Chapter 80 "The case has definitely been solved."
The toddler class at Weston Kindergarten is in an uproar because someone asked Madam Fei to go to the movies!
Teacher Ji was keeping a close eye on things from behind the picture book shelf when she noticed that the snacks in the child's hands were still uneaten. She thought he would be too worried to eat, but to her surprise, the little guy was frowning while chewing away.
What is this person trying to do?!
"He's asking his niece out on a date!"
"What should we do?"
A group of people offered advice and suggestions.
The thirteen children could discuss it until tomorrow morning without reaching a conclusion, but each of them sat upright as if attending an important meeting, pondering a solution.
Neither Teacher Ji nor her co-teacher interrupted them; they listened silently, supporting each other's shoulders as they tried to suppress their laughter.
That's how kids are. Even though it has nothing to do with them, they still beat their chests, sigh, and make all sorts of exaggerated expressions, as if the sky is about to fall.
The co-teacher whispered, "When did Miss Zhu become the niece of all the children in the class?"
Teacher Ji: "She herself definitely doesn't know."
Zhu Qing became the niece of all the children in the class, and also their collective idol.
Everyone's brows were furrowed as they engaged in a heated discussion.
"How could this happen!"
"Seriously!"
"We all disagree—"
Gradually, the children realized that they couldn't be of any help.
The young master hadn't watched enough romance dramas and lacked sufficient knowledge, so he had no idea how to handle the situation. He had already finished his snack, his face was expressionless, his arms were crossed over his chest, and there were still some cookie crumbs on the corners of his mouth.
With her short fingers tapping lightly on her arm, Fangfang carefully considered her options.
Little Coconut peeks out: "Fangfang, who invited my niece to the movies?"
The little boy, gritting his teeth, exclaimed, "Dr. Cheng!"
"And who is that?"
"Oh!" Jinbao raised his chubby little hand. "I know who Dr. Cheng is!"
I don't know when it started, but A-Juan also joined the conversation.
He was a loner, but now he sat among the other children, shifting from left to right every now and then. As the discussion became more and more heated, he became even more engrossed.
Looking at the scene before her, a smile of satisfaction appeared in Teacher Ji's eyes.
A-Juan's parents were very worried that their child wouldn't make friends in kindergarten. Actually, these three- or four-year-olds are innocent and naive; they wouldn't exclude anyone. It's just that when it comes to making friends, teachers can only guide, not force.
Fortunately, at that moment, A-Juan quietly moved closer to her friends, pushed up her round little glasses, and listened intently.
When the children heard that it was Dr. Cheng who invited their niece to the movies, they all blinked and shook their heads.
"I don't know him."
But when Jinbao mentioned the key word—motorcycle—everyone immediately understood.
"Wow!"
"He has a motorcycle!"
"Let my niece go to the movies with him!"
The children stared at them in disbelief.
At the children's tea party in the classroom, the little baby voices came in bursts.
Everyone was completely absorbed in this interesting new topic.
"I want to go for a drive too—"
"I agree, he'll be a motorcycle doctor!"
"Fangfang, shall we go together?"
Shengfang Baby pursed her little lips, looking speechless, and gave them a deep look.
Fangfang silently turned away.
Today he refused to pay attention to these kindergarten children who had no principles or stance.
...
The white houses of Ping Chau stand alone on this small island.
They walked slowly into the house, their footsteps unconsciously softening. Clues swirled in their minds, sending chills down their spines. Then, the woman by the window turned her head; in that instant, all the eeriness vanished, leaving only an overwhelming sorrow.
Zeng Yongshan walked towards Gu Niman.
The sea breeze ruffled her messy short hair, and her scarred face was laid bare in the bright sunlight. The police finally understood why film critics had praised her as an actress born for the camera; even with her disfigured appearance, her features remained as beautiful as a painting.
Gu Niman simply sat there; her slender and delicate figure already resembled a perfect cinematic composition.
The room was so quiet you could hear someone breathing.
Gu Niman raised her face and gazed at Zeng Yongshan standing before her. But as other officers approached, her fingers tightened slightly on the hem of her clothes, and her brow furrowed. For ten years, she had been trapped by Zhou Yongsheng's side, cut off from all contact with others, almost completely isolated from the world.
She instinctively resisted the approach of strangers.
Mo Zhenbang gave Zeng Yongshan a wink, and the other officers tacitly retreated outside the door.
Haozai realized that he was the dumbest one there.
From beginning to end, he seemed to be talking at cross purposes. He hadn't even had time to sift through and analyze the series of clues before piecing them together, and only Hao-zai thought Zhou Yongsheng was back with that stand-in from years ago. No wonder there was a chorus of boos in the office, and Xu Jiale even threw crumpled tissues at his head.
The truth has finally been revealed: the one who died was a stand-in, and the real Gu Niman is still alive.
Haozai stood frozen in the courtyard. The sea breeze lifted the blanket on the wicker chair. He instinctively reached out, but froze the moment he touched the blanket—it was the blanket the deceased had once covered. He slowly withdrew his hand, a chill running down his spine.
"How did you know?" Hao Zai asked.
Several police officers stood in the yard, their eyes fixed on the scene inside the house.
Zeng Yongshan skillfully controlled the situation; she was very approachable, and her gentle tone reassured everyone.
A gentle voice drifted on the cold wind, and my mind gradually calmed down.
Zhu Qing began to re-examine the details of the case.
It all began with a chance discovery. While reviewing case files from ten years ago, Zhu Qing noticed that photos of the bodies were missing. As a newcomer to the police force, she was unaware of the classification system for crime scene photos; she simply requested access to the original files from Cheng Xinglang, hoping to maintain a complete record of the case.
In those encrypted photos, she saw a corpse in a gigantic state. In the case of Gu Niman's suicide by jumping into the sea, the body recovered by the rescue team had been severely disfigured due to prolonged immersion; facial features were swollen and deformed, and large areas of skin had peeled off. At that time, identification could only rely on body outline and skeletal characteristics, supplemented by a suicide note and clothing.
Later, a vague sense of unease arose again.
Jiang Xiaowei, Gu Niman, and his current wife... they are all under Zhou Yongsheng's protection, but where did he find so many people who need to be "saved"?
Then, the surveillance footage provided by the airline was repeatedly played back—
Zhu Qing had just finished watching the movie "Lunar Eclipse." At the time, she and Fangfang were sitting in front of the TV. The child was munching on potato chips and swinging his toes, occasionally asking some whimsical questions. As for her, she was watching the movie attentively, as if she were working overtime.
She had just finished watching the movie, and it left a deep impression on her. The surveillance footage, slowed down frame by frame, focused on her back. The figure seemed strangely familiar, but she didn't think about it too much. After all, the woman who had returned the ticket was wrapped up tightly, and a single back view wasn't enough to confirm her identity.
But the curve of the other person's raised hand suddenly reminded Zhu Qing of the "body double" rumor that Lu Yongyan had mentioned. This subconscious connection prompted her to search for the body double's testimony from back then.
Everything about the stunt double was deliberately covered up, and no word ever leaked out. Initially, Zhou Yongsheng strictly forbade any information from being leaked. Later, they "died," but the movie became a classic, and with vested interests at stake, the film company completely sealed the news.
However, the male lead was really unwilling to accept it and had some complaints about the filming ten years ago. That's why the clues related to the stunt double were written down in the notebook and became crucial evidence.
Meanwhile, as Xu Jiale's investigation progressed, another clue surfaced.
The identity of "Huang Jiewen" is completely fabricated.
It's understandable that Zhou Yongsheng needed a new identity after faking his death. But why would his so-called "new wife" go to such lengths to forge an identity? Clearly, she was also hiding something.
“Also, she has never shown her face,” Mo Zhenbang said. “Even when she takes a walk at night, all she shows to the island’s neighbors is her back. When she goes to get a refund for a ticket, she is fully armed.”
“Zhou Yongsheng is a director who is used to staying behind the scenes. He has an ordinary appearance, so even if he is recognized, he can just say ‘people can look alike’ to get away with it.”
“But Gu Niman is different; her face is too distinctive.”
All the clues now fit together perfectly, pointing to this inevitable outcome.
The most heartbreaking thing is that before the truth of the double suicide was revealed, the girl who died in the "Lunar Eclipse" crew didn't even leave behind a proper name.
When people mention her, they simply say, "Miss Substitute."
It turns out that the so-called substitute was actually someone who died in someone else's place.
...
Sunlight illuminated Gu Niman's face, making the winding scars appear even more grotesque and terrifying under the strong light.
Legend has it that Qin Wen's new wife never appeared in public, never had any contact with the landlord, and even the neighbors couldn't describe what she looked like. All they knew was that the couple was loving, and that the wife was frail and sickly, always bundled up even in the sweltering summer.
Before arriving in Ping Chau, the police assumed it was Koo Ni-man's way of protecting herself, since actresses with pretty faces are easily recognizable.
But now it seems that this is not the whole reason.
The raised scars on Gu Niman's face, neck, and shoulders, resembling dry tree bark, silently tell the story of her tragic situation.
"Don't be afraid, it's all over now," Zeng Yongshan comforted softly. "You can tell us anything."
The chatter in the courtyard subsided.
“This is…” Zhu Qing frowned.
“Sulfuric acid burns,” Mo Zhenbang confirmed in a deep voice.
After a long silence, Gu Niman finally spoke.
"Is Yongsheng really dead?"
She has difficulty speaking and has to strain to tilt her head back to relieve the pain from the strain on her neck.
In the movie, Gu Niman's voice was clear and sweet, but now, her voice is strained from her throat, broken and intermittent, as if trembling, and the timbre has also changed slightly.
"This time... wasn't it a fake death?" she asked again.
Gu Niman tilted her head back, her eyes as clear and fragile as the characters she had once played.
Haozai whispered, "Once bitten by a snake, always..."
"The story of 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf'," Xu Jiale chimed in.
The police need to take her back to the police station.
Gu Niman slowly wrapped her coat around her neck, fastening each button tightly, and layering her scarf around herself. Only then did they notice that not only her cheeks, but also her hands were covered in burn marks.
Finally, she covered half her face with sunglasses and said softly, "We can go now."
...
As school ended, the children jumped onto the school bus as usual.
After several months of adjustment, he has completely adapted to this lifestyle. He goes to and from school on time every Monday to Friday, and even in the train carriage, he imitates adults by tucking his small schoolbag under his arm and pretending it's a briefcase, playing the "office worker" game in a serious manner.
The school bus slowly came to a stop at the familiar intersection.
Before the car had even come to a complete stop, Shengfang saw Aunt Ping, who had been waiting for him for a long time, through the car window. What made him even more excited was that the little bicycle he had been longing for all day was right next to Aunt Ping's feet!
"We're here! We're here!" Shengfang shouted to the driver. "Stop the car!"
Aunt Ping couldn't help but chuckle at the young master's anxious expression.
Shengfang dashed off the bike in three quick steps and nimbly hopped on. Before she could even speak, her adorable little teeth were already eagerly showing, revealing deep dimples.
"You have to practice cycling every day," Fangfang said, pedaling. "Otherwise you'll forget how."
"Young master, you won't forget that," Aunt Ping said with a smile. "Just step down."
The road leading to Yau Ma Tei Police Station is so familiar to the children that they could reach their destination with their eyes closed.
He pedaled the little bicycle with all his might, the wheels turning "glug-glug," his little face tense from the effort. Aunt Ping only needed to quicken her pace slightly to easily keep up with him.
A large open space in the police station building serves as Fang Fang's practice area.
He rode his bicycle back and forth, patrolling the area.
Shengfang met Zhu Qing.
My niece was incredibly busy; she practically flew as she got out of the police car.
Fangfang raised her little hand and waved: "Qingzai!"
Zhu Qing turned around and waved, "Goodbye."
Shengfang turned her head and spread her hands towards Aunt Ping.
See how busy I am?
Let the kids continue riding their bikes and meet Inspector Leung.
He lowered his eyes, lost in thought, and seemed to be in a bad mood.
Liang Qikai hurried along, and when he met Gu Niman at the Ping Chau cottage, he was both delighted by the progress in the case investigation and apprehensive about the validity of his observations. He had completely grasped Zhou Yongsheng's twisted psychology and deduced the mental state of a victim gripped by a pathological desire for control.
The little figure riding the bicycle rang the little bell, but Inspector Leung still didn't notice.
Not long after, he saw Zeng Yongshan again.
Zeng Yongshan came over from a distance and winked at Fangfang.
"The case has made a breakthrough," she said.
Fangfang smiled and looked happy.
So, the holiday is coming soon!
"Take your time playing." Zeng Yongshan gently rubbed his little face. "I'm going upstairs now."
Before Fangfang could speak, she shook her head at her hurried retreating figure.
Aunt Ping suppressed a laugh. Looking at the young master's expression, he probably regarded her as his junior, like a niece or something... How could a niece just pinch his face like that!
The children's patrol continued until it was almost dark, and they still didn't stop.
He glanced at the police station building from time to time, and then at another separate building behind it.
"Young master, are you waiting for someone?" Aunt Ping asked. "Handsome doctor?"
Sir stopped his bicycle and turned his head slowly: "Aunt Ping, don't alert them."
It's really strange. Dr. Cheng usually wanders around everywhere and we run into him all the time.
Where is he today?
And so, outside the Yau Ma Tei Police Station building at dusk, a small figure appeared—
He always rode his little tricycle, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...
...
Gu Niman was taken to the police station.
She had grown accustomed to hiding herself. Ten years had passed, and the actress who was so natural and composed in front of the camera was gone. Now, she hid under layers of clothing, and no one in the police station building recognized her.
She didn't take off her sunglasses until she entered the interrogation room, and she lowered her head, clasping her hands together on her knees.
In the adjacent observation room, several police officers stood behind a one-way glass window.
While Mo Zhenbang led his team to Ping Chau, the officers remaining at the police station continued to investigate key clues such as the identity of the stunt double. At that moment, when Gu Niman took off her sunglasses, everyone froze. Comparing her to the exquisite face in the magazine they held, their hearts suddenly turned heavy.
"This is... a case of someone deliberately disfiguring you?"
"They were too ruthless."
Did she know about the body double?
"So in that double suicide, the real protagonist survived, while the substitute was the one who died in the guise..."
"Their love was bought with the lives of others."
The low murmurs echoed in the observation room. Everyone's voices were hushed, their tones conveying an indescribable sense of repression.
And all the questions can be answered from the parties involved at this moment.
The scars affected her neck movement, so Gu Niman always tilted her head back when she spoke, spoke very slowly, and had a slight hoarseness.
Xu Jiale and Zeng Yongshan were in charge of the questioning.
They didn't urge them, but waited quietly and recorded slowly.
Gu Niman told the police that it all started when she was seventeen.
Back then, she was the leading lady personally selected by Zhou Yongsheng.
“Yongsheng said that the moment he saw me, he knew that I could bring him inspiration.” Gu Niman paused for a long time, her gaze fixed on a point, as if recalling a dream that had long since ended. “Lunar Eclipse was his first time writing a screenplay independently, and it was tailor-made for me.”
Gu Niman would pause to rest after each sentence.
When she lowers her head, her voice becomes weak, and she has to take a deep breath to continue.
Zhou Yongsheng spent more than half a year meticulously polishing the script before extending an invitation to Gu Niman to participate in the film.
At that time, she knew nothing about the film and television industry. She bought some entertainment magazines from a newsstand on the street corner, and the directors described in them were always fierce and menacing, shouting at people while smoking. But when she mustered up her courage and nervously walked into the film set, she found that Director Zhou was completely different. He didn't smoke, and when he smiled, he revealed a row of neat white teeth; he was gentle and refined. He was strict with his work, but even though she frequently made mistakes, he always patiently guided her and never got angry.
In Gu Niman's eyes, director Zhou Yongsheng was exceptionally talented and highly respected, yet he treated her with special regard. He turned all the romantic scenes in his films into reality.
Gu Niman said softly that falling in love with someone like this seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
They carefully maintained their secret relationship.
"After reading the reports, I realized that everyone knew the truth all along."
"How can two people who secretly love each other possibly hide it from eyes that see them every day?"
Xu Jiale observed her expression without making a sound.
The gleam of longing in Gu Niman's eyes was something he had seen on the face of Zhou Yongsheng's first wife. Jiang Xiaowei had had the exact same expression.
This man always manages to become the perfect lover at the beginning of every relationship, leaving an unforgettable impression.
Gu Niman fell into a long silence once again.
Zeng Yongshan gently pushed a disposable water cup in front of her: "Do you need to rest for a bit?"
Gu Niman didn't drink it; she simply held the paper cup in both hands.
Under the glaring lights of the interrogation room, the scars on her hands looked like centipedes. Zeng Yongshan looked at them for a moment, then looked away without being able to bear it.
“He wanted to elope with me,” she said. “The scene we were filming that day was on a cliff edge. I remember the scenery there was beautiful, the sky and earth were vast, and my mind was open. He suddenly asked me if I would like to run away with him.”
“I’m willing, but I can’t.” Gu Niman lowered her eyes. “I know he has a wife and children.”
A few days before filming wrapped, Gu Niman broke up with him.
Her voice became hoarse and broken, even more fragmented: "I can't be so selfish."
At this point in the transcript, Xu Jiale and Zeng Yongshan exchanged glances.
This coincides with the testimonies of crew members from that time. Staff recalled that in the period leading up to the wrap party, the director and the female lead were indeed unusually depressed. At the time, everyone assumed this was due to them being too immersed in their roles and unable to detach themselves from them, even attributing their later "suicide pact" to their emotional state.
But now it seems that perhaps it was simply because Gu Niman broke up with Zhou Yongsheng.
Gu Niman closed her eyes and sighed softly.
At that time, Zhou Yongsheng was in love at the height of his passion. The usually respectable man knelt down in his trousers, pleading with her to stay, tears streaming down his face. She said that she was equally reluctant to let him go and almost softened, but she still insisted on separating.
“I’ve never seen him cry,” Gu Niman murmured absently. “He cried for me.”
The day after filming wrapped, an unexpected event occurred.
Even though she was wearing a heavy coat and in a warm interrogation room, she still couldn't stop trembling when she recalled this.
Tears welled in her eyelashes as she struggled to continue her narration, fighting back sobs.
“It’s okay,” Zeng Yongshan said. “Take your time.”
A tear fell onto the interrogation table.
Gu Niman curled her fingers, but couldn't muster any strength, and then slumped back down. It was a pain that even ten years later could not heal, the excruciating pain of sulfuric acid burning. Even though the wound had long since healed, it would still tear at her scarred cheeks, shoulders, neck, and hands on rainy days, or on some nights just like those years ago.
“At that moment, sulfuric acid was thrown at me…”
"I dodged it, but still—"
Her knuckles pressed against her temples.
Gu Niman rarely recalls that scene: the pungent smell, the excruciating pain, that face filled with hatred. Whenever she thinks of it, she can barely breathe.
"Luckily I dodged it; only my left cheek, neck, and shoulder were injured..." Gu Niman's chest heaved violently, and glistening tears slid down her face over the raised, shocking wounds.
She raised her hand, her fingertips touching the scar on her left cheek: "And my hand, because... I accidentally touched my cheek."
Gu Niman clearly remembers being terrified at the time, instinctively reaching out to touch her face, a burning sensation spreading through her fingertips. Her fingers felt like they were glued to her face, a bloody mess.
"That person... tried to pounce on me."
“It was Yongsheng who suddenly appeared and saved me,” Gu Niman continued. “He said that because I am a public figure, I cannot go to public hospitals, nor can I go to private hospitals.”
Zhou Yongsheng has a doctor he knows well.
She was taken to a secluded private clinic for treatment.
“It was an old doctor who treated my wound.” Her emotions gradually calmed down. “The wound became infected, and I developed a high fever.”
Zeng Yongshan paused, her pen poised. "Do you remember the clinic's name?"
Gu Niman shook her head.
At that time, she only wanted to die, and Zhou Yongsheng said he was willing to go with her.
Tears kept falling, soaking the wounds and bringing even deeper burning pain.
She wrote her will with trembling hands, while Zhou Yongsheng held the paper tightly and embraced her.
Who did it?
“He said it was the actor who competed with me for the role in ‘Lunar Eclipse’, and that I had already reported it to the police and they would issue an arrest warrant.”
She was already exhausted from the pain and had no energy left to pursue the truth.
Zeng Yongshan frowned: "It must be Zhou Yongsheng."
“Impossible.” Gu Niman looked up abruptly and said decisively, “He saved me.”
Her trembling fingers gently traced the scars on her face.
“See? Even after I became like this, he never complained,” Gu Niman said, her tone stubborn and firm. “Even now, he still stayed by my side and took care of me for ten whole years. How could he have done this?”
“He told me again and again…” she mimicked Zhou Yongsheng’s tone, “‘I still love you.’”
Zhou Yongsheng is dead, and the truth has fallen silent along with his cold corpse.
When the film wrapped up, Gu Niman was only eighteen, barely an adult. She was being controlled, all in the name of love. In the days and nights after being disfigured by sulfuric acid, she was on the verge of collapse. It was Zhou Yongsheng who led her through that darkest period.
The air in the interrogation room seemed to freeze.
For a full decade, she was kept captive by Zhou Yongsheng's morbid possessiveness and desire to save her.
Now that he is dead, she is like a bird with clipped wings, unable to leave alone, unwilling to leave, and not even knowing how to leave.
This is love twisted to the extreme, dependence born of taming.
Even now, Gu Niman still believes everything he says.
She said that Zhou Yongsheng never minded her disability.
But he never imagined that such a defect might have been created by his own hands.
“No matter what you say,” Gu Niman repeated, “I know it’s impossible.”
...
In the observation room, the officers looked grave.
When Zhou Yongsheng and Gu Niman "committed suicide," he was thirty-four and she was eighteen. The love story portrayed by the media failed to convince the police; everyone believed that he had deceived a young girl who had just entered society, toying with her feelings to boost the publicity of his film.
But the truth turned out to be far worse and cruel than they had guessed; he wanted to keep her by his side forever.
"He had already begun transferring his assets so that he could elope with the young and beautiful Gu Niman."
"The stand-in he found was a pre-planned strategy. As expected of Director Zhou, even the death was designed to be spectacular, and in the end, he even directed and starred in it himself, pushing the work to its peak."
However, Zhou Yongsheng never expected that the girl who had his eyes full of love would propose breaking up.
"Zhou Yongsheng knew all too well how fragile love was at eighteen. Once you've seen the world, who would remember this old man? Director Zhou at that time was already insane and simply couldn't accept it."
Therefore, on that night, Zhou Yongsheng ruined Gu Niman's beautiful face.
She can never be a star again, and she can never even see anyone again.
Even more morbidly, when Gu Niman cried in despair, he enjoyed the sense of accomplishment of dragging her out of the mire.
He believed he was saving his lover.
These past ten years have been incredibly fulfilling for Zhou Yongsheng.
"He lived too happily. Every corner of the white house was decorated according to his preferences, and in the kitchen, Gu Niman was making soup for him..."
"Everyone considered him an outstanding director who died young, and the entire film industry mourned him. At home, he was Gu Niman's only support. His vanity was satisfied like never before."
“Whenever Gu Niman felt inferior because of her disfigurement, he became even more pleased. Her vulnerability was the masterpiece he was admiring.”
"For ten years, he still loved Gu Niman. He cherished her with the utmost care, as if she were a porcelain doll. Even when the porcelain doll broke, he became more obsessed, for it was a mark he had personally carved."
Zhou Yongsheng once loved Jiang Xiaowei just as deeply.
As time went by, Jiang Xiaowei matured. She no longer hid behind him, understood his hardships, grew up, and supported the family with him. The couple sheltered their son from the wind and rain.
Unfortunately, this was never what he wanted.
The destroyed Gu Niman is his eternal object of redemption.
Life continued like this until the loophole of dual household registration was discovered. Without legal status, life would be extremely inconvenient, so Zhou Yongsheng had to leave with Gu Niman.
The officers stepped out of the observation room and began tidying up the case files and documents scattered on the table.
The investigation has not been relaxed in the slightest, and the police are still pursuing leads.
Mo Zhenbang ordered his subordinates to retrieve the files on missing persons from the past ten years, focusing on cases that matched the characteristics of stunt doubles.
Ultimately, the police identified three sets of reported cases.
"Let's arrange for the family members to come to the police station tomorrow."
The investigation was progressing steadily, and the tense atmosphere in the office eased.
Perhaps by hearing from her family members, we can piece together a more complete picture of the truth from ten years ago.
Only then was the case of the lovers' double suicide truly resolved.
So, going back to the beginning, who killed Zhou Yongsheng?
...
At exactly 8 p.m., Zhu Qing opened the door to her home.
In the living room, children are tiptoeing and doodling on the whiteboard.
Hearing the door open, he spread his little arms to block the whiteboard, but his round little body couldn't hide anything at all.
Zhu Qing deliberately avoided looking at his "masterpiece".
She asked, "Fangfang, do you want to go out and play?"
Shengfang threw down her paintbrush: "I want it!"
Getting Fangfang to go out is as simple as saying a few words; it's a breeze.
The baby left without warning, and a few minutes later, both the uncle and nephew had already gone out.
Aunt Ping washed her hands in the kitchen and followed him to the door.
The two people had already entered the elevator.
"Where are you going so late?"
Fangfang answered crisply, "Look, it's my older sister!"
"You know all this?"
Shengfang, with her hands behind her back and an inscrutable expression, said, "No one knows a niece better than her uncle."
Meanwhile, in the sanatorium suite—
It was eerily quiet; even the sound of footsteps walking back and forth in the corridor was exceptionally clear.
"Qingzai, Qingzai".
"Wow……"
Sheng Peirong leaned against the headboard, thinking she had misheard.
She wasn't sure it wasn't her imagination until she heard the sound of the key turning again.
Sheng Peirong sat up and looked out the door.
When she saw Coco, she was taken aback, then a look of delighted surprise spread across her eyes.
The older sister is still undergoing rehabilitation therapy, and it's inconvenient for her to open the door while pushing her wheelchair. To avoid making things too difficult for her, the children even have keys.
"Big sister, big sister!"
"Coco's here!"
The sanatorium housed patients who needed rest, and it was already quite late for them. The nurse on duty smiled and shook her head, not stopping the energetic little visitor.
"Let Mom take a look." Sheng Peirong put her hand on Zhu Qing's shoulder and examined her carefully.
"Have you lost weight?" Zhu Qing asked with a smile.
That's how it's portrayed on TV. When the mother looked closely, she realized her daughter had gotten thinner from being so busy.
However, the reality is that Coco works non-stop and should be very tired, but she is not haggard at all, and instead is full of energy.
"Because our Qingqing is just so beautiful." Fangfang snuggled up to her niece, acting as her spokesperson.
"You little sycophant," Sheng Peirong chuckled.
"Qingzai, listen to what your mommy is saying again!"
Fangfang complained pitifully, telling Qingzai with a wronged expression that she was bullied like this when Qingzai wasn't around.
The child complained, and the older sister quickly admitted her mistake.
"She won't change," Fangfang said angrily.
"How could this older sister be like this!" Zhu Qing sided with her uncle.
Even though she was being given the runaround, Fangfang still raised her chin, looking proud.
Time slipped away quietly amidst laughter and conversation.
Sheng Peirong frequently glanced at the clock, and with each gentle tick of the minute hand, her eyes dimmed a little.
But it was getting late, so Zhu Qing still stood up.
Then, she went to the wardrobe and found her and Fangfang's spare pajamas.
The little girl whispered in her older sister's ear, "I've put all my schoolbags in the car."
"I'll stay here with my older sister today!"
Sheng Peirong suddenly looked up, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes.
The warm, yellow light bathed the suite, making it feel as cozy as a small home.
The uncle and nephew carried two folding beds for accompanying patients out of their arms and placed them on either side of Sheng Peirong's hospital bed.
She looked around; her daughter was nestled in the warm blankets on the left, while her little brother on the right had his little feet sticking out of the blankets to cool off.
She finally understood why Fangfang always looked forward to the resolution of Coco's case.
"The case must have been solved," Sheng Peirong said with a light laugh.
"Half of it has been figured out."
"There's such a saying?"
The clock on the wall ticked away.
The conversation between the eldest sister and Qingzai was like a gentle lullaby.
“I always feel…” Zhu Qing’s voice grew softer and softer, “that this is just the beginning.”
Shengfang: "John is going to have insomnia again."
The ward grew quieter and quieter, with the moonlight filtering faintly through the gauze curtains outside the window.
Zhu Qing's eyelids grew heavy, and she finally succumbed to sleepiness.
Sheng Peirong asked curiously, "Who is Ah John?"
Shengfang snuggled against the pillow, her eyes shining: "We're friends now."
Sheng Peirong was willing to know everything about her daughter and younger brother.
She asked with a smile, "Like best friends like Jinbao and Yesi?"
"yes……"
"Well—" Sheng Peirong asked casually, "What movie does Dr. Cheng want to see with Keke?"
Zhu Qing's eyelashes trembled slightly.
The little one let out a "humph" and buried his face in the pillow.
Gradually, the ward became quiet, with only the sound of even breathing remaining.
Sheng Peirong waited for a long time, but still didn't get an answer.
She quickly moved to the right side of the cot and whispered, "Coco is asleep, tell me quickly."
"Little brother?"
This child is full of energy when it's time to sleep.
When it's time to pass on information, he starts snoring softly for three seconds.
"They're really unreliable."
Fangfang rolled over.
Even in his dream, the little brother wasn't going to be taken advantage of. He smacked his lips and complained, "Qingzai, Big Sister is nagging me again."
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