Freedom
The first half of her life had been aimless, going with the flow. Choosing the career of a forensic expert had been her first, only, and final decision, and she had made it on her own terms.
She will not compromise anymore.
The result of compromise is that she has forever lost Chu Nan.
She will fight relentlessly for the pursuit of truth.
However…
She recalls that name, that person’s face, and inexplicably feels a trace of regret.
It’s a pity that she and Song Yuhang have not yet determined a winner.
* * *
During these days of recuperation, Song Yuhang made numerous calls to the detention center, but without exception, every time he received the response, “The case is still under review and not open to outside inquiries.”
This was a case directly under the provincial authorities, and it received high-level attention. Given her rank, she was powerless to intervene.
For a month, Song Yuhang couldn’t see Lin Yan’s face and couldn’t get any news about Lin Yan. It was as if the person had vanished into thin air.
She was growing increasingly anxious.
If what Zhao Junfeng had said was true, and the Lin family had stepped in to rescue her, it was impossible that there had been no activity or news up to this point.
Her contacts arranged near the entrance of the detention center also hadn’t seen Lin Yan come out.
Which link in the chain had gone wrong?
For someone of Zhao Junfeng’s rank, it wasn’t a matter of being unable to directly intervene but rather not being allowed to. The most he could do was return the evidence to its owner.
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Song Yuhang caressed this rusted and battered mechanical rod, nearly on the verge of losing her mind.
She had never missed its owner this much before.
Is Lin Yan’s injury healed?
Is it hot inside the detention center? Is she getting used to it?
She’s so picky, can she eat the food there?
Have the prison guards been treating her poorly?
Have her fellow inmates been bullying her?
As Song Yuhang thought about this, she smiled faintly and decided that not bullying others was a good enough approach.
But why hadn’t the Lin family stepped in to bail her out, or was there something else going on?
The more Song Yuhang thought about it, the more restless she became, and a nurse knocked on the door to come in and change her bandages.
She stashed the mechanical rod in the backpack by her bedside and said, “Come in.”
“Officer Song, your recovery is progressing well. Another few days of rest, and you should be able to leave the hospital. This is the last bottle of liquid for today. After the infusion is done, just ring the bell if you need anything. Feel free to give us any instructions.”
The young nurse expertly inserted the needle and helped Song Yuhang adjust herself on the bed, then placed a thermometer under her armpit.
Song Yuhang cooperated fully, wearing a gentle smile on her face. “Thank you.”
She noticed that the communication device on the nurse’s uniform kept flashing, so she said, “You can go attend to your tasks; I’ll call you when I’m ready.”
It was rare to come across a police officer with such a good-looking appearance, a mild temperament, and a pleasant disposition.
The young nurse, pleasantly surprised, said, “Alright, I’ll leave for now, and I’ll be back in five minutes.”
With that, she pushed the medical cart and walked out.
When she returned to the hospital room five minutes later, the large room still had the IV drip running, the thermometer sat on the table, but the bed was empty.
Song Yuhang, wearing a mask and a cap, squeezed her way through the crowded outpatient lobby. She rushed to the hospital entrance, raised her hand to flag down a taxi, and said, “Binhai Provincial Detention Center.”
Running from the fifth floor to the hospital entrance in just five minutes was a bit taxing on her current physical condition.
The driver, driving while glancing at her pale complexion, asked, “Are you okay?”
Song Yuhang coughed twice, clutching her chest and leaning back in the seat as she gasped for air. “I’m fine… cough… Please, just drive faster.”
* * *
The day Song Yuhang went to see her happened to be Lin Yan’s seventh day of hunger strike.
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Not long after she had regained consciousness from her suicide attempt, she was once again handcuffed. This time it wasn’t because they were afraid she would escape, but because they were afraid she would harm herself again.
Lin Youyuan’s message was crystal clear: bail, okay, go home.
He didn’t come in person anymore.
The day after Lin Yan woke up, Lin Youyuan’s trusted butler arrived.
Lin Yan smashed the bowl of rice in front of her and held a piece of porcelain against her wrist, saying, “Better to die than to be unfree.”
The head butler of the Lin family left.
Lin Yan began a hunger strike.
On the third day, Lin Ge’s mother came. She was an elderly lady, and when she saw the emaciated Lin Yan behind the iron gate, she nearly burst into tears.
Lin Yan couldn’t bear the sight and simply buried her head under the blanket.
On the fourth day, Lin Ge came in person, but Lin Yan said only one sentence and asked him to leave, “You can’t persuade me on this, bro.”
On the fifth day, the warden himself arrived. He looked at Lin Yan lying in bed, not eating anything and relying solely on intravenous nutrition to stay alive. He almost wanted to kneel down and begged her, “Madam! Please at least take a bite!”
If this person were to die in the detention center, he might as well give up his job!
Lin Yan had injuries, a bandage wrapped around her neck. She had become much thinner, her face pallid, barely clinging to life.
When she heard his words, the only part of her body that could move was her hand, slowly reaching for the intravenous needle on the back of her hand.
The warden, as if stepping on a landmine, retreated with his entourage, raising his hands to signal her to calm down. “Alright, alright, we’re leaving. Forensic Doctor Lin, please stay calm, lie down, and rest.”
On the sixth day, she finally won a momentary respite for herself.
She lay quietly in this windowless cell, curled up on the damp and cold bed, her eyes open for days on end.
The seventh day.
The iron gate rang again.
Lin Yan had become so weak that she couldn’t even lift her fingers.
She could barely move her eyeballs, but her gaze was still unfocused.
The prison guards called her name over and over, but they couldn’t bring her back to consciousness.
“Quick, get an adrenaline shot!”
In a flurry of activity, she heard the sound of a medical tray being overturned, felt a sharp prick on her wrist, and finally regained some clarity. She then heard someone’s name.
“Who… who wants to see me?” Her voice was hoarse and raspy, nothing like her usual self.
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“From the Jiangcheng City Bureau, Officer Song.”
Lin Yan turned slightly, burying her face in the pillow, gritting her teeth. “I don’t want to see her… tell her to get lost.”
She couldn’t let her see her in this ghostly state.
But could she even walk on her own yet?
Good.
Song Yuhang still carried the same backpack she had when she arrived. Under the scorching sun, she stood outside, sweating profusely, waiting for the prison guards to come out and call her in. To her surprise, she received the message from Lin Yan to get lost.
Song Yuhang clenched her lips, her complexion not looking great. She asked with discomfort, “Did she really say that?”
“Absolutely,” the young prison guard replied, his lips almost worn out. “Many people have come to visit Dr. Lin in the past few days, and she’s said the same thing.”
With iron gates and armed guards surrounding her, Song Yuhang couldn’t force her way in.
She stepped back a few paces, then turned around with determined eyes. “Please tell Forensic Doctor Lin—”
“I’ll wait for her.”
On her way back, she received phone calls from messages left on her phone, one by one, but she disconnected them all and eventually powered off her phone.
As she glimpsed a street of outdoor supplies, she called out to the driver to stop and threw a few bills onto the seat. She grabbed her bag and got out of the car.
The boss examined the bent mechanical rod, lightly tapped it with a small hammer, and shook his head, noticing that it had chipped paint.
“It can’t be repaired anymore. It’s not domestically made, is it? It’s not just a matter of the technology; even this aviation-grade aluminum is costly. With the money spent on repairs, you might as well get a new one.”
Getting a new one wouldn’t compare to the uniqueness of this particular one for Lin Yan.
Song Yuhang carefully held it, then placed it back in her bag. “Thank you.”
That afternoon, she dragged her ailing body all over the outdoor supplies street but couldn’t find a shop owner willing to repair this unique mechanical rod for her.