Chapter 675 — The Tragedy of An Jianwen

Seeing that Wei Zhao wore no particular expression, Gu Pengzhan's heart settled as well.

Wei Zhao had no wish to deal with these students' parents here. Once he had made certain that Gu Mengyao was all right, he said to Gu Pengzhan, "Uncle Chu, I'm stepping out for a bit. When Grandpa Guan gets back, I'll return."

"All right, go see to your business!" Gu Pengzhan nodded.

Wei Zhao meant to go and see Tang Yun. After the day's events, he felt he had wronged her somewhat; from now on, his relationship with the young mistress would only grow more and more tangled.

As for Gu Mengyao, watching Wei Zhao's receding back, she seemed to want to say something, yet in the end said nothing, her face still cold and impassive...

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At the entrance of Songshan City First People's Hospital, An Jianwen, whose kidney had been cut out, was rushed into the emergency room. While the hospital fought to save An Jianwen, it hurriedly telephoned the police!

The police had already given the hospital prior notice: should they encounter another victim of kidney harvesting, they were to begin emergency treatment first and contact the police at once!

Qiu Lingshan had not expected a kidney-harvesting incident to occur on the very day the kidney-harvesting ring was crushed -- which meant they had still been committing crimes today!

Qiu Lingshan quickly dispatched Liu Wangli and his team to the hospital, both to protect the kidney-harvesting victim and to gather criminal evidence against the ring -- and the victim was the most important witness of all!

The interrogation at the police station posed almost no difficulty. The tattooed man, the ringleader of the criminal gang, put up scarcely any resistance and quickly confessed to his crimes! The entire kidney-harvesting ring was a criminal gang with him as its head, and Dr. Wang had been driven down the path of crime under his coercion -- this too had been his promise to Dr. Wang beforehand!

As for where the harvested kidneys were sold, the tattooed man also came clean: there were underground black-market brokers dealing in organs in another city, and most of the kidneys in his hands had been sold to them. As for which buyers they went to, the tattooed man likewise provided the contact information of several black-market brokers -- but he made it very clear that before his arrest, he had already phoned those brokers to tip them off, and by now they had all fled. Catching them was out of the question!

Faced with the tattooed man's barefaced, take-it-all-on-myself attitude, Qiu Lingshan was quite helpless. And following the leads the tattooed man provided, they did indeed locate those black-market brokers -- only to find the places long since emptied of people!

According to the tattooed man's account, they had used false names in their dealings and had never actually met in person, so the police could find no useful leads at all!

Qiu Lingshan was furious, yet utterly without recourse. Still, at least the kidney-harvesting ring's case could be considered closed. As for those black-market brokers, they were not in this locality, so let the police over there have the headache; Qiu Lingshan saw no point in tormenting herself over it.

When An Jianwen woke, he found himself lying in a strange place -- it seemed to be a hospital ward! At once he felt an unbearable pain in his left flank. He tried to reach over and touch it, but had not the slightest strength; the anesthetic had just worn off, yet his body's strength had not yet returned.

"Where am I? Is anyone there?" An Jianwen grew anxious at once and cried out!

With the anesthetic only just wearing off, An Jianwen's mind was still somewhat unclear, and he could not quite recall what had happened before.

"Sir, you're awake?" One of Liu Wangli's subordinates, a man named Zhang Juli, came over and said to An Jianwen, "I'm Zhang Juli, from the First Criminal Investigation Squadron of the Municipal Police Bureau!"

"I... I'm, uh--" An Jianwen's heart gave a small jolt. How had he landed himself with the police?

"Sir, I have to tell you some very unfortunate news: your left kidney was cut out by a criminal gang!" Zhang Juli said, looking at An Jianwen with sympathy.

"Gah?!" An Jianwen's eyes went wide! What? His kidney had been cut out? How was that possible? The kidney-harvesting ring was his own -- who would dare cut out his kidney? Wait -- Wei Zhao! An Jianwen suddenly thought of Wei Zhao, and the scene came rushing back to him!

Back in the surgical prep room, Wei Zhao had suddenly woken up and then knocked him unconscious... Could it be that Dr. Wang had failed to recognize him, taken him for Wei Zhao, and cut out his kidney?

An Jianwen wanted to burst into tears. What kind of mess was this? He had been harvested! Truly, clever for a lifetime, muddled for a moment -- the head of a kidney-harvesting ring getting his own kidney cut out. If word got out, wouldn't people laugh their teeth loose?

An Jianwen wanted to call the tattooed man at once and ask what was going on, but with the police right there, he could hardly make the call directly! Anxious as he was, he could only force himself to be patient and say, "Officer, what is this..."

"I was sent by my captain to be responsible for your safety!" Zhang Juli said. "But you can rest easy -- the kidney-harvesting ring has already been destroyed by our police. You're safe now..."

"Gah? Destroyed?" An Jianwen suddenly felt dizzy and faint. The kidney-harvesting ring destroyed? How could that be? How could it possibly have been destroyed?

"Sir, there's no need to be afraid..." Zhang Juli assumed An Jianwen was frightened and hurried to say, "From what we can tell so far, the main members of the criminal gang have all been arrested. But to prevent any remnants of the kidney-harvesting ring from doing you harm, we'll be guarding you here at the hospital around the clock!"

An Jianwen rolled his eyes and passed clean out! His kidney cut out, the kidney-harvesting ring destroyed -- how could An Jianwen not faint?

"Sir, what's wrong?" Zhang Juli was startled, thinking it was An Jianwen's physical collapse, and hastily pressed the call button to summon the doctor, who came to resuscitate An Jianwen...

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After the chance encounter at the bookstore, Kang Zhaoming could count himself acquainted with Guan Xin. But because of Wei Zhao's appearance, he had lost face badly, which left Kang Zhaoming thoroughly displeased -- yet utterly without recourse.

At noon today, Kang Zhaoming came to the First Hospital bearing a bouquet of fresh flowers. He did not go straight to Guan Xin, however; instead he made several rounds through the hospital, letting everyone see him -- even Guan Xin, in her office, caught sight of him -- before contriving a chance encounter.

"What a coincidence, Guan Xin -- you're here!" Kang Zhaoming came over to greet her, his face wreathed in smiles.

"Coincidence?" Guan Xin frowned. She disliked Kang Zhaoming thoroughly. She had noticed him just now, pacing back and forth in the corridor; she simply could not be bothered with him. She had not expected him to come looking for her again, and to put on such a show of a chance meeting.