Chapter 411 — You Think I'm a Fortune-Teller?

"Wei Zhao, I've got real business with you!" Qiu Lingshan gritted her teeth, pulled open the passenger door of Wei Zhao's car, and climbed in.

Whatever the reason—whether Wei Zhao had stumbled onto the truth by luck or simply blundered into it like a blind cat pouncing on a dead mouse—he had cracked those earlier cases all the same. So now that Qiu Lingshan had run into him again, and the fellow was still as cocky as ever, she might as well make use of him one more time and see whether he could pull it off again.

"Oh? What business?" Wei Zhao rolled his eyes. She had just finished cursing him out, and now she was here asking him for a favor? The inner workings of this woman's brain really were something else. "If it's real business, don't come to me. I'm pressed for time."

"..." Qiu Lingshan's big, liquid eyes went wide. What did he mean, don't come to him for real business? Did that mean the only way to get his help was with something that wasn't real business?

"You've got one minute. Talk." Wei Zhao parked the car in the hospital lot. Someone came over to collect the parking fee, and Wei Zhao casually gestured at Qiu Lingshan. "This is our Captain Song. She's here on a case..."

The attendant knew there had been a case near the hospital, so after one glance at the police uniform Qiu Lingshan was wearing, she slipped a free-parking tag behind Wei Zhao's windshield and turned to go.

It wasn't that Wei Zhao begrudged her the few yuan for parking. The real issue was that the old woman had overcharged him five yuan last time. He had parked for one hour, but she insisted he had parked for two, and she had even smugly pulled out the slip with the time written on it from his windshield and pointed at it for him to see.

Wei Zhao knew perfectly well that she must have deliberately written the time earlier when he parked, but he couldn't be bothered to argue with her, so he simply paid and left.

Still, lunch break at his school was only an hour in total—how could he possibly have parked for two? This time Qiu Lingshan was right there beside him, so Wei Zhao seized the chance to borrow a little of the tiger's majesty.

Qiu Lingshan had no idea about any of this. Seeing Wei Zhao use her to save five yuan on parking, she shot him a rather contemptuous glare. "There have been several cases lately of beggars, vagrants and disabled people being abducted, having a kidney cut out, and then being dumped at the hospital entrance. Did you know about that?"

"I think I heard something about it on the news..." Wei Zhao had been listening to the radio while driving that morning, and it seemed they had mentioned it, though he hadn't paid much attention. Matters that had nothing to do with him rarely got much of his notice.

"What do you make of it? Do you know who the culprit is?" Qiu Lingshan asked.

Wei Zhao gave Qiu Lingshan a strange look. "I don't think that's a question you should be asking me..."

"Oh?" Qiu Lingshan was taken aback.

"You think I'm a fortune-teller who can see the future? That question of yours can only be answered by an immortal." Wei Zhao shrugged. "All right, talking to you is a real waste of time. I'm off."

"Wait.!" Qiu Lingshan caught hold of Wei Zhao. "Then how did you catch those bank robbers last time?"

"How I caught them last time, I already told you!" Wei Zhao was getting impatient. But unless he explained himself clearly, Qiu Lingshan was not going to let him go, so he could only force himself to be patient. "If you want me to help you catch a criminal, fine, but you have to give me a range. Only once you've pinned these things down can I help you! Otherwise I really would have to be a god!"

Qiu Lingshan thought it over. Wei Zhao was right. If he knew everything, then he really would be a fortune-teller!

"Then I'll come find you once I have a lead!" Qiu Lingshan let Wei Zhao go, somewhat unwillingly.

"Good." Wei Zhao nodded, got out of the car, and walked into the hospital.

Qiu Lingshan followed Wei Zhao toward the hospital as well. She wanted to check on Liu Bojia's condition and ask the doctor whether there was still any hope of him waking up.

The ** on guard outside Liu Bojia's ward all rose to their feet and saluted when they saw Qiu Lingshan arrive. "Captain Song!"

Qiu Lingshan waved a hand. "Is the doctor here?"

"The doctor is in the office. Shall I take you there, Captain Song?" one of the ** said.

Qiu Lingshan nodded and followed the ** to the doctor's office, where the ** introduced her. "This is Dr. Yang, Liu Bojia's attending physician."

"Hello, Dr. Yang. I'm Qiu Lingshan." Qiu Lingshan politely extended her hand and shook hands with Dr. Yang, then asked, "Dr. Yang, how is Liu Bojia doing? Is there any chance he'll wake up?"

"I've done everything I can, but there's still been no improvement..." Dr. Yang smiled apologetically. "Captain Song, there's nothing more I can do. For now, all we can do is keep him alive..."

"So you're saying there's no hope of recovery at our hospital?" Qiu Lingshan looked at Dr. Yang with some disappointment. "If we transferred him, would there be any hope then?"

"Our First People's Hospital is the best hospital in Songshan City. A transfer would mean sending him to a hospital out of town, but I'm afraid the patient couldn't withstand the strain..." Dr. Yang shook his head.

"Then there really is no hope at all?" Qiu Lingshan sighed inwardly. If this Liu Bojia had spoken up about what was really going on sooner, would the culprit behind it all have been caught long ago? And then maybe that maniac killer wouldn't have come after him again...

"It's not that there's no hope..." Dr. Yang hesitated a moment, then said, "If you know Professor Guan Xuewen from the Medical University, you could try acupuncture... But Professor Guan doesn't take on cases lightly..."

"Professor Guan!" Qiu Lingshan had naturally heard the name too. He was a renowned doctor of traditional Chinese medicine in Songshan City, known to all as Dr. Guan. Yang Huaijun was on close personal terms with him and had been receiving treatment at his hands all along!

With anyone else, Qiu Lingshan really wouldn't have known what to say, but as for Professor Guan, she believed that with Yang Huaijun's help, she could certainly persuade him to take the case.

At that thought, Qiu Lingshan felt a wave of relief. "Thank you, Dr. Yang. I think I have a way!"

"Ha ha, it's nothing. I'm only doing what I can!" Dr. Yang nodded with a smile.

After leaving Dr. Yang's office, Qiu Lingshan dialed Yang Huaijun's number.

"Little Song, in a bit of a bind again?" Yang Huaijun answered the phone with a smile. He had been in good spirits lately. Not only had he been promoted, but more importantly, the number of times his internal injuries flared up had dropped markedly, from once a day before to not a single episode in the past half month!

And this was only the first stage of treatment, yet the effects were already so pronounced. Wei Zhao had said that after a month he would change the medication and add acupuncture as a supplement, so how earth-shaking would the results be then? Yang Huaijun could hardly wait!

"Brother Yang..." Qiu Lingshan felt a little embarrassed. Yang Huaijun had seen right through her, and she was instantly flustered. "There is indeed something I'd like to ask of you..."

"Go on, what is it?" Yang Huaijun had always treated Qiu Lingshan like his own little sister, and so he looked after her with particular care.

"You know about Liu Bojia's situation, don't you?" Qiu Lingshan said. "I asked the doctors today, and they said there's nothing more they can do, but they recommended someone to me and said I could give it a try."