Chapter 19 Twins

Li Fushui stood in a corner outside, his gaze vacant.

After hearing his name called, he was stunned for a while before turning his head to look.

"..."

Her face was pale, and she opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Chu Ci noticed with her sharp eyes that the center of her mouth was empty, as if she had no tongue.

“Li Fushui…”

Chu Ci thought he had misread it.

What's wrong with your tongue?

Just as she was about to lean closer for a closer look, Li Fushui shut his mouth as if he had been startled.

Seeing her cowering and trembling with fear, Chu Ci's brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.

Li Fushui had just left her shop with Meng Jinzhi; it shouldn't have turned out like this so quickly.

Could something have happened to her after she left with Meng Jinzhi?

What about Meng Jinzhi?

“Li Fushui?” She leaned closer cautiously. “Do you remember me? I am…”

Suddenly, someone tugged at the hem of her clothes.

Behind her, Cheng Yana, wearing a pink princess tutu, shook her head.

Upon seeing his daughter, Li Fushui, who was hiding in the corner, suddenly became excited.

"Ahhh!"

She made random "ah" sounds, trying to say something, but because her tongue had been cut out, she couldn't say anything.

He could only keep waving at Cheng Yana, as if trying to get her to come over quickly.

Cheng Yana held onto Chu Ci's clothes without moving.

"master?"

Li Fushui stood outside the door, holding Meng Jinzhi's hand, and was taken aback when he saw Chu Ci inside the house.

Her lips twitched slightly; her tone was enthusiastic, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Master, what are you doing here?"

Releasing Meng Jinzhi's hand, she cautiously circled the not-so-small room, finding nothing, and once again put on a smile.

"If you want to come, just tell me, and I'll have the driver bring you here."

Chu Ci remained silent.

Li Fushui's expression turned cold. Unable to vent her anger on Chu Ci, she took it all out on the caregiver behind her.

"How could you do this job!"

"I told you to watch over the old lady, and you're slacking off! If anything happens to her, I'll sue you or the hospital!"

"I……"

The caregiver tried to explain, but was silenced by a glare from Li Fushui.

She bit her lip in grievance, her eyes reddening, and could only swallow her words of defense.

Chu Ci turned to look at the balcony.

The "Li Fushui" on the balcony is gone, along with Cheng Yana who wanted to say something.

Li Fushui was still cursing the caregiver.

“If it weren’t for your youth and quick hands and feet, would I have let you take care of the old lady?”

"If you can do it, do it; if you can't, get out! You take the money and don't do anything. What do you think our place is?"

"With our established power and status, plenty of people want to curry favor with us. You're lucky you even need our help! Why are you crying? What are you crying for?"

"..."

Listening to her words, Chu Ci felt that she was making veiled criticisms.

She glanced at Meng Jinzhi next to Li Fushui out of the corner of her eye; Meng Jinzhi was staring at her.

Seeing her looking over, she quickly hid behind Li Fushui.

After a while, he quietly peeked out to look at her again.

Looking at her face, which bore a striking resemblance to Cheng Yana's, Chu Ci had a sudden inspiration.

“Mrs. Cheng,” she called to Li Fushui, “may I call you that?”

"What?"

Li Fushui paused in her cursing, seemingly enjoying hearing people talk to her like that, and her mood visibly improved.

"Of course, Master. By the way, Master, you still haven't answered me, what are you doing in my mother-in-law's hospital room?"

She smiled shyly, her smile tinged with sorrow.

"I didn't mean to question you, it's just... sigh."

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault for not taking good care of Shengsheng. Shengsheng's father is worried sick abroad. If something happens to my mother-in-law too, I really don't know how I'll explain it to him..."

She squeezed out two tears, then reached for the hand of the caregiver behind her and apologized softly.

"I'm sorry, I was just too anxious. I was just too worried about my mother-in-law."

"Don't take my angry words to heart. Just take good care of my mother-in-law, and I'll give you double your wages at the end of this month."

The caregiver, her eyes red, nodded hurriedly.

After saying a few more words, Li Fushui casually dismissed the caregiver and looked at Chu Ci with his red and swollen eyes.

"I'm sorry, Master, I've had too many things going on at home lately, and my emotions are a bit unstable."

"No need to apologize, I understand." Chu Ci nodded.

Before Li Fushui could speak again, Chu Ci suddenly asked her, "Jinzhi and Sheng look so alike, don't you and Jinzhi's mother look quite alike too?"

"..." Li Jinzhi was stunned and subconsciously touched her face.

Her lips twitched slightly, her smile faint.

"Maybe so. My sister and I are twins. That's what everyone around us said when we were kids. But later I married into a wealthy family, and my sister married a hoodlum. We haven't seen each other much since."

"But I'm better preserved, so if she hadn't died... she would probably look a bit older than me."

"I see."

Chu Ci nodded and smiled at Meng Jinzhi, who was hiding behind her.

"Jinzhi, do you think your mother and your aunt look alike?"

Meng Jinzhi looked at her aunt.

Her aunt was glaring at her with a fierce look in her eyes.

The same expression she had when she was asked to show more respect to the master at the incense shop.

She thought back to what her mother looked like.

My mom and aunt look alike, especially when they're angry... exactly the same.

She nodded obediently.

“For example, my mom and aunt look exactly alike. When my mom took me to find my aunt before, I mistook her for my mom.”

“I see,” Chu Ci smiled. “I never imagined that Mrs. Cheng and my sister would look so alike.”

She probably knew who the ghost on the balcony was.

Li Fushui could barely maintain his smile. "Really? After all, they're twins, so it's normal for them to look alike."

She didn't care about anything else and quickly told them to leave.

"Master, is there anything else? If not, please go back. Jinzhi wants to talk to her grandmother."

"Auntie, that's not my grandma..."

Meng Jinzhi wanted to refuse, but was intimidated by a look from Li Fushui.

Seeing this, Chu Ci politely left.

When she left the ward, she didn't close the door properly, and Li Fushui's anxious voice came from the crack in the door.

"Jinzhi! Didn't you always dislike that master? Why are you answering her questions the same way?"

Meng Jinzhi said, feeling wronged, "I didn't want to answer, Auntie. But didn't you tell me to be respectful to her? When you glared at me just now, I thought you meant I should answer her, so I did..."

"You silly child! That's not what I meant!"

"..."

Chu Ci couldn't hear what was said after that.

Because someone suddenly blocked her way.

It was the caregiver who had just been indirectly insulted by Li Fushui in the ward.

Seeing that she had come to him on her own initiative, Chu Ci asked in surprise, "Did you need something from me?"

"Can we talk in private?" The caregiver didn't dare look at her, her shoulders trembling.

It seemed that taking the initiative to come to her had exhausted most of her courage.

"Okay." Chu Ci nodded.

The caregiver led her to the rooftop, and as soon as they closed the rooftop door, they couldn't wait to speak.

“I feel something’s wrong with my wife; she wasn’t like this before!”

"She is a very kind person. When Miss Shengsheng was born, I was responsible for taking care of the madam. She always spoke softly to everyone, and she would not get angry even if we servants made mistakes."

"Now...now this lady..."

Her face scrunched up in a frown.

It seemed that what he wanted to say was too far-fetched, and he hesitated to speak for a long time.

Seeing her distracted look, Chu Ci roughly knew what she wanted to say.

But he still patted her on the shoulder and said, "If you feel uncomfortable with this job, then don't do it. It's normal for your wife to be anxious after losing her daughter."

The caregiver glanced at her with disappointment, looking like a deflated balloon.

"I...sigh, I can't leave."

She took two steps back and opened the door to the rooftop.

“The old lady has been kind to my parents. She is in a coma now, and I can’t just abandon her.”

"and……"

She turned to look at Chu Ci, the afterglow of the setting sun making her face flush red.

“I think my wife has changed a lot. She used to be very respectful to the old lady, but now she doesn’t care about her at all.”

If it weren't for her taking care of the old lady, the lady would probably just grab anyone off the street to take care of her, without even bothering to investigate their character.

If she leaves and is replaced by an irresponsible caregiver, the old lady will suffer.

She left the balcony, and Chu Ci lowered her head and remained silent for a long time. Just as she was about to leave, she saw Cheng Yana again.

The little girl stood on the edge of the rooftop and pointed in a direction downstairs.

The location she was referring to was the police station.

“I understand,” she said, patting the little girl’s cold head. “I will tell the police what I know.”

But she couldn't trust the police here, and she still planned to investigate many things herself.

By the time I got home, it was completely dark.

When Grandma saw her return with dinner, she ate while telling her about what happened that afternoon.

"Here are the contact details for those two police officers. You can contact them when you have time."

"And those two reporters, they're obviously no good, profiting off human suffering! No one in their right mind would do such a thing!"

“Aci,” she said earnestly, “when we tell fortunes, we are revealing heavenly secrets, and we have to bear the consequences. You must not be like those two reporters who are greedy for money, or you will suffer retribution!”

As Chu Ci ate, her mind was filled with thoughts of Li Fushui and Cheng Yana, and she nodded repeatedly at her grandmother's words.

"Don't worry, Grandma, I'm different from them."

If she were only after money, she wouldn't have become a criminal investigator in such a tough, tiring, and dangerous job back then.

She quickly finished her meal and cleared the table.

Grandma went to play cards with He Lihua, while He Lihua held the landline and made a phone call to the two criminal police officers who had come in the afternoon.

"Hello. This is the police station."

A deep, resonant voice came through the phone.

He made a good impression on Chu Ci as soon as he opened his mouth.

This person was different from the other carefree police officers she had met before; he gave her a feeling similar to her colleagues when she worked in the criminal investigation team.

“Hello,” she said, temporarily setting aside her prejudice, “this is a spiritual medium’s incense shop. I’m Chu Ci. My grandmother said you were coming to the shop to see me this afternoon. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Inside the police station, Shen Xiuhe, who was eating, heard Ji Jingtong making a phone call and immediately rushed over.

"Is it that fortune teller? Is that her phone number?"

Ji Jingtong gestured for him to be quiet and asked the person on the other end of the phone:

"Hello, Ms. Chu. We have something we'd like to ask you. Would it be convenient for us to meet and discuss it?"

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Author's Note: Still twenty little red envelopes [kiss][kiss][kiss] Thank you for your comments, my darlings [heart]