"Was writing letters with Fu Xiuchen during the happiest time of your life?"

Tang Yaoyao spoke to Jiang Li in a low voice to make her feel less pressured. She could sense that Jiang Li was very sad and was feeling suppressed.

When Fu Xiuchen was mentioned, Jiang Li's eyes filled with tears, a mixture of emotions—pain, guilt, or even admiration—but these emotions might bring her nightmares: "No, it's not like that."

"Why can't you stand seeing others write letters?" Tang Yaoyao asked. "Did it turn into your nightmare later?"

Jiang Li bit her lip and kept shaking her head: "I have never written a letter."

"But you just said that you would no longer write letters, and that you would no longer write letters to Fu Xiuchen, right?"

Jiang Li couldn't stand Tang Yaoyao's questioning any longer: "Don't ask anymore, I don't want to talk about it, I don't want to talk about it."

"Then why did you call me here? What do I owe you?"

Jiang Li stared at Tang Yaoyao with a serious expression and took two breaths: "I don't know what you owe me, Tang Yaoyao. I envy you so much. I wish I could be loved like you."

This sudden remark surprised Tang Yaoyao. She thought Jiang Li disliked it, since he wanted to strangle her on their very first meeting.

"Don't you have anyone who loves you?"

Jiang Li remained silent, her head bowed, like an abandoned child.

Tang Yaoyao grabbed her hand, and Jiang Li retreated somewhat in repulsion, staring at Tang Yaoyao with wary eyes: "Are you here to laugh at me? You're treating me like a mental patient."

“No.” Tang Yaoyao looked at her seriously: “I just think you shouldn’t be here. You’re not sick. The sick person is the one who sent you to the hospital.”

Jiang Li's face turned pale, and his hands trembled. He then pulled the blanket over his head, not daring to look at Tang Yaoyao's face.

"I'm fine now, you can go." Jiang Li didn't want to talk to Tang Yaoyao anymore.

The doctor said, "Ms. Tang, you should let her rest. Her emotions are unstable."

Tang Yaoyao looked at Jiang Li and said, "Okay, I'll come see her again tomorrow."

She wouldn't let go of anyone who could be associated with Fu Xiuchen. She saw that Jiang Li was full of suspicious points, and there was also her father who threw her into a mental hospital but didn't care about her at all.

As she walked out of the mental hospital, she increasingly felt that it was very likely related to the case, especially since Jiang Li had wounds on her body, as if she had been abused. She was already seventeen or eighteen years old, an age when she should be innocent and carefree, so how could she have developed a mental illness?

Tang Yaoyao decided to investigate Jiang Li's background.

"Doesn't anyone here know Jiang Li?" Tang Yaoyao asked a nurse at the hospital.

The nurse shook her head: "This child is quite pitiful. When she was brought here, her father just dropped some money and left. Oh, an old lady mentioned that day that this child has never had a mother since she was little, and that's how we found out about her difficult background."

Which old lady?

The nurse said, "She lives next door and is also a patient at the hospital. Do you want to go and ask her? But this old lady was brought here because she was mentally unstable after her daughter died. She might talk nonsense."

"I want to go and see."

Led by a nurse, Tang Yaoyao arrived at the second floor. This mental hospital was not very large or crowded, so it was easy to find.

The old lady she was talking about was standing on the balcony, wearing a scarf, looking at something. She looked to be in her sixties or seventies, with some white hair.

The nurse called out, "Grandma Yu, someone is here to see you."

Hearing the voice, Grandma Yu turned around, looking somewhat expectant: "Who's looking for me? Is it my daughter coming to take me home?"

The nurse quickly said, "No, it's..."

"My daughter!" Grandma Yu saw Tang Yaoyao and immediately came over, took her hand and said happily, "My child, where have you been? Why are you only coming to see your mother now? Let me see if you've gained or lost weight. Let me take a look."

Grandma Yu stroked Tang Yaoyao's face, tears welling in her eyes, and said with heartache, "You've lost weight, you've lost weight. The last time I saw you, your face wasn't this thin. You must have suffered a lot outside. If you're having a hard time, come home, and Mom will take care of you."

Hearing this, Tang Yaoyao felt uneasy. She said, "Grandma Yu, I'm here to ask you something."

"Oh, what's wrong?" Grandma Yu smiled and took Tang Yaoyao's hand. "Tell Mommy about whatever's bothering you. Mommy will protect you and won't let you suffer."

Tang Yaoyao asked, "Do you know Jiang Li, the little girl who was sent to the hospital? Didn't you say her mother died? You should know her, right?"

Grandma Yu paused for a moment, then said vaguely, "Whose mother died? I don't know. How could I possibly know her?"

Unable to get a clear answer from her questions, Tang Yaoyao finally understood what the nurse meant: the old lady liked to talk nonsense.

Tang Yaoyao changed her mind and asked the nurse to find Grandma Yu's home address. Since she knew it, she probably lived nearby, and they could find out something from her.

She was about to leave when Grandma Yu said, "Oh, that child is so pitiful. His mother died when he was young, and his father is a gambler who has ruined the family. He has never been happy growing up. He is ostracized at school and has no one to care for or love him. If my child lived like that, my heart would break."

"You really know?" Tang Yaoyao asked again.

Grandma Yu looked at her and said, "I know her. She lives right across from my house. Sometimes her father gets drunk and makes a huge scene at home. All I hear is her crying."

Tang Yaoyao didn't ask any more questions. She was pretty sure that Jiang Li and her father didn't get along, and the marks on his body were probably from his father hitting him: "Thank you, Grandma Yu."

Grandma Yu looked at Tang Yaoyao: "Are you leaving already? Don't you want your mother anymore?"

Tang Yaoyao was about to leave, but Grandma Yu's sudden words made her feel a little uncomfortable. Grandma Yu, with tears in her eyes, handed her the scarf: "This is a birthday gift you gave to your mother. She has always worn it. Look how well it's been preserved."

A nurse standing nearby said, "Her daughter has been dead for five years, and she's been wearing this scarf for five years."

She couldn't forget her daughter for five years, wearing this scarf every day. This obsession gradually drove her to this point.

This is probably what makes being a mother heartbreaking.

Tang Yaoyao took her hand and said, word by word, "I am not your daughter. Your daughter died five years ago. Now you can only pull yourself together and live on. Your daughter is watching you from heaven and will be proud of you."

Grandma Yu was stunned for a moment, the scarf in her hand fell to the ground, and tears welled up in her eyes. In fact, she understood everything, but she just didn't want to wake up.

After Tang Yaoyao left, looking at the huge mental hospital, she realized that they hadn't become like this for no reason, but rather because of some kind of hardship and trauma that had caused them to become uncontrollable.

Tang Yaoyao immediately called Xiao Jinhan.