0108 108 Does the King of Hell recognize you?
(Correction: The ending of the previous chapter, where the Director of the National Security Bureau was imprisoned for corruption, has been changed to the Supreme Leader of the Four-Five-Point Manifestation, who was arrested for corruption. This is a paid article and cannot be modified further; the above word count is not included in the paid section.)
The social structure and situation can change drastically overnight. At noon, Su Changce was still enjoying his slender secretary's company when he was taken away with his head covered before his lunch break was over.
The video's reach was unparalleled by any film or television series this year. In this ancient and conservative country, such behavior is simply intolerable.
Public opinion has been constantly changing. At first, people felt sorry for their wives, but now that Su Changce has been exposed, his wife Gu Chaohuan has also been dragged out and criticized several times. People do not believe that his wife did not know what he did, and they only feel that she is still protecting him. His son has not escaped either. And someone has exposed the inside story that Su Shaojin and his wife have been separated since their marriage, pushing public opinion to a new peak.
A reckless "carnival" is taking place both online and offline, but the people involved remain calm and indifferent.
Gu Chaohuan recently learned to use the internet during her free time after putting down her pen. She was among the first to see the video, and after watching it, she even read through the comments before the video was taken down.
She recognized Su Changce in the photo at a glance, but she didn't react. She calmly put down her phone and looked up at the man lying on the bed.
Top floor of Mingren Hospital, Ward 04.
Gu Chaohuan's eyesight has been poor lately, and she almost collapsed. Looking at Gu Chaodong's peaceful expression, he finally shut his mouth and lay quietly on the hospital bed, his head wrapped up like a dumpling. Only the instruments next to him could prove that he was still alive.
The doctor said he could still sense his surroundings and hear people talking, but she didn't want to say anything. She just pulled the corner of the blanket over his entire head.
The instrument emitted some abnormal beeps. She stared at the increasingly erratic lines, and a slow smile crept onto her lips.
The alarm grew louder and louder, and just as it was about to become a straight line, she suddenly let go of her hand and removed the blanket.
She stood up, gently smoothed the blanket, patted the corner of the blanket like her mother would when she was a child, and turned to leave the ward.
Outside the door, Xu Mei leaned against the wall, blowing a bubble gum.
"You really haven't changed at all over the years." Gu Chaohuan forced a smile.
Are you envious?
As Xu Mei uttered her last note, the giant bubble burst, and after twenty-five years, they could see each other's faces clearly once again.
"Young Miss, you are still so beautiful."
Gu Chaohuan trembled slightly at this moment. She stared intently at Xu Mei's face, rushed over in a few steps, and grabbed Xu Mei's collar.
But she couldn't say a word. Finally, Xu Mei spoke up listlessly.
“Miss is still so impulsive, just like before. I’ve been wondering what it would be like to see you again, but I never imagined it would be at the door of Gu Chaodong’s hospital room. He won’t wake up. Are we both free now?”
"You're free now, but I've never been free."
Xu Mei stood up straight against the wall. She and Gu Chaohuan were about the same height, but one had her chin up and the other had her head down, and the same emotion enveloped them together.
A white thread from the hospital bed clung to Gu Chaohuan's black coat. Xu Mei reached out and removed it for her, wrapping it around her finger.
“I’ve been thinking lately whether I should tell my children what I’ve always told them. Have you seen Qingqing? She actually looks a lot like you, a lot like you. Don’t you think so? You want to be me so much, why don’t you be my daughter’s mother?”
Gu Chaohuan finally raised her head, her usually evasive gaze suddenly hardening.
“I’ll take her away, far away, so she can forget all of this. You come with me.”
"Where to go? Where can we go? We can't leave. If we could, we would have left twenty years ago."
“Back then I was powerless, I couldn’t do anything. Now I don’t have to worry about anything, I can go wherever I want.”
"Where are your children? Don't you care about your son anymore?"
“He has never treated me like a mother, and his heart is not in this family.”
Xu Mei smiled, a beautiful smile, just like when she turned around on the dance hall stage years ago, her hair swaying in an arc, wrapping around her shoulders, blooming the brightest light in the darkest underground.
She gently pried Gu Chaohuan's fingers apart, intertwined them with her own, and shook her head.
"My business isn't finished yet. I believe in fate. The story isn't over. I can't escape it."
The people in charge of investigating Su Changce have found the hospital and want Gu Chaohuan to cooperate with the questioning. The policewoman who went to take her away turned around and saw Xu Mei. She stared in shock. Xu Mei smiled at her and turned to leave.
She pushed open the door to ward 02, and both of her daughters were looking at her.
After experiencing all of this, Xu Mei seemed to have finally grown up. She let go of some of her obsessions and learned to give back.
Li Qing was more accepting of herself than she had imagined. She held Xu Mei's hand, her eyes shining.
"When is my sister coming back? How about we all live together after I'm discharged from the hospital?"
Jiang Yu was also smiling and daydreaming.
"I have two younger sisters. Our little sister is super capable. She owns a huge shop in Jingyang and is the most successful little boss lady."
As Xu Mei listened to her daughters' dreams for the future, she wanted to remember every second. She reached out her trembling hand and tried to touch Li Qing's head.
"Baby, what did your mother-in-law say to you about me?"
“Grandma? You mean your maternal grandma? She said that your mother is working hard outside and can't take you with her. Besides, you're not the only one; you also have an older sister and a younger sister. If you haven't found them by the time you grow up, keep an eye out for girls whose names contain the character 'Shu'. I've known Yao Yao for a long time. She said she likes reading my books and often chats with me. I found that she didn't seem to know anything about her background, but she seemed to be doing very well. I didn't dare to say much. Later, we became friends as we chatted. She told me that she had an older sister in Jingyang named Jiang Yu who was inexplicably kind to her. I had never met her sister before, but I just felt that we were family.”
She held Xu Mei's hand and shook it like a child, staring at her intently. When Xu Mei smiled back, she smiled even more broadly.
"No one will bully us this time, right? Can we finally have some peace?"
Jiang Yu and Xu Mei both quieted down, each patting her hand on the other, just smiling and not saying a word.
While Qi Shuyao was still flying in the air, Qi Yu was almost exhausted. This time, Su Changce was dealt with more efficiently than the Lin family a few years ago. By the time Qi Shuyao landed on Anzhou Continent across the sea, Pingzhou Continent had already completed all the procedures. Qi Yu was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as he got home, while she didn't rest for a minute and went to find the location provided by Yang Xun.
She didn't show herself. Instead, she sent her bodyguards to scout the area, then found a quiet coffee shop and sat in the corner wearing sunglasses.
I set off in the morning, and when I got to the other side, it was still early morning. There was a warm breeze blowing, and my skin felt dry from walking in the sun.
She had the receiver of the bugging device on her bodyguard plugged into her ear, her hair was loose, and her pale face was covered only with a layer of lipstick. She was like a flame burning on ice. As soon as she broke through the glass net that shone on her, countless people rushed over frantically.
Her brows furrowed more and more tightly, yet she looked increasingly vivid, as if the flames were burning with human energy, growing ever stronger.
A professional book was gently placed on the opposite side of the table, followed by a cup of coffee. Qi Shuyao turned her head angrily and met the man's gaze.
She froze, took off her sunglasses, and stood up in surprise.
"Qin Zhuohan? You, how come you... how come you're here?"
"It really is you. I thought I had mistaken you for someone else."
He sat down naturally and pushed the unopened coffee towards her.
"I remember you liked it too?"
"It's alright, but I haven't had it in a long time."
"Why did you suddenly come here, or have you been here for a while?"
"Just arrived, there's something... minor."
Qin Zhuohan looked directly into her eyes and smiled gently.
"Things in China must be keeping you quite busy, you look exhausted."
The man opposite him had no change in appearance from the young man who was anxiously attending to the patients in the hospital, but his demeanor had become more composed, making him seem like a doctor who could inspire trust.
However, he was also secretly observing her from head to toe, trying to glean some useful information. Qi Shuyao raised her hands from her lap and placed them on the table, leaning slightly forward.
Why did you suddenly go abroad back then?
"It wasn't exactly sudden. I had already planned to come over, but my family's lab in Jingyang was requisitioned, and since there's one here too, I came ahead of time."
Qi Shuyao nodded slowly, listening to his words in her left ear and the bodyguard's report in her right. Suddenly, she raised her head.
"Is the hospital where you're doing your internship also part of your family's business?"
"It's half and half is a collaboration with local doctors. But I heard from my dad that when it was built, someone from our country helped to make the connection."
"Then... young master, shall I go for a walk?"
Suddenly they found a signal, and the two packed their things, got up, and chatted as they walked towards the school and the hospital in front.
Qin Zhuohan showed her around half the place before heading to class. Qi Shuyao waved to him, but the smile vanished the moment his figure disappeared into the building. She put her sunglasses back on and fastened her headphones.
"Let him tell you how to get there."
A strange male voice came through the earpiece. His neck was being held, and he spoke in a weak tone. Qi Shuyao followed his instructions and slowly walked forward, placing one hand on her waist and touching the sharp knife that the bodyguard had just handed her.
Finally, she turned into a building, went up to a hidden floor in the middle, and settled in an empty corridor.
She leaned against the wall and downed the coffee in her hand in one gulp, using the caffeine to stimulate her already somewhat groggy brain to get back to work. She also chatted with the bodyguard over there for a few minutes.
"How did you get that contact to tell you?"
"We all use the simplest and most direct methods."
"Then you'd better take it easy, don't kill him."
"Don't worry, Miss, I know what I'm doing."
"Okay, I'm going in."
"Miss, please be careful. If anything happens to you, I will also perish here."
"I'll let you go home. By the way, what's your name?"
"Chen Luo, Miss."
"OK."
There are only two rooms on this floor. As instructed by the contact, go into the room on the left and knock on the door three times.
She calmly completed everything, and the door opened before her.
The empty room was filled with various life support equipment, and huge screens on the four walls played different news. Qi Shuyao looked at the man sitting in the wheelchair in the middle and suddenly smiled.
"I knew it."
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