Chapter 22: The Person Disappeared

The sky was only just beginning to brighten when Fu Yuan reached the entrance of the hospital.

A black sedan sped out from the hospital grounds, nearly clipping her; it was moving at a speed of at least 30 kilometers per hour.

"Oh, shit—"

Fu Yuan saw the man inside the car roll down his window, curse, and flip her the middle finger.

Through the glass, she could see that the man was wearing a white shirt and had a buzz cut; his face was clean-shaven, and he wore a stud earring in his left ear.

He looked somewhat familiar, yet it felt like she was seeing him for the first time. Fu Yuan narrowed her eyes and glanced at the license plate: "Lin A4448." A local plate.

*Bad luck. What kind of lunatic is that?*

Fu Yuan cursed inwardly, registered her name and contact information at the visitor desk, and headed upstairs.

She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but the inpatient ward felt exceptionally quiet this morning. Along the way, she hardly saw any patients out for their rehabilitation exercises.

She checked her phone: 6:35 AM. She found it slightly amusing, chiding herself for being paranoid. It was early, and most people hadn't woken up yet; it wasn't strange for things to be quiet.

SN-506.

The hospital bed was empty, the bedding disheveled.

The IV needle had been pulled out and discarded carelessly on the bed, leaving a smear of blood that had already dried into the fabric.

In an instant, a chill shot from the soles of Fu Yuan's feet straight to her heart. She could clearly hear the gurgling sound of her own blood rushing in her ears, and a sense of foreboding grew wildly in her chest.

*Was she... abducted?*

*How could they have pulled this off?*

"Are you looking for Wu Ping?"

An older woman in the adjacent bed noticed her standing frozen and initiated the conversation.

Fu Yuan glanced at the name on the IV bag—"Wu Ping, 25 years old"—and nodded. She asked with a note of urgency, "Do you know where she went?"

The woman sat at the head of her bed, eating a steamed bun her son had bought for her, and shook her head with a sigh. "I don't know. Her brother came just a little while ago and took her away. I was just thinking, she was doing fine in the hospital, why leave so suddenly? Look at that needle—she pulled it out herself. It looked pretty terrifying."

She then asked, "You're her younger sister, right? I heard you talking to the doctor yesterday."

Fu Yuan nodded, feeling a bit awkward. She hadn't expected anyone to actually believe the identity that woman had fabricated, let alone multiple people.

The woman seemed kind-hearted and offered some advice: "I think your sister is quite delicate. I heard she was brought here after swallowing poison. This hospital is one of the best in the city; if you have the money, it's better not to switch hospitals. Her body won't be able to handle the stress."

Fu Yuan froze for a moment before processing what she had said. "What did you say? She’s switching hospitals?"

The woman chuckled. "You didn't know?"

Fu Yuan said, "I wasn't aware. We had an appointment for me to visit her today, and she didn't send me any messages. What did her brother look like?"

A look of admiration flashed across the woman's face—perhaps shocked by the sheer number of siblings in their family—and she said, "I was feeling very sleepy at the time, but my alarm went off, so I woke up and rolled over. I saw a man helping your sister."

Fu Yuan pressed, "Then how did you know it was her brother?"

The woman scratched her head. "Didn't she mention yesterday that her brother would be coming to the hospital? I just assumed that must be him."

Seeing Fu Yuan's speechless expression, the woman offered a sheepish smile. "The man's build looked rather bulky, and he was wearing a hat, so I couldn't see his face clearly... Oh, I remember now. He had a ring on the ring finger of his left hand."

Just then, a young boy, about seven or eight years old, burst in clutching a basketball, instantly drawing Fu Yuan's attention.

His hair was naturally curly—

Male. Curly hair.

Behind the boy walked a woman in her thirties; they appeared to be mother and son.

The boy dropped the ball on the floor and sat by the old woman's bed, calling out sweetly, "Grandma."

Fu Yuan’s heart rate eased slightly.

Remembering that the doctor had told her to ask the front desk if she needed anything, Fu Yuan walked over.

The nurse at the desk was a young woman whom Fu Yuan hadn't seen yesterday.

"Excuse me."

Noticing the nurse seemed to be daydreaming, Fu Yuan called out again, but received no response.

Fu Yuan waved a hand in front of her face and raised her voice slightly. "Excuse me, I’d like to inquire about bed number 2 in SN-506..."

The nurse seemed to snap out of a trance and stood up. "I'm so sorry, I don't know why I zoned out just now. What were you saying?"

Fu Yuan sighed. Was this hospital working its staff to death? The nurse clearly hadn't even woken up yet before being dragged in for her shift.

She repeated herself: "I’d like to ask about bed number 2 in SN-506, Wu Ping. Why did she leave the hospital?"

The nurse sat at her desk, opened the computer, and paused. "That is patient privacy. May I ask who you are to her?"

Fu Yuan replied, "I'm her sister. I brought her to the hospital yesterday."

Having told the lie so many times, she now said it without blushing or missing a beat.

The nurse looked suspicious. "Do you have an ID card? I might need to register your information."

Fu Yuan felt stuck.

Just then, a familiar voice drifted over.

"Xiao Liu, I know this family member. She is indeed the patient's sister. I was in charge of that patient yesterday and spoke with her."

"Director Li!" The nurse, addressed as Xiao Liu, stood up to greet him.

Fu Yuan looked up and saw the same doctor who had given her instructions the day before.

She gave him a grateful smile, and Director Li waved a hand, signaling it was nothing.

"Bed 2 in SN-506... Wu Ping, 25 years old. She completed her discharge paperwork for a transfer at 6:21 this morning."

Nurse Xiao Liu logged into the internal system and reported the findings, her tone suggesting she was still a bit skeptical that Fu Yuan hadn't known about her own sister's transfer.

"What? Transferred?" Fu Yuan asked urgently. "Who handled the discharge?"

The nurse shook her head. "I don't know about that. If you want to find out, you'll have to check the surveillance footage."

She paused, then added, "But the surveillance room isn't here; you have to go to the security booth. All the hospital's surveillance is kept there. For patient privacy... we usually don't have the authority to view the footage."

Standing to the side, Director Li looked puzzled as well. "I remember that... that Wu Ping patient told me she had no other family besides this younger sister."

Fu Yuan added, "There is no way she handled the transfer herself. We had things to do today."

As she spoke, Fu Yuan opened WeChat and found the man saved as "Officer Guo." This was the policeman she had been connected to after calling the emergency line the night before; this was his private account.

*

Fu Yuan: "Officer Guo, that woman has gone missing."

As soon as the message was sent, her phone vibrated; he had replied.

Runner: "What happened?"

Fu Yuan: "The hospital says she was transferred, but she wouldn't have done that. I suspect she's been kidnapped."

Runner: "Are you at the hospital? I'm on my way."