Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...
Years of Heartflutter · Page 85 of 501
"That's good, that's good." Hearing the doctor's words, Bureau Chief Wang, afraid Mother Chen would worry, hastened to console her: "Chen Fei isn't young anymore. From now on he can just do command and coordination work, and leave the legwork to the young people."
Mother Chen knew this was already the best of bad luck—even if he truly ended up lame, it was better than losing him altogether. She signed the form, and everyone went inside the hospital to wait.
Hearing that her father's life was not in danger, Chen Shutang was relieved as well.
Bureau Chief Wang sent Deputy Captain Li to pay the fees and complete the hospitalization paperwork. Since the accident had occurred during a mission, it counted as a work injury, and the bureau would cover all medical expenses.
The group sat in the waiting room, and before long a young man came in with a bandage wrapped around his head. Seeing Bureau Chief Wang, he said with great embarrassment, "Chief Wang, I..."
"All right, no one wanted this to happen. Just tell us what the situation was at the time." Bureau Chief Wang waved his hand. "Xiao Zhao, you've always driven steadily. What exactly happened this time?"
Xiao Zhao was Chen Fei's driver. His own injuries were not serious—just a gash on his head that had taken three stitches, nothing major. But having caused Chen Fei's leg to fracture, he felt quite guilty.
"Chief Wang, I saw a ghost," Xiao Zhao said cautiously.
"What?" Bureau Chief Wang was stunned, then immediately frowned and barked, "Xiao Zhao, what nonsense are you talking about? What ghost? Where in this world would there be a ghost?"
"Chief Wang, I know you definitely won't believe it, but I really did see a ghost—a man with half his head missing, standing in the middle of the road, running toward me!" At this point, Xiao Zhao's eyes filled with terror; clearly he had been badly frightened.
But how could Bureau Chief Wang believe in ghosts and spirits? He had spent most of his life in police work and had dealt with plenty of the dead; how could he possibly believe Xiao Zhao's words?
"Xiao Zhao, have you been drinking? What nonsense are you spouting?" Bureau Chief Wang could not help shouting. "When a young person makes a mistake, all he needs to do is own up to it—no one will blame him. If you told us you were distracted for a moment and accidentally crashed, we could understand that too. But the excuse you've made up is far too absurd!"
"Chief Wang, I really saw it! I'm not lying to you!" Xiao Zhao was still stubbornly defending himself.
"You—!" Bureau Chief Wang was clearly furious with him; pointing at Xiao Zhao, he was trembling all over.
"Chief Wang, don't be angry. Xiao Zhao was probably just badly frightened—he still isn't thinking straight," Deputy Captain Li hurried to smooth things over.
"Forget it." Chief Wang waved a hand. "Send him home to get some proper rest first. He can come to the station tomorrow and give a detailed report."
Looking at the gauze wrapped around Xiao Zhao's head, Chief Wang could hardly say anything more. Perhaps Deputy Captain Li was right—Xiao Zhao had been frightened, had taken a blow to the head, and probably wasn't in his right mind just now.
"Wait." Xia Xue happened to walk in at that moment and caught Xiao Zhao's words too. She pressed at once, "Xiao Zhao, you say you saw a ghost—are you certain?"
"Xia Xue, you're a police officer. How can you believe in ghosts and spirits?" Chief Wang said, none too pleased.
"That's not it, Chief. Have you forgotten the car crash involving those two foreigners? The forensic examiner said both of them appeared to have been frightened out of their wits before they died," Xia Xue reminded him.
"You mean those two foreigners saw a ghost too—" Chief Wang had barely gotten half the sentence out before it hit him. "I see. You're saying someone dressed up as a ghost to scare people, is that it?"