Chapter 224: Fire at the Clinic
The night passed without incident. The next morning, Li Yi got up early, went to the state-run restaurant, and bought a takeout box of millet porridge and a few meat buns to bring back.
After sharing a quick bite with Tang Xue, he waited for Long Zhanjun to arrive.
Long Zhanjun knew that Li Yi and Tang Xue’s situation was urgent, so he arrived before 7:30.
Afterward, the four of them set off directly for the Xinjing Town Health Center.
But when Li Yi and the others arrived at the Xinjing Town Health Center again, the scene before them left them stunned.
The health center, which had been perfectly intact just yesterday, was now a charred ruin, with half the building burned to the ground.
Judging by the scene alone, it was clear the fire had been massive.
At that moment, many people were clearing the debris in the courtyard of the health center, and there were even several firefighters and an old fire truck on the scene.
After asking Mudskipper to keep an eye on Tang Xue, Li Yi and Long Zhanjun walked over together to inquire about the situation.
Li Yi was mainly interested in finding out what had happened to the archives room—whether it had also been destroyed.
With so many people milling about and no one stopping them, the two made their way straight to the center of the fire scene.
Just then, several firefighters emerged from the fire zone, saying as they walked, “Judging by the scene, the fire started in the archives room. There are clear signs of arson. Tell the hospital staff to call the police immediately…”
The speaker meant no harm, but the listener took note.
Li Yi had originally planned to go inside and ask the hospital director, but upon hearing this, he stopped in his tracks.
At the same time, his brow furrowed!
They had come yesterday to review the records, and the hospital director had agreed; that very night, the hospital caught fire.
Moreover, the fire broke out in the archives room, and there were clear signs of arson. There couldn’t possibly be so many coincidences in the world.
Li Yi immediately concluded that the fire was clearly aimed at them, intended to prevent them from accessing those records.
And right now, the only people with that motive were the Tang family!
More importantly, Tang Xue had mentioned yesterday that one of her relatives worked at this clinic.
The situation was actually quite clear!
Of course, this was merely Li Yi’s personal speculation; he had no concrete evidence.
But the thing is, he wasn’t a police officer; he wasn’t there to convict anyone, so he didn’t need evidence, did he?
Immediately, Li Yi took Long Zhanjun and left the scene of the fire!
When they returned to the side of the Piantou motorcycle, Tang Xue hurriedly asked, “What happened? Why is it burned like this?”
“I heard it was arson, and the archives have already been destroyed!”
“Then… what are we going to do?” Tang Xue asked.
“Let’s talk outside!”
Li Yi started the motorcycle and rode all the way to the outskirts of town before stopping!
Once the bike had come to a stop, Li Yi called Long Zhanjun and Ni Qiu over and briefly explained Tang Xue’s background.
Then he continued, “Dalong, Niuqiu, our immediate goal is to get to the bottom of Xiao Xue’s background. But judging by the current situation, it seems someone is secretly trying to stop us from investigating this matter. I even suspect these people started the fire!”
Long Zhanjun said in a low voice, “Brother Yi, are you talking about the Tang family?”
“It can’t be anyone else but them!”
Tang Xue said dejectedly, “Now that the archives have been burned down, does that mean we’ve lost all hope?”
Li Yi shook his head. “It’s not that bad. In fact, their interference has actually made my thinking clearer!”
“What do you plan to do?” Tang Xue asked.
Li Yi replied immediately, “Since we can’t uncover your origins by searching the archives, we’ll investigate through the people!”
“People?”
“Exactly!”
Then Li Yi turned to Tang Xue and said, “Xiao Xue, think carefully—is there really a relative of yours working at this clinic?”
“Yes!”
“Then try to remember her name, or any distinguishing features she has.”
“All I know is that she’s a woman, and her last name is also Tang… Oh, right, she has a purple birthmark on her face—it’s pretty scary!”
After saying this, Tang Xue looked at Li Yi and asked, “Are you suspecting she started the fire?”
“It’s possible! After all, an outsider wouldn’t know where the clinic’s archives are located. It was either done by someone on the inside, or someone working in collusion with an outside accomplice. Either way, she’s a prime suspect!” Li Yi said.
“So what should we do now?” Tang Xue asked.
Li Yi glanced at Long Zhanjun beside him and asked, “Da Long, are your people familiar with this area?”
“Not very well, but I have a friend who runs a loan shark operation around here. I can ask him for help!” Long Zhanjun replied.
“Is he reliable?”
“We’re on good terms, but we’re not exactly blood brothers!”
“Alright, then. Ask him to help us track down a woman at the clinic with the surname Tang and a birthmark on her face. I need all her information, including her family members!” Li Yi said.
“Got it. I’ll get on it right away!”
“Alright, I’ll wait for your update!”
…….
County Town. Steel Mill!
Tang Jizhong and his son Tang Lei went to work early this morning, but both of them were on edge the whole time.
To stop Tang Xue from investigating her origins, they rode their bicycles to Xinjing Town last night and, with Tang Meiqin’s help, set the place on fire.
To ensure the archives were completely destroyed, they had stolen a large amount of gasoline from a truck at the steel mill and poured it inside the archives room, so by the time they fled the scene, the fire had already grown intense.
Back in town, the father and son were still shaken to the core; after all, getting caught doing something like this could land them in prison.
But even so, they had no choice but to do it, because if Tang Xue discovered her true origins, they would end up in prison just the same.
With things having come to this, they had no choice but to go all out!
To avoid arousing suspicion, despite being extremely exhausted, the father and son went to work as usual.
Though their bodies were at the factory, their hearts were pounding with anxiety.
Tang Meiqin was just as nervous. She was now filled with anxiety and fear, and she also felt a sense of regret.
She regretted having been tempted by her cousin’s few hundred yuan back then and committing that crime.
Now, even though she knew arson was a serious crime, she had no choice but to go through with it.
It was truly one mistake leading to another, and there was no turning back now.
Fortunately, she knew the layout of the clinic. With her covering for them, even if the clinic discovered the arson, there was no way they could trace it back to her cousin and his son.
As for Tang Xue and the others, she isn’t worried they’ll suspect her.
After all, ever since that incident years ago, she had hardly ever visited her cousin’s house out of guilt.
She’d only seen Tang Xue once in the past twenty years or so, so it’s unlikely she’d even remember her.
Most importantly, she had already figured out how to get out of this.
A major incident had occurred at the clinic some time ago: due to certain complications, a pregnant woman had died during childbirth there, and her family had come to cause a scene several times over the matter.
However, since the clinic wasn’t at fault, the administration had taken a firm stance on the matter. Consequently, the pregnant woman’s husband had repeatedly threatened to take revenge on the clinic, even going so far as to publicly shout that he would burn it down.
So, with just a little guidance, she could pin this whole thing on that person.
She was now thinking about how to bring this up with the director!
What Tang Meiqin didn’t know was that someone had already traced the matter back to her.