Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Xu Yang had no idea how things had suddenly come to this.

He had originally hoped that Panpan could talk some sense into the boss and convince him not to go.

But he never expected that Panpan would be so easily persuaded-the boss had managed to make her relent with just a few words. In the end, Panpan would accompany the two of them to the cruise dinner party, just in case something went wrong.

That seemed a little better than before, but… it wasn’t the outcome he wanted! T_T

===

In order to be able to walk more naturally at the dinner party on Thursday, Nan Mu had been especially obedient and cooperative these past few days. If the nurses said rest, he rested; if they said no work, he didn’t work; if they said exercise, he immediately got up and exercised. He was so well-behaved that the nurses’ station even said he was the most cooperative patient ever.

When Qiu Ziyu arrived, he saw Nan Mu eating fish oil mixed rice, with two meat dishes and three vegetable dishes-the vegetables being bitter melon, spinach, and wood ear mushrooms.

“Fish oil, bitter melon, wood ear mushrooms?” Qiu Ziyu was a little shocked. “I remember you don’t like those.”

“I don’t,” Nan Mu said, shoving a chopstickful of vegetables into his mouth and frowning. “But they say these help with wound healing.”

Qiu Ziyu immediately found it amusing. Looking at Xu Yang sitting nearby eating a big plate chicken and red braised pork, he half-jokingly said, “You didn’t deliberately take advantage of your boss being sick to get back at him, did you?”

Xu Yang’s face changed drastically and he quickly waved his hands in denial. “No, no, this is all from Nurse Panpan’s menu. Officer Qiu, you can’t wrongly accuse me.”

As Xu Yang said this, he glanced at Nan Mu, who was still earnestly eating his vegetables, and righteously added, “My loyalty to the boss is as clear as the sun and moon.”

Qiu Ziyu was tickled by him and burst out laughing. He wanted to say more but was cut off by Nan Mu.

“Stop teasing him.”

Only then did Qiu Ziyu pull up a stool and sit down by Nan Mu’s bedside.

Xu Yang could tell at a glance that Officer Qiu had business with his boss, so he tactfully said he’d go for a walk outside to digest his food, and then thoughtfully closed the door behind him.

“You’re in such a good mood-so you’ve made some headway.”

Hearing this, Qiu Ziyu’s smile grew even wider. “Those who know me, Nan Mu does.”

===

Nurse Xiao Ai was a pitiful person.

Her mother was a college student who had been abducted and trafficked to a mountain village. Her father had bought her mother, fixated on continuing the family line and having a son.

So when Xiao Ai was born, her father was extremely disappointed. He felt that failing to have a son on the first try made him lose a lot of face in the village, so he constantly beat and scolded Xiao Ai’s mother.

As Xiao Ai gradually grew up, her father assumed that her mother had given up on escaping, so his guard over her mother wasn’t as strict anymore.

Back then, Xiao Ai had even seen her mother secretly saving money. When going out to chop firewood, she would quietly memorize the routes.

Xiao Ai knew her mother wanted to run away, but she didn’t tell her father, because at the time she thought that once she and her mother ran out, they would be free, they would be happy, and they wouldn’t be beaten anymore.

But what she didn’t expect was that her mother did indeed successfully run away, but her mother didn’t take her. On an ordinary morning, her mother left alone, leaving her behind in that hell.

Because her mother ran away, she was beaten by her father, but after all she was his daughter, so aside from the frequent scoldings and beatings, Xiao Ai at least had food to eat and a place to live.

Until one day, when her father was chopping trees on the mountain, he accidentally fell and died.

Because she wasn’t a son, her father’s house was taken over by her uncle’s son, who moved in, and her uncle didn’t treat her any better because of it, instead making her live near the pigsty. From that day on, she ate pitifully small amounts of food every day, and also had to cut pigweed to feed those pigs, rain or shine.
One day, the sow gave birth to piglets, and her uncle’s grandson accidentally injured the piglets while playing with firecrackers. Her aunt clearly saw it but blamed Xiao Ai, accusing her of not taking good care of them. When her uncle came home, he even beat her with fists and kicks. Xiao Ai lay on the ground groaning, but no one cared. Through the dim light, she saw the family happily enjoying dinner inside the house. It was probably from that moment that she resolved to leave that hell. After Xiao Ai fled that mountain, she became a homeless vagrant on the streets, barely clothed and starving, often chased away by others. Especially in winter, her situation was even harder, for she had not only no food but also no shelter from the wind and snow. In the winter when she was about to freeze to death, she met a kind person. That kind person was Xu Lei’s wife, Meng Ran.

===

“Meng Ran?”
“Surprised? Me too.” Qiu Ziyu smiled. “I originally thought Xiao Ai had a direct close relationship with Xu Lei; I didn’t expect it was Meng Ran who saved her.”

Meng Ran and Xu Lei seem to have no children. Xiao Ai is over ten years younger than both, so although Meng Ran treats Xiao Ai like a younger sister, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she raised her like her own daughter.

Having never been loved since childhood, constantly abandoned and bullied, Xiao Ai’s life underwent an earth-shattering change after meeting Meng Ran and Xu Lei. To Xiao Ai, meeting Meng Ran and Xu Lei was nothing short of encountering gods.

Nan Mu mused, “Xu Lei and His Wife are like second parents to Xiao Ai. So if Xu Lei needed Xiao Ai’s help with something, she would naturally be duty-bound to do it.”

Qiu Ziyu nodded in agreement, “That’s right. It’s nearly a hundred percent that Xiao Ai would help Xu Lei.”

“Then what’s the relationship between Nurse Lin, Xu Lei, and Xiao Ai?”

Speaking of Nurse Lin, Qiu Ziyu was frustrated. He had found out quite a bit about her, but her motives still eluded him.

“So far, we’ve found no relationship between Nurse Lin and Xiao Ai beyond being colleagues. But I had someone investigate Nurse Lin’s account. There’s a mysterious account, Account 2648, that has been making regular monthly transfers to her since 2006. At first, the amounts weren’t much, starting from a few hundred yuan to over a thousand, eventually settling at around three thousand per month. However, in May 2022, after Gu Zhishu’s death, Account 2648 transferred a large sum of 200,000 yuan to her account. Pay attention!”

As he said this, Qiu Ziyu paused and signaled Nan Mu to take note. “I looked into Account 2648, and in May 2022, besides transferring 200,000 to Nurse Lin, it also transferred money to four other accounts.”

“Four?” Nan Mu frowned and thought for a moment. “Doctor Zhang, Doctor Jia, Doctor Liu… Xiao Ai?”

Doctor Zhang, Doctor Jia, Xiao Ai, and Nurse Lin-all four were responsible for assisting that Doctor Liu who had returned from performing surgeries abroad. If Gu Zhishu’s illness was indeed deliberately misdiagnosed, then to cover it up, naturally they’d have to silence everyone.

But Qiu Ziyu shook his head. “You guessed three correctly, but not Xiao Ai. The fourth person is Lin Zhengfeng. Lin Zhengfeng’s account received 500,000.”