61 Truth

Miao Yue broke another glass.

The glass slipped from her hand and fell to the ground with a crisp crack. The nanny heard it and hurried out of the cubicle, gently pulled her aside, and began to pick up the broken pieces. From the moment Miao Yue learned Zhou Qi had contracted COVID-19, three glasses had already broken in the family.

It was rare to see her so uneasy. Ji Heng put his hands casually on the edge of the stairs as if he was watching a monkey show, and said to the nanny, "Aunt Xu, don't prick your hand."

The nanny responded, then bent down to clean up the broken glass at her feet without saying anything else.

The family's tempers were as unpredictable as the spring weather. The man treated her well and seemed quite refined, but he could never remember her last name, always calling her Aunt Xu, even though her last name was Wang. That was understandable, though; after all, most wealthy people naturally didn't pay much attention to them. The woman didn't spend much time with the aunts, and wouldn't talk to them on weekdays. But when she got angry, she'd flip over anything on the coffee table, only to have them clean up.

Just a few days ago, she and her escort, Cui Jie, had just settled into their cubicle when they heard the door unlock. She hurriedly got up, fearing her hostess would be upset if she couldn't find anyone to serve her a late-night snack. So, as soon as she left, she saw the hostess standing in the living room, expressionless, the lights off. She turned back to the entrance, intending to turn on the light.

Before I could move, the man came down from the stairs.

The two were discussing a nurse who'd heard someone was snooping around and asked the host to give her more money so she could be sent abroad. The hostess, even more displeased, folded her arms, and told him to handle the situation himself, acting as if it were none of her business. The host started smoking again, the smoke wafting towards her from time to time, tickling her nose. But she didn't dare say anything. What if this was some secret within their wealthy family? She'd definitely lose her job.

The hostess frowned and asked him to put out his cigarette, but he turned a deaf ear to her.

The hostess picked up the teapot and poured it over him. He didn't even try to dodge, but luckily it was cold tea. This sudden action frightened her, especially when she saw the man's face turn pale. But what frightened her even more was when the hostess threw the teapot, making a clanging sound, and said, "You're going to kill him anyway," and then turned and went upstairs.

After hearing this, she didn't dare to breathe, her legs shaking like sieves. She waited until the man of the house came upstairs before she trembled and slowly crept back to her room. She'd had nightmares for the first half of the night, and couldn't sleep the rest. Lying in bed, she thought over and over again. She didn't dare quit her job, as Yaya was demanding her money. The next morning, she got up as usual and prepared breakfast, though she spoke even less.

Miao Yue heard Ji Heng's voice, came back to her senses, said to Aunt Wang that she was in trouble, and went upstairs by mistake. Ji Heng reached out to stop her, "Are you sad? Don't be sad, I will give you whatever you want in the future. I am too lazy to find someone to protect you. Tell me, it's okay if you don't appreciate it, but why did you get beaten up?"

"The shares have been transferred to my mother." Miao Yue knew that behind all these sugar-coated bullets, he was just seeking profit.

"Are you crazy?" Ji Heng took off his mask and finally stopped acting. His expression was slightly ferocious. "You are not willing to give your brother a bargain? You don't still think you are from the Miao family, do you?"

"Get out of the way." Miao Yue kicked him hard with the pointed heel of her shoe, with quite a bit of force.

Ji Heng refused to give in, uttering a muffled groan. He still stood straight in front of her, blocking her path like a wall. He sneered again, as if to save face, "Without these, what are you, Miao Yue? A vase? An oriole? Or a dispensable piece of clothing?"

"Who am I, Miao Yue? Do you think you're the one to say that?" Miao Yue's face flickered with annoyance, but she stiffened her neck like a female eagle that never gave up. "Besides, who are you? You can't even get 2% of the shares." She always knew where to poke the most painful points. "But if you want me to take it back, you can give it to me at a threefold discount."

"That's quite bold of you."

When the nurse approached Ji Heng again, he was busy cashing out what he had and had no time to care. He simply handed the matter over to his secretary and warned her that if she refused to pay him again, she would report him to the police if she had the means to do so. After the secretary tactfully conveyed this, the nurse was stunned. She had never expected that the son-in-law of the Miao family, the manager of such a large pharmaceutical company, would go back on his word. He had clearly promised her a few days ago that he would give her more money and send her and her child away.

The nurse's name is Cui Heying.

She is Zhou Daye's ward nurse.

Two weeks before the incident, Ji Heng's secretary came to her house and asked her to perform a poor suctioning procedure on Zhou Yigang, threatening to worsen his condition. He promised her a sum of money after the procedure was completed, enough for her to live a carefree life with her child. After a few days of consideration, the cash-strapped Choi Hee-young agreed. Later, as agreed, Zhou Yigang developed pneumonia, a fever, and a drop in his blood oxygen level.

The doctor asked her to collect some sputum for bacterial culture and drug sensitivity testing to identify the pathogen and prescribe the right medication. However, she delayed sending the sample, resulting in skewed results and ineffective medication. After much discussion, the experts decided to prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics. Zhou Yigang was unlucky; the bacteria were resistant. Later, his condition rapidly deteriorated, and his heart and lungs began to fail.

After Zhou Yigang passed away, the secretary sent her the promised money, but it wasn't as generous as she'd agreed. Disgruntled, she contacted the former landlord two or three times, but they ignored her. This time, just as she'd moved out, the former landlord called, asking where she'd moved to. His hesitant and evasive response frightened her. She had no choice but to contact the Ji family again, asking for money to escape abroad.

Unexpectedly, the other party was even more arrogant this time and asked her to call the police herself.

Choi Hae-young was utterly anxious. Her former greed had become a sword hanging over her head. As the pandemic worsened and travel abroad became increasingly difficult, she felt like a headless chicken, constantly terrified that the moment she opened the door, someone would come to abduct her. She resorted to harassing the Ji family day and night.

Upon hearing his secretary's complaints, Ji Heng summoned a tattooed burly man to deliver food to Choi Hae-young and give her a beating. Choi Hae-young, like a paper tiger, opened the door and saw the man wearing sunglasses and looking displeased. He walked around the room, smashed some things, and then her legs gave out. Her son, seeing this, burst into tears.

Afterward, determined to turn their lives upside down, the Ji family regularly sent people to disrupt their lives, taking advantage of her reluctance to call the police. After days of tears, Cui Heying had no choice but to find Yang Xiao.

When Yang Xiao received a call from Cui Heying, there was silence on the other end. After she called several times and was about to hang up, the person on the other end spoke hesitantly and asked her if she was Yang Xiao.

"Yes, I'm Yang Xiao. May I ask who you are?" Yang Xiao pinched her brows. She'd been working during the day and reading Zhou Qi's letters at night to get by. Fang Qiu's inquiries about the nurse's whereabouts had yielded no results. Wu Lian had told her that Zhou Qi had been groggy for the past few days, but thankfully, his vital signs were stable.

"I'm Cui Heying, the nurse who... attends to Zhou Yigang's ward." Cui Heying trailed off, feeling guilty, but a moment later she started speaking aggressively again. "I have the truth about his condition. All you need is money."

Yang Xiao paused for a moment, her hand on the keyboard, then raised the phone tucked under her shoulder and turned on the computer recording. She immediately agreed, "Okay, how much do you want?"

"Two million."

Yang Xiao didn't respond.

"At least 1.8 million."

Yang Xiao remained silent.

"One million and a half million, no less." Cui Haoying gritted her teeth, determined not to give in anymore.

"Didn't the Ji family give you money?" Yang Xiao snorted coldly, and then the anger and bitterness in her heart could no longer be suppressed. "You killed Uncle Zhou and took the stolen money, why are you looking for me again? You don't really think that your so-called truth is known only to heaven, earth, you, and Ji Heng, right?"

"You..." Choi Hae-young was suddenly speechless.

"Am I right?" Yang Xiao's suspicions were gradually confirmed. "If I were you, the first person you'd want to contact would be Zhou Qi, right? But he didn't answer the phone, so you must be terribly worried. The Ji family refused to pay you, and the truth was about to be exposed. They went to great lengths to find me, hoping I'd be the one to take advantage and pay to get you out?"

"Nurse Cui, what makes you think I would pay the murderer of my adoptive father so that she can get away from me?"

Yang Xiao's tone gradually calmed down, but her hands clenched into fists, "You really made me look for you so hard."

Cui Heying abruptly hung up the phone, goosebumps covering her entire body. She was truly foolish. Why had she rushed into Yang Xiao in such a desperate attempt? But she hadn't said anything on the phone. As for the hospital surveillance footage, the Ji family had probably erased it all. It was fine. There was no evidence to prove she had done any of this.

Cui Heying took a deep breath and smoothed her chest. "Come here, son, mom will make you some vinegar meatballs."

Yang Xiao could no longer contain the rage and burning self-blame that churned in her stomach. From the time Miao Yue had given her the hint to the time she'd heard it herself, which confirmed her suspicions, she'd thought she'd been strong enough, but that wasn't the case.

If she had insisted on rescuing him at all costs, would Uncle Zhou still be alive?

If she had waited a little longer, would the outcome have been different?

But looking at Uncle Zhou lying on the hospital bed in agony, dying, and Zhou Qi's exhausted face, she felt as if she was drowned in the sea water, with the water slowly rising to her neck. The feeling of suffocation forced her to make such a choice.

At this moment, the complicated emotions grew like vines and entangled her.

But in this chaos, an idea burst out: she would, with uncontrollable anger and remorse, catch this nest of snakes and rats in one fell swoop, expose the murderer and the evil forces behind them to the sun, and make them pay the price for all their crimes.

This is Zhou Qi's wish, and it is also hers at this moment.

He wanted to let the beam of light shine into the dark corners, and she would be the one to light the lamp.

When he woke up again, there was a gentle breeze and the sky was clear.