Xu Lian was on the verge of tears at that time. Considering Xiaojun's feelings, she managed to hold back her outburst. Acting on a mother's sixth sense, she immediately chose to call the police.
However, the policemen at the police station didn't take it seriously at all.
"Ma'am, public resources are limited. Don't think too much. It's just kids fooling around. Nothing bad will happen," the on - duty policeman said politely as he saw her off, citing the lack of grounds for filing a case.
After leaving the police station, Xu Lian was extremely anxious. She desperately tried to find connections and people to protect Xiaojun.
Recently, because she had to pick up Xiaojun from school on time, she had asked her colleagues for help many times at work.
But everyone in the department was busy. Others could help her once or twice occasionally, but it was impossible for them to help her every day.
Xu Lian tried every means, but Xiaojun still received those notes from time to time.
Finally, she heard from the nurses that Dr. Zuo Mu in the department seemed to assist the police in handling cases and was quite capable. Without hesitation, she decided to seek Zuo Mu's help.
After hearing the whole story from Xu Lian, Zuo Mu's face changed slightly, but he managed to hold back his emotions. He asked Xu Lian, "Sister Xu, where are the notes Xiaojun received?"
"Oh, here they are." Xu Lian had been well - prepared. She took out a stack of neatly folded notes from her handbag.
Zuo Mu took them and flipped through them. His heart sank.
As he had expected, all the notes for Xiaojun were just numbers, alternating between one and three. There were more than a dozen of them. The handwriting was the same, and the notes were exactly the same as those from the orphanage.
"Where's Xiaojun, Sister Xu?" Zuo Mu was a bit worried about the child.
Seeing Zuo Mu's serious expression, Xu Lian also felt nervous. Hearing his question, she replied, "I've been worried about Xiaojun these days, so I've kept him by my side all the time. I'm on the night shift today. I didn't feel safe leaving him alone at home, so I brought him to the hospital with me."
That's good.
Zuo Mu felt a bit relieved.
Seeing Zuo Mu relax, Xu Lian panicked and asked, "Dr. Zuo, is there really someone trying to harm Xiaojun?"
Zuo Mu chose his words carefully. "Sister Xu, I just have some thoughts for now. I'm not sure yet. But it's always better to be careful with Xiaojun, right?"
Xu Lian nodded. It made sense.
"Don't worry. Since this happened, I haven't let Xiaojun out of my sight for a single step except when he's at school." Xu Lian was a bit uneasy and continued, "So what should we do about this? The police didn't even accept our case. I'm so afraid something might happen to Xiaojun. I don't know how I could live then."
By the end, Xu Lian was choking with sobs.
Zuo Mu had been working in this hospital for a while and vaguely knew about Xu Lian's situation.
Xu Lian was good - looking, with the elegance typical of southern women. And her job as a nurse was decent. There had been people introducing divorced men to her, but she had refused them all, saying she didn't want Xiaojun to be affected.
The mother - son relationship was very close.
If something really happened to Xiaojun, no one knew what would become of Xu Lian.
Zuo Mu could only repeatedly remind her, "Sister Xu, call me immediately if something happens. Remember to remind Xiaojun never to be alone."
Xu Lian nodded nervously, with a bitter smile on her face, a smile of someone tortured by life. "Thank you, Dr. Zuo. We mother and son really don't know what to do."
Zuo Mu really wanted to tell her that the police had already noticed something, but to avoid alerting the suspect, he held back.
For now, they could only hope that the murderer would show up soon so that they would have more opportunities.
After Xu Lian left, the lounge was empty. Although Zuo Mu was very tired after a major surgery, he couldn't fall asleep.
The things Xu Lian told him that night had made him highly nervous.
The murderer had changed his pattern this time.
In the past, the murderer had randomly selected people and given each of them a number. But this time? His first target was a child, which meant the murderer's criminal thinking had evolved.
Ordinary adults could no longer satisfy his sense of achievement.
Only children could attract strong social attention and condemnation.
Moreover, the murderer's progress had obviously accelerated this time, as if he was in a hurry. Xiaojiangnan had even received two numbers.
What criteria did the murderer use to select these children?
Xiaojun, Haohao, and Xiaohui were all unhappy children. Some were orphans, and some came from single - parent or divorced families. What was the murderer's motive for targeting these already pitiful children?
The light in the lounge was always on. Zuo Mu kept thinking. Finally, he couldn't resist sleep and fell into a deep slumber.
Nothing happened that night.
It meant Zuo Mu could have a good rest.
The next morning, the senior directors came. Zuo Mu naturally followed them. He briefly reported on the patients' conditions. Seeing that the patients were stable, he felt much more relaxed.
He reported to his superior and then left the hospital.
Because of Zuo Mu's special identity, his own abilities, and his cooperation with the police, the hospital leaders were quite polite to him.
By the time he got home, it was already past nine o'clock.
Zuo Mu entered his home and found that Tang Tang had already gone to school.
Well, it was that late.
He smiled self - deprecatingly. He had been away from school for so many years that he had even forgotten that kids had to go to school.
He wondered if Tang Tang had had breakfast.
Zuo Mu was too lazy to cook for himself. He just went to a breakfast shop outside the community and had something to eat. He had thought Tang Tang would still be at home and planned to take her out for a good meal, but he had forgotten that Tang Tang had her own schoolwork.
When Tang Tang came back in the evening, Zuo Mu thought carefully and finally decided to tell her about Xiaojun.
Tang Tang was about to pick up a piece of sweet and sour sparerib when she heard Zuo Mu's words. The sparerib she had picked up dropped on the table. She quickly cleaned it up, looking shocked.
"This murderer wasn't satisfied with what he did in the orphanage and now goes to school to scare kids?" Tang Tang couldn't believe it.
"It's not just scaring," Zuo Mu emphasized. "This time, our enemy has no human emotions. He has an anti - social personality. The more extreme the things are, the more excited he gets. He might have been eyeing these kids several months ago."
Since each child's situation was different, but the murderer had picked children with similar fates, it made Zuo Mu suspect that the murderer had tracked and investigated them for a long time before carefully selecting these kids.