Before Jiang Cheng could figure out why, the surveillance operation hit a snag: the team members were falling ill one after another. Pan Youze was the first to go down, forced to take sick leave to get an IV drip. Before he could recover, Tang Hua followed suit, looking so miserable he could barely lift his head. The two met in the wall-to-wall crowded infusion room; Pan Youze had arrived early in the morning to snag a seat, while Tang Hua had to have his family bring him a small folding stool just to have a place to sit while he got his drip.
The situation then exploded at a geometric rate. Out of the ten-person surveillance team, half had collapsed in the blink of an eye, all heading to the infusion room with their folding stools in tow.
The remaining few weren't safe either. Xu Sicheng was gradually developing nasal congestion, and the others were sneezing incessantly. Only Lu Linjiang and Yang Bo remained completely unscathed, honored by their flurry of sneezing and teary-eyed colleagues as "men forged of steel."
Lu Linjiang’s original plan was to engineer an accident the moment Jiang Langmin showed any sign of leaving to force him to stay, which was why he had sent people to stake out his building in shifts. Now that most of his people were sick, he wanted to bring in more reinforcements, but the situation at the Municipal Bureau wasn't optimistic either. Walking down the hallways, one could hear someone sneezing at any given moment.
"What's going on..." Lu Linjiang sat down next to Guo Junyi. "How many of yours are down?"
"Huang Yidong," Guo Junyi replied without looking up. "I asked Shen Lei; it might be a new type of flu virus. The CDC has already issued an emergency notice, and primary and secondary schools are on break."
Guo Junyi paused while organizing the documents on his desk and looked up at Lu Linjiang. "Are you feeling a bit like a conspiracy theorist too?" Ever since he learned the truth about his own Gaimore infection, he couldn't help but think the worst of Cheng Hao and Jiang Langmin.
Lu Linjiang gave him an enigmatic look. "I've always been one. But I've been watching him these past few days, and he hasn't even stepped out the door."
Yang Bo only half-understood. "I don't think he needs to leave the house. I mean, he lives on the twenty-eighth floor. Couldn't he just spray it from up there and be done with it?"
"You think he's a garden sprinkler? If he's not careful, he'll get caught in it himself." Hearing Yang Bo's layman-like remarks, Guo Junyi waved him off with a headache. "Setting aside how he did it for a moment, the question is—what's the motive?"
"That depends on what kind of profit can be gained from this." Lu Linjiang suddenly smiled, a smile that sent a cold sweat down Yang Bo and Guo Junyi's backs, causing them both to instinctively lean away.
"I'll go take a look first, then we can study whether this idea of ours is actually a conspiracy theory."
"Go... go where?" Guo Junyi asked.
"The hospital," Lu Linjiang said, standing up. "You two take it easy. Whatever you do, hold the line!"
Guo Junyi watched Lu Linjiang’s retreating back. "Tch, acting like he’s invincible to all toxins."
Yang Bo had just returned from his stakeout. Because of the manpower shortage, he couldn't go home and had to hunker down at the bureau, ready to be summoned at any moment. He scratched his bird's nest of hair. "Teacher Guo, there's something you don't know. Captain Lu really is invincible."
Guo Junyi looked at Yang Bo with a face full of confusion.
"Jiang Cheng!" Yang Bo yawned. "Latest news: they might have gotten back together."
"Holy crap!" Guo Junyi exclaimed. "I knew he’d been looking weird lately!" He paused, then shook his head regretfully. "A vanilla orchid stuck in cow dung! What a waste!"
***
Lu Linjiang went to the city hospital and found quite a few colleagues in the infusion room. He greeted them one by one and eventually found Pan Youze and the others huddled in a corner. None of them had family members to accompany them, so they had gathered their folding stools together to keep each other company. Tang Hua took the hot water Lu Linjiang had poured for him. "Captain Lu, why are you here?"
"To check on the situation." Lu Linjiang scanned the room. "It's certainly lively in here."
The infusion room was teeming with people. Those who arrived late couldn't even get through the door, and the emergency corridors were filled with people sitting on the floor. On the short walk to pour the water, Lu Linjiang practically had to walk on tiptoe.
He looked closely at Pan Youze. "How are you doing? I remember you've been on a drip for three or four days now."
Pan Youze wore a massive mask, leaving only his eyes exposed. He looked only slightly better than a wilted eggplant. "The fever won't break, but at least I've stopped sneezing."
Lu Linjiang was about to ask why he wasn't hospitalized, but then he realized that if the infusion room was like this, the inpatient beds must be incredibly tight. He asked everyone if they needed any more help before heading off to find the Director of Respiratory Medicine.
The director was rushed off his feet in the inpatient department. Seeing Lu Linjiang approach, he assumed he was another patient's relative and reached out to wave him aside. "If there's a problem, please wait. I'll be over as soon as I've handled this."
Lu Linjiang pulled out his credentials and handed them over. "I have a few questions for you. I'll try not to take up too much of your time."
Hu Jiafan handed the credentials back. "It doesn't matter who asks; there are no beds. See these people in the hallway? These are the ones we couldn't turn away. Every single one of them has severe symptoms. If I give you 'face' and let someone jump the queue, what happens to them?"
People nearby turned to look at the commotion. Hu Jiafan began moving again with a brisk pace. Lu Linjiang followed behind him. "No, Director Hu, you've misunderstood. I want to ask about the first few cases of this flu virus."
Only then did Hu Jiafan spare him a proper look. "Why?"
"It's for work. I'm collecting data. I was hoping you could help me out."
"The first few?" Hu Jiafan stopped at the door of a ward. "There. That girl is one of them."
"Just one case?" Lu Linjiang looked at the young girl lying on the bed with an IV. She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, her face flushed with an unnatural fever.
"There were five cases in total. Two didn't make it. Two others are still in the ICU. This girl only survived this long because she's young and has a strong constitution."
The people inside had already looked over, so Lu Linjiang pulled his head back. "I called the CDC and they said they still haven't identified exactly what this virus is?"
"Correct. All the antiviral drugs have been administered, but the effects aren't significant. Yet the symptoms are so similar to a common flu; it's very strange." Hu Jiafan spoke softly but very quickly. A nurse waved to him from a distance. "You've seen the situation here. If you want the medical records, you can go to the CDC; we've already transferred everything there. Also, I suggest you wear a mask when you go out."
Hu Jiafan hurried away. Lu Linjiang knocked on the door and entered after receiving permission. He checked the information card at the head of the bed. "Chen Xintian?" After the young girl on the bed nodded, he asked, "How long have you been sick?"
Her mother patted Chen Xintian's hand. "It's been about ten days. Are you here to ask where she's been?" She saw Lu Linjiang’s slight surprise. "The CDC people were just here yesterday. That day, Tiantian just followed her normal home-to-school routine. When she came back, she had a bit of a runny nose. We thought it was nothing, but the next day she had a high fever that wouldn't go down."
The mother sighed. "Then we came to the hospital, and she hasn't left since. Several people were admitted around the same time as Tiantian with the same symptoms. In just a few days, several of them have already passed away."
"Did you know them?"
The mother shook her head. "They were all office workers, and two were quite elderly. My daughter is just a student; she has a simple routine between home and school. How would she know them?"
The relative at the neighboring bed was eavesdropping on their conversation and accidentally knocked over a water cup on the table. With a startled cry, water spilled all over the floor.
Chen Xintian, who had been lying down, turned her head to watch the person frantically cleaning up. Suddenly, she grabbed her mother's hand. "Mom, I just remembered something."
