It started raining again outside.
There were other patients in the single rooms on the top floor. The nurses reminded them not to make loud noises, so the police took it upon themselves to move everyone to the family waiting room set up separately on this floor. After closing the door and isolating themselves from the outside world, the atmosphere became quieter.
Upon hearing that Shi Meng was missing, Shi Huaiyi exclaimed anxiously, "He ran away by himself? He was so badly injured, just transferred from the ICU to a regular ward, how could he run away on his own? What are you police doing? It's been days and you still haven't caught the person who harmed my son..."
“He did run away on his own; the surveillance cameras captured it.” Fu Xuanliao didn’t want to listen to his nonsense. “Officer Chen, please continue to follow the procedures. The most important thing right now is to find him as soon as possible.”
The police officer, referred to as Officer Chen, nodded and said, "We've already made arrangements over the phone; begin the search immediately." He then opened his notebook. "Are you the victim's parents? Here are a few questions..."
"Wait a minute." Li Bihan suddenly interrupted, finally turning to Shi Huaiyi as if she had just realized something. "Let's get this straight first. What do you mean... Shi Mu isn't my son?"
She sat on the sofa at the far end of the waiting room, her back straight but seemingly about to collapse, staring wide-eyed at Shi Huaiyi, as if hoping to hear a denial from him.
Shi Huaiyi had been pushed to the limit, and now he was beginning to regret it. The peace he had painstakingly maintained for five years had been destroyed in an instant. If he could go back ten minutes, he would never have lost his composure and let impulse override reason upon hearing the word "death".
He has already lost one son. If he loses another, how will outsiders view the Shi family?
However, the words had already been spoken, and it was unlikely that anyone would accept it if he went back on his word now. Shi Huaiyi, having nothing left to lose, took a deep breath and said, "Shi Mu is not your son, Shi Meng is your biological son. The two of them... were switched at birth."
These words caused an uproar in the room.
Fu Xuanliao and Jiang Xue were stunned into silence, and the two policemen looked at each other in bewilderment at this bizarre scene, which resembled something out of a TV drama.
“Switch, switch…” Li Bihan lowered her head, chewing on the word twice, then raised her eyes again, “How could this be? You’re lying to me, you’re lying to me, right?”
Shi Huai sighed, "Now that things have come to this, what's the point of lying to you?"
Li Bihan raised her hand to her chest, trying to calm herself with deep breaths: "Impossible, impossible... I don't believe it."
"If it weren't for this, why would I have made Mengmeng call you 'Mom' all these years, and why would I have tried so hard to create opportunities for you two to develop a relationship..."
"Is there any evidence?" Li Bihan wouldn't listen at all, only concerned with verifying the authenticity. "Words are not enough, I don't believe it."
“The evidence is that lab report,” Shi Huaiyi said helplessly. “I had my suspicions back then. When Mengmeng was doing bone marrow matching, she also had a blood test. The two results came out together. I asked the doctor, and according to the blood type inheritance pattern, Mengmeng is more likely to be our child… The test results were bound together. You were very weak at that time, and I was afraid you couldn’t handle the shock, so I hid it.”
Li Bihan sat there blankly, her hands clutching the fabric of her skirt trembling occasionally, seemingly oblivious to how much she had heard.
Fu Xuanliao understood, but felt it was too absurd: "Blood type cannot be used as a decisive standard for testing parent-child relationships."
“Of course I know that,” Shi Huaiyi said, his face full of worry. “Later, I was worried it might not be safe, so I went for a paternity test…”
The results of the assessment speak for themselves.
Silence spread through the small space, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The first to react was Li Bihan. She propped herself up on her arms and stood up from the sofa chair, swaying as she took two steps forward.
Shi Huai also felt guilty and avoided her gaze. Jiang Xue, who was closest to Li Bihan, was afraid that she would fall, so she stepped forward to help her, but Li Bihan broke free and shook her off.
She walked slowly toward the door, as if heading to Shi Meng's ward, but stopped at the door.
As if every step forward led to an abyss of destruction, she pressed her hand to her chest again, her breathing heavy and rapid. Between breaths, she repeated "I don't believe it" several times, until finally she couldn't catch her breath and collapsed to the ground.
The lady of the house, Li Bihan, was also admitted to the hospital, and the Shi family was thrown into chaos.
After helping to settle the hospital arrangements, Fu Xuanliao returned to the ward. Li Bihan had just woken up from a brief fainting spell and grabbed Shi Huaiyi, asking him where Shi Meng had gone. Her hair was disheveled, and her expression was fierce, completely unlike the elegant Mrs. Shi she once was.
"I don't know either. Didn't the police go looking for him?" Shi Huaiyi was being held by the collar and dared not move, for fear of making him faint again. "Calm down. He can't have gone far with his injuries. I'll have him come to see you as soon as he gets back."
Some word seemed to have struck a nerve with Li Bihan, who suddenly released her grip, turned her head away, and said, "I won't see him, I won't see him."
Seeing him is tantamount to acknowledging him as her son, so what should she do with Mu Mu?
Her Mu Mu is already dead. Does she want him to be unable to rest in peace even in the afterlife?
Li Bihan covered her head and face with the blanket, seemingly trying to isolate herself from the outside world.
The nurse on rounds was worried that she would suffocate, so she went over and half-coaxed and half-forced her to take off the blanket.
Li Bihan's gaze fell on Shi Huaiyi again. Suddenly, she remembered something and sat up in bed: "Who switched them? Who was it? Make him come out and see me!"
She was shocked and unable to process the matter for a while, so she tried every means to find flaws in it and attempted to overturn this terrible conclusion.
Shi Huaiyi wasn't about to let her have her way: "It's just... the hospital made a mistake, there's no point in pursuing it now..."
This time, Li Bihan saw through his lie: "Impossible. They were all wearing designer brands when they were born. How could they be mistaken so easily?"
She looked up towards the door, then immediately tried to get out of bed: "Where are the police? Where are the police? I need to report a crime, I need to report a crime!"
They had no choice but to use a sedative. After much effort, they finally managed to settle the nearly insane Li Bihan on the bed. Her eyes were wide open, her unfocused gaze resting on a point in the air. Tears welled up in her eyes and slid down her cheeks.
Li Bihan was confused and conflicted, sometimes firmly saying "I don't believe it," and sometimes questioning Shi Huaiyi, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Seeing this, Fu Xuanliao's heart, which had not yet recovered from the shock, felt as heavy as a waterlogged sponge, making it hard to breathe.
Having witnessed all of this, "why didn't they say it sooner?" was naturally the question that puzzled Fu Xuanliao the most.
Stepping outside the ward, Shi Huai hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "It's not that I didn't want to tell you, it's just that by the time I found out, it was too late."
The reasons are nothing more than those—saving face and dignity, maintaining family harmony, and the idea that it's better to avoid trouble.
"Five years ago, when we received the paternity test results confirming that Mengmeng was my and your Aunt Li's son, Mumu was struggling between life and death. Under those circumstances, how could I tell her that there was a mistake? That would have undoubtedly pushed Mumu to her death even faster."
Fu Xuanliao still found it outrageous, and after a long pause, he asked, "So Shi Mu... is your child with that Ms. Yang?"
Shi Huaiyi nodded: "I only found out five years ago. This crazy woman deliberately chose to give birth in the same hospital and even made your Aunt Li go into premature labor. I should have noticed something was wrong back then, but I never expected her to be so audacious as to do such a heinous thing."
Fu Xuanliao had only met Ms. Yang once, and he thought to himself, no wonder she came to see Shi Mu back then, but ignored Shi Meng. She also didn't visit Shi Meng when he was hospitalized, which must have been arranged by Shi Huaiyi to prevent her from disturbing the Shi family's life.
This idea was validated in the ensuing conversation.
"Then why didn't you say this five years ago?" Fu Xuanliao asked.
Although Huaiyi was in the wrong at this point, he still felt that he had done the right thing: "At first, when Mumu was still here, I couldn't bring myself to say it. Later, as you saw, your Aunt Li was emotionally unstable. She loves Mumu so much, and I was afraid that she wouldn't be able to handle it if I told her... Besides, Mengmeng has already returned to the Shi family. He and your Aunt Li are related by blood. I thought that feelings could be cultivated slowly, and one day she would be able to transfer her love for Mumu to Mengmeng..."
Shi Huai also achieved great success in the business world, and his methods can be described as swift and decisive. However, when it comes to family matters, he becomes cowardly and hesitant, his mind filled with deception and cover-ups. His choice to settle things peacefully is completely in line with his style.
But it's obvious that they chose the wrong path.
Furthermore, Shi Huaiyi did this primarily for his own benefit. If the matter were to erupt and Li Bihan were to pursue Ms. Yang's responsibility, it would likely be far more than just a domestic dispute. At best, it would lead to a court battle; at worst, it would threaten his life and property. Given his desire to avoid trouble and seek stability, Shi Huaiyi's actions were actually understandable.
Fu Xuanliao's mind was in turmoil, but he could only grasp one key word: "This is unfair to Shi Meng."
Yes, it's unfair.
What did Shi Meng do wrong to be treated this way by the Shi family and pointed at and gossiped about by outsiders? He should have had a mother's love, friends, and everything he wanted.
At this moment, Huaiyi retorted confidently, "It's been wrong for twenty years already. Does it really matter whether we switch identities back or not? Isn't it enough that I treat him well?"
Fu Xuanliao suddenly understood. No wonder Shi Huaiyi had suddenly become so caring towards Shi Meng five years ago, and even transferred his shares to him. His previous suspicions of guilt were indeed partly the reason. And Ms. Yang's inexplicable attitude towards Shi Meng also made sense.
As for Shi Meng, whose life was switched at a young age and whose fate was drastically changed, in the eyes of a profit-driven businessman like Shi Huaiyi, he was not even as important as the status and face of the Shi family, which were intangible things.
Compared to Shi Huaiyi's composure, Fu Xuanliao could hardly help but feel apprehensive.
After all, if he hadn't been provoked by her words and stepped on Shi Huaiyi's sore spot, this matter would most likely have been kept secret by him and Ms. Yang for a lifetime, and then taken to their graves, never to be known by anyone again.
Understanding is one thing, accepting is another.
After reviewing the events that had lasted for twenty-five years, the sponge in his heart was squeezed dry and opened up with countless tiny holes. Light air filled in, making Fu Xuanliao feel even more confused.
After seeing the police off, Jiang Xue returned upstairs and asked Fu Xuanliao, "Does Mengmeng... know about this?"
This is also what Fu Xuanliao wanted to ask: "He didn't mention it to me, but did he say anything to you?"
Jiang Xue's eyes were still red, she hadn't recovered from the shock just now, and she was a little dazed. After thinking for a while, she said, "No, I didn't say that. He always likes to keep everything to himself. Even if he knew, he wouldn't tell anyone."
Gao Lecheng came to the hospital and said that he had mobilized all available manpower to look for Shi Meng, and all the media that could be used had been used. Now, there are missing person notices for Shi Meng everywhere on major social networking sites, and those that offer high rewards for providing reliable clues.
"Don't worry too much, we'll find it soon." Gao Lecheng patted Fu Xuanliao on the shoulder. "Look at you, haven't you slept for days? Go home and get some sleep. I'll keep watch here for you. If Young Master Shi comes back, I'll let you know first."
The continuous all-nighters had almost drained Fu Xuanliao's energy. After arranging everything, fatigue washed over him like a tide. Fu Xuanliao's steps felt like walking on cotton. He went to the bathroom to wash his face with cold water, then slowly raised his head and stared blankly at the ashen-looking person in the mirror.
The moment was so quiet that a subtle feeling, a mixture of absurdity and bewilderment, crept in through the unfilled gaps.
"It's this person," Fu Xuanliao thought, "this is the person in the mirror, the one Shi Meng went to great lengths to snatch and use every means to keep by his side."
But did Shi Meng realize he had made a mistake? Did he realize that everything should have belonged to him?
Shi Meng is the one who should be the center of attention. He could have lived a carefree and happy life, but he went crazy and abandoned his self-respect for a moment of exclusivity and sporadic possession, lowering himself to the dust.
When he finds out the truth, will he feel it wasn't worth it?
Fu Xuanliao gave up resting and decided to drive around looking for him himself. It wasn't that he didn't trust the police and Gao Lecheng to handle things; it was just that a perfectly healthy person had simply disappeared, and he couldn't sleep or sit still.
As Fu Xuanliao took the elevator downstairs, he squeezed through the crowd with his head down. Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He frowned impatiently and turned around to see who was being so inconsiderate, when a somewhat familiar voice entered his ears first: "What a coincidence, senior, you're here too!"
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