SFTD -Chapter 213 Mystery in the Blood (Part 10)

Zhou Hai turned and walked toward the main entrance, raising his voice as he said:

“We’ve checked everything, but right now we don’t have any better leads, do we? So we’ll start from the beginning again. We’ll definitely find the fox’s tail!”

The two of them quickly returned to the office. As soon as they entered, they saw Xu Biao and the other two huddled together looking at something. Zhou Hai walked over.

“What are you looking at?”

Only then did the three notice Zhou Hai and Chu Menghan had come in. They hurriedly stood up, Xu Biao grinning.

“You’re back! We were looking at the report Sister Zeng sent over.”

Zhou Hai’s expression sharpened.

“Oh? The report’s out? What does it say?”

Xu Biao explained:

“They found a dried spore on the two nail guns. The shape of this dried spore is rather unusual. Sister Zeng consulted specialists from the provincial department last night, and they concluded that it’s a kind of fungus that likes to parasitize saprophytic plants. If we want more detailed information, the dried spore has to be mailed to the provincial department so they can cultivate it and get more accurate results.”

“Saprophytic plants? Do you have a picture?”

Xu Biao opened the image on his phone—a photo taken under a high-powered microscope—and handed it over.

“This is the picture.”

“Send it to my email.”

Zhou Hai leaned in for a closer look. The image was extremely clear. He pulled out a chair and sat at the computer, logging into one of his American accounts and directly accessing an internal database. The entire process was done in English, leaving the others dizzy just watching.

A moment later, the photo Xu Biao had forwarded was uploaded. In a box beside it, countless images rapidly flashed by for comparison. The process looked very much like fingerprint recognition. Everyone realized Zhou Hai was trying to identify the dried spore.

About ten minutes later, a ding sounded and the comparison finished. Everyone hurried over.

Though the sizes and angles differed slightly, the two spores looked remarkably alike.

Zhou Hai clicked open the result. The long scientific name displayed on the screen was difficult even for him to understand, but after reading the explanation below, realization dawned on him.

“I don’t know this name either. It seems to be transliterated from an Indigenous language. This spore is a very unique species that specifically grows attached to the roots and stems of tiny drought-resistant plants, like North American Silver Crown Jade Hui and Bishu. Those are among its favorite hosts.”

Zhou Hai immediately searched for the two plant names. As soon as the pictures and descriptions appeared, his fingers suddenly froze.

Chu Menghan was extremely perceptive and immediately noticed his unusual reaction.

“What’s wrong?”

Zhou Hai pointed at the two pictures.

“I’ve seen these two plants before. You’ve seen them too.”

Chu Menghan leaned in again, studied the images, thought for a moment, then shook her head.

“I’m not interested in plants. Just say it directly.”

Zhou Hai stood up.

“Not yet. Xu Biao, log into the hospital’s internal website. I want detailed information on Vice President Ye. Can you do it?”

Xu Biao smacked Zhou Hai on the arm.

“Don’t ask a man whether he can do it. Just watch. I learned some real skills from Xiao Hu!”

As he spoke, he shoved Zhou Hai away from the chair and began logging into Ludong University Hospital’s website. Normally, internal hospital information wasn’t connected to the outside network, but judging by Xu Biao’s practiced movements, he seemed confident.

Chu Menghan’s eyes suddenly widened. She grabbed Zhou Hai’s arm.

“You suspect Vice President Ye?”

Zhou Hai nodded.

Meanwhile, Xu Biao called Xiao Hu, and with his help, quickly pulled up Vice President Ye’s personal file.

“Haizi, I found it!”

Half an hour later, Chu Menghan and Zhou Hai arrived together at Vice President Ye’s office in Ludong University Hospital.

Since the case was difficult to distinguish from a medical accident, Zhou Hai was more suited to handling the related issues, so Chu Menghan had directly dragged him along.

They pushed open the door and entered. Vice President Ye was spraying mist onto some flowers. Seeing the two of them, her expression stiffened slightly before she calmly put down the spray bottle and waited for their questions.

Chu Menghan shot Zhou Hai a look.

Zhou Hai slowly walked toward the desk and glanced at the two expensive succulents sitting on it. He picked one up.

“Who would’ve thought that in the end, it would be these two pots of flowers that exposed you, Vice President Ye.”

Vice President Ye looked puzzled and smiled at Zhou Hai.

“I don’t understand what you mean. Our hepatobiliary surgery department is still sealed off by you people.”

Zhou Hai nodded and sat across from her.

“When you gave us the files, you should’ve included your own records as well. After all, you’re part of hepatobiliary surgery too, and you occasionally perform invited operations. That way, your suspicion wouldn’t have stood out so clearly.

Do you know how expensive these two plants your son owned are? North American Silver Crown Jade Hui and Bishu—pots this large are worth around two hundred thousand yuan. Seeing a university student raising flowers at this level truly opened my eyes.

But I suppose you were too immersed in grief to notice that these two plants had been infected by a fungus. This fungus is extremely picky and only likes living around the roots of these expensive succulents.

But when you cut open the nail gun, you were too careless. You ignored sterile procedures and sliced open the side seal in your office. As a result, one of the nail guns became contaminated with a dried spore of this unique fungus.

Interesting, isn’t it?

Tell us—why did you kill Yu Tianfeng?

Did you believe Yu Tianfeng had ulterior motives when he went traveling with your son Shang Lei?

Or did you think Yu Tianfeng stole the graduate school recommendation that should’ve gone to your son, blocking his future?

Or perhaps you believed Shang Lei’s death was caused by Yu Tianfeng?”

At this point, Vice President Ye had nothing left to hide. The evidence was irrefutable; otherwise, they would never have laid everything out so completely.

She gripped the edge of the desk tightly.

“I’m not afraid of anything. The moment I chose to do this, I already thought about the consequences.

Shang Lei’s death absolutely had something to do with Yu Tianfeng! Why did three people go on that trip together, but only my son died?

You should know that Shang Lei and Yu Tianfeng never got along. They’d been fierce rivals throughout all four years in their department. How could they suddenly become close enough to travel together? It was all premeditated! All planned!

My son died, yet Yu Tianfeng and the other boy escaped completely unharmed. And according to the traffic police report, neither of them had been drinking.

Then tell me this—if they went out together to have fun, why was Shang Lei, the only one who had been drinking, the one driving?

What more evidence or explanation is needed? That was murder!

Since you police officers couldn’t give me justice, I decided to take it myself!”

Zhou Hai looked at the agitated Vice President Ye.

“But you killed an innocent person. Yang Ye was only an ordinary patient inserted into surgery by Zheng Min, yet he died because you switched the nail gun. A doctor’s medical skill is not meant for killing people. So you are not a good doctor. Your moral character is lacking.”

Chu Menghan waved behind her.

“Take her away.”

Xiao Zeng entered with several officers and put handcuffs on Vice President Ye. Just as they were about to leave, Zhou Hai raised a hand to stop them.

“Wait a moment.”

He stood up and walked to the coat rack, taking Vice President Ye’s white coat and draping it over her cuffed wrists.

“You failed this white coat, and you betrayed the Hippocratic Oath you once swore. But still, don’t let your actions further damage the doctor-patient relationship in the future. Take her away.”

Xiao Zeng and another officer escorted Vice President Ye downstairs. Chu Menghan instructed Wang Man to seal the office, then went to notify the entire hepatobiliary surgery department that the restrictions had been lifted and normal work could resume.

After finishing everything, she realized Zhou Hai had disappeared from upstairs at some point.

Leaning out the window, she looked down and saw him sitting alone beside the fountain pool, smoking quietly.

The lonely and confused expression on his face made Chu Menghan’s heart ache.

What was wrong with him?