Lu Linjiang watched the municipal hospital’s surveillance footage. The intruder was clearly familiar with the layout; it took him less than a minute to travel from the infusion room to the exit. The man wore a baseball cap, which was knocked askew when he collided with a janitor while bolting out of the hospital. This brief stumble exposed his face more clearly to the camera. Lu Linjiang had found him familiar at first glance, and this confirmed it—this was the man in the bucket hat from the subway.
The infusion room had been cordoned off, trapping over a hundred people inside. Several doctors and nurses were attempting to soothe them one by one, but despite their efforts, the crowd was growing increasingly restless.
“I want to go home!” shouted a burly man whose physique rivaled Lu Linjiang’s. “What exactly was in that jar? Why are you detaining us?”
The nurses on duty were actually quite anxious themselves, but having received orders from their superiors, they could only do their best to pacify the patients. “We are currently investigating. Please cooperate. Once the situation is clarified, we will let everyone go home.”
“You’ve been repeating that same nonsense for nearly an hour. I don’t care, I’m leaving!” As the burly man spoke, he prepared to charge out of the infusion room. The patients and families behind him followed suit instinctively, clearly intending to use the man as their vanguard to force an exit.
Tang Hua and Zhou Shaorui hurriedly stepped forward to block them. “The police have locked down this area. Everyone, please just wait a moment.”
When Zhou Shaorui had first discovered the wide-mouth jar beneath the folding stool, he had immediately covered it with the jacket the man left behind. However, with so many people around, no matter how fast his movements were, they couldn't outpace the eyes of the crowd. The news that a jar had been hidden under the stool spread instantly. Coupled with the hospital’s emergency lockdown, even the most oblivious person in the room realized something was wrong. Having stayed for an hour, they had reached their limit; unable to get a straight answer, their natural instinct was to flee.
Tang Hua, Zhou Shaorui, and five nurses guarded the front and back doors, but they were struggling to hold the line. Although backup had been dispatched to secure the perimeter outside, if a true riot broke out, the situation would spiral out of control.
The burly man led the charge, clutching his belongings as he tried to push through. Tang Hua and Zhou Shaorui worked together to brace against him, trying to reason with him. “Brother, don’t get worked up. Calm down. The situation isn't clear yet. Look at us—aren’t we staying here with you?”
Before the man could respond, a nurse guarding the back door cried out, “Don’t go out, sir! You can’t leave!”
Taking advantage of the chaos at the front, some people tried to slip out through the relatively weaker defense at the back. The three young nurses, all in their early twenties, were on the verge of tears as they faced the group trying to force their way through.
Just as several middle-aged men and women were about to break out, Lu Linjiang appeared at the back door, blocking the path like a guardian deity. “Where do you think you’re going?”
A middle-aged woman at the front, clearly a family member staying overnight, snapped, “What right do you have to keep us here? Why should we have to wait here cold and hungry?”
“It is your responsibility to cooperate with a police investigation,” Lu Linjiang said in a low, heavy voice. “A theft has occurred here. Helping the police clear it up is in everyone’s best interest.”
The woman let out a cold snort. “We all saw that jar. It had blue liquid inside. A theft? Who are you trying to kid? You won’t tell us a single word of truth, so why should we cooperate with your investigation?”
Another middle-aged man beside her gave her a subtle nudge and spoke before Lu Linjiang could respond. “Fine, then. We were asleep just now and didn’t see a thing.” He pointed to a corner. “There are cameras there. If you want to know something, go check the footage. Don’t waste our time!”
Lu Linjiang hadn't expected a casual excuse to keep them contained. Just as he was about to demand they stay with more force, the crowd erupted again. “We want to leave! What right do the police have to lock us up? I’m posting this on Weibo right now and calling the Disciplinary Committee to investigate you!”
“That’s right!” The crowd was instantly galvanized. In a flash, twenty or thirty phones were raised, aimed directly at Lu Linjiang.
Lu Linjiang remained unfazed as he faced the crowd. “Before the Disciplinary Committee comes to investigate me, I must ask you all to remain here and cooperate. During this time, you are more than welcome to monitor the conduct of the police.”
Lu Linjiang’s refusal to budge, whether met with soft or hard tactics, clearly incensed the crowd further. People began to group up, preparing for another attempt to charge out. Lu Linjiang wasn't worried about their lack of cooperation; he had plenty of ways to keep them contained. Just as the two sides were about to clash, a voice rang out.
“What are you all arguing about?”
The voice wasn't loud. In the clamorous infusion room where everyone was trying to shout over one another, it was almost imperceptible. However, Lu Linjiang recognized it immediately. Using his height to his advantage, he looked toward the source.
Jiang Cheng was standing at the main entrance of the infusion room, carrying a medical case and wearing a respirator mask. Lu Linjiang’s reaction quickly drew the crowd’s attention, and the room fell silent as all eyes converged on Jiang Cheng.
Seeing a doctor finally arrive, the crowd prepared to vent their frustrations all at once. But Jiang Cheng, who had watched everything from the surveillance room, walked straight up to the burly man. Without a word, he rolled up the man’s sleeve. “I know what you want to ask. I want to know, too.”
Several people standing nearby didn't listen and began firing off questions simultaneously.
Jiang Cheng looked up at them. “My voice is soft. If you are all talking, you won’t be able to hear what I have to say.”
“Can’t you just speak louder?” someone asked defiantly.
Jiang Cheng didn't answer. He simply applied alcohol to the burly man’s inner elbow. The man finally reacted. “What are you doing?!” He instinctively tried to pull his arm back, but Jiang Cheng was faster; the needle of a vacuum blood collection tube was already in.
No one had expected this. The infusion room fell into a stunned silence once more. Only the burly man continued to struggle. “You—!”
“I need to draw blood for testing.” Jiang Cheng firmly controlled the man’s arm as the blood flowed rapidly into the tube. “Don’t you want to know what was in that jar? Give me a little blood, and I can tell you.”
“Otherwise, if I just tell you with nothing but my word that everything is fine, would you even believe me?”
The crowd was momentarily speechless, but someone quickly countered, “Even so, we don’t want to stay here!”
Jiang Cheng didn't look up until he was certain he had enough blood. Only then did he withdraw the needle and press an alcohol cotton ball onto the wound.
“I’ve finished sampling. Actually, if you want to leave, that’s fine. However, you have doubts about the contents of that jar, and I need time to find out exactly what it is. If you stay, the CDC will be responsible for your food and lodging. If you leave, we naturally won't be responsible for that.”
The people looked at one another. A few immediately tried to leave, but Jiang Cheng spoke again. “It will likely take a few days to determine if there’s a problem with the contents of that jar. If you leave now and it turns out to be some kind of infectious disease, you’ll not only miss the optimal window for treatment, but you’ll likely infect your families as well. When you eventually return here, you might be bringing your whole household with you.”
The people who had started to leave stopped in their tracks. Jiang Cheng acted as if he hadn't noticed and beckoned Tang Hua over to draw his blood. “Consider which is more important. The choice is yours.”
The crowd went still. they watched anxiously as Jiang Cheng drew blood from Tang Hua and Zhou Shaorui. The middle-aged woman who had been shouting at the back door was the first to find a seat and sit down. Her face was full of resentment, but she gritted her teeth and remained silent. The man with her also sat down, wordlessly composing a message on his phone.
With someone leading the way, the people who had gathered in the main aisle began to sit back down. Jiang Cheng stowed the blood tubes and looked at the seated crowd. “Thank you for your cooperation. Please trust that while it may take some time, everything will be fine.”
Having temporarily pacified the crowd, Lu Linjiang walked quickly to Jiang Cheng’s side and accompanied him out.
“Well? Did you see anything?”
“From what I can see so far, it looks like a common flu mutation,” Jiang Cheng said. “For more specifics, I’ll have to wait until I test the contents of the jar and their blood samples.”
Lu Linjiang had no expertise in this area, so he simply nodded. “You did well just now. Saved me a lot of trouble.”
A blunt instrument of the state like Lu Linjiang could never match Jiang Cheng’s gentle approach. Jiang Cheng shook his head. “It’s just a difference in handling styles. And you—you didn't even put on a mask before coming over.”
“There wasn't time. Besides, if I had blocked the door wearing a mask, the situation just now would have been even harder to manage.”
Jiang Cheng understood. "No time" was an excuse; the choice not to wear one was intentional. Lu Linjiang not wearing a mask prevented the people in the infusion room from instinctively assuming the worst. Otherwise, seeing a police officer appearing in full protective gear would have caused panic to ferment much faster. If that had happened, Jiang Cheng’s few words might not have been so effective.
“Besides, don’t I have you?”
Jiang Cheng gave him a helpless look. “At least take some basic precautions.” Seeing Lu Linjiang staring at him without a word, he finally relented. “Fine. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 渔夫帽 | Bucket hat | Literally "fisherman hat." |
| 纪委 | Disciplinary Committee | Short for 纪律检查委员会; often used as a threat against government officials/police. |
| 真空抽血管 | Vacuum blood collection tube | A sterile glass or plastic tube with a colored rubber stopper creating a vacuum seal inside. |
| 疾控中心 | CDC | Center for Disease Control and Prevention. |
| 红口白牙 | With nothing but one's word | Idiom: literally "red mouth and white teeth," meaning to say something without proof or to speak empty words. |
