Ward 142 interview

  Jiang Xueqing came in and had already startled the neighbors in the big courtyard, four or five people holding rice bowls gathered at the door to watch the commotion, seeing Liu's mother lying on the ground, two aunts quickly put down their rice bowls and went to help her up.

  "Sister, are you okay?"

  "His aunt, wake up."

  Several women pinched and poured hot water on Liu's mother to wake her up. As soon as she came to, the first thing she said was: "Quickly go to the hospital!"

  "Auntie, don't worry, Liu Ziguang is not in danger of losing his life. You all pack up your things and follow me, the car is just outside the alley."

  Liu's mother forced herself to be strong, opened the five-drawer cabinet and took out a bundle of cloth, pulled out a thin stack of banknotes, about 700 or 800 yuan, looked at her husband with searching eyes and stammered: "There is only this much money left at home... Those whole bills were all deposited as time deposits."

  "Dad was so angry he stomped his feet: 'I knew it! You're just eating interest! My son is wounded by a bullet! What's the use of this little money?!'"

  Tears welled up in Old Liu's mother's eyes, and the neighbors, seeing that things were not right, hastened to mediate: "Old Liu, don't be angry, my family still has some money."

  "Let's hurry up and see the doctor, my husband just got paid, I'll bring it over right away."

  Everyone rushed home to fetch money, and in no time they had collected over 5,000 yuan. One middle-aged uncle contributed the most, pulling out 2,000 yuan with one hand. My father was grateful and said: "Old Bei, thank you so much! Your family's finances are also tight, I'll return it to you tomorrow when I take out the deposit slip."

  "Never mind, this money was specifically left for my good-for-nothing son to use when he's injured. You go first, Old Liu, and I'll have Xiao Shuai bring some more money over later."

  Two pairs of hands that had experienced many hardships and struggles clasped together, shook firmly, and said nothing.

  The neighbors of the Da Za Yuan were gathering money, one hundred from you and two hundred from me, when the camera was filming on the side. Jiang Xueqing held the microphone in front of the lens and explained emotionally: "The rain is drizzling down, the weather is a bit cold, but inside this dilapidated shed district Da Za Yuan, there is a different kind of warmth and strong human touch..."

  After gathering enough money, the neighbor brought raincoats and umbrellas to send them out of the alley. Someone in front helped shine a flashlight, while someone behind helped carry the spare clothes prepared by Liu Ziguang for his mother. The group walked in the dark alley, one foot deep and one shallow, when suddenly two bright hand-held flashlights appeared in front of them. As they approached, it turned out to be Old Wang from the police station and a young policeman.

  "Old Liu, I'm here to take you to the hospital. Your house is really hard to find, even I, a local police officer, almost got lost." Old Wang stepped forward and grasped my father's hand, shaking it vigorously twice, emphasizing his words: "You've raised a good son!"

  The situation was urgent, and Liu Ziguang's parents got on the TV station's car with a nervous mood. A 110 police car led the way with flashing lights, and the two cars headed straight to the hospital.

  ……

  In the municipal hospital ward, there were only two people, Liu Ziguo and Deputy Director Song. Outside, the fine rain was pattering, while inside the room was quiet and peaceful.

  "So that's what happened, the gun was stuck in Li Youquan's waistband? And you took it away and killed two robbers." Song Ju's pen scratched across the record.

  "Yes, he had a handgun tucked into his waistband, but never took it out. However, I had already seen the outline of the gun. The situation was quite urgent at that time. If I hadn't taken action, your little policewoman would have been killed by the hijacker." Liu Ziguang explained.

  "Hmm." Song Ju nodded, "Before the police entered the bank, did you hear the conversation between the robbers and Li Youquan?"

  "I heard Li Youquan ordering the hijackers to coerce the police into withdrawing the snipers and assault teams, demanding that Officer Hu be taken hostage, and making various demands for armored vehicles. Later, after Officer Hu came in, he also reminded the hijackers that the police had cameras on their bodies."

  Song Ju's pen moved swiftly, recording down Liu Ziguang's words. He particularly appreciated Liu Ziguang's use of the word "command", whereas in other witnesses' testimonies, the word used was "point out". A difference of one word, a distance of ten thousand miles, but still the word "command" was more appropriate.

  "Alright, thank you for your testimony." Song Bureau closed the pen cap and pondered for a moment before saying: "I'd like to ask an extra question. How did you manage to grab the gun, load it, and fire in such a short time? Your shooting skills are also very strong, but according to your file, you've never received any military training. I'm curious about the reason."

  Liu Ziguang smiled: "Didn't your colleague find out the answer? He said I was a graduate of the Ryazan Paratrooper School and had been a mercenary abroad."

  Song Ju also smiled faintly: "They overthink, there aren't that many mercenaries. I'll ask you just one question, if you don't want to answer or are unwilling to answer for some reason, let's pretend I never asked."

  Liu Ziguang put away his smile and nodded: "You speak."

  "You are a soldier of the Wolf Tooth Battalion!" Song Ju's eyes suddenly shone with a sharp light, staring intently at Liu Ziguang, his gaze like a sharp sword, as if trying to see through his heart.

  Liu Ziguang's face was calm and expressionless, neither nodding nor shaking his head. At this point, he had nothing to say for himself. With skills like his, it was understandable that people would mistakenly think he came from some big team or something. Seeing Song Ju's expectant gaze, he really didn't have the nerve to tell her otherwise.

  After a long time, Song Bureau finally closed the logbook, nodded silently, walked to the door of the ward, pulled open the door, and at the moment he was about to go out, suddenly turned his head and said word by word: "Langya Brigade, the sharp blade of the country!"

  Liu Ziguang's tiger-like body stiffened, and cold sweat almost broke out on his forehead. What was going on? He had to force himself to calm down, but when he turned around, Song Ju had already walked away without looking back after uttering those eight senseless words.

  ……

  The TV station's interview vehicle, led by a police car, arrived at the municipal hospital through the misty rain. The host, Jiang Xueqing, was seen helping an elderly couple get out of the car. Song, the deputy director who was smoking and lost in thought on the balcony, let out a bitter smile: "This Jiang Xueqing, really has a lot of tricks up her sleeve."

  Pinch off the cigarette butt and walk up, directly grasping Mr. Liu's hand: "Hello, you two are Liu Ziguang's parents, right? I represent the Public Security Bureau, representing the masses, thank you for raising such an excellent son, who is righteous and brave, selfless and heroic, a true hero!"

  Officer Wang introduced on the side: "This is our city's Director Song."

  "Director Song, I..." Dad's voice was choked with emotion. Liu Ziguang had been a mediocre child since he was young, his studies were average, and he wasn't good at sports. After graduating from a third-rate university, he became unemployed and then disappeared for eight whole years. When he came back, he did become more capable, but the family was always worried that he would get mixed up with those shady characters outside. And now, to hear his son being evaluated like this by a high-ranking leader of the Public Security Bureau, how could it not make him proud and moved as a father?

  "Alright, don't say anything else. The police will cover all the expenses for your son. I have something to attend to at the bureau, you two hurry up and go see your son." Director Song shook hands with the old lady again, gave Old Wang a nod to take care of them, and then hastily left.

  Three minutes later, Liu Ziguang's parents finally arrived at the ward, saw their son safe and sound, and the old couple finally put down their worries. Although there was no danger to his life, he had been shot after all. His mother said she had to see the wound no matter what. Liu Ziguang had no choice but to untie his hospital gown, revealing his bandaged upper body, pointing to his right chest and saying: "It's just here, I was shot once, it went through, nothing serious."

  Mom's tears came out with a whoosh, no matter how big the son is, he is still his mother's heart meat, and it hurts to be pricked by a needle, let alone being shot by bullets. The old lady held back her tears, not wanting to cry out loud in the hospital. Dad also came to comfort: "Okay, you've seen that your son is fine."

  A family was talking, when suddenly the door opened and Jiang Xueqing, who had been filming outside, couldn't help but walk in and say: "Hello Liu Ziguang, we've met before. I'd like to borrow a bit of your time for an interview, if that's okay?"

  Suddenly interrupted, Liu Ziguang was in a bad mood, slightly furrowed his brow and coldly said: "Get out."

  Her cold and detached gaze made the photographer shiver, not daring to take another step forward. Jiang Xueqing was also taken aback, having never been refused an interview by a subject in all her years as a TV reporter, especially not one so blunt and unreasonable.

  Logically speaking, Jiangbei TV's top flower dan should be angry at this time, but for some reason, Jiang Xueqing's first thought was: So cool!

  "Dad coughed and said: 'Xiao Guang, your mom and I came to the hospital in Jiang's car. Just help out and accept an interview, okay?'"

  Dad spoke up and said, "Liu Ziguang, what else can you say?" With a swift wave of his hand: "Alright, but turn off the camera, I'm not used to being filmed like this."

  The TV station was doing a show and had turned off the camera, but what else could they do? However, Jiang Xueqing nodded unexpectedly: "Okay, Old Wang, you go out and rest for a while."

  The photographer retreated, leaving only Jiang Xueqing for a solo interview. The beautiful female reporter calmed her emotions, using her slender fingers to hold the microphone with the station logo, and put it to her mouth: "Can you tell us how you saw justice and bravely killed two thugs?"

  "Grab the gun and fire." Liu Ziguang said simply in four words.

  Jiang Xue's eyes widened, her two big and round eyes making her look very cartoonish, like a kitten. She asked in surprise: "That's all? Is there more?"

  "It's gone." Liu Ziguang said briefly.

  "Then how many shots did you fire?"

  "Five shots, two for each man, then one guy didn't die, so another shot was added."

  "Where did you hit?"

  "Head, chest, eyes."

  Jiang Xueqing felt a bit dizzy, the man in front of her was too cold and too calm. Not to mention ordinary people, even professionally trained police officers need psychological counseling after killing criminals, but looking at him, it's like stepping on two ants, without any feeling.

  At this moment, as a journalist, Jiang Xueqing suddenly became convinced that this man must have had an extraordinary experience, which could be dug deeper into and made into an explosive news story.

  "I have one last question, what do you do for work?"

  "Security, property security."

  ……