Xu Wanwan immediately held down Ye Jinmeng, who was trying to struggle to get up, saying anxiously, "Mengmeng, you can't move. You have a minor rib fracture and need to rest in bed!"
Ye Jinmeng laid on the bed, sobbing weakly, "What about my brother? He protected me in his arms the whole time and lost so much blood. He must be seriously injured..."
Xu Wanwan's nose turned sour, unsure whether to tell Ye Jinmeng about Elder Brother Ye's current condition.
As she hesitated, the door to the ward opened, and Old Madam Ye, Gu Qi, and Shi Shuning came in from outside.
"Mengmeng, you're awake. Why are you crying? Does it hurt?" Shi Shuning walked quickly to the bedside and wiped away Ye Jinmeng's tears, looking at her red eyes with sympathy.
"Brother Shuning..." Ye Jinmeng cried, unable to speak.
Xu Wanwan sighed at Gu Qi and the others, "Grandma, Auntie Gu, after Mengmeng woke up, she wanted to see Elder Brother Ye, but I didn't know what to do..."
Gu Qi took a deep breath, holding back her sadness, walked to the bedside, and gently stroked Ye Jinmeng's head, her voice hoarse but gentle.
"Be good, my dear. Your brother... is a bit more seriously injured than you, but it's nothing major. Many people are taking care of him, so don't worry. Your task now is to rest in bed and recover. Once you're mostly better, you can go see your brother.
Otherwise, if he knows you're not resting properly, he'll blame himself if you have any lasting effects. So, listen to the doctor's instructions and get better quickly so you can recover sooner."
The old lady wiped away a tear, trying to force a slight smile. "That's right, be good, dear. Don't worry about your brother. He's sturdy and will probably recover even faster than you."
"I'll go to the restroom." Xu Wanwan could no longer hold back her tears and left the ward with an excuse.
Ye Jinmeng saw her haggard grandma and mother, their swollen eyes, and knew they were lying to her.
She wasn't brainless. Her mother and grandmother were deliberately hiding the truth to help her recover quickly. Although she didn't know her brother's actual condition, she wouldn't cause more trouble for the family. She would act as if she didn't know and recover obediently.
"Grandma, I understand. I'll listen to the doctor's instructions and get better soon."
Gu Qi stroked her face and lifted a thermos, "Good girl. Are you hungry? This is chicken soup made by Auntie Chen. Have some."
...
Around noon, the police came to the hospital to find Ye Junwen, who was having lunch with Old Master Ye and the others.
The officer in charge of this case happened to be Shi Shuning's former platoon leader from the military. The old platoon leader showed his police badge to everyone and officially said:
"Mr. Ye Junwen, I'm the officer in charge of this tanker truck hit-and-run case. My surname is Shi. Through our investigation, we found that you transferred 1 million yuan to the driver on the day of the accident. We need your cooperation with our investigation."
Old Master Ye and Old Madam Ye's chopsticks trembled upon hearing this as they looked at their younger son in disbelief.
"Junwen, you..."
Ye Junwen seemed startled and immediately stood up. "Father, please don't get excited. Let me figure out the situation first."
Looking at Policeman Shi, Ye Junwen pointed at himself and asked, "Officer, you said I transferred money to the hit-and-run driver? 1 million?"
Policeman Shi nodded and took out a piece of paper, placing it in front of Ye Junwen.
"This is the bank statement we obtained for the driver involved in the past few days. Yesterday afternoon at 5:20 PM, there was a transfer of 1 million yuan into his account. We traced the payment account to your Hai City Bank Card."
"So, we have reason to suspect you are involved in this intentional hit-and-run case."
Ye Junwen had already prepared a strategy in his mind. When the police came, he didn't panic at all and pretended to be an outsider arguing with the police.
"Officer, I've been busy at the company these days and have never met any tanker truck driver, let alone transfer money to harm my own nephew." Ye Junwen said sternly.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he continued, "Oh, that's right! You said the 1 million yuan was transferred from my Hai City Bank Card, right? Yesterday afternoon after the meeting around 6 PM, I got home and checked my phone. There was a bank notification saying I had successfully transferred 1 million yuan."
He showed Policeman Shi the message on his phone, which was indeed sent at 5:20 PM.
"At the time, I wondered if it was a scam message since I didn't transfer any money. I was about to call the bank when my elder brother called about my nephew's car accident."
"Everything happened so suddenly that we rushed to the hospital. I forgot about the message. Now that you mention it, I think someone might have stolen my bank card, right?"
He took out his wallet from his pocket, flipped through it, and indeed, the Hai City Bank Card was missing.
Ye Junwen was almost in tears. "Officer, my card is really gone. My card has been stolen..."
Old Madam Ye was relieved upon hearing this. How could her son harm his own nephew?
However, Old Master Ye looked at Ye Junwen with a deep gaze, not knowing what he was thinking.
Seeing Ye Junwen's anxious and sad demeanor didn't seem fake, Policeman Shi could only ask further, "Have you seen this person before, Mr. Ye?"
He took out a printed surveillance photo of a person in a long black down jacket, with the hood up and face covered by a scarf.
An unfamiliar person would hardly recognize them, but Ye Junwen recognized the person at a glance.
With a gasp, he nodded, "Isn't that Xiao Jianren? A few days ago, she came to me for help, and I gave her some money. Could she be involved in this case?"
Ye Junwen asked in disbelief, eyes wide open.
Seeing that Ye Junwen recognized the woman, Policeman Shi began inquiring about her situation, "Could you tell us about this person?"
Ye Junwen hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Her name is Xiao Jianren, formerly the daughter of the Xiao Group. You can look that up. A few days ago, for some reason, she was kicked out by her father, Mr. Xiao, and became penniless. She then came to me for help."
"I had only met her once for a drink at a bar before, and we got along well. I suppose she couldn't find anyone else to ask for help, so she came to me."
"I picked her up in my car. Seeing her pitiful state, I took her to a cheap hotel called the Welcome Inn on South City Road in the south of Hai City. I lent her 100,000 yuan at the time so she could get by until she found a job."
"After that, we didn't really keep in touch."
