Chapter 72
Chapter 72
Because Wen Miao hoped to get Xu Lei’s communication records before tomorrow, Wen Xin spent the entire day filtering through the data transmitted from Xu Lei’s computer.
Xu Lei had many contacts on social media, some of whom were colleagues from Wisdom Biotech Company, while others were professors from various universities. It took Wen Xin a long time to organize everything.
Since Wen Miao had previously mentioned her suspicions regarding the relationship between Lin Zhengfeng and Wisdom Biotech Company, Wen Xin initially focused his investigation on Xu Lei’s colleagues.
Although he managed to compile some seemingly suspicious information, none of it was explicit enough to directly prove Xu Lei’s involvement in the matter.
It wasn’t until just now that he discovered Xu Lei was chatting in real-time with someone using the WeChat name “A.”
A: [He seems to have found out about me putting him on sleeping pills.]
Xu Lei: [Did he confront you?]
A: [No. But I saw him go to the department doctor to ask about the medication.]
Xu Lei: [Can he guess it’s you?]
A: [I was the one who gave him the medicine, so he probably can. I rushed to check the surveillance; he went to the gynecology department with his girlfriend yesterday, and they didn’t come out after going in. The doctor prescribed her medicine, but they didn’t pick it up.]
Xu Lei: [I’m afraid he’s found out quite a bit.]
A: [We can’t let him continue like this. Maybe I should restrain him now, otherwise, if he tells his girlfriend…]
Xu Lei: [Don’t act rashly. I’ll think of another way.]
A: [It’s too late! We can’t let him ruin our plans!]
Xu Lei: [Xiao Ai! Don’t be impulsive!]
The messages stopped abruptly there, and A didn’t reply to any further information. But judging from the exchange, this A was definitely planning something against Nan Mu.
Wen Miao tried calling Nan Mu several times, but the calls never went through.
“Nothing… happened to him, right?” Wen Xin’s face was ashen.
“No!”
Wen Miao subconsciously cried out in a low voice.
No, nothing will happen to him. He’s so capable…
But Xu Lei addressed A as Xiao Ai… Was it the Nurse Xiao Ai she knew? What if Nan Mu had no guard up against Nurse Xiao Ai?
She was trembling all over, and it took almost all her strength to say, “Let’s go! We’re going to the hospital!”
***
Unable to get through to Nan Mu’s phone the entire way, Wen Miao could only send him numerous text messages telling him to be careful of Xiao Ai, but there was still no response from Nan Mu’s end.
It was peak rush hour. Wen Miao and Wen Xin first took a taxi but got stuck in traffic, so the two of them jumped out and ran, eventually taking the subway to get near the hospital.
The two of them rushed all the way to Nan Mu’s ward on the seventh floor.
Wen Miao pushed open the door. The ward was peaceful, but Nan Mu wasn’t in the room; only the old lady in the neighboring bed was there. Seeing Wen Miao, she even smiled and greeted her.
Wen Miao gasped for breath. “Grandma… do you know where my friend went?”
The old lady thought for a moment. “He went out with the nurse. They’ve been gone for quite a while.”
It felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her head. Wen Miao felt a chill seize her heart in an instant. She spoke with difficulty, “Was it… was it Nurse Xiao Ai?”
The old lady nodded. “That’s the one.”
Wen Miao’s legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed to the floor. Fortunately, Wen Xin reached out and firmly supported her.
“Wen Miao, pull yourself together! Things might not have reached an irreversible point yet!”
Wen Miao grit her teeth and forced herself to stand.
Wen Xin let go. “Come on, let’s go find that Nurse Xiao Ai.”
Wen Miao had been in and out of the hospital these past few days, so the nurses on the seventh floor weren’t strangers to her.
“Hello, have you seen Nurse Xiao Ai?” Wen Miao forced a smile, asking about Nurse Xiao Ai’s whereabouts along the way.
But the nurses were busy. Some said they had seen her but didn’t know where she was now, while others even helped her try to call Xiao Ai, but Xiao Ai’s phone didn’t go through either.
It wasn’t until they ran into Nurse Lin, who had previously chatted with them in the ward about Doctor Jia and Doctor Zhang.
“Nurse Xiao Ai? I think Xiao Ai went to the rooftop with your friend.”
“The rooftop?”
Wen Miao turned to head upstairs immediately, but Wen Xin grabbed her arm.
Wen Xin looked wary. “How do you know they went to the rooftop?”
Nurse Lin looked at Wen Xin with a hint of surprise. “I saw them heading up the stairs while I was coming down from the ninth floor… The tenth floor only leads to the rooftop.”
“When did they go up?”
Nurse Lin checked her wristwatch. “It’s been quite a while.”
Wen Xin felt that something wasn’t right, but Wen Miao couldn’t wait any longer. “What’s the fastest way to the rooftop?”
Wen Miao was clearly in a state of extreme urgency, which made Nurse Lin nervous. She instinctively began to lead the way. “Follow me. Take the elevator to the ninth floor, then use the fire escape…”
The two followed Nurse Lin up the elevator to the ninth floor and then took the fire escape to the top.
There was a door between the top floor and the rooftop, but it seemed to be blocked by something from the other side. Their first attempt to push it open failed.
Wen Xin told the two women to stand aside. He took a short running start and slammed his body against the door to force it open. The door creaked open wide enough for a person to squeeze through, and the whistling wind from the rooftop immediately rushed in.
Seeing this, Wen Miao and Nurse Lin ran up to help. Together, the three of them managed to push the door open far enough for one person to pass comfortably.
Wen Miao, being the thinnest, squeezed through the gap first.
As soon as she stepped out, she saw two figures struggling at the edge of the rooftop. Messy, bloody handprints were smeared across the white-painted walls.
Wen Miao didn’t have time to figure out who the blood belonged to before she saw Nan Mu being pressed halfway over the railing by Nurse Xiao Ai.
Wen Miao’s scalp tingled with fear. She rushed forward without hesitation, screaming, “Nan Mu!”
The two struggling figures both glanced toward Wen Miao, distracted by her voice.
Nan Mu was horrified to see Wen Miao running toward them. Nurse Xiao Ai was trained in martial arts, and Wen Miao was no match for her. He was in a precarious position; if Nurse Xiao Ai decided to target Wen Miao, she could probably flip the girl over the railing in less than three moves.
Thus, he shouted at the approaching girl, “Wen Miao, stop!”
However, Nan Mu was using every ounce of strength to resist the force Nurse Xiao Ai was exerting on him, so his voice wasn’t as loud as he intended. Combined with the howling wind on the rooftop, Wen Miao didn’t hear him at all.
Seeing that Nan Mu’s backup had arrived, Nurse Xiao Ai grew desperate. She delivered two heavy punches to Nan Mu’s abdomen.
Nan Mu had already been caught off guard earlier and stabbed in the stomach by Nurse Xiao Ai. In his current position, he had to rely on his core strength to keep himself from falling over the railing, but the physical strain only worsened the pain and accelerated the bleeding from his wound. He was already at the end of his rope, and Nurse Xiao Ai’s two additional blows instantly shattered his remaining core strength.
Nan Mu’s waist gave way. In an instant, his legs-the only part of him still inside the railing-were pulled outward as he began to plummet.
In the nick of time, Wen Miao lunged forward and grabbed Nan Mu’s ankle.
Nan Mu was now hanging upside down outside the railing. He forced his head up only to see Wen Miao gritting her teeth, desperately clutching his ankle to keep him from falling. But Wen Miao wasn’t strong enough; just holding onto his weight was her absolute limit, let alone pulling him back up.
Sweat beaded on Wen Miao’s forehead. In that moment, she felt a profound sense of regret-why wasn’t she an athlete? Why hadn’t she ever thought to train her grip strength?
She didn’t dare loosen her hold for a second, but Nurse Xiao Ai pounced on her, frantically attacking the hands that were holding onto Nan Mu.
Wen Miao had no hands free to fight back and could only endure Nurse Xiao Ai’s one-sided assault. However, when Nurse Xiao Ai tried to pry her fingers off Nan Mu’s ankle, Wen Miao’s eyes turned red with desperation. She leaned forward and bit down hard on Nurse Xiao Ai’s ear!
“Ah-!”
Unable to bear the pain, Nurse Xiao Ai swung her fist and struck Wen Miao hard.
Wen Miao slammed into the iron railing with a thud. Her grip on Nan Mu’s ankle involuntarily loosened, and Nan Mu’s body instantly plummeted into the void.