Chapter 28
Chapter 28 3. Panic Room-02
Qi Shanyu had just stepped out of the hospital room and closed the door for Elder Fang when his phone rang with a message.
He took it out and saw a photo of scarves sent by Liu Yi, asking which color he preferred.
Qi Shanyu instinctively opened the photo, seeing two neatly folded scarves with the same short zigzag pattern: one in coffee and light brown, the other in black and smoke gray. Judging by the length and color, both were likely men’s.
His eyes twitched at once, instantly recalling the shocking prices of the ties and accessories Liu Yi had bought on their recent shopping trip. Without thinking, he replied with three words: “I don’t want it.”
As soon as his message was sent, Liu Yi’s international call came through immediately.
“What? Did I ever say it was for you?”
Liu Yi’s voice came through the receiver, low-pitched and faintly amused.
“Do you have a little one with you?”
Qi Shanyu heard a soft, baby-like laughter on Liu Yi’s end, unintelligible but close to the microphone and clearly enjoying himself.
“Yeah, my older brother’s son.”
Liu Yi was hiding in the corner of the living room sofa, holding the chubby toddler on his lap, teasing him by flicking his tiny paws, laughing along, while casually chatting with Qi Shanyu on the phone.
“Don’t change the subject. I just asked which color you liked—how did you know I intended to give it to you?”
Qi Shanyu was stunned, raising his tone slightly, and asked straightforwardly: “Wasn’t it for me?”
“All right.”
Liu Yi laughed heartily on the other end. “Yes, it’s really for you.”
After laughing, he winked at his mother and sister-in-law, who kept glancing at him, “Pick one quickly, then I can say with confidence that the scarf has already been given.”
Qi Shanyu was silent for a moment. “I can’t accept your gift.”
His tone was firm. He believed in no reward for no merit, especially since Liu Yi’s gifts were always lavish—he simply couldn’t accept it.
“Hahaha!”
Liu Yi laughed even more. “It’s fine. It’s not expensive luxury. It won’t make you feel guilty or anything.”
He explained the origin of the scarves: “My sister-in-law knitted them herself, and asked me to give them to friends.”
Liu Yi deliberately omitted the word “male” before “friend.”
“Handmade like this, it wouldn’t be suitable for other friends. After thinking it over, I realized I could only give it to you. It’s fine—pick one. Consider it me borrowing a flower to offer to Buddha, a little Christmas gift for you.”
He had thought that since he had just returned to the country, few friends met the “close friend” standard. Handmade, unbranded gifts carried a subtle intimacy that could be misunderstood if given to acquaintances. But giving it to Qi Shanyu removed that concern.
With Qi Shanyu’s straightforward, single-minded nature, he was unlikely to misinterpret it and would cherish the gift, fulfilling his sister-in-law’s intention.
“…I see…”
Qi Shanyu wanted to ask why it wouldn’t suit other friends, but felt indecisive. He softly said, “Then… the gray one…”
While he spoke in the corridor, the elderly patient in Room 810 was being covered in white, gathered by family, and taken by the mortuary staff, likely soon to be sent to the funeral home.
The deceased’s belongings had been packed, the disposable thrown away, to be completely cleared, disinfected, and sealed—erasing all traces of a life that had passed here.
Seeing the caretakers tossing items the family didn’t want into a corner, Qi Shanyu felt a pang of sadness.
Years ago, his mother had died in the same way—agonizing on a hospital bed, then sent to the mortuary, cremated to ashes—much younger than Elder Fang, leaving unresolved regrets that he could never forgive.
“…Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Lost in thought, Qi Shanyu was snapped back by Liu Yi’s voice. After a long pause, he said, “I’m at the hospital; the signal was bad just now.”
“At the hospital?”
Liu Yi immediately caught the key point. “What? Are you sick?”
“No, just visiting a senior from the police…”
Qi Shanyu sensed the concern in Liu Yi’s tone, warmth flowing through him. “I’m just about to head home…”
While speaking, his eyes scanned in front of Room 810 and landed on a heap of discarded items.
Among them, a white and light blue striped patient gown, recently removed from the elderly patient, was balled up in a corner, waiting to be cleared.
His gaze locked onto it.
After staring at it for several seconds, ignoring whatever Liu Yi was saying, Qi Shanyu quickly stepped forward to pick it up.
“Hey, sir!”
A young nurse in her twenties came out and quickly reached to stop him. “That’s the patient’s gown. You can’t just touch it!”
Qi Shanyu flicked his wrist, avoiding her hand. “Sorry, I just want to look.”
He picked up the gown, shook it gently, revealing the inside of the collar.
It was a standard hospital gown, loose and cotton, slightly yellowed from many washes, hem fraying, an elbow patch, and two faded spots on the chest from repeated washing.
Qi Shanyu, however, focused on a tiny scorch mark about a centimeter from the collar fold. Half a centimeter wide, the fabric browned but intact, resembling a cigarette burn.
“Why would a patient gown have a mark like this?”
He showed the small scorch to the nurse.
The nurse, baffled, stared at his handsome face for two seconds before stammering, “Uh, maybe… it got scorched during disinfection?”
“No…”
Qi Shanyu shook his head.
He didn’t mind that it was a gown from a deceased patient. He held it to his nose and carefully sniffed.
The nurse, bewildered by his odd behavior, just watched, not thinking to stop him.
Qi Shanyu frowned, analyzing the mixed stench of sweat, urine, medicine, and disinfectant. His expression suddenly changed, and he pulled his work ID from his pocket, showing it to the nurse.
“Stop the cleanup of Room 810 immediately. Preserve the scene. Call the attending physician. No one is allowed to touch or remove anything until the police arrive!”
Saying this, he grabbed the gown, sprinted while dialing the phone. “Director Liu, are you still there?”
“Yes.”
Liu Yi’s lazy, teasing tone came through. “Seems your ‘bad signal’ lasted a while this time…”
“I found a suspicious mark on a deceased person’s gown. Need you to identify it.”
Qi Shanyu cut off the teasing, speaking nearly twice his usual speed.
Liu Yi’s intentionally lowered voice returned to normal, immediately switching to work mode. “What mark? Send me a photo.”
Qi Shanyu, still jogging, kept his hands steady.
He quickly took two photos of the collar, placing his fingernail as a reference for size.
About a minute later, Liu Yi responded: “Fibrous fabric shows circular carbonized spots with radiating short tails. I think this is likely a burn mark caused by corrosive liquid.”
“Yeah, I thought so too.”
Qi Shanyu quickened his pace, replying as he ran: “I can smell acid on the scorch mark!”
……
Five minutes later, outside the hospital mortuary, Qi Shanyu intercepted the vehicle about to transport the body of the elderly patient from Room 810.
In the shocked and fearful eyes of the family, he turned the body slightly, loosened the collar of the burial gown, gently moved aside her gray-white hair, and searched carefully. He finally found a fresh needle mark at the junction of the back of the head and neck.
“Call the police.”
He turned to the stunned family. “Your elderly family member was murdered.”
Author’s note: Ahem, this little story is adapted from a real case, sourced from Forensic Toxicology, People’s Medical Publishing House edition.