S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 54

Ghost Ship Murderer 20 – Wake Up

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Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao arrived at Nguyen Van Gao's room together.

After all, this was a hospital and not a prison, so the room was not that simple, with a bedroom, a balcony attached to the bedroom, and an ensuite bathroom.

When Bai Yutang followed Zhan Zhao into the room, his first impression was that the room was clear and bright, and everything was arranged according to a certain pattern. Previously, Bai Yutang had thought that because Nguyen Van Gao had a military background, his room should have a strong military feel to it, but this did not seem to be the case when he entered. Although it was neat, no trace of discipline could be seen in the neatness, instead, a different kind of flavour could be seen...

"It looks like a rich man's bedroom." Zhan Zhao said.

Bai Yutang didn't quite understand, "What do you mean?"

"A maid cleaned it up." Zhan Zhao replied.

Bai Yutang raised his eyebrows slightly, seemingly understanding, "So that's how it is."

"I rarely come in this room." Zhao Jue followed behind with his arms crossed and looked around, "This Nguyen Van Gao is very defensive of people and doesn't like to spend much time with others."

Bai Chi looked through some notebooks on the table, most of them were reading notes, while the rest were drawings.

"Nguyen Van Gao has a habit of drawing?" Zhan Zhao took a cursory glance and asked Zhao Jue.

"En, and the drawings are quite distinctive." Zhao Jue had a unique insight into painting, "Usually it's not hard to know how to draw and paint well, but to be able to see the characteristics with a single brush stroke, that's something... The touch for painting, and the uniqueness of the brush strokes, just like a person's vocal cords, innate, the more special it is, the more God has rewarded you."

"Brother..." Bai Chi flipped through a few pages and looked up at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao smiled lightly, he had already seen it and nodded, "It's indeed special."

Bai Yutang didn't quite understand and took a look, his eyes widened a little and astonishment emerged – Each of Nguyen Van Gao's paintings had a circular frame, like a... stamp!

Bai Chi quickly flipped through a few pages and showed them to Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang frowned slightly – There were several sketches of designs for stamps:

One had the Emilia inside the circle – The first deceased in S City, Ding Yuan, had this stamp on him.

One has an 'H' in the circle – The guillotine, with a weird handprint on the back, was found on the drowned Chen Fei.

One was a rose in the circle – The talented golfer Ryan, who died by the guillotine, had this mark on his hand.

......

All the stamp marks that Zhan Zhao and the others had found on the victims earlier were from the stamps drawn by Nguyen Van Gao.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, these diagrams, were they created by Nguyen Van Gao himself? Or had he seen them and drawn them?

Seeing that the two seemed to be in a dilemma, Zhao Jue picked up the drawing and took a look at it, smiling slightly, "All the lines here are full of imagination and exploration, the strokes are not copies but creative techniques, they are original to him."

Zhan Zhao frowned again, could it be that Nguyen Van Gao was the murderer? But where was the stamp?

Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang and Bai Chi began to search through the cupboards, but they could not find the stamp.

Zhan Zhao picked up another sketchbook and showed it to Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang flipped it open and was shocked. Originally, he thought Nguyen Van Gao would only draw some sketches, he didn't expect this man to have excellent sketching skills.

"This is standard classical drawing." Zhao Jue said, "Rembrandt and Raphael should have done this style of drawing."

Zhan Zhao looked at him, "Is it that exaggerated?"

"It's not that he draws well, rather the technique is too classical and uses charcoal, which are very difficult to master." Zhao Jue smiled.

"The point is not whether he draws well or not." Bai Yutang interrupted Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue's discussion of Nguyen Van Gao's drawing skills, and instead pointed to the characters that appeared in the sketchbook, and they saw that Nguyen Van Gao had drawn a book full of Lin Ruo.

Zhao Jue spread his hands, "Can't think of any other reason except that he has a crush on this teenager."

"The Lin Ruo he drew does seem to be a bit younger." Zhan Zhao also saw the doubt and asked Bai Yutang, "Do you feel that this person looks like Lin Ruo at the age of eighteen or nineteen, unlike his current appearance in his twenties, appearing a little more childish and pure? The one now no longer has this aura, having grown up."

Bai Yutang nodded, "Could it be that Nguyen Van Gao knew Lin Ruo a long time ago?"

"There's no grounds for that." Zhan Zhao laughed, "Nguyen Van Gao was a drug lord and pirate when Lin Ruo was still in school a few years ago, there wouldn't be any kind of dog blood plot, would there?"

Bai Yutang frowned.

"What I don't quite understand is this painting."

Zhao Jue interrupted Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao's discussion and pointed to a decorative painting on the wall, "This painting is the only piece of decoration in this room, but it's completely different from Nguyen Van Gao's own style of painting and his aesthetic, and it's also the only item he brought with him."

When Zhao Jue finished speaking, everyone looked in unison at the painting on the wall.

It was an oil painting of a sailboat on angry waves.

Zhan Zhao suddenly felt that something looked familiar, and after thinking about it, he tapped Bai Yutang lightly, "Do you still remember the nautical painting inside Lin Ruo's living room when we first went to his old mansion?"

Bai Yutang remembered, although he didn't know much about painting, now that he took a closer look, he felt that although the two paintings were different in size, content and tone, the styles were very similar.

"Lin Ruo's painting..." Bai Yutang was even more puzzled, "Nguyen Van Gao and Lin Ruo have a large age difference and are in different situations, why would he have Lin Ruo's painting?"

Zhan Zhao walked over to the painting and reached out to take it down.

As he did so, a photograph fell from the back of the painting.

Bai Chi crouched down to pick it up, and saw that it was a picture of Lin Ruo.

"This looks like it was taken recently." Bai Yutang stared at the photo, "Is Lin Ruo on board the Emilia?"

Zhan Zhao also looked closely and nodded, "It was during the trial voyage this morning..."

Bai Yutang was surprised and turned the photo over to take a look... Everyone was stunned.

On the back of the photo, there was a stamp, and inside the ring, was the Emilia. Unlike the ancient Emilia on Ding Yuan before, this was the one on Jin Liang, the Emilia that Stephen and the others had just finished building and is undergoing a trial voyage. The only difference was that the Emilia inside Jin Liang's stamp was sunken, while this one was floating on the surface of the sea...

"I probably know where Lin Ruo has gone." Zhan Zhao looked up at Bai Yutang, "And that Nguyen Van Gao..."

Bai Yutang frowned, "Lin Ruo is in danger." After saying that, he quickly walked outside.

When Zhao Jue saw the three rush off, he hurriedly followed them out as well, seemingly amused.

......

At the other end, Zhao Hu and Ma Han arrived at the hospital's inpatient building and asked the young nurse at the front desk downstairs what Lin Ruo was doing here.

When the young nurse saw that the police had come to ask, she replied, "Mr. Lin came to see Han Wei."

"Han Wei?" Zhao Hu wondered why another person had popped up.

"You are Han Wei's people?"

At that moment, someone behind them inquired.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han turned around and saw a young female doctor in a white lab coat standing behind them.

"Huh?" The female doctor suddenly looked at Ma Han, "Aren't you Xin Xin's brother?"

Ma Han also thought the female doctor looked a bit familiar and instantly remembered, "You're Xin Xin's classmate?"

"Yes, I'm the intern doctor here." The female doctor introduced herself, "My name is He Ying."

Ma Han nodded, he remembered this girl, she was one of the few old classmates that Ma Xin always hung out with.

Zhao Hu gave him a look – Is this girl reliable?

Ma Han thought about it and returned his glance – She has a good relationship with Xin Xin, presumably a best friend.

"Heh."

He Ying suddenly laughed.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han looked at her.

He Ying pursed her lips, "Women can't survive these days, handsome guys love to exchange love glances with handsome guys."

Ma Han looked at the sky. Zhao Hu had a wall-thick face and naturally didn't care, pointing at Ma Han, "That's right, he's my male cp, those girls at the police station love to ship us."

The young nurses around him laughed, and Ma Han really wanted to kick him out. Reluctantly, he changed the subject and asked He Ying, "Can you tell me about Han Wei? Do you know anything about his relationship with Lin Ru?"

"I do." He Ying smiled and waved to the two, "I know some basic information and some rumours, come with me and I will take you to meet Han Wei."

Ma Han followed her towards the elevator, and when he saw that Zhao Hu was still looking at the pictures the young nurses had taken of the two of them together, he ground his teeth, grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him away.

They got into the elevator.

He Ying smiled and said, "You two are partners, you look so close."

Ma Han continued to look at the sky.

Zhao Hu smiled, "It's our captain's fault for pulling the strings."

He Ying was lost in thought, "Actually, Lin Ruo and Han Wei are also good friends, but it's a pity..."

"Pity about what?" Ma Han did not understand.

He Ying was a little surprised, "Don't you guys ever gossip about the news regarding Lin Ruo?"

Zhao Hu and Ma Han looked at each other – Gossip about what?

"Young Master Lin is also considered a man of the hour." He Ying smiled, "This is what I heard and read in the magazines, Lin Ruo originally teamed up with Han Wei to practice tandem sailing, they started to team up when they were in college, and participated in many world competitions, they even won the championship."

Both Ma Han and Zhao Hu were speechless – What kind of constitution did Lin Ruo have? He's tall, handsome and rich, and he can do anything he wants?

"But unfortunately, Han Wei came in six years ago. His and Lin Ruo's sailboat was caught in a storm at sea and they were both unconscious when they were rescued. Lin Ruo was sent to the best hospital for treatment by the best doctors, but Han Wei was only treated in a general hospital and the treatment was not timely. Lin Ruo recovered but Han Wei became a vegetable and hasn't woken up in six years."

Ma Han and Zhao Hu looked at each other – They had never heard Lin Ruo mention it.

"Han Wei's family isn't very well off, and his family has given up on him; it's Lin Ruo who keeps paying for his medical expenses, and who still visits him every week." He Ying said, shaking her head with emotion, "So much love!"

The elevator reached the top floor and after the door opened, Ma Han and Zhao Hu realised that although it was a public hospital, the environment was very nice.

"It's not inferior to a private hospital." Ma Han looked around.

"That's right, the director is a friend of Lin Ru's father, so he specially chose this floor for Han Wei to stay, it's quiet and reasonably priced." He Ying said, "Han Wei's condition is stable and there are some signs of recovery recently, so Lin Ruo has been coming more often than before."

"Signs of recovery?" Zhao Hu was curious, "Is it possible for him to wake up? It's rare for someone to wake up after six years in a vegetative state."

"That's right, but the bruises in his brain have cleared up and he's functioning well in every way, and his brain has been more active lately." He Ying led the two men to the door of the ward.

Opening the door to the room a little, the two looked in... and saw a young man in his twenties lying quietly on a hospital bed in a clean and tidy room.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han took a rough look at him, his appearance was clean and refreshing, and although he was not as handsome as Lin Ruo, he was still very pleasant to look at. Probably because he had been lying indoors for many years, he was rather thin and his skin was pale and lacked colour.

He was lying quietly, a bunch of blue hyacinths on the bedside table and the fading blue hue of the walls… inexplicably, it gave the impression that the room smelled like the sea. There were two pictures on the wall next to the bed. One was taken at sea while Lin Ruo and Han Wei were riding the waves in a tandem sailboat at a brisk pace. Next to it was a picture of the two men in their race uniforms, hugging each other's shoulders and holding their gold medals. The two look very young in this photo, it was probably taken when they were not yet twenty years old, with the pure smiles of vivid youth...

Blue is inherently sad. This room was decorated in a warm way, but it carried a faint sense of sadness and nostalgia.

Ma Han and Zhao Hu looked at each other, Lin Ruo being so obsessed with the Emilia, would it have anything to do with Han Wei? Could Han Wei be related to this case?

As he was thinking, Zhao Hu's phone rang, he picked it up and saw that it was Bai Yutang.

After listening, Zhao Hu tapped Ma Han and his expression immediately became serious, "Let's go."

Ma Han nodded and thanked He Ying before he and Zhao Hu left in a hurry.

He Ying saw the two men quickly disappear and blinked. Whoosh, she rushed to the side and fished out her phone, "Xin Xin! Does your brother have a boyfriend?"

"Pfft..." Ma Xin spat out a mouthful of grape juice.

Gongsun, who was reading the newspaper, glanced at her and looked down to continue reading the newspaper.

"He really doesn't!" He Ying jumped with pleasure, "Then set us up to meet!"

"You're late!" Ma Xin bristled, "He settled down a long time ago."

"What about that male CP of his?" He Ying lamented.

"Pfft..." Ma Xin took another sip of grape juice.

Gongsun pushed his glasses up and turned a page of the newspaper.

"He has an owner too!" Ma Xin warned her, "Don't mess around, those two are tigresses! If you touch their men you'll be slaughtered."

"Ah!" He Ying brushed against the wall, "Why is it like this, I hate it, all the good men are taken, I won't be able to get married..."

As she was pouting, she suddenly heard a 'pada'.

He Ying was stunned. She rushed to the door of the ward and saw that the bunch of hyacinths had fallen to the ground at some point, and Han Wei, who was on the bed, was slowly blinking his eyes.

"Yaaah!" He Ying screamed, ringing the bell as hard as she could.

Ma Xin was startled and hurriedly moved away from the phone. Gongsun could hear the woman's scream coming from the other end of the phone from far away and looked at Ma Xin in confusion.

Ma Xin shook his head, "This girl is crazy about marrying…" As she spoke, she looked up and asked Gongsun, "Wise monarch, do you know any good men? Introduce one!"

Gongsun stroked his chin and thought seriously, "Do you want twins? Buy one and get one free."

Ma Xin's face scrunched up into a bun shape, "No way!"

Gongsun shook his head regretfully, "One day we'll get rid of those two nuclear light bulbs."

"Nuclear light bulbs?" Ma Xin wondered, what's that?

Gongsun pushed his glasses, dissatisfied, "They never go out!"

......

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: May 14, 2023 by Angel

Edited: June 18, 2023 by Angel