S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 91

Toothless Murderer 14 – Danger Around Us

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The early morning sunshine woke up the entire city, and people began their busy day, which, naturally, included the SCI crowd.

With a sumptuous breakfast on the table, Bai Yutang called out to the upstairs, "Cat!"

Thus, the first to run down from upstairs were Luban and Lilia, with a large group of round and puffy kittens behind them, as well as the little lion that looked back as it walked, and the yawning Lisbon.

After that, there was Zhan Zhao who suddenly rushed out of the room, inserted himself in front of Lisbon, picked up the little lion and ran downstairs.

Zhao Jue came out after him, but was blocked by Lisbon.

The huge body of the adult male lion occupied half of the staircase. Lisbon stretched out tremendously on the staircase, shook his big furry head, and turned back to look at Zhao Jue in confusion. With a flick of his tail, he touched Zhao Jue twice to show his friendship.

Zhao Jue tried to squeeze by but couldn't go through. Zhan Zhao had already managed to reach the table and sat beside Bai Yutang, provocatively raising an eyebrow at Zhao Jue, who was staring at him without blinking from upstairs.

Exasperated, Zhao Jue ground his teeth and grabbed Lisbon's tail as he went downstairs.

Bai Yutang could tell from Zhan Zhao's satiated state of mind that he had probably won the pillow fight, and rightly so; he had slept well, but Zhao Jue hadn't slept a wink, look at those two large dark circles under his eyes.

Today Bai Yutang made a Chinese breakfast. There were preserved eggs and lean meat congee to drink, Bai Chi went to buy fried dough sticks and salted duck eggs, and there were also pan–fried buns and xiao long bao.

There were many people in the house, and all of them were sitting around eating breakfast, it was lively.

With a spoon in one hand and chopsticks in the other, Zhan Zhao ate quite happily.

When Zhao Jue sat down, he looked at the congee and then at the buns, and asked Xiao Bai Chi at the side, "Is there wasabi?"

The corner of Bai Chi's mouth twitched, "Why do you need wasabi if you aren't eating sushi?"

Zhao Jue picked up a fried bun, "Dip the bun in it and eat it!"

Bai Chi silently passed him a bowl of vinegar, "Buns should be dipped in vinegar."

Zhao Jue looked at the bowl of vinegar with a disgusted face, and eventually dipped a doughnut into the vinegar to eat it. After drinking a mouthful of lean pork congee with preserved eggs, Zhao Jue pouted, "A little more honey would have been nice."

Everyone looked at him with a look of disgust, and Zhao Zhen suddenly handed over a bottle of honey silently.

Bai Chi's eyes widened as he looked at Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen hurriedly stirred the honey in his congee and drank it as if nothing had happened.

Zhao Jue patted Bai Chi, "This is called the power of genetics!"

Zhan Zhao curiously asked, "Is preserved egg and lean meat congee mixed with honey delicious?" He seemed eager to try it.

Bai Yutang put a chopstick of duck egg yolk into his bowl, "Don't eat strange things!"

Bai Jintang read today's newspaper while drinking his congee, while Gongsun asked Zhao Jue, "Why are you guys here?"

Bai Ye looked at Zhao Jue, signalling – It was all his idea.

Zhao Jue was working on adding honey to his congee, and when he heard Gongsun ask, he raised his head and smiled mysteriously, "Came for a stroll."

"A stroll?" Everyone looked at him.

Zhao Jue held his spoon in his mouth, "Old people need to go out and walk around a lot, get some fresh air and stuff."

Guessing that he was probably talking nonsense again, the crowd didn't care and lowered their heads to eat breakfast.

At this time, Bai Yutang's phone rang, and he took out his cell phone, "Hello? Hu Zi... What? Is it serious?"

When Zhan Zhao saw Bai Yutang frowning, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"You go first." Bai Yutang seemed to have agreed to something with Zhao Hu, hung up the phone and said, "Qi Le had a car accident this morning."

"Huh?!" The twins were shocked and fumbled with the phones to ask Qi Le's manager what had happened.

Bai Yutang said, "Hu Zi said that he woke up this morning and found that Qi Le wasn't there. He called to ask her where she went, and she said that she just went downstairs to buy him an early breakfast, so that he could continue to sleep... Just as she was saying that, he heard Qi Le screaming, and also heard the sound of brakes. Hu Zi rushed downstairs, and he saw that a van had directly crashed into the roadside breakfast shop. Qi Le fell and sprained her foot, and Hu Zi said he would take her to the hospital first."

The twins sighed in relief and contacted Qi Le's agent to cancel her upcoming activities and let her recuperate.

Zhan Zhao thought for a moment and asked Bai Yutang, "Was it an accident... or was it intentional?"

Bai Yutang frowned and shook his head, indicating that he wasn't quite sure.

Instead, it was Zhao Jue who narrowed his eyes and asked, "That Zhao Hu and Qi Le live together now?"

The crowd bristled again, looking over at Bai Yutang in unison – An air of gossip was emerging.

Bai Yutang was speechless, "How should I know, I don't interfere in the private lives of my subordinates."

"But Qi Le has been in a good mood lately." Xiao Ding covered his mouth and laughed.

Da Ding called Chen Yu, "Ask Chen Yu."

"Tell her to stay put as well." Bai Yutang reminded, "If she wants to go out, have Lan Xi accompany her."

"Huh?" Da Ding listened to his phone for half a day but it kept beeping, and he was a little confused, "Is she not there?"

Just as he was confused, the sound of the phone connecting came from the other end, followed by an exceptionally cool man speaking, "Hello?"

Da Ding opened his mouth wide, thinking, No way – both girls are living so well?

"Erm..." Da Ding was organising his words.

"Are you from her company?" The man over there asked, "I'm Xiao Yu's brother, she's in the hospital."

Da Ding's mouth opened wider, "In the hospital? What's wrong?"

The commotion on Da Ding's side attracted everyone present to look over – What a coincidence? The two sisters together?

"I'm not sure, the doctor said it's food poisoning. She got up this morning, drank a glass of milk and said her stomach hurt. I just sent her here, the doctor is examining her, we'll talk about the rest later." After saying that, Chen Mi hung up the phone.

Gongsun frowned, "So coincidental?"

"It's worth noting." Bai Jintang put down the newspaper, "But while Qi Le is Zhao Hu's girlfriend, Chen Yu doesn't have a direct connection with SCI, right?"

"She's your employee, isn't she." Gongsun reminded him.

Bai Jintang thought about it, but it was true, she was also considered close to SCI.

"Call Ma Han again and ask him if Jiayi is alright." Zhan Zhao prompted Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang then called Ma Han.

"Hello?" Over there, Ma Han quickly answered the phone.

"Ma Han, are you with Chen Jiayi?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Yes, I'll send her to the company first and then go to work." Ma Han was slightly puzzled, "What's wrong?"

"Uh..." Bai Yutang was just about to explain, when suddenly, he heard a loud 'bang' from over there.

"Ma Han!" Bai Yutang was startled and called out a few times. There was chaos on the other end of the phone, mixed with a cacophony of car alarms blaring chaotically.

Everyone put down their chopsticks and looked nervously at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang then heard the sound of coughing coming from the other end, and then seemed to hear someone talking, it was not too clear... After waiting for about five minutes or so, Ma Han’s voice came, "Head."

"What happened?" Bai Yutang asked.

Ma Han said, "It's not too clear, a truck ran a red light just now, crossed over and hit the front of my car."

"Are you two okay?" Bai Yutang asked.

"I'm fine, Jiayi's hand is injured, I'll send her to the hospital."

"Oh..." Bai Yutang hung up the phone and looked at the crowd. All three girls were in the hospital this morning, can they say it's not a coincidence?

"Aiya." Gongsun urged, "Hurry up and call Ma Xin!"

Bai Yutang frowned and called Luo Tian directly.

On the other end, it was Luo Yang who answered the phone, "Uncle Bai."

"Luo Yang, where's your dad?" Bai Yutang asked.

Luo Yang said, "Dad is driving."

"Is Ma Xin with you?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Ah, Uncle Bai, you also know that Sister Xin Xin is sick?" Luo Yang's sentence made Bai Yutang frown straight away, "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know, she seems to have eaten something bad, early this morning she said that her stomach hurts." Luo Yang said, "Ah, we're at the hospital, I'm hanging up, we'll talk later."

Bai Yutang hung up the phone, and everyone looked at each other – How could this be?

Just then, Zhan Zhao's phone rang, and surprisingly, it was from home.

Zhan Zhao picked up the phone, "Hello? Dad? What!"

Everyone then saw Zhan Zhao stand up, "So what about now... Okay, I'll come right away."

Bai Yutang tilted his face to look at Zhan Zhao, "What happened?"

Zhan Zhao tugged at him, "Our mother is in the hospital!"

Bai Yutang was shocked, "Which mother?"

"Both of them!" Zhan Zhao said, "They went to buy vegetables as usual this morning, and were hit by a van when they left the market."

Bai Yutang's mouth opened wide, "Hit?!"

"It didn't directly hit them, they both dodged it, but they were both injured. Dad sent them to the hospital. He said that he bumped into Zhao Hu and Lan Xi while they were in the hospital, and felt that there was something fishy, so he called to ask."

Bai Yutang stood up, "Let's go straight to the hospital."

After saying that, the group rushed to the hospital.

The hospital was as crowded as ever, with sickly patients and family members with worried expressions, it always created an inexplicable sense of depression.

When Bai Yutang and the others stopped their cars, they saw Qin Ou, who was getting out of his car holding Xiao Yi.

"Captain." Qin Ou was holding a box of drinks in his hand, which seemed to be the Vitasoy that Xiao Yi often drank.

"Why are you here?" Bai Yutang was a little nervous, could it be that something has happened again?

"Just now, Yang Fan called me and said that for some reason, a few of my SCI colleagues came running to the hospital today. It seemed like something had happened and he told me to pay attention." Saying that, he handed the milk to Bai Yutang for him to take a look, "When I was preparing breakfast for Xiao Yi this morning, I saw that there was a needle hole on the milk carton."

Bai Yutang moved over to look, and there was indeed a hole in the milk packaging.

"This box of Vitasoy was bought by Ma Xin yesterday, right?" Gongsun's eyes were sharp, "She went to the supermarket yesterday to restock and bought several boxes, she also gave Chen Yu a box, saying that it has probiotics and that drinking it in the morning is good for the body."

"That's right, Xin Xin did a test on this Vitasoy and said the quality is very good, so every time she buys it, she brings two boxes for Xiao Yi. One box can be finished in a week, and they've been fine." Qin Ou nodded as he walked inside, "Yang Fan said that both Chen Yu and Ma Xin had food poisoning, so just to be on the safe side, he asked me to bring Xiao Yi for a medical examination."

Bai Yutang frowned, "Someone poisoned them?"

When he entered the ward, he saw a familiar female doctor taking Ma Xin's temperature.

This one ward was completely occupied by people from SCI.

In the ward, there were two beds and two sofas, Chen Yu and Ma Xin, the two with food poisoning, were lying on the beds, Qi Le and Chen Jiayi, one with a bandaged foot and one with a bandaged hand, were sitting on the sofas, and all the boyfriends were serving tea and water.

The one who measured Ma Xin's temperature was He Ying, the young doctor who was hit and fainted during Lin Ruo's case not long ago.

When He Ying saw Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, she pointed to the opposing door.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, who were in the middle of looking for their mothers, looked back and saw that the door of the opposite room had opened, and Zhan Qitian came out and waved to the two.

The two hurriedly ran across to the opposite ward, and saw that both mothers were there, one eating an orange and one eating an apple, and that Yang Fan was standing on the side looking at the results of the examination.

The only one lying on the hospital bed was Mother Zhan.

Mother Zhan's left toe was fractured, and her foot was covered with a plaster cast, which made their hearts skip a beat, while Mother Bai's hand was just bruised and she was sitting with Mother Zhan.

According to Mother Bai's description, if it wasn't for Mother Zhan's excellent strength, dragging her to the side, she might have been hit and killed.

"Did the car charge towards Mum and go over?" Bai Jintang leaned against the doorway and asked Bai Yunwen with a frown.

Bai Yunwen nodded, "I thought it was an accident, but looking at the other room, it shouldn't be that coincidental."

"It's not a coincidence." Yang Fan said to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, "Qi Le and Chen Yu were poisoned with the same poison, both pesticides."

As he said that, he took the Vitasoy handed over by Qin Ou and said that he would have it tested, but he guessed that it was the same.

"Pesticide?!" Bai Yutang frowned.

"That's right, so all of them had their stomachs pumped." He Ying walked over.

"Xiao Yu was drinking this Vitasoy this morning." At this time, Chen Mi helped Grandpa Chen over.

Luo Tian also frowned, "Xin Xin also drank it. Yang Yang has a day off today so he didn't get up early and didn't drink it, or else he would probably have been poisoned as well."

Grandpa Chen was anxious, "What kind of perversion did my Xiao Yu get into again!"

Zhan Zhao wanted to tell him that it was actually SCI who brought in the perverts and dragged the innocent girls down with them.

Zhan Qitian was a little surprised to see that Bai Ye and Zhao Jue had also come.

Zhao Jue probed his head to look into the ward, and Mother Bai waved at him.

Zhao Jue shrank back behind the door.

Mother Zhan and Mother Bai looked at each other and smiled.

Mother Bai went to the door with a tangerine and slipped it to Zhao Jue, then saw Bai Ye and seemed surprised, "Ah..."

Bai Ye nodded at her and went to wait somewhere out of sight around the corner.

Mother Bai pushed Bai Yunwen, "Go on, it's been a long time since we've seen each other, why don't you have a good chat."

Bai Yunwen frowned, but was still pushed out by Mother Bai.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other – A little bit curious! Although now was not the time to be curious.

At this time, the elevator doors opened and Bao Zheng, who was sweating from running, rushed out of the elevator, and seeing the crowd in front of him, he hurriedly asked, "Is it serious?"

Zhan Qitian told him the general situation.

Bao Zheng frowned.

"Where are the drivers who caused the accidents?" Bai Yutang asked Bao Zheng.

"Two in a van and one in a truck." Bao Zheng was helpless, "All of them have no previous convictions and are just ordinary people. The one who drove the truck was fatigued, one of the ones driving a van said that he lost control of the steering wheel, and the other said that the brakes weren't working."

Bai Yutang frowned, "It can't be a coincidence."

Bao Zheng nodded, "I know, but the other party was quite precise in their approach, this kind of accident can only be dealt with as a traffic accident, it's impossible to authorise an arrest and bring them back for you to interrogate."

Bai Yutang was dissatisfied.

"But I've sent people to keep an eye on those guys, I'll let you know if anything happens." Bao Zheng sighed.

At this time, a young nurse ran over and gave Yang Fan some sheets.

Yang Fan looked at them, then pulled out a few of the slips and handed them to Zhan Zhao, saying, "The results of your mother's tests are out, take this slip and go to the second floor to get it."

Zhan Zhao nodded, took the list and headed out. Bai Yutang wanted to follow, but Zhan Zhao instructed him to stay and continue talking about the case, saying that there was no need for so many people to go pick up the test results.

He Ying happened to be going to get Qi Le and Chen Jiayi's X–rays, so she went with him.

When Zhan Zhao entered the elevator, he saw Zhao Jue, who was holding a tangerine, also dash in.

Zhan Zhao looked at him in disbelief, "Why are you following me?"

Zhao Jue flattened his mouth, "There are many people upstairs."

Zhan Zhao looked at him. When he passed through the hallway just now, he saw Bai Yunwen and Bai Ye, one on the left and one on the right, standing like two statues at the window at the corner of the stairs, and the atmosphere was a bit strange.

They arrived at the third floor with a ding. He Ying went out first to get the X–ray film, and when she went out, an old man walked in, who was thin and dark, like a patient.

When He Ying went out of the elevator, she wanted to say goodbye to Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue, but when she looked back, she saw that the old man had one hand behind his back, and in his hand, he was holding a shiny knife.

"Ah!" He Ying instinctively screamed.

Both Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue were originally lost in thought, but He Ying's sharp voice startled them, making them look up.

They saw that the elevator door was closing and an old man was in front of them. He Ying jumped over and tried to block the elevator door, but the door had already closed, and Zhao Jue and Zhan Zhao heard He Ying shouting through the door, "Be careful! He has a knife! There's a knife!"

......

‿︵‿︵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: September 16, 2023 by Angel

Edited: October 5, 2023 by Angel