xiao He noticed something wrong, and he still hadn't stopped his cursing.
"What are you doing? Haven't you noticed the old man isn't right?" Xiao He immediately shouted sharply, while calling toward the outer hall, "Quick, get a doctor! This son has angered the old man to death!"
A few minutes later, Officer Yang and Officer Ye both came running over with dark expressions.
The doctor had already laid the old man flat on the ground and performed emergency treatment. Now he stood up and shook his head at Officer Yang, indicating it was hopeless.
The old master had already completely stopped breathing.
"What happened here?" Officer Yang asked gravely.
Xiao He immediately grabbed Zhou Mingjun who was trying to escape, loudly saying: "It's him! He not only cursed at this old man but also laid hands on him! He deliberately angered him to death!"
Zhou Mingjun struggled constantly. After hearing Xiao He's words, he widened his eyes and glared viciously at Xiao He: "You're talking nonsense!"
Xiao He equally coldly stared back: "Isn't that true? Then why were you so guilty you tried to run away?"
"I, I wasn't!" Zhou Mingjun immediately defended himself, "Besides, he's my father. Even if I angered him to death, it shouldn't matter, right! Dead is dead! Just cremate him casually!"
Officer Yang immediately became serious: "When you clearly knew the other person's physical condition was poor, you still maliciously cursed at the old man, even slapped his hand away. This has a high probability of causal relationship with the old man's death, possibly constituting involuntary manslaughter. This carries criminal and civil liability. Do you think your excuses here will help?"
Zhou Mingjun immediately panicked: "I didn't hit him! I just brushed his hand away! How could there be such serious consequences! You must be deliberately tricking me!"
Xiao He laughed.
This guy's shamelessness was on par with his mother's.
"This isn't up to you." Officer Yang directly shouted sternly, "Xiao Ye, take him back for investigation!"
"Oh right, I just heard him mention gambling. Officer Yang, you should investigate that thoroughly too." Xiao He's voice added cuttingly, "Seems he also said he's management at a big company? Gambling addicts have no conscience—he might have embezzled company funds. Better check that out."
Zhou Mingjun's eyes nearly burst with rage, wanting to tear Xiao He apart: "You!!!"
Xiao He shrugged: "Me what me, go talk to your prison meals!"
Then he gave his statement to Officer Yang, turned and left, leaving everyone with only a dashing silhouette.
Officer Ye scratched his head, quite emotional: "Xiao He... is truly a great person!"
Officer Yang sighed: "Truly, one wave hasn't settled before another rises."
No rest tonight—overtime it is!
...
Xiao He returned to the ward.
Only now it was very late, and both Xiao Chen and Liu Rulan were already asleep.
Only the young assistant left by Guo Xinya was still keeping watch on a chair.
Xiao He's eyes softened considerably. He picked up a mirror, carefully examined his own eyes and expression, making sure he had composed himself, then pushed the door open and walked in.
"I'll take over, you go back first."
He patted the young assistant's shoulder.
The young assistant immediately woke up, quickly shaking her head, saying quietly: "Sister Xinya said I should keep watch. Brother Xiao, you just came from the accident today, you must be very tired too. You should rest for a while first."
Xiao He was actually somewhat exhausted.
He had used psychological suggestion many times today, feeling this thing was indeed somewhat mysterious and very energy-consuming.
Plus he had been busy filming all day at the set, he was truly very tired now.
So Xiao He didn't stand on ceremony too much, directly nodded, didn't even take off his jacket, and lay down on the empty hospital bed beside them to sleep.