Chapter 89

The man initially refused to sell the stone for only ten yuan, but facing unanimous opposition from all the employees in the sales department, who argued that it wasn’t worth it, he eventually relented.

It was still a profit, and he agreed to the deal. Before leaving, he persistently tried to sell the jadeite stone, tempting Song Haowen, who eventually decided to purchase it. However, all the employees in the store joined forces to haggle the price, and it finally settled at a hundred yuan.

Regarding these two stones, Song Haowen had no intention of picking up any treasures. He planned to turn them into two decorative stone balls to be placed on a table for appreciation.

On Monday afternoon, the college invited an expert from Gaul to give a lecture. Song Haowen was already familiar with the content the expert was going to present, having learned it in his past life.

Therefore, he wasn’t interested in the lecture and quietly left the school. Before returning to the stores, he stopped by a nearby grocery store and bought a diamond grinding wheel for sharpening stones, preparing to polish the stones himself.

Back at the store, Song Haowen filled a basin with clean water and placed it on a pavilion in the courtyard. He wet the two stones and was about to start grinding them. Just as he prepared to begin, Su Yan hurriedly walked into the courtyard, saying loudly, “Child, quickly put down what’s in your hands and come with Auntie.”

Thinking that something had happened at the music studio, Song Haowen’s heart tightened. He immediately stood up, put down the stones and grinding wheel, wiped his hands with a towel, and anxiously asked, “Auntie, did something happen at the music studio?”

Su Yan shook her head and said with a serious expression, “It’s not the music studio, it’s Gu Reporter!”

“Ah, what happened to her?” Song Haowen’s mind buzzed, a sense of ominous foreboding washing over him, and his voice trembled.

Su Yan sighed and said, “She didn’t show up for the dinner the night before last. I thought, no matter the reason, we still have to treat the guests. Today is Monday, and I assumed she should be at work. I tried calling the newspaper agency just now to inquire about how to contact her. At first, they refused to say, but after I emphasized that our unit is an interviewee of Gu Reporter, they told me that she couldn’t be reached now. She was injured by someone when she got off work the night before last, and she’s currently being treated in the hospital. The details are unclear, and I rushed over here in a panic to tell you.”

“She was harmed… could it be because of helping me…” Song Haowen immediately connected Gu Zhiwei’s misfortune to himself.

“I was also worried about this. So, I wanted to call you and go to the hospital together to see her,” Su Yan said.

“That’s the right thing to do, regardless of whether it’s because of me,” Song Haowen walked into the living room, informed everyone that he had something to attend to, and followed Su Yan out.

They hailed a taxi at the department store entrance and rushed to the Beijing Hospital as mentioned by the newspaper. Upon inquiry, they found out that Gu Ziwei had been transferred to the military hospital yesterday, leaving them with no leads.

Wanting to know more about her condition, they found no one who had information.

Feeling the situation was serious, they concluded that if it wasn’t a severe illness, why would she be transferred? Beijing Hospital was not inferior to the military hospital; each had its own specialties.

They reluctantly took a taxi to the military hospital. When they arrived, they were informed that without higher-level approval, nobody could see the patient, and the current status of her illness was classified.

Unable to see Gu Ziwei, their mood became even more anxious. But with hospital regulations in place, there was nothing they could do but return to the music room in frustration.

When Su Yan met Tian Nana, who had just come from school, she explained Gu Ziwei’s situation. Tian Nana, upon hearing the news, was equally shocked and took a while to recover from the surprise.

When Song Haowen returned to the store in the evening, Zhu Hongyu and Ren Hua were present. They asked Su Yan about the matter she took him out for in the afternoon.

He explained the incident with Gu Ziwei, and the two women were equally shocked and concerned about Gu Ziwei’s condition. Even though they didn’t know her personally, they had read her articles and knew she had helped Song Haowen and the music studio significantly.

Afterward, Song Haowen moved the two stones he had bought the day before into the courtyard’s warehouse. After the incident with Gu Ziwei, he had no mood to play with the stones.

Seeing that Zhu and Ren Hua had taken a break, he punched a few times in the courtyard before going to rest.

For several days, everyone was preoccupied with worrying about Gu Ziwei’s condition, and work became lackluster. It wasn’t until a week later that there was finally some news about Gu Ziwei’s health.

She had her colleague come to the school to explain the situation to Song Haowen. She apologized for missing their appointment, explaining that she had an accident that day and couldn’t inform him in time.

After fainting for three days, her condition had improved, and he didn’t need to visit her in the hospital. She would come to see him after being discharged to discuss something important.

Upon hearing Gu Ziwei’s update, Song Haowen was both surprised and relieved. He hadn’t expected her injuries to be so severe, resulting in a three-day unconsciousness. Fortunately, she had overcome the ordeal and was about to be discharged.

Thinking about her coming to see him for something important, he felt anticipation. He shared the news with Su Yan and Tian Nana, and the two women also had mixed feelings.

A few days later, in the morning, Gu Ziwei, wearing a women’s military cap, found Song Haowen after his second class. Seeing her slightly pale and thin face, he couldn’t help feeling pity beneath her lively appearance.

He asked about her current health and how she had been harmed, inquiring about the reason for seeking him out.

They went to the lake on the school grounds and sat on wooden chairs in the woods. Gu Ziwei then explained in detail the circumstances of her injury.

It turned out that on that day after Gu Ziwei finished work, she walked to the street, intending to take a taxi to the restaurant for the appointment. Unexpectedly, several bicycles suddenly rushed out from behind.

Before she could react, she was hit on the head with a heavy blow, and her head was bleeding on the spot, causing her to faint. Fortunately, the location of the incident had a large crowd, and soon, kind-hearted people called an ambulance and took her to the Beijing Hospital for emergency treatment.

The police found her identification in her handbag and contacted her family. When her parents rushed over and saw that she was unconscious, they transferred her to a military hospital the next day for further treatment.

The news agency initially didn’t know about her accident until Sunday afternoon. Due to the duty editor’s urgency to get in touch with her for a submission, they couldn’t reach her, so they contacted her family, only to find out that she had an accident the previous night and had already been admitted to the Beijing Hospital.

After three days of emergency treatment, she finally woke up, fortunately only suffering from mild concussion, and she would recover in some time. Several stitches were made on her head, and they were removed yesterday.

When Song Haowen wanted to see her wound, she covered it with her hand and refused to let him see.

“Have the attackers been caught?” Song Haowen asked with concern.

“They were caught on the same night,” Gu Ziwei said indifferently.

“Oh, that’s fast. Who are they, and why did they attack you?” Song Haowen was surprised by the speed of the police’s case resolution.

“Can you guess who they are?” Gu Ziwei stared at Song Haowen with beautiful eyes.

Song Haowen’s heart sank suddenly, and his worst fear had come true. After a moment of contemplation, he said, “When I first heard about your accident, my initial intuition was that it was done by Hei Xiong and his gang. Is it them?”

“It is indeed them,” Gu Ziwei said through gritted teeth. “I didn’t expect them to be so audacious. This time, the attack was carefully planned in advance.

Some of them were specifically stationed at the agency’s gate as lookouts, some were responsible for the assault, and others prepared transportation.

After the incident, they were ready to hide in another province overnight. Fortunately, the police acted swiftly and caught them in time, capturing the whole group.”

Song Haowen, filled with guilt, said, “I’m sorry, Reporter Gu. It’s all because of me that you’ve suffered. How can I ever repay such a great favor from you?”

Gu Ziwei dismissed it casually, saying, “Although this incident happened because of you, I don’t blame you. I chose to write the article voluntarily, so you don’t need to have any other thoughts. I came to you today not just to talk about this but because I’m facing a dilemma now. I want to see if you have any good suggestions.”

“Feel free to tell me, and I will do my best to help,” Song Haowen said sincerely.

“Oh, I see,” Gu Wei continued, “This time, Black Bear didn’t show up directly. It was his five loyal brothers who did the job. Initially, they were very stubborn, only admitting to mistaking the target and not acknowledging any mastermind behind the scenes. After a few days of interrogation, someone finally couldn’t hold on and revealed Black Bear as the mastermind. However, Black Bear had already hidden in advance, perhaps escaping from Beijing. The police have been unable to arrest him. I came here today to ask you if you have any good ideas to help the police catch Black Bear.”

Song Haowen was puzzled. He thought, with such a powerful public security agency unable to catch Black Bear, as a university student, where could I possibly find him? Moreover, he was not familiar with the city; he had few acquaintances and no idea where to start.

However, he could only think about this internally. He couldn’t reveal his uncertainty; after all, she had suffered severe injuries because of him. Saying that he couldn’t help might disappoint her. She came to him because she had confidence in him. To live up to that, he had to come up with a good plan.

Therefore, Song Haowen fell into silence for a moment. Gu Ziwei knew he was in a dilemma and didn’t press him.

Seeking his advice was a last resort, as she had no other options. If there were any feasible ideas, she wouldn’t have troubled a young man who hadn’t truly entered society yet.

As Song Haowen scratched his head, unable to come up with a solution, a sudden flash of inspiration illuminated his mind. He suddenly grasped the key to the problem. “Reporter Gu, what if we can’t catch Black Bear directly? We could try finding his family; they should have some idea of his whereabouts.”

“We’ve already thought about that. However, when the police found his parents, they gained no information. It seems like they are not well-informed about Black Bear’s activities outside.” Gu Ziwei sighed helplessly.

Song Haowen smiled slightly and said, “I think you may have overlooked someone among his family members.”

“Who?”

“His cousin at the television station.”