#13

In one day, so 24 hours, can happen either nothing at all, or a lot. I would describe this day as eventful. Unfortunately, it brought us only conditionally further in the clarification of the murder of the Prime Minister.

The morning began with Yibo and me meeting in the kitchen. After last night, I lay awake in bed for a while thinking about why I let myself be kissed so quickly or why I got involved in this relationship with him without thinking. Well, in the end I could only think of one reason. I am in love with him and I want that.

In the morning I was still thinking the same thing, but I also thought it was good that Yibo offered me that we could take it slowly and keep it to ourselves for now, until we are quite sure that it is really something serious with us.

We were preparing breakfast together when Yibo got a call from his supervisor and had to leave immediately. It was about a case that Yibo was also investigating.

So I continued to prepare breakfast alone and wondered why Mia wasn't awake yet today. Yibo told me that she usually wakes up by herself at 6 am at the latest and then goes down to the kitchen. Today it is almost seven and she is still not awake.

Quietly I sneaked upstairs and looked in her room. She was still in bed and not moving. I didn't know whether to let her continue sleeping or wake her up. So I decided to wait to see what Yibo's parents said.

Then about 20 minutes later when Yibo's parents came into the kitchen, they also wondered and sent me up to Mia to wake her up.

I went into her room, sat on the edge of the bed and stroked her arm. As I did so, I noticed that she felt very hot. I called Yibo's mother upstairs and she took her temperature. Mia had a fever, very high even.

For some health reasons, Yibo's father is not allowed to go near Mia, because he would get sick himself. Yibo's mother had to go to work urgently and Yibo was already at work. Nevertheless, Mia had to see the doctor as soon as possible. So there was only me left.

I wrote a message to Yibo that his daughter was sick and I was taking her to the doctor. He wrote me that if she had a really high fever, I should take her to the emergency room and that he would come later.

Yibo's mother got Mia ready while I got dressed. I carried Mia, who was still sound asleep, to my car and then drove to the nearest hospital, which fortunately is not far away. However, the emergency room was full. Really full.

I checked Mia in while holding her in my arms and then was told to sit with her and wait. And while I waited, the fever seemed to spike even higher. I was incredibly worried and wondered how much longer it was going to last.

As a nurse walked through the rows of waiting patients handing out small bottles of water, I asked her to get a thermometer. She had one in her pocket. She took the temperature from her ear and immediately called for a doctor. Mia's fever had risen to 41 degrees.

A doctor came and took a quick look at her, I told him she still hadn't woken up. Then I was told to follow him to the treatment room. He examined Mia and put an IV in her. She did not notice anything. He asked me several questions about Mia's health, but I could not answer them. Inside I was panicking and wishing Yibo would finally come.

But two more hours passed before Yibo finally showed up. The doctor then explained to Yibo that Mia had severely inflamed adenoids and that they needed to be removed urgently.

I sat by Mia's bedside, whose fever had finally dropped a bit, while Yibo filled out the paperwork for the surgery. The surgery took place immediately after the paperwork was signed.

Yibo's mother also came to the hospital and at the right time. Because as soon as she arrived, Yibo's cell phone rang again. This time we both had to go. To a crime scene. They found the body of the foreign minister. Next to his body lay an injured woman who said that she had been kidnapped and was only alive because she had pretended to be dead.

Still at the crime scene, or rather the place where the body was found, the old woman was questioned. She told the officers that she was in the bushes relieving herself. When a black car approached and immediately after that another one, she hid herself. She heard the men talking about the murder of the foreign minister. She said someone knocked her out from behind and she woke up with a severe headache in the trunk, next to the Foreign Minister's body.

Afraid that the men would kill her too, she simply played dead when the car stopped. She stiffened her body and held her breath as long as she could. They simply threw her next to the body of the foreign minister, where she remained lying, afraid the killers would still be around to see that she was still alive.

The paramedics wanted to take her to a hospital, because besides the big bump on the back of her head, she was also severely hypothermic. But she insisted on being driven home. She kept saying that she didn't have time, that her husband would be worried and probably waiting for his dinner.

Yibo and I then offered to take her home. We were glad to have a witness and hoped that this would help us in the case of, now both murders.

But then we learned something that more than questioned the credibility of the old lady.

The central office contacted us and said: "The woman's husband died three years ago. He was seriously ill and at that time the prosecution assumed that the woman had helped in his death. Presumably because she wanted to end his suffering. However, no charges were ever brought, because nothing could be proven against her."

The fact that she imagined her husband was still alive and waiting for her was not a good sign for us. Who would believe a mentally ill old woman?

When we arrived at the house, we took her inside. She almost dashed into the kitchen and then put a plate on the table, put two slices of bread on it with cheese and sausage and spoke to her husband who was not there. "Here my darling, eat this first. I'll start cooking in a minute. And you don't have to blame me again for leaving my cell phone at home. What I've been through has been a lesson to me, and I'm going to have my cell phone with me everywhere I go now."

Yibo shook his head and I realized it was hopeless to use this woman as a witness.

We drove back to where the body was found and during the drive Yibo explained to me how to behave at a crime scene. I told him that this was not my first time at a crime scene and he explained in a stern voice, "Yeah sure. Except this isn't a ship. The slightest mistake can destroy the traces and contaminate any samples. So stick to what I told you. The best thing would be to wait behind the barrier."

I have to say, I didn't like the way Yibo told me that. I can understand it yes, but still I didn't like it.

Back at the scene, the forensic team was almost finished. The body of the foreign minister had already been taken away. And I stood bravely behind the barrier, as Yibo had ordered, and waited. I admit I was angry with Yibo. Because I thought he didn't have to talk to me like that, after all, we were alone in the car. And what annoyed me even more was, the other two from our team were allowed to enter the scene.

The three of them were standing there discussing something I couldn't understand. Then when the three of them came to me, no one seemed interested in enlightening me about what they were discussing either.

Yibo called his supervisor and then came to me to tell me that I should call it a day and go home. There would be nothing more for me to do today and he would then drive back with the other two.

Angry and without another word, I went to my car, got in, started the engine and drove off. I don't know if I was ever that angry. At first it was all right. But then I saw Meng Ziyi rake herself into Yibo's arm so that she wouldn't fall with her heeled shoes in the high snow. Couldn't she have raked in Li Wenhan's arm?

Instead of going back to Yibo's family's house, I went to my supervisor's office. I sat down at an empty seat and wrote a detailed report about my investigation so far. I think I took my time intentionally, because I didn't want to get under Yibo's eyes so soon. I was still much too angry for that.

I mean, who does he think I am? Because does he really think I would be so stupid and destroy any traces or contaminate any samples? Why did they exclude me from their discussion? Because I'm just a data analyst and this doesn't concern me? Am I not part of the team?

My supervisor noticed that something was wrong with me and asked me to follow him to his office. I talked to him about what was bothering me and how excluded I felt, and he calmed me down a bit. "Don't take it so much to heart. I don't think he meant it the way it came across. It's an important case and the nerves can be on edge. After all, everyone was still hoping to find the foreign minister alive. And now they found his body and there is still no useful evidence or witnesses. No wonder when the temper gets out of control. Don't let it bother you. Go home, have some tea and a hot bath, then go to bed and tomorrow things will be different." He said.

I took his advice and drove to the Wang's house. It was almost 9 pm when I got there. I opened the door and saw that Yibo was not home yet. His mother said, he is still having dinner together with his colleagues and that he tried to call me several times. "I guess they'll be there for quite a while. Why don't you go there, I'm sure they are waiting for you." She said.

I shook my head. "Ah no. I'm going to drink my tea, take a hot shower and go to bed." I replied.

"Mhhh OK. But Zhan? Somehow you look like you have something going through your head that's bothering you."

"Really? No, everything's fine. I'm going upstairs then. Good night."

"Good night Zhan. Oh yes, Mia is feeling better already."

"I'm glad to hear that. Thanks for the information." I said and then finally went upstairs.

I was already sound asleep when there was a knock on my room door. I heard the door open and someone come into my room, sit down next to me and pull my blanket over my arm. "I'm sorry about this afternoon. I shouldn't have been so hard towards you. I overdid it, because I was so frustrated. Please don't be mad at me. OK?" Whispered Yibo.

I pulled my blanket up to the tip of my nose and just grumbled softly. Yibo pulled it back down a bit and said, "Come on ZhanGe, don't be mad. Please forgive me."

"You smell of alcohol, can you please just leave?" I replied.

"I just had a small glass OK? Just a nightcap, I'm sober and I want you to forgive me. I won't leave here until you do."

"Well then you're going to have to sit here all night."

"Well, then, go ahead and make room. Because I'm just going to lie down next to you and you're going to have to endure me and the smell of my alcohol all night. Unless you forgive me."

"Wang Yibo, this is not funny."

"I'm not laughing either. I'm completely serious!"

"Just go to your room."

"No." Replied Yibo. Then he lifted my blanket, squeezed my body further, and lay down next to me. He put his arms around my body, gave my neck a kiss and wished me a good night and immediately fell asleep.

There I was, lying in my bed, with my boyfriend, who wanted us to take our time and did not dare to move. But since I was very tired and now also felt Yibo's body heat, I fell asleep again. And maybe I smiled while doing so.

A/N: For some readers, this story may be too boring, because it moves very slowly forward. Well, I want the story to have more than 20 chapters, so I prefer to go the long way.