(Don't miss the previous chapter!)

It was evening, and the warm summer breeze made people drowsy.

Shi Meng leaned back in his seat, squinted, and saw a child holding a balloon looking around in front of the square, as if searching for something.

This scene reminded Shi Meng of a time when she was a child, when she got separated from Yang Youlan in a crowded place and couldn't find her mother.

I don't remember my exact feelings at the time, but I think I was mostly gripped by panic. Children see their mothers as their everything, and if their mothers abandoned them, then no one would want them anymore.

For many years afterward, he tirelessly searched for a place that would take him in.

He went to the Shi family, and amidst the daily neglect and cold treatment, his initial high hopes gradually turned to waning enthusiasm; he longed for friends, yet was always wounded by preconceived prejudices and malice.

He kept searching, kept being abandoned, until he met Fu Xuanliao, the sun in his destiny.

Sun, Shi Meng raised his head. He used to regard the long nights without sun as an ordeal, but now he felt that it was nothing more than that.

However, there was no light.

Soon, the child, who was pouting and about to cry, was greeted by his mother, who called him "baby" and held him in her arms. Shi Meng guessed that a mother's embrace must be warm, even though he had never experienced it before.

It reminded him of the embrace he longed for when he thought he was about to die.

Whoever wants to sleep for a few days will lose the desire to possess.

After all, the fleeting pleasure only brings endless pain, and the near-mad obsession has turned to dust. Even the signs of life that are revived through breathing and heartbeat can no longer piece it back together completely.

Watching the mother and child walk further and further away, until they were no longer visible even to the high-flying balloon, Shi Meng let out a long breath, letting the wind howl through his shattered chest.

He suddenly felt no fear and felt more relaxed than ever before, because having died once, he had nothing left to lose.

The pain cleared his blurred vision again, and he saw the dark clouds hovering above the towering buildings and heard the sounds of an impending storm hidden within them.

Look, even the heavens are urging him to say goodbye.

No more than five minutes after Shi Meng left, the single-patient ward area on the top floor of the hospital was in chaos.

Fu Xuanliao never expected that in just a few minutes while he went out to buy something, the person lying on the bed without any signs of waking up would disappear.

He turned the ward upside down, even lifting up the mattress to search it thoroughly, but found nothing except a rabies vaccination guide that was soaked through by rain.

Fu Xuanliao tried to remain calm, making a phone call to the hospital to request access to the surveillance footage while simultaneously unfolding the injection guidelines.

Noticing that the second injection was dated yesterday and had expired, Fu Xuanliao was momentarily stunned, feeling dizzy and overwhelmed by the heaviest sense of powerlessness he had felt in recent days.

When I arrived here after making the call to Gao Lecheng that day, I was met with the three cold-toned words "In Surgery".

Fu Xuanliao didn't want to recall it, but he simply couldn't forget the way Shi Meng was pushed out.

The person who had been arguing with him yesterday lay there quietly, his face and body covered with scars of varying depths, so fragile that he seemed ready to shatter at the slightest touch. His eyes, which had always been glued to him, were tightly closed, as if they couldn't open, or perhaps they didn't want to open them, as if they didn't want to return to this cruel world.

Jiang Xue said that she felt something was wrong when she couldn't get through to him on the phone. Later, residents near the dilapidated factory area found a person lying at the entrance and discovered that the person was holding a cell phone in his hand. She was able to get through to him on the phone.

When the ambulance took Shi Meng to the hospital, he was already on the verge of death. He had multiple bruises, a fractured left rib, and even internal bleeding in his chest cavity. Fortunately, no arteries were damaged, and he was saved from the brink of death.

“I didn’t know he went out. I thought he was at home drawing.” Jiang Xue took the tissue Gao Lecheng handed her and kept wiping away the tears that welled up in her eyes. “He hates rain so much, and I actually let him lie in the rain for so long.”

Yes, Fu Xuanliao thought, I know he doesn't like rainy days, yet I made him wait in the rain for so long.

What was Shi Meng thinking when she called me? Was she pleading for help? Did she give up her struggle to survive after hearing such cold words, without even calling the police?

Even now, looking back, Fu Xuanliao is certain that when he said "It has nothing to do with me," it was not only out of momentary anger, but also a deliberate warning to Shi Meng not to always use life and death as bargaining chips, and that he should take control of his own life and cherish it. However, in such a tragic situation, these words undoubtedly became a further blow to Shi Meng.

Although he resented the constraints Shi Meng imposed on him, he never intended for Shi Meng to die. If only he had known earlier…

If only I hadn't hung up, I would have kept asking where he was, gone out to find him immediately, and stayed by his bedside until he woke up.

But there's no such thing as knowing beforehand, and all assumptions are futile.

Forcibly suppressing his rampant anxiety, Fu Xuanliao dialed the police number.

When the police arrived earlier, they had already launched an investigation into the vicious incident of Shi Meng being attacked and beaten. Now that Shi Meng has disappeared, Fu Xuanliao naturally suspects that it was the same group of people who did it before.

We just spoke with them this afternoon, and the police haven't made much progress yet. Firstly, the only evidence we have so far is a surveillance video from the group's building, which shows that at 9:55 a.m. on Sunday, Meng arrived on the first floor of the building, spoke briefly with the receptionist, and was then escorted to the parking lot entrance by a group employee surnamed Zhou.

There was no surveillance at that entrance, and Shi Meng's car was still in the same spot. As for how Shi Meng was quietly moved from the group's building to the suburbs dozens of kilometers away, the police are still interrogating the suspect and collecting evidence.

Secondly, the abandoned factory in the suburbs was completely untraceable. The criminals destroyed all possible traces in the warehouse after beating the person, and even dragged the person outside the factory area to be rained on, completely eliminating the possibility of obtaining evidence from a living person. They were quite cunning.

Fu Xuanliao has been in the hospital for the past few days, and all he has heard from the police is that the employee surnamed Zhou is very tight-lipped, clearly protecting someone.

The case is currently at a standstill, and the victim has disappeared. The police are taking the matter very seriously and rushed to the hospital immediately after receiving the call.

Jiang Xue, who hadn't slept for days and had just gone back to rest, also returned, glaring at Fu Xuanliao and asking him what had happened, how he had lost everyone.

Just as everyone was in a state of panic, the elevator doors opened on the fourth floor, and the two of them walked out while arguing.

“Let me see him? Why should I see him?” Li Bihan’s eyes were red. “He’s not my son.”

Shi Huaiyi couldn't stand these words: "How can he not be your son?"

Li Bihan sneered: "You know who his father is. People outside are giving you face by not mentioning those dirty secrets, but you're really going to close your eyes and pretend nothing happened?"

Shi Huaiyi was also embarrassed by what was said, and it was inconvenient to explain in public, so he just pulled Li Bihan towards the ward: "Let's talk about family matters at home behind closed doors, let's go see Mengmeng first..."

Upon hearing this name, Li Bihan immediately jumped up and down: "Mengmeng, Mengmeng, all you ever think about is Mengmeng! Shi Huaiyi, have you completely forgotten about our Mumu?"

Why are you bringing him up again...?

“He’s my son, why can’t I mention him?” Li Bihan said, her nose twitching, almost in tears. “My poor Mu Mu is sick, no one cares about him, no one asks about him. He’s only twenty years old.”

"Who didn't care? Who didn't ask? Didn't everyone in the family who could do bone marrow matching go?"

"I refuse to believe that none of them were a match!" Li Bihan pulled her arm away from Shi Huaiyi's grasp, determined not to take another step forward. "Your good son Shi Meng didn't even go for a transplant, did he? He lied and said he wasn't a match because he didn't want to save my Mumu."

"I've said it so many times, it really isn't a good match." Bringing up the old story every now and then left Shi Huai feeling utterly exhausted. "Mu Mu is my son too, how could I not save him?"

"Words are no proof, then show me the test results." Li Bihan persisted. "If you really weren't a match, why have you been hiding from me all these years, afraid to let me see them?"

The closer you are to the ward, the louder the noise becomes.

Fu Xuanliao was watching the surveillance footage with the police when they saw Shi Meng turn into the stairwell and reappear downstairs a few minutes later, walking out of the hospital.

His steps were unsteady. He used his still-functioning hand to support himself against the wall and railing, and walked out of the surveillance screen without looking back, his lonely figure showing no lingering attachment.

The surveillance camera was silent, so the only sound coming from off-screen was the noise.

The two people outside had no idea what was happening inside, and they started arguing about Shi Meng as if he were a complete stranger to them and didn't deserve even basic respect.

Jiang Xue felt uncomfortable listening to this and wanted to go out to remind them to be quieter. Just as she turned to the door, Fu Xuanliao brushed past her like a gust of wind.

Slamming his hand on the door, Fu Xuanliao roared down the corridor, "If you want to argue, go outside!"

Shi Huaiyi and Li Bihan were startled, but when they saw it was Fu Xuanliao, they both breathed a sigh of relief and then glared angrily at each other.

"Since we're already here," Shi Huaiyi said helplessly, taking a step back. "The child is seriously injured. As an elder, it's not unreasonable for us to take a look."

But the mention of her deceased son brought back a wave of sadness and grievance. Li Bihan leaned against the wall, wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes: "Why doesn't his own mother come?"

"You are his mother..."

"Shi Huaiyi, are you really going to force me to acknowledge this son?" Her anger reignited, Li Bihan glared at Shi Huaiyi through tears. "Then let me tell you, my only son is named Shi Mu, and the one in this room named Shi Meng has nothing to do with me. Even if he dies here today, I will..."

Upon hearing the ominous word "death," Shi Huaiyi also lost his composure: "How could you curse him to die? He's your son!"

"Ha, God is blind. Why wasn't it him who died back then? I wish I could exchange his life for my Mumu's..."

"Shut up!"

Shi Huaiyi was so angry that his face turned red and his neck bulged. He raised his hand but couldn't bear to bring himself to strike. In the end, he couldn't stand Li Bihan's endless curses against Shi Meng and blurted out, "He is your son, your own son!"

Li Bihan was stunned for a moment: "...What did you say?"

There's no turning back now that things have come to this.

Taking advantage of the moment when he had just regained his senses, Shi Huai pointed at the ward and, amidst the many astonished gazes directed at him, loudly announced: "Shi Mu is not your son, it is Shi Meng lying inside!"