CH 222

The emergency building of the hospital was surrounded by a swarm of media reporters.

It may be exaggerated to say so, but in the age of new media, many people could do live broadcasts with just their phones, and it was difficult to discern who had a greater influence between these people and traditional reporters. Reporters and photographers holding microphones with logos squeezed in the front, while some people holding recording pens were at the back, and the outermost circle was a crowd of onlookers who were not quite clear about what was happening.

Secretary Xiao Chen was surrounded like a flat boat in a stormy sea. Before Lin Chen approached, he heard someone holding a recording pen asking, “Have the director and the city leaders arrived? When will the press conference be held?”

Secretary Xiao Chen said, “The director is currently consoling the injured and overseeing the investigation of the case. Please be patient.”

The reporter asked again, “How are the injured doing? What is the casualty situation?”

Secretary Xiao Chen hesitated and showed a bewildered expression on his face. The reporter quickly captured this moment with a flash.

Lin Chen quickly took a couple of steps, rolled up his sleeves a little higher, patted Secretary Chen’s shoulder, stepped in front of him, and answered on his behalf, “In the violent incident that occurred at the barbecue stall in the Drum Tower Community, three people were injured, including two seriously injured victims, and one police officer, who was killed in the line of duty.”

As soon as he spoke, the flashing lights swarmed around him. Lin Chen squinted, scanning the faces of all the people on the steps, most of whom had excited or serious expressions as reporters, while a small minority showed curiosity, but no one showed a triumphant or extremely indifferent expression…

So obviously, the perpetrator didn’t mix in with the crowd of interviewees.

……

It was probably at the moment when Lin Chen walked out of the emergency building and stood in front of the media that Huang Ze happened to drive into the hospital parking lot.

The black night was the best background, and the hospital’s snow-white corridors were more like reflectors, allowing him to clearly see Lin Chen’s face, which was even more gaunt than when he left that day. However, in the sea of flashing lights, Lin Chen didn’t appear pale and weak but had a kind of unconventional, proud beauty.

Huang Ze knew very well that his current gaze, in ordinary terms, was pathetic, but honestly, he couldn’t let go of these feelings, and this tearing and struggling feeling was driving him crazy. Huang Ze looked at the flickering lights in the distance with a cold expression, but his hands tightly gripped the steering wheel.

……

Lin Chen didn’t see Inspector Huang and his car close by, because the reporters in front of him were like a pack of wolves, fierce and aggressive.

“Is the police hiding the real cause of the injuries from the public?”

“No,” Lin Chen answered promptly, but without any further explanation.

The journalist who asked the question was taken aback for a moment, obviously not expecting him to refuse to elaborate.

“But eyewitnesses claim that the barbecue stall owner and customers turned into zombies and were crazily biting each other!” The journalist continued to ask loudly, directly hitting the most explosive question.

“It is true that there were fights and biting among the diners. You already know the situation at the scene very well, so why do you think the police are hiding something?”

“What I mean is zombies. Are there any zombies in Hongjing?” the journalist excitedly asked.

“I don’t know where you got such an idea.” Lin Chen remained calm and unsurprised. “But I think the families of the injured wouldn’t want to hear such speculation. Apart from the police officer who died, all injured individuals showed normal vital signs, according to the life detection equipment. Therefore, it does not fit the definition of zombies in science fiction stories.”

Lin Chen emphasized the science fiction aspect.

At this moment, another journalist standing on the other side spoke up. “Excuse me, Officer. May I interrupt you for a moment? I heard your answer just now, and I think you have been avoiding the question. You haven’t answered the question that the media and the public are most concerned about.” This journalist had a gentler tone than the previous one but was also more difficult to handle.

“Please go ahead,” Lin Chen nodded to the other journalist and spoke gently.

……

Huang Ze couldn’t hear what Lin Chen said exactly, but he just looked at Lin Chen’s calm demeanor and that serene face that didn’t change even when faced with a crisis. In fact, he couldn’t quite figure out his emotions towards Lin Chen, whether it was love or hate. To be precise, he even thought that he hated Lin Chen so much that he always remembered this person. When a person appeared too frequently, it was easy for one to have misconceptions. Huang Ze forced himself to look away from Lin Chen’s face and started to search for the irritating figure of Xing Conglian in the crowd, but he also had no success.

At this moment, the passenger door suddenly opened, and Huang Ze looked abruptly to the side, seeing a figure with a strong smell of smoke entering the car.

Huang Ze realized who the person was, clenched his fists, and veins popped on his forehead.

“Inspector Huang.”

The person who got into the car without permission leaned back against the seat and gave him a cold, green-eyed glance, but smiled.

Huang Ze said, “It’s not good for Captain Xing to come in without an invitation, right?”

“It’s better than Inspector Huang going crazy in front of reporters later. Of course, the main reason is that he doesn’t want to see you either.”

Of course, Xing Conglian was referring to Lin Chen, and especially when he emphasized “he”, it was more intimate than other words. From this detail alone, Huang Ze realized that Lin Chen and Xing Conglian got together.

Huang Ze immediately realized he had lost his composure. His expression became slightly cold, and he didn’t hesitate to say to Xing Conglian, “Get out of the car.”

“Let’s talk, Inspector Huang,” Xing Conglian said, taking out a cigarette to light up.

“Don’t make me say it again.”

“If I get out of the car, what will happen to your business? Your shareholders are not easy to please lately, are they?” Xing Conglian pressed the lighter, and the flame flickered.

Thinking of the sudden increase in white hair on his father and elder brother, Huang Ze suddenly looked up and glared at Xing Conglian. “Xing Conglian, don’t you think your methods are too low? For example, messing with my family’s business?”

Xing Conglian smiled. “I think it’s fine. The business world is like a battlefield.”

Xing Conglian spoke with the face of a spoiled child that was saying, “It’s not my fault your family has less money”, making Huang Ze want to punch that smug face.

“So what exactly do you want to do?”

Xing Conglian didn’t say anything. He just took out a transparent earphone from his ear, placed it on the car dashboard, and looked at it, saying, “Listen.”

Although hesitant, Huang Ze still put the earphone in his ear.

……

At the entrance of the emergency building, on the steps, Lin Chen pressed his earphones and heard intermittent voices from the other end. However, these people in front of him made it impossible for him to focus on what Xing Conglian and Huang Ze were saying.

Earlier, a journalist asked in a sharp tone, “Why did the diners go crazy and fight each other, even causing a police officer to sacrifice his life?”

Lin Chen nodded and used the most common response of media language to reply. “It’s been only one hour since the incident, so the police are still investigating the specific reason.”

“Does that mean the police don’t know anything?” The journalist showed a cunning expression like a hunter who had caught its prey, and continued, “But as far as I know, many police officers from the Hongjing Police Station were nearby before the incident, and even a police officer fired a warning shot at the time of the incident. Therefore, the police were able to quickly control the situation and prevent it from worsening, is that correct?”

Lin Chen nodded. “That’s correct.”

“So why did the police suddenly appear near the Drum Tower Community? Can I assume that the police had received some information beforehand but didn’t inform the local residents?”

Lin Chen didn’t get too excited about this heartless question, and he still answered calmly. “The police were conducting a routine arrest operation and encountered this unexpected situation in the Drum Tower Community.” Lin Chen took a step forward and said honestly, “If we had known in advance that this kind of heinous incident would happen in the Drum Tower Community, we would have deployed more sufficient police force rather than watching our colleague die in the line of duty.”

“From what you’re saying, it seems that the police are fundamentally incapable of ensuring the safety of the people. So where is the taxpayers’ money going?” The journalist pushed his black-framed glasses forward, like an excellent hunter who could capture the prey’s weakness. If he was not careful, he would fall into the trap that he had already laid out.

Lin Chen paused for a moment, then asked seriously, “Where do you work?”

The journalist with black-framed glasses was stunned, and then opened his mouth in disbelief, sarcastically saying, “Are you preparing to come after me for accountability later?”

Lin Chen replied lightly, “No, I just want to know your basic salary and bonus every month.”

“I don’t need to answer that question.”

“I understand.” Lin Chen looked the other person up and down and said, “From your age and the TV station logo on your microphone, I can guess you work for Hongjing TV station and is around 35 years old. When you questioned me, you had a strong demeanor, indicating that you are the type of person who is proactive in their work. So, according to the standard salary of a Hongjing journalist plus your personal ability bonus, I estimate your annual salary to be around 220,000 yuan, and your annual tax payment to be about 38,000 yuan.”

“This is my personal privacy!” The journalist raised his voice and appeared very nervous, which confirmed that Lin Chen’s guess was accurate.

“It’s nothing. I just want to tell you that the police officer who sacrificed their life tonight is An Guo. According to national standards, his pension is 20 times the per capita disposable income of urban residents in the previous year plus 40 months of his own salary. The per capita disposable income of the entire country was 31,195 yuan last year, which means that the compensation is around 620,000 yuan. An Guo’s basic salary for his position was 4,200 yuan per month, and 40 months of his salary is less than 180,000 yuan. This means that because he died in the line of duty, his family can receive compensation of about 800,000 yuan. This is the final value of a criminal police officer’s life, which is probably equivalent to your four years of salary.” Lin Chen paused. “To put it another way, his life is worth your total tax payment for 21 years of employment.”

“What do you mean?!”

“I’m just telling you the truth about where your tax money is going.” Lin Chen looked at the high-rise buildings in the distance and the deep night sky above them and said calmly, “But in reality, I think these things can’t be measured by money.”

No journalist spoke again, and the night fell silent once more.

“Do you have any other questions?” Lin Chen finally asked.

……

Huang Ze took out his earbuds, wrapped them in his palm, and looked at Xing Conglian, raising his eyebrows.

“Is it over?” Xing Conglian asked.

Huang Ze handed over the earbud and asked directly, “I’ve listened to it all. Can you tell me clearly what you want to express?”

Xing Conglian shrugged and didn’t immediately plug in the earbud. Instead, he said in a relaxed tone, “I didn’t want to express anything. I just wanted to show off how good my boyfriend is to you.”

Huang Ze stared at Xin Conglian, thinking he must be hallucinating. How could there be such a shameless person in the world?

Xing Conglian didn’t care at all. He opened the car door, ready to step out. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly seemed to remember something, turned around, patted Huang Ze’s shoulder, and said, “He’s really good, so I can understand how frustrated you are, really.”

Huang Ze really wanted to shake off Xing Conglian’s hand, but that would have confirmed what Xing Conglian said. The hand on his shoulder quickly pulled away. Just as the car door was about to be slammed shut, Huang Ze spoke, “Xing Conglian, I thought the same as you four years ago, really.”