Mr. Zou and Mrs. Zou had just left when Eldest Brother Zou asked Old Madam Zou, "Mom, why didn’t you say anything just now? Are you planning to follow Laoer to Imperial to enjoy life?"
If Eldest Brother didn’t need to worry, Old Madam Zou would have liked to follow Laoer’s family to enjoy life.
Laoer and his spouse were honest and kind-hearted, so she genuinely could have enjoyed life with them.
Unfortunately, she was harsh toward Laoer in every possible way, but deep down, she had a soft spot for Eldest Brother.
She worried that without her watchful eye, Eldest Brother’s family would suffer, and she snorted, "I’m too old, how can I leave home? Laoer can go, but he must send more money home for my care."
No sooner had she spoken than their friends and relatives expressed their skepticism.
"What if he doesn’t send money back? Can you even find him? And even if you find him, can you afford to confront him?"
"Yeah, that’s unreliable; maybe he shouldn’t go."
"Right, he shouldn’t be allowed to go."
Their friends and relatives were tempted to trade Xiao Jun’s life for money, but they only dared to think about it.
They never considered taking action themselves.
After all, although they would benefit somewhat, it definitely was not worth the risk.
So, after much deliberation, they decided to make things difficult for Mr. and Mrs. Zou.
However, when Eldest Brother Zou made up his mind and told them, "I’m worried about Xiao Jun, I must go see for myself," not only did they clearly understand, but they also were quite excited.
Not a single person expressed doubt; instead, they encouraged him.
"Go quickly and see, yes, go and check."
"Right, you’ll be reassured after seeing it for yourself."
Thus, Eldest Brother Zou boldly went.
Before he entered Xiao Jun’s ward, he glanced at Shen Ci’s ward and saw lively discussions inside, feeling fortunate: "It seems they won’t come out anytime soon, giving me enough time to do what I need to."
He pushed the door open and found Xiao Jun pale, lying on the bed with an oxygen mask on his face.
Eldest Brother Zou knew about oxygen masks; he had seen one not just from his father-in-law’s hospitalization, but he had also accidentally stepped on the tube, nearly costing his father-in-law his life.
Because of this experience, he instantly got an idea.
He quickly walked over, grabbed the oxygen mask off Xiao Jun’s face, and then anxiously watched Xiao Jun’s reaction.
Worried someone might enter suddenly, his heart pounded fiercely.
Luckily, his luck seemed very good. In less than half a minute, Xiao Jun gasped a few short breaths and his head tilted to the side.
It seemed like he had stopped breathing.
Thinking that some people could be resuscitated after stopping breathing, he thought for a moment, then grabbed and smothered Xiao Jun with a blanket for over a minute before hastily tidying up the scene and rushing off.
Once back, he smiled and told everyone, "Xiao Jun’s condition looks quite good; you all don’t need to worry."
A quarter of an hour later, people in the room heard a nurse’s scream from Xiao Jun’s room, "Help, help, murder..."
They hurried out to see.
But they saw a nurse distraught, saying, "Zou... Xiao Jun is dead. I found the oxygen mask’s connector loose. This could only have been done intentionally, so this is murder..."
Mrs. Zou collapsed to the floor in response.
Mr. Zou wiped away tears, wanting to go into the ward, but Shen Ci stopped him, "Uncle, please don’t go in yet; we should call the police first, and we need to control the people nearby."
Hearing this, some people, frightened, tried to leave but were stopped by the bodyguards Shen Ci brought and the hospital security.
The police station’s officers arrived shortly after.
They first went to Xiao Jun’s ward to investigate for a while, then came out to take statements individually, asking for their alibis.
A police officer said, "According to the nurse, Xiao Jun’s incident occurred within half an hour; please explain what you all were doing during this half hour."
All the Zou family’s friends and relatives in the room said that they hadn’t left the ward at all.
They tacitly did not give up Eldest Brother Zou.
Even though they all inwardly blamed him for his unreliable actions.