Mu Mian asked, "Why did you light the brazier?"
Ye Yu wiped away her tears and whispered, "Last night, Grandma suddenly told me she was freezing all over. I went to tell my parents, but they ignored me. My uncle and my dad haven't paid their share of Grandma's support this month, so they didn't want to take care of her anymore.
Grandma was really cold, shivering all over. I found a brazier and charcoal in her room. I burned the charcoal. It's my fault Grandma died. I had opened the window and placed a bowl of water nearby, but I don't know why it ended up killing her..."
As Ye Yu spoke, she grew more and more upset. She felt deeply guilty and afraid. She didn't dare tell her family, yet she was tormented by her conscience. So, she decided to turn herself in to the police.
Being locked up in prison seemed better than facing judgment from her own family.
She extended her hands toward Fang Rui and Mu Mian, "Officer, please take me away. My teacher said that if you do something wrong, you need to be punished."
Fang Rui crouched down and comforted her, "Ye Yu, this was an accident, not your fault. You are a very filial child."
Ye Yu became even more upset, "Sob... I really didn't mean it. I don't know why it happened. I just wanted to make Grandma warm. I should have given my own blanket to Grandma, but I was afraid my mom would scold me. She doesn't allow me to be nice to Grandma..."
Mu Mian looked down at Ye Yu and said very seriously, "Your grandma didn't die from carbon monoxide poisoning. She was very sick, which is why she felt cold even in the summer. She died from her illness."
Ye Yu's eyes were filled with tears, sparkling, "Really? But my uncle said Grandma died because of the brazier."
Mu Mian replied, "I'm a forensic scientist, and I'm very professional. Plus, I never lie."
Ye Yu said, "Sister, you're so amazing. You're a forensic scientist."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"When I grow up, I want to become a doctor so that there will be no more paralyzed people in the world. Or maybe a scientist. I want to develop a robot that can take care of patients. That way, when people get old, they will receive thoughtful care. I will also give those robots features so they can chat with Grandma, tell stories, and sing her favorite Huangmei Opera..."
As she spoke, tears streamed down Ye Yu's face, "If only I could grow up faster, then I could take care of Grandma and make her happy every day."
"Your dream is very noble," Mu Mian praised.
“But I'm not good at math. The nurse said that people who aren't good at math can't become doctors or scientists.”
Mu Mian said, "Math is simple; you just need to work hard to learn it. Or you can work hard to make money and become rich. Then you can hire doctors and scientists to work for you, and they will fulfill your dreams."
Ye Yu stared at Mu Mian, "How can I become rich?"
"I don't know. I don't want to make money, so I haven't researched how to become rich. But there's a shortcut: if you have a very rich father, you can inherit his wealth when he dies and become rich."
"But my dad is poor."
"So you can't take that shortcut. You need to study hard or work hard to make money."
“Forensic sister, you’re a very interesting person. Thank you for telling jokes to comfort me.”
Mu Mian turned to look at Fang Rui, her eyes questioning: I wasn't telling jokes; I was seriously comforting her.
Fang Rui smiled helplessly.
He asked Ye Yu, "You said the window was closed when your grandma died?"
"Yes, and the brazier was closer to Grandma."
Fang Rui had a sinister but plausible guess. It was likely that Ye Yu's parents had deliberately closed the window. That way, they wouldn't have to take care of the paralyzed old woman anymore. However, there were no surveillance cameras, and no evidence to prove they had intentionally closed the window.
He couldn't even be sure if Ye Yu's story was true. When the old woman died, was the window open or closed?
Ye's family refused to let Mu Mian take the body away. Under Mu Mian's insistence, they agreed to let her take some blood samples from the deceased for testing.
Mu Mian also found a bag of medicine at the head of the old woman's bed. It contained some blood pressure medication and stomach medicine.
Inside the bag was a bottle of ibuprofen. Mu Mian opened the bottle and found a few pills left, but they weren't painkillers. Instead, they were replaced with some light green tablets.
The bag had the words "Jiangzhou University Second Affiliated Hospital" and the hospital's logo printed on it.
Fang Rui noticed a sign on the wall outside Ye's house. It read: "Support Unit: Jiangzhou University Second Affiliated Hospital; Support Personnel: Zhang Yingying."
This village was a poor one. The city had implemented a policy where local hospitals formed support relationships with these impoverished villages, regularly sending medical staff to provide free medicine or home visits.
Fang Rui found Ye Jianmin and asked, "Does the hospital have medical staff visiting often?"
"Not often. Maybe once every one or two months. But they do call frequently to ask about my mom's condition."
"Is it someone named Zhang Yingying?"
"There's a female doctor surnamed Zhang and a nurse. The nurse comes often but always wears a mask. They don't talk much with us and leave after a short while." Ye Jianmin replied.
The police eventually classified the case as an accidental death caused by heating with charcoal.
As Fang Rui and the others were about to drive away, the funeral home's vehicle arrived at the village entrance.
Accompanied by the wailing of the extended family, the staff loaded the old woman's body onto the vehicle. Her descendants knelt on the cold concrete ground, their tear-filled eyes watching the vehicle leave. This might have been their most filial moment.
Ye Yu didn't cry. She quietly watched her grandma leave. In a daze, she seemed to see her grandma smiling at her.
In the car, Chen Xue sighed, "This old lady had seven children, struggling to raise them all, but her many descendants couldn't allow her to enjoy her old age."
"Long illness makes even filial children turn cold," someone remarked.
Everyone fell silent. This old woman was just one of countless paralyzed elders, enduring not only the pain of illness but also the quarrels and curses from their children, living without dignity.
Back at the bureau, Mu Mian sent the old woman's blood for testing. The light green tablets were also sent for toxicological analysis.
Lin Sen's investigation into the hospital had made progress. He discovered that the death rate in the neurology department of that hospital was 20% higher than the same period last year. Most patients in the neurology department were stroke patients.
Stroke patients naturally had a high mortality rate, mostly elderly with diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. They were at high risk, so sudden deaths wouldn't attract much attention.
Lin Sen shared this finding with Fang Rui and Mu Mian.
Mu Mian said, "Could it be due to the temperature drop? The average temperature in Jiangzhou City this summer was 1.5 degrees Celsius lower than last year. Temperature is also an important factor affecting blood pressure levels. When it's cold, more people have strokes because cold causes blood vessels to constrict and blood pressure to rise. Similarly, the death rate of stroke patients also increases."
"But their hospitalization rate hasn't increased."
Mu Mian said, "So, it's likely that there's a sick killer targeting stroke patients in that hospital." She thought of Yangyang and today's deceased, then added, "More precisely, their target is paralyzed patients."
Lin Sen agreed, "It's possible that they believe their killings are a form of liberation for those patients."
Fang Rui said, "But just relying on data analysis, the hospital won't believe there's a psychopathic killer among their staff, right?"
"They might have already lost control. Eventually, the hospital will have to admit there is indeed such a killer."
