Chapter 25
Shen Yiqiu knew Qin Qianrou was capable and well-connected, but when she followed her into District Two Hospital, she still couldn’t help but marvel: This person is unbelievably amazing!
There was good news and bad news. The good news was that she could finally see the person she had been wanting to see. The bad news was that there was only one of the two drivers left.
On the way to District Two Hospital, Qin Qianrou had briefly explained the situation, “A while ago, their conditions suddenly worsened. The truck driver passed away the day before yesterday.”
Shen Yiqiu’s heart sank. This was not a good omen. Chen Kang had clearly stated before that they had both regained consciousness.
“The other driver is stable, but he’s not lucid and can’t provide any useful information.”
Seeing Shen Yiqiu’s silence, Qin Qianrou glanced at her.
“What’s wrong?”
Shen Yiqiu felt something was amiss, but the jumbled thoughts in her mind were difficult to articulate.
“I just think it’s too much of a coincidence, don’t you think?”
Since her eighteenth birthday, Shen Yiqiu had noticed a subtle shift in Qin Qianrou’s attitude towards her. They seemed closer, yet also more distant.
Perhaps Qin Qianrou felt less burdened now, at least she was dealing with an adult.
“We’ll find out when we get to the hospital. But we can’t stay too long.”
Qin Qianrou had pulled some strings to get this visitation opportunity, but given the special circumstances surrounding the driver, he couldn’t receive frequent visits like ordinary patients.
Arriving at the hospital, Shen Yiqiu realized that her own ward environment had truly been very good, at least not like this.
“We only have ten minutes.”
Shen Yiqiu knew these ten minutes were precious. She nodded and followed.
Just as Qin Qianrou had said, the minibus driver was in a coma. The beeping of the machines beside his bed was the only sound in the ward.
“What do you want to know?”
Shen Yiqiu stood by the bed, Qin Qianrou standing behind her. Both of them looked at the unconscious man, a sense of helplessness washing over them.
“His current condition seems even worse than right after the accident.”
Qin Qianrou looked at the patient and said, “They said there was intracranial bleeding. He briefly regained consciousness, then rapidly deteriorated.”
Shen Yiqiu stared at the man. When the accident happened, she hadn’t been able to clearly see anyone. Now, she was truly seeing, for the first time, the face of the person who had almost crashed into her at full speed.
“Do you believe his condition suddenly worsened?” Shen Yiqiu suddenly spoke, her gaze still fixed on the patient.
Qin Qianrou’s expression turned serious. She thought for a moment and said, “We can’t be certain yet, but it’s a possibility.”
While Shen Yiqiu was led by her emotions, Qin Qianrou focused more on evidence and facts.
However, she also understood that Shen Yiqiu’s feelings towards this man were definitely different from her own.
They stood in silence for a while. Qin Qianrou glanced at the time; five minutes remained.
“Let’s go.”
The patient was unconscious, unable to speak or answer any questions. Having seen him fulfilled Shen Yiqiu’s wish. Staying for another five minutes wouldn’t change anything.
“Wait.”
Qin Qianrou saw Shen Yiqiu slowly reaching out, as if to touch the man lying in bed. Startled, she took two steps forward and placed a hand on Shen Yiqiu’s shoulder, stopping her.
“What are you doing?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t be impulsive.”
Shen Yiqiu looked back at her with a smile – reassurance, explanation, and a promise.
“Then what are you planning to do to him?” Qin Qianrou didn’t release her grip, asking uncertainly.
“I don’t know, but my heart is urging me to do this.”
This sounded absurd. If it were anyone else, Qin Qianrou would have immediately dragged them away.
But coming from Shen Yiqiu, Qin Qianrou was inclined to believe her.
“Your sixth sense?”
Shen Yiqiu nodded, her gaze returning to the man in the bed.
Qin Qianrou’s eyes moved back and forth between the patient and Shen Yiqiu. After a moment, she silently released her hand, but didn’t move away.
They were standing extremely close.
So close that without turning around, with just a slight backward lean, Shen Yiqiu would be completely within Qin Qianrou’s embrace. That’s why she could so clearly feel the warmth emanating from behind her, suddenly feeling a little hot…
A slight prickling pain in her chest jolted Shen Yiqiu back to the present.
Her hand touched the patient’s face. She hesitated initially, resistant to such contact, given her lack of positive feelings towards this person.
But her heart compelled her to do it.
She forced herself to make contact, and the stinging sensation in her chest intensified.
Although Qin Qianrou was behind her, wearing high heels made her slightly taller than Shen Yiqiu. She had been silently observing Shen Yiqiu until she noticed the change in her expression…
She placed both hands back on Shen Yiqiu’s shoulders, this time with a firm grip, offering strong support.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Shen Yiqiu recovered, staring blankly at the patient for a moment before withdrawing her hand.
“I think I know something now.”
Qin Qianrou glanced at the time. Their ten minutes were almost up, so she pulled Shen Yiqiu away.
“Let’s leave first, we can’t be seen.”
Shen Yiqiu had wanted to ask earlier why there wasn’t any proper security in such a ward. Now she understood that Qin Qianrou must have arranged for them to be elsewhere.
Outside District Two Hospital, the August heat in Meng City had subsided somewhat. The night air carried a hint of coolness, much more comfortable than last month.
Qin Qianrou took two cups of oden from a convenience store and found a scenic bench by the roadside to sit with Shen Yiqiu.
“Tell me about what happened today.” Qin Qianrou handed Shen Yiqiu a cup of oden, a hint of anticipation in her voice.
Shen Yiqiu took out a skewer of fish tofu and took a bite. Not bad.
“I saw the scene before the accident.” Shen Yiqiu swallowed the fish tofu, replenished her energy, and began to speak.
The scene? Qin Qianrou’s initial confusion quickly dissipated as she realized Shen Yiqiu was referring to the car accident.
Shen Yiqiu had experienced it firsthand and lost her parents in the accident. Compared to others, she couldn’t simply refer to the car accident as a casual topic.
“I saw him make a phone call right before reaching the section where the accident happened.”
Making a phone call while driving? This was a violation in itself, but many drivers on the highway did it. Qin Qianrou already suspected the minibus driver wasn’t entirely innocent.
“After hanging up, he started counting down the seconds. I think he was waiting for something.”
Shen Yiqiu recalled the images she had sensed in the ward. After she finished speaking, she realized the implications.
“You’re saying…?” Qin Qianrou had clearly also picked up on the clue.
“I can’t be completely certain, but if possible, it would be best to retrieve his call logs.”
Qin Qianrou recalled the information the traffic police had provided. These questions should have already been investigated.
“If there was a problem, they would have discovered it already.”
Shen Yiqiu poked a fish ball fiercely but didn’t immediately eat it.
“They should also check the truck driver’s call logs. They might find a lead.”
Qin Qianrou looked at her in surprise, “Could it be you also saw…?”
Although Shen Yiqiu desperately wanted to get to the bottom of the whole incident, she didn’t want to mislead Qin Qianrou.
She truthfully described the images she had sensed: “I mostly saw the minibus driver, but there was a fleeting image of another person also holding a phone. I’m not sure about his appearance, but he was sitting very high up, so it must have been the truck driver.”
“Alright, I’ll have someone check the call logs again.”
Shen Yiqiu finally lowered her head and started eating the fish balls, then heard Qin Qianrou ask, “So you can sense past events now?”
Previously, her sixth sense was about foreseeing impending danger. If Shen Yiqiu wasn’t lying, then her ability had become stronger.
Shen Yiqiu hadn’t realized it herself. She thought for a moment and said, “Never before, tonight was the first time. But it seems like I need to make physical contact to sense past events.”
Qin Qianrou had witnessed everything that happened in the ward. Apart from the unverifiable images described, everything else Shen Yiqiu said seemed genuine.
So, just by touching someone, she could sense their past?
If so, what would Shen Yiqiu do in the future?
As a reporter, she was dedicated to uncovering the truth, but she also understood the importance of privacy. If Shen Yiqiu truly possessed such an ability, once she returned to society, would it be a blessing or a curse?
As if sensing Qin Qianrou’s thoughts, Shen Yiqiu chuckled softly, “I’m not so powerful that I can know someone’s past just by casually touching them.”
Qin Qianrou looked at her, following the sound of her laughter.
Then, Shen Yiqiu pointed to her chest and said, “I have to listen to it. I can only act when it tells me to.”
Qin Qianrou recalled Shen Yiqiu mentioning the chest pains and the change in her expression earlier, and couldn’t help but imagine what she had felt.
“Does it hurt every time you sense something? Won’t that affect your health?”
“It was very painful at first, quite uncomfortable. But it’s become less intense, and the pain is very brief, like a signal. It passes quickly.”
“Can you control it?”
Shen Yiqiu sighed helplessly. She truly couldn’t control it. “No, it’s my heart that decides, not me.”
**
Shen Yiqiu could only confide in Qin Qianrou about her ability. Probably only the experienced Reporter Qin would listen to such an unbelievable story and actually follow up by investigating the call logs.
But this was a private investigation. The television station couldn’t be involved, and even Chen Kang had to be kept in the dark.
Chen Kang visited Shen Yiqiu twice more and was relieved to see her recovering well. However, as long as Shen Yiqiu didn’t mention the accident, Chen Kang wouldn’t bring it up.
Qin Qianrou’s strength lay in her tenacity. She wouldn’t let go of any lead, and once she decided to investigate, she would see it through to the end. After repeatedly studying the information, she finally discovered the problem.
“The truck driver and the minibus driver made calls to several similar numbers within fifteen minutes of each other, and the calls were all very short.”
Qin Qianrou circled the numbers, and Li Wan and Shen Yiqiu leaned in to look.
“These numbers seem to be from the same area code, but they’re not identical.” Li Wan hesitated. This was just based on their experience and couldn’t be used as evidence.
“These are overseas virtual numbers. Remember the overseas fraud case we investigated the year before last?”
Li Wan’s eyes lit up, “Yes, yes! So, to investigate these numbers, we need to contact a certain someone.”
Before Qin Qianrou could say anything, Li Wan quickly copied the numbers onto a sticky note and left to get to work.
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