Chapter 18

“There hasn’t been a mass brawl incident at our college, please don’t believe rumors easily, thank you!” Liu Zixu said as she lowered herself into the car. The female reporter in the red top tried to ask more questions, but Xie Wan had already stepped in front of her.

“Mr. Xing, to Hailing Commercial Bank.”

“Okay.”

Liu Zixu got into the car, sat in the left rear seat, and spoke to Mr. Xing, then let out a long sigh. This sigh, besides having a hint of helplessness, also seemed to carry a trace of exhaustion. Xie Wan, sitting next to Liu Zixu, remained still; it seemed that as long as Liu Zixu was safe, she had nothing else to do.

“Damn it, didn’t you see the light turning red?! Still driving so slowly!” At the Will intersection, Mr. Xing slowed down and moved to the right lane. The Buick car following Liu Zixu’s car suddenly accelerated. By the time Liu Zixu’s car stopped, the signal light had turned red, while the Buick car sped past from the left side of Liu Zixu’s car. At that moment, a Mercedes SUV traveling at high speed rushed from the left side of the intersection. The Mercedes SUV seemed to have taken advantage of the change from a yellow to green light in the east-west direction (with Liu Zixu’s car going north) without slowing down. The Buick, which ran the red light overtaking Liu Zixu’s car, collided with the Mercedes SUV, causing the Buick to be knocked to the rear right, and the Mercedes SUV to flip over.

“Miss, watch out!” Xie Wan shouted as she tried to shield Liu Zixu, but the speed of the Buick being hit was incredibly fast. With a “bang,” the Buick’s right front collided with the left rear door of Liu Zixu’s car!

In an instant, the Mercedes SUV was overturned on the ground, and after the Buick hit Liu Zixu’s Lexus, the right window and front windshield shattered completely. Liu Zixu’s car was pushed to the right guardrail, with a large dent on the right side of the car!

After three minutes, five police cars and three ambulances arrived at the scene. The police pulled a man and a woman out of the Mercedes SUV, with no visible bloodstains. Initial diagnoses indicated that the two were in temporary shock; whether they had fractures or other injuries would have to be confirmed at the hospital. The doctors quickly placed them on stretchers and loaded them into the ambulance.

The man in the Buick was found with obvious head injuries and was pronounced dead by the doctors.

When the police opened the door of the Lexus, both women inside were covered in blood. Blood was still flowing from an arm pinched by the door, which was barely distinguishable as an arm. This arm was embracing the body of the woman sitting outside. The doctors, working with the police, carefully pulled the two women out. Both were unconscious, and the man in the driver’s seat was also unresponsive. According to the doctors, the two women were severely injured, while the man was temporarily unconscious.

Of the six people in the three cars, there was one death, two severely injured, and three with minor injuries. Reporters from HL TV soon arrived at the scene to report, causing a sensation in Hailing. There hadn’t been a fatal car accident in Hailing for two years, and the collision involving three cars, with one dead, two severely injured, and three lightly injured, drew significant concern.

Three hours later, it was confirmed that the Mercedes SUV, with license plate LingH10100, was the official car of Zheng Jian, the secretary of the Hailing Municipal Committee, and the injured were Zheng Jian and his secretary, Zhou Ling. The Buick, with license plate LingH16750, was a car under Jin’s Enterprises. The owner is Jin Hao, and the injured person is an employee of Jin’s Enterprises. The Lexus, with license plate LingH89898, was owned by Liu Zixu, and the injured were Liu Zixu, her bodyguard Xie Wan, and her house manager Xing Li. After the 6 p.m. news broadcast on HL TV, the citizens of Hailing were in an uproar. Following the broadcast, the Hailing Municipal Government and Municipal Committee halted all their ongoing tasks to begin an investigation. The State Council of Xiahua Country urged the Hailing Government to resolve the issue quickly to mitigate the negative impact on society.

By reviewing the surveillance footage at the Will intersection, the Hailing Public Security Bureau understood the cause of the accident, determining it to be a pure accident. The police considered Jin’s Enterprises to bear responsibility for the incident at most.

Just before the evening news in Hailing, HL TV reporters sent the latest updates from the Municipal People’s Hospital.

The secretary of the Hailing Municipal Committee sustained a severe head injury, resulting in cranial blood loss and fractures, necessitating a craniotomy. His secretary suffered only a mild concussion and has already regained consciousness. Madam President of Shengze College, Liu Zixu, has three broken ribs below her left rib cage, severe lower back injuries, and signs of a blood clot in her spleen. Liu Zixu’s personal bodyguard, Xie Wan, suffered a crushed left elbow and requires an amputation. Liu Zixu’s house manager has already regained consciousness.

Since the 6 p.m. HL TV news broadcast, Shengze College has been abuzz with chatter, but with hundreds of police stationed there, no one could leave. Wu Xianzhong, the mayor of Hailing, along with several senior officials from the Hailing Municipal Government, rushed to the Municipal People’s Hospital. The eighteen directors of Shengze College also arrived at the hospital one after another.

After HL TV aired the update at 10 p.m., the entire city of Hailing was abuzz with discussions! Some people kept trying to link Jin’s Enterprises, Shengze College, and the secretary of the Municipal Committee with speculative theories, but the connections just didn’t add up. In fact, this was indeed an accidental event, but those who love gossip always want to stir up some new rumors.

“What? Madam President… got into an accident?” Xiao Shi overheard two female students discussing the car accident involving the president’s wife outside the Zone D teaching building at Shengze College. She hurriedly approached them to ask.

“Yes, it’s already been on the news. The president’s wife was taken to the Municipal People’s Hospital for treatment…” Before one of the students could finish, Xiao Shi had already rushed off.

Xiao Shi hurriedly headed to the parking lot, got into a red Honda, and drove towards the north gate. Seeing Xiao Shi’s car, the security guard opened the gate to let her through. The area outside the gate was empty, with no reporters in sight, as it seemed the car accident had drawn the attention of all Hailing’s media. Furthermore, this accident was quite an all-encompassing event.

“Something terrible has happened… something terrible…” Xiang Tengfei shouted as he ran into the emergency room, clutching a bag containing six boxed meals, looking flustered and speaking incoherently.

“Calm down, take a breath, and tell us clearly,” said Cai Erman, glancing at Xiang Tengfei with confusion, while Ye Chen, Mingzi, Yixuan, and Zina all widened their eyes, waiting for an explanation.

“The… Madam President was in a car accident!”

“What?” The group exclaimed in unison at the shocking news, even Ye Chen, who was lying down, sat up in surprise.

“Hurry! Where is she now?” Ye Chen asked, straining to find out.

“At the Municipal People’s Hospital.”

Hearing this, Ye Chen started to throw off his covers to get up.

“Stay put and rest,” Zina insisted, rushing to pull the covers back over him after the sudden gust of wind from Ye Chen moving.

“You should focus on recovering; we’ll check it out and keep in touch by phone!” Mingzi said anxiously as they all made to leave.

“You two stay here with Ye Chen. The three of us will go,” Cai Erman instructed Zina and Yixuan.

“Uh… I’ll go too,” Yixuan hesitated, but then decided, glancing at Ye Chen. Their eyes locked briefly, both conveying only worry and anxiety, with no room for other emotions.

Yixuan joined Cai Erman, Mingzi, and Xiang Tengfei as they rushed to the Municipal People’s Hospital. In the ward, silence fell between Zina and Ye Chen.

“What? Dong Zhuo was in a car accident? What happened?” In a quiet, well-lit hall where the floor was covered with a soft carpet, a blond man sat at a glass table with a cup of coffee, about to drink, when an elder in a Tang robe¹ approached him.

“Young master, the news reported that Dong Zhuo died on the spot,” Uncle Zhang said, looking up at the blond man.

“Who did he collide with?” The blond man’s face remained expressionless as he slowly put his coffee cup down.

“This… this…” the elder hesitated, unable to finish before the blond man urged, “Stop stalling, just tell me!”

“It was the secretary of the Municipal Committee, and…”

“The secretary of the Municipal Committee?” The blond man blinked rapidly, then leaned back into the sofa, his eyes showing shock and unease as if receiving grave news.

“And who else?” The blond man’s eyes darted around, his body suddenly lurching forward as he asked.

“And Madam President of Shengze College.”

Hearing this, the blond man’s initial tension softened a bit as he breathed a gentle sigh of relief, picked up the coffee cup again, and slowly brought it to his lips.

“You may go rest, Uncle Zhang. Is this news reliable?” he asked again as the elder started to turn away.

“It was just reported on the news,” Uncle Zhang confirmed.

Cai Erman, Mingzi, Yixuan, and Xiang Tengfei waited outside until dawn, but still couldn’t get inside. The reporters were also patiently waiting overnight, likely taking shifts to maintain a constant vigil. Some were sleeping while others kept a close watch on the hospital’s activities. It seemed some had even packed breakfast, munching on snacks from time to time. Sigh… no line of work is easy.

By morning, the police were expected to allow those outside the gates, who seemed well-prepared, into the hospital. After all, a hospital isn’t a private residence.

At 7 a.m., the doors of the Hailing City Municipal People’s Hospital opened wide, and reporters surged in. They pounced on doctors, asking where the accident victims were being treated, but the doctors claimed ignorance. The reporters scoured various parts of the hospital but didn’t uncover any useful information.

Cai Erman and the others were also asking around with no success and eventually found themselves seated in the waiting area. By this time, it was nearly noon, and some reporters could be seen leaving the hospital with dejected looks on their faces.

“It’s strange, didn’t the news say Madam President was taken to the Municipal People’s Hospital? Why is there no information now?” Xiang Tengfei wondered aloud.

“Yes, it’s really odd. There’s nobody in the emergency room either,” Cai Erman added.

“It probably involves government officials, and they’re deliberately keeping things under wraps,” Mingzi suggested.

“That might be the case, but it was just a above board car accident; what’s there to hide? It’s baffling…” Xiang Tengfei mused, perplexed. As he said this, the other three turned their faces to look at him, amused by his choice of words, as he used “above board” to describe the car accident.

Footnote:

1. Tang robe(唐袍): The Tang robe is a traditional Chinese garment that has its origins in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). It is known for its intricate designs and vibrant colors, often featuring embroidery and patterns that reflect the artistry of that era. The robe typically has a high collar and is fastened with a series of knots or buttons, symbolizing the elegance and sophistication of traditional Chinese culture.