The Remaining Third Chapter Fifty-Eight A Mistaken Assumption

Many times, when people choose to yield, it is not out of weakness or compromise, but rather a reconciliation with themselves.

In the end, the old woman did not insist that He Wei take her to the police station or hospital. After more than a dozen police cars arrived from all directions at the site of the van accident, she quietly leaned on her cane, limped away toward the nearby bus stop. He Wei, too, did not completely shirk responsibility. Suddenly, he realized that had he not chased that person so relentlessly, the old woman would not have been implicated and sprained her ankle. This was cause and effect. What ill intentions could an old woman whose teeth were nearly all gone possibly have? Ultimately, He Wei instructed a traffic officer to ensure the old woman was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Things always change at moments least expected. The unknown is life’s most surprising gift to each person.

Just as He Wei was preparing to leave with Chang Ping, a police officer on patrol nearby approached energetically, escorting a man in a gray jacket in handcuffs. He saluted He Wei, not quite up to standard, then reported in booming, imperfect Mandarin, “PC Officer No. 84567, during routine patrol at Li Family Ditch, apprehended a suspect matching the description from central headquarters. Here to hand him over to Captain He…”

He Wei’s eyes lit up. He turned to the officer and the suspect behind him, patted the officer’s shoulder, and gave a thumbs up. “Good job, 84567. I’ll treat you to hotpot next time—order whatever you like…” He walked past the officer, who was grinning foolishly, and snorted coldly, glancing at the suspect’s mud-stained pant legs with mockery. “You really tried to run, didn’t you? Thought you were some kind of floating hero, huh?”

The man in the gray jacket kept his head down, legs trembling slightly.

“I’m talking to you!” He Wei shouted. “Raise your head!”

The man immediately dropped to his knees, looked up at He Wei with innocent eyes, stammering, “Officer, I know I was wrong. I’ll never take a driving job after drinking again. Please let me off just this once!”

He Wei frowned, studying the man’s face closely, but saw no trace of deception. “Driving job… Don’t pretend to be confused. I wasn’t chasing you for drunk driving.”

The man wore a bitter expression, sniffled, and pointed at the line of police cars parked nearby, exhaling toward He Wei. “What else could it be? Officer, it’s just drunk driving—you didn’t need such a grand show. I only had one beer, it’s all gone now. Smell for yourself, there’s not a hint of alcohol left.”

At that moment, Chang Ping returned, scrutinized the man in gray, and shook his head at He Wei. “Mistaken identity… It’s him, and it’s not him.”

He Wei looked at Chang Ping, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“We chased this guy, but he’s not the one we need to catch.” Chang Ping sighed. “The man at the police station entrance was one hundred seventy-five centimeters tall; this one is maybe one seventy. The key difference is that guy wore a gray jacket, but this one’s is a gray casual coat… We were too hurried earlier to notice. Classic bait-and-switch.”

He Wei reflected on the man’s build at the station, compared it to the man before him—it was indeed as Chang Ping said. He pinched the bridge of his nose and snapped at the man, “If it was just drunk driving, why did you run?”

The man’s brows furrowed, his face innocent. “You chased me, so of course I ran.”

“You ran, so of course I chased.” He Wei bit his lip, clenched and unclenched his fist. “Forget it, no point arguing. You said you took a driving job? So that Jinbei van wasn’t yours?”

“No, not mine…” The man replied, defeated. “The repair costs will be more than I made from the driving job—lost everything. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have taken it.”

He Wei stroked his chin thoughtfully, glanced at the van being towed away by traffic police, then at the man, narrowing his eyes. “How did you get this driving job? Tell me everything, right now. To be honest with you, that van is illegal, the license plate is fake, and the issues involved are far more serious than drunk driving. If you don’t want trouble, spill everything you know.”

“I thought so—if it was just drunk driving, you wouldn’t have chased me like a mad dog. So that’s it…” The man’s eyes widened, then realizing he’d said too much, coughed and quickly changed the subject, recounting his experience accepting the driving job in vivid detail.

Standing beside He Wei, Chang Ping rubbed his nose and spoke calmly, “So, the job was handed to you directly, not through any online platform. You only have a phone number and possibly a fake name—no other information, right?”

The man nodded eagerly. “Exactly, officer. I’m just a driver, I don’t know anything else. Whatever that guy did has nothing to do with me… You all seem very serious—did he commit some major crime?”

“If it’s none of your business, stop asking questions,” He Wei shot him a glare. “Here’s what you do—call that guy right now. Tell him you crashed the van and need him to come deal with it. Don’t mention we’re here… Consider this your chance to redeem yourself. Make sure you do it right, understand?”

“Understood! I’ll call him right away…” The man perked up, stood, took a deep breath, hurriedly pulled out his phone, found the number in his call logs, dialed—but the call didn’t go through, only the message: “The number you’re calling is switched off.”

Chang Ping cleared his throat, looked at the man, and held out his hand. “Hand me your phone…” He took the man’s phone, then pulled out his own, dialed the number—still switched off. Frowning, he opened a software app, entered the number, clicked search. The screen displayed “Not registered to real name.” He sighed, handed the phone back, shook his head at He Wei. “It’s one of those old cards you could buy at roadside newsstands. Can’t trace the owner. We’ll have to wait until we’re back at the station to see if we can track it via signal records.”

He Wei closed his eyes, exhaled, pointed at the man and said to Officer 84567, “84567… Too bad, our hotpot is cancelled. Take this idiot back to the station for a statement, then you can rest. Thanks for your hard work… Oh, he lost a total of twenty-six points for violations, not a single fine can be omitted, and…” He gritted out the words, “Remember, revoke his driver’s license!”

Officer 84567 glared at the man, as if blaming him for missing out on hotpot. He raised his hand in another not-quite-standard salute, stomped his foot, and answered in a booming voice, “Understood!”

Chang Ping squinted, scratched his ear. “Let’s go—let’s check out the sewer area. Running after you was like searching for hair on a turtle’s shell—a waste of effort.”

He Wei was about to argue when his phone rang in his pocket. He pulled it out, saw “Wife” on the screen, and immediately put on a beaming smile as he answered, “Honey… Why are you calling me all of a sudden? Miss me? Right now? That can’t be, it’s not time yet. Did you eat something wrong? Go to the city hospital yourself first, I just left the station and need to visit a crime scene. I’ll rush over as soon as I’m done…”

While He Wei was apologizing to Han Mei on the phone and heading toward the police car, the old woman with the sprained ankle happened to pass by, escorted by a traffic officer. Chang Ping noticed the old woman’s brown casual shoes, studied them for a few seconds, feeling something was off but couldn’t quite place it. He shook his head, got into the driver’s seat, started the police car, and sped toward the suburbs.