Originally, the whistleblower call was made from a convenience store. This was easy to trace, but now the store owner was twisting and turning wildly. Once he got into the police car, he kept making faces against the window.
Perhaps because he was the last one to get on, he was now in high spirits.
Li Zhiyuan looked around, somewhat puzzled that Brother Runsheng hadn’t returned yet.
Just right in front, there was a yellow tricycle parked there joining the crowd. Li Zhiyuan walked over, got on, and mentioned the location of the town health center as well as asked about the fare.
After the tricycle driver quoted the fare, Li Zhiyuan suddenly realized that because of the earlier phone call, he naturally switched to Mandarin and hadn’t switched back to the dialect, so he asked again in Nantong dialect.
The tricycle driver grinned sheepishly and quoted a price that was half off the previous one.
When they arrived at the town health center, Li Zhiyuan went inside and before he even had a chance to ask where Sister Mei and Runsheng were, he saw two policemen already ahead of him.
He followed them and quickly found a quiet ward. Outside on a bench sat Runsheng, quietly seated.
The policemen pushed the door and entered, while Li Zhiyuan walked up to Runsheng and gently nudged him, asking:
"Brother Runsheng, what are you doing sitting here?"
Runsheng lifted his head, "Xiao Yuan..."
Through conversation, Li Zhiyuan learned what had happened after being sent to the hospital.
Firstly, Brother Leopard had failed resuscitation and was declared dead.
Upon hearing this news, Sister Mei fainted.
The tricycle driver left the hospital directly after dropping them off.
Consequently, Runsheng was asked by the health center staff to stay and pay the bill, but since he had no money, he could only sit there as a "hostage".
He thought to himself, once Sister Mei woke up and things were explained, he could leave, just that Sister Mei’s fainting lasted a bit too long.
Li Zhiyuan took the initiative to go into the ward to find the policemen. Inside, Sister Mei was lying on the hospital bed surrounded by two uniformed policemen and one in plain clothes.
This plainclothes officer was the first to arrive, unknown to Li Zhiyuan beforehand. If he’d known, he might have hesitated before entering, as it was particularly this person who seemed to have noticed him instantly in the crowd.
Li Zhiyuan first approached the two policemen, clarified the situation, pointing out that his friend was only trying to do a good deed and shouldn’t be involved in the ensuing trouble.
After the policemen understood the sequence of events, they actively communicated with the health center staff, and very soon, Runsheng was informed by the health center that he could leave.
"Great, finally can go home for dinner!"
Runsheng was famished and wished he could carry Li Zhiyuan on his back and fly home.
But a voice from behind called out at this moment: "Young man, wait a moment."
Tan Yunlong walked up to Li Zhiyuan, bent down, and looked at the boy seriously.
"Young man, was it you who called the police?"
The response from the dispatcher indicated that the person who reported the incident was a boy. Upon arriving at the scene, Tan Yunlong immediately noticed Li Zhiyuan’s presence.
You see, at a time when everyone was crowding forward to watch the excitement, a lone quiet figure standing on the periphery in an excellent viewpoint stood out all the more. Combined with the fact that the boy’s friend had also brought the video hall owner’s wife to the hospital, these connections could hardly be coincidental.
"Yes, Officer, it was me who called."
Li Zhiyuan did not deny; in front of such an experienced policeman, lying was simply not worth it.
"Why did you call the police?"
"But, shouldn’t I have called the police?"
Tan Yunlong was momentarily speechless and eventually could only smile and say, "You did the right thing."
"Uncle, can we go home now?"
"Of course, you can." As for the video hall, the specific test results were not out yet, but regardless, the caller had to be protected. "Come on, where is your house? Let uncle give you a ride home. It’s not safe for kids to walk at night."
Tan Yunlong had Li Zhiyuan and Runsheng get in the car. Before driving, he took the siren off the roof.
He didn’t take Li Zhiyuan directly home but parked the car on the village road and stopped.
Li Zhiyuan and Tan Yunlong said goodbye, and then he and Runsheng got out of the car and walked toward the Grandmaster’s House. At the junction about to turn into a small path, they saw Li Weihan riding furiously on a classic Chinese bicycle, followed by four uncles in a hurry heading out of the village.
Li Weihan wore a serious face, two of the uncles looked anxious, while the other two were grim-faced, cursing under their breath.
"Little Yuanhou, you go home quickly. Grandpa and your uncles have to go to the town for something."
At that moment, Li Weihan didn’t even have time to closely greet his most beloved grandson, as the message that was passed on was truly shocking:
It was said that Leizi and Panzi were caught by the police in the town for doing drugs!
The news was like a bolt from the blue!
They were currently hurrying to the town’s police station, and those two uncles muttering "to beat the scoundrel to death" were Panzi and Leizi’s fathers.
Runsheng curiously asked, "Xiao Yuan, has something happened?"
"Let’s go home first, I’m hungry, Brother Runsheng."
Upon arriving home, Aunt Liu slightly rebuked, "How could you forget the time while out playing? We’ve already eaten, and your Grandmaster has finished eating and gone out for a walk."
Despite this, Aunt Liu quickly served the preserved food, although it didn’t look quite as appealing as before.
In front of Li Zhiyuan was a bowl, beneath it was rice with food on top; in front of Runsheng was a basin.