Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

"All right, I understand," Chen Afu said, and hung up weakly. He crouched by the bed, gasping for breath. He could not take it anymore; he felt he was about to collapse.

True enough, in the days right after he first learned the technique the Right Elder had taught him, he had enjoyed a long stretch of exhilaration. Frightening a man to death—what an accomplishment that was!

But now the police were scouring the whole city for him, and for Chen Afu to commit a crime at such a time was nothing short of courting death. Chen Afu had no intention of doing anything so foolish.

Not wanting to was one thing, but could Chen Afu refuse? Clearly not. There was nothing for it but to turn the plan over in his mind. As for what Chen Fei had instructed him and Yan, it was largely dispensable—even Chen Fei himself felt it was a bit superfluous. Still, as a father, some things had to be said, superfluous or not, before his heart could be at ease.

He came out of the study with Chen Fei. Chen Shutang and Mother Chen were on the sofa watching television, Chen Shutang nestled in her mother's arms. Seeing Yang Ce emerge, she at once rose, a little embarrassed, her face flushing red.

"Yang Ce, come sit," Mother Chen called cheerfully, pointing to the seat beside Chen Shutang.

Yang Ce nodded and was just about to sit down when the phone in his pocket rang. He took it out and found it was an unfamiliar number.

"Hello?" Yang Ce answered.

"Hello, is this Mr. Yang?" A woman's voice came from the other end.

"This is he. And you are?" The voice sounded somewhat familiar to Yang Ce, but for the moment he could not place it.

"My surname is Li. I'm Miss Zhou Yanning's caregiver," the woman said hurriedly by way of introduction, a note of nervousness and excitement in her voice.

"Hello, Auntie Li. Is something the matter?" Yang Ce asked at once.

"It's like this—Miss Zhou, she—" Auntie Li got that far, but perhaps from too much excitement she ran out of breath in one go and choked on her words.

"What's happened to Jiajia?" Yang Ce's heart tightened, and he grew anxious.

"Miss Zhou—Miss Zhou is awake!" Auntie Li finished, and only then let out a breath of relief.

"What? Jiajia's awake?" Yang Ce exclaimed. "Hold on, I'm coming over right now."

Chen Shutang had overheard Yang Ce's phone call too. The moment he hung up, she asked urgently, "Yang Ce, has Zhou Yanning woken up?"

"Yes," Yang Ce said with a nod, and turned to Chen Shutang. "I'm going to the hospital to see her now. Will you come with me?"

"Of course I'm coming!" Chen Shutang had always thought well of Zhou Yanning, and hearing the news that she was awake gladdened her heart. As for whether Zhou Yanning's waking meant one more person to compete with her for Yang Ce—that had not yet crossed her mind.

Chen Fei knew about the matter of Zhou Yanning as well, and understood even better that her injury was inseparable from the cracking of the Wang Pu smuggling case. So he said, "Yang Ce, if she's awake, thank her for me. My legs aren't what they used to be, so I won't go."

Yang Ce nodded, put on his coat, and went quickly downstairs with Chen Shutang, heading for the hospital.

"Drive a little slower. I don't want Zhou Yanning barely awake and you ending up in a hospital bed too," Chen Shutang said, noticing that Yang Ce was driving somewhat fast.

"Ha, don't worry." Yang Ce said as much, but his speed did not slacken in the least. Still, with his abilities, he could directly perceive whether cars were coming from afar, so he need not worry about being unable to brake in time should some emergency arise from driving too fast.

There were few cars out at night to begin with, and they soon arrived at Songjiang City First People's Hospital. Yang Ce parked the car below the inpatient building where Zhou Yanning was staying, and he and Chen Shutang hurried upstairs.

Arriving at Zhou Yanning's ward, he was about to push the door open when a nurse standing to one side stopped him. "Sir, please don't go in."

"What's the matter?" Yang Ce was rather baffled. "The patient inside is my friend."

"The doctor is examining the patient right now. Please wait a moment," the nurse explained. "Since the patient has just woken up, the doctor needs to give her a thorough examination."

Just as the nurse was speaking, the doctor's voice came from inside the ward: "Xiao Wang, you can let them in now."

Hearing the doctor inside, the nurse said, "You may go in, but please don't make any noise. The patient has only just woken up, and her emotions may still be unstable."

"All right, don't worry," Yang Ce said with a nod, and went into the ward with Chen Shutang.

Auntie Li was standing to one side, watching anxiously as doctors crowded around Zhou Yanning's bed conducting her physical examination. Seeing Yang Ce and Chen Shutang arrive, she said at once, "Mr. Yang, Miss Chen, you're here."

"Auntie Li, how is Zhou Yanning?" Yang Ce asked quickly.

"The doctor is examining Miss Zhou right now. I haven't had a chance to ask yet," Auntie Li said.

Yang Ce nodded, and he and Chen Shutang quietly stood to one side, watching together the girl on the bed not far away, who had already sat up and was half propped against the bedding.

Zhou Yanning's complexion was still very pale, but there was a little spark of life in her large eyes now, though what showed most was bewilderment.

"Now then, I'm going to ask you a few questions. Is that all right?" The doctor sat across from Zhou Yanning, chart in hand, and asked patiently.

"All right," Zhou Yanning said with a nod. She had not seen Yang Ce and Chen Shutang; the doctors blocked them from every side.

"What is your name?" the doctor asked.

"Zhou Yanning," Zhou Yanning said.

"And your age?" The doctor nodded and continued. It seemed the patient's brain tissue had not been damaged. The doctor had seen many cases before of patients with head injuries who, upon waking, clearly remembered nothing at all.

"Eighteen," Zhou Yanning said.

"Hm?" The doctor blinked, then glanced again at the chart in hand. Nineteen was plainly written there—how had it become eighteen by the time she got here? Could the girl be pretending to be younger? But that made no sense either; nineteen was the prime of youth. What need was there to shave off a year? So the doctor pressed on: "What year were you born?"

"Nineteen ninety," Zhou Yanning said, rather puzzled. "Why?"

"N-nothing. Nothing at all." The doctor's frown only deepened. "What year is it now?"

"Two thousand eight." Zhou Yanning was thoroughly baffled. Why was the doctor asking such odd, out-of-place questions?

The doctor drew a sharp breath. It was not as though she had never encountered such a case, so she managed to keep her composure. "Then what grade are you in this year?"

"Senior year of high school," Zhou Yanning said.

The doctor shook her head slightly, then went on: "All right. One last question—how did you come to be in the hospital?"

"The hospital?" Zhou Yanning started at the question, then her brows knitted together; it was a long moment before she said, "I don't know either. A cold, maybe."

The doctor gave a wry smile. She had, by and large, formed a picture of Zhou Yanning's condition. She rose and walked outside, where she found Yang Ce and Chen Shutang. "You are the patient's family and friend, I take it?"

Yang Ce nodded quickly. He was eager to go in and see Zhou Yanning, but those strange answers had set a knot of worry tightening in his chest.

"Come out with me a moment. There is something I need to tell you," the doctor said, and headed for the ward door.

Yang Ce and Chen Shutang followed at her heels. Auntie Li came out too, easing the ward door shut behind her.

"Phew." Alone in the room, Zhou Yanning let out a long breath and quietly closed her eyes. The doctor's questions had been devilishly tricky; she had nearly failed to keep up.