Chapter 4

Ye Qingli stopped a taxi outside the venue and asked the driver to rush to the City Center Hospital immediately.

Now she was in no mood to think about Ji Jinsi, her mind was full of thoughts about why Xiaobao disappeared.

Where could Xiaobao go when he was so young? He didn't have any relatives here, so how could he disappear?

The more Ye Qingli thought about it, the more scared she became. Could Xiaobao have been abducted by human traffickers? Could he be in danger? If something happened to Xiaobao, how would she explain it to the deceased Ye Lan?

As soon as they arrived at the hospital, before the car even stopped, Ye Qingli threw down a hundred-yuan note and got out of the car. She ran towards Xiaobao's ward.

A beautiful woman in an evening gown and with exquisite makeup on ran anxiously to the hospital. This was something that would attract attention no matter where she went. Along the way, countless passers-by stopped and stared at Ye Qingli.

Ye Qingli didn't care about these things. When she arrived at the ward, Dr. Zhang was already waiting there.

"Doctor Zhang, why is Xiaobao missing?" Ye Qingli asked breathlessly.

Doctor Zhang also looked anxious: "We don't know either. I heard from the nurse that she went outside to get some water, and when she came back, Xiaobao was gone. We went to the bathroom to look for him but couldn't find him either. We've already checked the surveillance video, and Xiaobao walked out on his own!"

"Then where did the surveillance footage show Xiaobao was last seen?"

"After he left the hospital through the side door, he was never seen again. Miss Ye, don't worry. We've already sent someone to look for him. Xiaobao is still so young, he can't walk far."

How can I not be anxious? There are so many people and cars outside. If I run into a bad guy...

Ye Qingli didn't dare to think about what would happen. She turned around and ran towards the side door of the hospital.

There were few people coming and going at the side door of the hospital, the lights were dim, and there were only a few dim street lights outside.

The green bushes on the roadside were a good hiding place. Ye Qingli suspected that Xiaobao was hiding in the bushes, so he shouted, "Xiaobao, Xiaobao, where are you? Come out quickly."

After calling out several times but getting no response, Ye Qingli was so anxious that tears were about to fall.

She kept shouting and searching all the way until she walked out of the hospital, but she couldn't find any trace of Xiaobao.

It was all her fault. It was all her fault for not taking good care of Xiaobao. Ye Qingli was filled with self-blame. If she could have stayed with Xiaobao all the time, Xiaobao would not have disappeared.

"Xiaobao, Xiaobao, where are you?" Ye Qingli's voice was already filled with tears.

"Sister, I'm here." Xiaobao's soft voice sounded from the right.

Ye Qingli turned around in surprise and saw a man walking towards her holding Xiaobao.

"Xiaobao!" Ye Qingli quickly stepped forward and hugged Xiaobao, holding him tightly in her arms: "Xiaobao, where have you been? Do you know how worried I am when I can't find you?"

Ye Qingli was feeling mixed emotions of sadness and joy at this moment, and couldn't help but shed tears.

Xiaobao stretched out his little hand and wiped Ye Qingli's tears: "Sister, don't cry. It's Xiaobao's fault. Xiaobao just wanted to go find you."

"If you wanted to find me, why didn't you let the nurse call me?"

"Auntie said that my sister was very busy at work and asked Xiaobao not to disturb her. So, Xiaobao wanted to go see her by himself. Xiaobao was wrong. Sister, please don't cry. Xiaobao will never dare to do that again."

"Are you, Ye Qingli?" a male voice came.

Ye Qingli looked up and realized that the man who had just brought Xiaobao back looked familiar. "Who are you?"

"It's me, don't you remember? I'm Lin Pingyu! We used to play together often when we were in my hometown." The man said in surprise.

"It's you? You've changed so much that I almost didn't recognize you." Ye Qingli was very surprised. The naughty boy in his memory had now become a tall and handsome man.

Lin Pingyu used to be her neighbor in her hometown. He was two years older than Ye Qingli. He, Ye Qingli and Ye Lan grew up together and were good playmates. Unfortunately, since Ye Qingli came here, she lost contact with him.

"I haven't seen you for many years. You've become much prettier, and your child has grown so big now?" Lin Pingyu scratched his head and said with a smile.

"No, she's not my mother, she's my sister." Xiao Bao was the first to shake his head and said, "My mother's name is Ye Lan."

"What, you said your mother's name is Ye Lan!" Lin Pingyu suddenly became excited.

Ye Qingli looked at him strangely: "What's wrong? Why are you so excited?"

Logically, Ye Lan is also Lin Pingyu's good friend. She is pregnant, so Lin Pingyu should not be unaware of it. Why is he so excited?

"Little boy, how old are you this year?" Lin Pingyu ignored Ye Qingli's question and asked Xiaobao instead.

"Xiaobao is two years old this year." Xiaobao said proudly.

"Two years old, two years old..." Lin Pingyu murmured, with a very strange expression on his face.

His actions made Ye Qingli wonder if there was something wrong with him, and he took a few steps back cautiously.

"Sister, Xiaobao is sleepy." Xiaobao yawned and rubbed his eyes and said.

A two-year-old child must be tired after walking such a long way. Ye Qingli hugged Xiaobao tightly and said, "Okay, I'll take you back to sleep. The aunts in the hospital are so worried. Don't do this again next time!"

Ye Qingli carried Xiaobao back to the ward and coaxed him to sleep, while Lin Pingyu followed behind and told the doctors and nurses that Xiaobao had been found.

After Xiaobao fell asleep, Ye Qingli motioned Lin Pingyu to follow her to the balcony: "How did you meet Xiaobao?"

"I came to North City for something and happened to be staying at a nearby hotel. I felt bored at night, so I went out for a walk to get some fresh air. I didn't expect that Xiaobao would hug my legs when I got close."

Lin Pingyu seemed to recall something funny when he said this. He smiled and said, "He asked me to take him to find his sister. When I heard he ran away on his own, I guessed his family must be looking for him, so I took him back to the hospital."

After hearing this, Ye Qingli could only sigh at the coincidence. Fortunately, he met Lin Pingyu. If he had met some other bad guy, it would have been terrible.

"Let's not talk about this. I want to ask you a serious question. Who is Xiaobao's father?" Lin Pingyu said seriously.

Ye Qingli shook his head.

When Ye Lan came to see her, Xiaobao was already one year old. She had asked Ye Lan who the father of the child was, but Ye Lan just refused to tell her.

"Where is Ye Lan?" Lin Pingyu asked again.

Ye Qingli looked up at the dark night sky: "He died. He had a car accident last year."

At that time, Ye Lan said she wanted to go back to her hometown, but the car she was riding in overturned off a cliff. Only a few people in the car survived, and Ye Qingli personally handled her funeral.

"What!" Lin Pingyu staggered as if he had suffered a huge blow.

"How could she do that?"

Ye Qingli looked at Lin Pingyu's suddenly pale face, and subconsciously felt that the relationship between him and Ye Lan was not simple.

"What do you want to know by asking these questions?" Ye Qingli asked.

Lin Pingyu raised his head after a long while and said, "I suspect Xiaobao is my child."

"How is that possible?" Ye Qingli subconsciously denied.

"On my eighteenth birthday, Ye Lan and I got together. We had a great relationship, and things happened that shouldn't have happened. Unfortunately, two years ago, we had a fight for some reason, and she deleted all contact information and left home."

Ye Qingli didn't expect that after she left her hometown, they would have such a story.

"Judging from Xiaobao's age, he must be my child." Lin Pingyu said affirmatively.

"Why are you so sure? What if Xiaobao was conceived by someone else after Ye Lan left you?"

"I'm very sure that she won't fall in love with anyone else. What's more, as long as the child is born to Ye Lan, it is my biological child!"

Ye Qingli didn't know what happened between them and did not comment on it.

"What's wrong with Xiaobao?"

"Congenital heart disease, surgery is needed soon."

Lin Pingyu's eyes were filled with heartache. "I want to take Xiaobao away. You know, my uncle is an authority on heart disease—Professor Lin Fangyi. Xiaobao will be well taken care of if he stays with me."

Ever since learning about Xiaobao's illness, Ye Qingli has consulted a lot of literature and naturally knows that Professor Lin Fangyi mentioned by Lin Pingyu is the most experienced and prestigious expert in the country. Xiaobao will definitely be better off with him than in the current hospital.

"But Ye Lan would rather give birth to the child alone than let you know about Xiaobao's existence. I can't trust you."

"If you're worried, you can come back with me and see for yourself how I treat Xiaobao."

After Lin Pingyu said this, Ye Qingli hesitated.

Intellectually, Xiaobao could get better treatment with Lin Pingyu. Emotionally, she didn't want to leave Xiaobao, nor did she want to...

After thinking for a long time, Ye Qingli finally made up her mind. She bit her lower lip and said, "Okay, I'll go back with you."

Lin Pingyu finally smiled. "That's great! The sooner Xiaobao gets treatment, the better. I'll book a flight back to Mo City tomorrow!"

After coming out of the hospital, Ye Qingli took out his mobile phone and found that the chat history with Ji Jinsi was still from last month.

She rushed out of the venue tonight, and Ji Jinsi not only did not explain, but also had no intention of keeping her.

Ji Jinsi's assistant sent a message: "Ms. Ye, President Ji has an urgent matter and can't go back tonight. He asked you not to wait for him."

Oh, urgent matter? Hurry up and go accompany Zhao Yanran.

Thinking of this, a wave of sadness suddenly surged up, and the tears that had been forced back because of Xiaobao's disappearance finally flowed down uncontrollably.

Ye Qingli lost all his strength and fell to the side of the flower bed, burying his face in his palms and crying silently.

After an unknown amount of time, Ye Qingli felt someone poking his shoulder.

She looked up and found a girl standing in front of her.

The girl was wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans, a baseball cap on her head, and a mask on her face that covered most of her face, so only her somewhat charming eyes could be seen.

She handed the drink in her hand to Ye Qingli.

Ye Qingli was a little confused and subconsciously took the drink.

"I don't mean anything else. It's just that there's a buy one get one free deal on drinks right now. I can't finish them, so I'm giving them to you." The girl said as she sat down next to Ye Qingli nonchalantly.

Although the girl was dressed strangely, she didn't look like a bad person. Ye Qingli wiped her tears and said thank you.

The girl poked the straw into the drink and said, "If you don't mind, you can tell me about your unhappy things. Once you tell me, you won't be unhappy anymore."