When the police came in, Wen Bai was watching Su Ying open the thermos.
Wen Bai twitched his nose. It was chicken soup. He had drunk it once before and liked it. Plus, he hadn't eaten anything for who knows how long. He looked like he wanted to pounce forward and swallow the thermos along with the soup.
He was truly hungry. He had initially thought about eating the food Lin Shuangshuang brought, but Lin Shuangshuang wouldn't give it to him, and Su Ying wasn't moving. He couldn't get out of bed.
Now that he saw Su Ying had prepared food and seemed about to hand it to him, he felt much better.
"Wen Bai, someone is looking for you," Lin Shuangshuang said, standing at the doorway with a strange expression.
System 001: "They found you this quickly?"
"Were there any surveillance cameras you missed on that road that day?"
"Absolutely not."
"Then that's good."
Wen Bai remained calm. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Hello, Mr. Wen. Do you know that your father passed away a few days ago?"
Lin Shuangshuang's eyes widened. "Ah?"
"No," Wen Bai's expression was still calm.
"Can't you pretend to be a little more shocked and heartbroken?" System 001 was displeased.
"Given their relationship, do you think it's appropriate for me to be heartbroken?"
"That's true." System 001 thought for a moment. "Human emotions are too complex. I'm not sure about these things. You should just be natural."
The police probably hadn't expected Wen Bai's reaction, so they got straight to the point.
"On the 9th of this month, between 8 PM and 2 AM on the 10th, where were you and what were you doing?"
Wen Bai remained silent, staring blankly at the approaching police officers, and asked listlessly, "What do you mean?"
Lin Shuangshuang quickly intervened. "Um, officers, as you can see, he's injured." She pointed to Wen Bai's head and shoulder. "He's still a patient..."
"On the 9th of this month, he was with me that night. Oh, and Miss Lin was also present. Of course, there were two other gentlemen and one lady present as well," Su Ying interrupted Lin Shuangshuang.
Lin Shuangshuang then remembered. "Oh, it was that night. I was robbed not far from the convenience store and Mr. Yu helped me. Then, due to some special circumstances, we were all at Mr. Yu's place. There was a misunderstanding at the time, and it caused quite a commotion. Many neighbors saw it, and they should all be able to testify."
"Don't be nervous. We're just making inquiries. Of course, we don't suspect Mr. Wen," the female officer said. "Were you at Mr. Yu's house the entire time during that period?"
"His wound was a bit inflamed, so we left a bit earlier. If you've investigated, you should know that his relationship with his father... wasn't good," Su Ying said, touching the bandage on Wen Bai's head. "The wound couldn't be treated, and he had nowhere to stay, so he came to my place. We stayed together all night."
Wen Bai remembered what System 001 had said about this person sneaking into his guest room at night and watching him by the bed for the entire night...
Indeed, they had stayed together all night.
Lin Shuangshuang looked at Dr. Su's expression, then at Wen Bai's "Whatever you say goes" expression, and became even more certain of her suspicions.
"Understood," the female officer said, subconsciously glancing at the older female officer behind her. After exchanging a look, she turned back and closed her notebook.
"Then we'll conclude here for now. Thank you for your cooperation."
Before they came, they had indeed investigated. This weak-looking Mr. Wen and his mother had been subjected to long-term domestic violence by his father. A few days before the incident, neighbors had seen him and his mother being beaten by his father unilaterally, and the head injury was likely from then.
Their neighbors said they hadn't seen Wen Bai since.
As for the deceased's place of incident, the bridge was littered with empty wine bottles. They were found to contain the deceased's saliva. Combined with the last person who saw him, who testified that he was already drunk and said he could barely walk before leaving,
the railing was old and dilapidated. All the evidence clearly pointed to an accidental fall into the river.
The female officer was very young and hadn't handled many cases. Seeing Wen Bai's head tightly wrapped in bandages, lying there as if speaking was a great effort, and his shoulder with so many stitches, he looked truly miserable.
Recalling his family situation from the investigation, she could only feel sympathy.
After questioning the two, they quickly left the ward.
Lin Shuangshuang, who had been standing by and listening to everything, looked at Wen Bai now, feeling not only guilt but also pity.
Ever since she met him, she had felt that Wen Bai didn't talk much, and she hadn't expected him to have such a family background.
After the police left, Su Ying seemed to have lost all patience and began to usher her out. "Miss Lin, if there's nothing else, the patient needs to rest."
This was a blatant eviction.
Lin Shuangshuang had no choice but to say, "Then, I'll come see you tomorrow."
"Okay."
"No need."
Their answers contradicted each other, and the atmosphere became tense again.
Lin Shuangshuang didn't care about anything else. This was not a place to linger. She quickly made her exit. "Then I'll be going! See you tomorrow!"
As the young female officer walked downstairs, the older female officer who had been silent asked, "What do you think?"
The young female officer replied, "Setting aside feelings, all the evidence now indicates an accidental fall into the river."
"And what about feelings?"
"That doctor and that lady were too protective of him. I just asked about today, and Mr. Wen on the hospital bed saved Miss Lin at the zoo. The doctor seems to know him well, and his words of support can't be entirely trusted, but these are things that can be investigated. His reaction was also a bit strange. Do you think there's something wrong, Sister Zhang?"
The older female officer said sternly, "The evidence points that way, but I still feel something is off. Even with a bad father-son relationship, that person was too calm."
"Could it be because he was injured? I saw he was covered in injuries and looked so weak. Slow reactions aren't impossible. Besides, could he have subdued a drunken man like that? The deceased was a bit overweight, and such people can have immense strength when drunk and acting out."
The older female officer shook her head. "You're still too young."
"Sister Zhang, then how should this be classified in the end!"
"Back at the station, we'll classify it as an accidental fall into the river. Let this matter rest. There's quite a lot going on recently. Those few missing person cases haven't yielded any leads yet. We need to focus our energy on them. Don't call yourself a patrol officer next time."
The young female officer smiled sheepishly. "I can't just reveal my identity and put pressure on them. If they knew we were from the major crimes unit, a real criminal would definitely hide themselves immediately. And weren't we just here to get some information today?"
"Sigh, I don't know who reported it, insisting it was murder. Now the person can't be found, no clues have been uncovered, and only a message is left, the source of which can't be traced. Who would want to kill a drunkard who has nothing?"
"Let's go."
"Okay!"