Jennie was still worried about Chaeyoung, but due to Lisa's obstruction, she could not just go and "save" Chaeyoung. She was unhappy the entire way back.
She even gave Lisa a knock to the back of his head!
Lisa stayed low-profile. Sensing Jennie's disgruntledness,
he did not mind it and drove straight to the Hibiscus Garden.
Jennie was still concerned about Chaeyoung. After dinner, she took her phone and snuck into the third floor of the house.
It was spring, the sun shone warmly in the day,
while comforting breeze blew at night. After an entire winter of sleeping, those exotic plants had begun to unfurl their branches and bloomed.
The moon was clean and bright as it glowed softly in the gentle night.
Jennie unlocked her phone and was going to call Chaeyoung when a text message came from her.
"Jenjen, I'm doing fine, don't worry!"
Jennie exhaled in relief. She typed on her phone, "Jisoo did not harm you, did he?"
After sending it out, Jennie regretted her actions a little for infringing on another's privacy.
When they had left, the sounds coming from inside the room seemed suspicious, they might even have some kind of a sensual relationship...
Thankfully, Chaeyoung was a pretty open to discussions like this.
She replied, "I'm okay. We can only wait for what happens in the future! He's not the kind to give up easily, so this thing between us wouldn't end so quickly. It's hard to say."
Jennie understood Chaeyoung's feelings. She did not know what happened between her and Jisoo, but if she switched them out for herself and Lisa, it would not have ended so quickly too.
"Alright, see you tomorrow!"
Keeping her phone, Jennie looked around and saw the flowered plants that she named Hope Bamboo Basket had begun a new growing cycle. Recalling that it had been a while since her last visit, Jennie walked around in the house.
The plants that Lisa were taking care of had begun to sprout. Even tropical plants like Hope Bamboo Basket had acclimated to Luo Hai's weather.
Jennie caressed the sprouts and smiled.
'Even plants can renew their life force, so why can't humans do the same?!'
...
When Jennie came downstairs, Lisa had just received a
call. Something the caller told him had made his face change abruptly!
It was a long while before the man replied, "Let our men control the situation. Transfer the patients to the general hospital, transfer Ye Kun to military general hospital and let Third Uncle handle him. I'll be there ASAP!"
It was rare for Jennie to see Lisa behaving in such a way
that portrayed shock, and even more so, a ferocious hatred!
Jennie did not know what happened, but she had a subtle feeling that something had gone wrong. She approached him and asked lightly, "Lisa, where are you going?"
Lisa did not speak. By the time Jennie was contemplating
how to ask to go with him, Lisa had already retrieved his jacket from upstairs.
He caressed her shoulder as he dropped the fierceness in his eyes and said affectionately, "Stay here, I'll be back really soon. Drink some milk and get some sleep!"
Jennie had an urge to say that she wanted to go along, but she knew it would not work the moment she saw Lisa.
Seeing his back, she thought, 'Who's that patient
Lisa was talking about?'
...
Lisa had yet to return even as the first sunray of the day had broken through. Jennie did not sleep well. She kept dreaming of Xi Fan recently, and the difference in the recent times, it was set in the boundless Gobi Desert full of lifeless bodies. The gradual clarity of the nightmare caused her to be awake since 5 a.m.
Moodily, she finished washing up, applied some light makeup, and went downstairs to have breakfast prepared by Ah Fu. Not having slept well, she did not have much of an appetite.
"Call Young Master and ask if he's coming back for breakfast."
Jennie gathered her belongings to prepare for work while
instructing Ah Fu to contact Lisa's cell phone.
After a while, Ah Fu reported, "Young Master said he won't be back for breakfast and that you shouldn't wait for him, he's still arranging things over there."
'Looks like it really is a huge incident,' guessed Jennie.
...
As soon as Jennie parked her car on the company parking bay, she saw Eunwoo shuffling toward her quickly.
Seeing Jennie, he said excitedly, "Quick, Jen. Something
happened in Zong He Sanatorium. People from the major crimes department had already rushed over, we have to get there now!"
Recognizing the name, Jennie's heart was pumping hard. Lisa's hurrying away must have something to do with Zong He!
"What happened?" Jennie rebuckled her seatbelt, released the hand break, and placed her hands on the steering wheel.
Eunwoo was panting. He unstrapped his camera and jabbered away.
"Homicide by poisoning, I heard! There were multiple victims, and they've already locked the place down. If we weren't going with the major crimes department, we will definitely not be allowed entry. This is an exclusive news..."
As a professional reporter, Eunwoo knew the value of this story like a beast smelling the blood of its prey!
"Poisoning?"
Jennie did not know why, but something told her that it had to do with the conversation she overheard from the mother-and-daughter pair from the Mcdonie clan.
Driving through the traffic, her heart was racing, and so was Eunwoo, even though their reasons were different.
"Jennie, this is our first case together, and it's an exclusive. I've never experience anything like this in the legal channel. I'm so lucky..."
Eunwoo was good enough a reporter to realize a case's worth.
Jennie's head was pulsing. Compared to the value of the news, she was more concerned about the safety of the patients!
...
Zong He Sanatorium was already surrounded by law enforcement, as evidenced by Huai and his forensics experts' presence.
Chaeyoung was beside Huai. "Captain, can it be Poison Rat Qiang?"
Huai's gaze was dark and piercing. He checked out the food. sampled from the sanatorium's canteen as well as other pieces of evidence collected by the forensics. He said darkly, "We can't confirm if there's only one type of poison before sending it to the lab!"
Huai had never been this down before. This case was different from all the other cases. He did not know the assailants' motives for which they would target patients in a sanatorium?
Mass poisoning was such a deplorable act of terrorism!
After all, some of these patients were already pitiable enough with broken families and without a home to return. Even someone as hardy as Huai was triggered!
"Little Park, go to the hospital with Jiang Bian in the afternoon, check out the situation over there. Little Dong, record statements from witnesses in the sanatorium."
Chaeyoung was assigned a task as well. She managed to see Jennie and Eunwoo snap some photos.
The key evidence could not be broadcast yet due to their relevance to the investigation that followed, but their photos could be collected to be used after the case was closed.
Eunwoo wanted to go to the hospital, so he whispered to Jennie , "Can you inform Captain Huai?"
Jennie knew Huai would be a tough person to approach at
this moment. She wanted to check out the hospital as well, but it would be more realistic to ask Chaeyoung about it for now.
"Chaeyoung, does the police know how to go about the investigation for this poisoning?"
Jennie was unnerved.. Her instinct told her that this case might be orchestrated by the person behind Nancy or even Nancy herself!
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*DO NOT VOTE PLEASE*