Yibo got up and walked toward a doctor who had just come out of the emergency ward. Before he could speak, the doctor asked, "Are you her husband?"
"Yes, I am," Yibo replied.
"Alright, let's go to my office," the doctor said. Yibo followed him until they reached the office.
Meanwhile, Granny Ai and Granny Fang Yu stood in the waiting area, wide-eyed. They had been at the hospital for almost two and a half hours. As they watched Yibo and the doctor walk away, Granny Ai suddenly burst into tears. Holding her head, she said, "If I had known this would happen, I would never have left the house this morning. I didn't even eat to my heart content before coming out! And now, if that young woman dies, there'll be court cases, witnesses....everything. Thank goodness I didn't step into the sitting room when it all happened. If I had, I don't know how I'd live with myself. Honestly, it's only by luck that I wasn't involved, if Min dies in there, Shu will be hang."
Granny Fang Yu turned sharply toward her after hearing that. In an angry tone, she said, "You and your terrible predictions! And how dare you speak like that about Shu? She's her friend.....everyone knows it. Shu wouldn't deliberately hurt Yibo's wife. Didn't you see how that woman grabbed Shu by the neck first? Shu only managed to shove her into the wall after that. From the moment I noticed Yibo acting differently after marrying that girl, I knew something wasn't right. We even urged him to take her back because of Zhan, but it turns out she's just trouble. Shu is telling the truth, and I'm certain she isn't framing her. But let's deal with the hospital first.....then we'll decide what to do next."
Granny Ai shook her head. "So, you're saying you turned Zhan into a wandering outcast just because he has no parents to stand up for him? Let's just see how this plays out."
Granny Fang Yu shot her a sharp look. "Do you know how much we've done for Zhan over the years? Mind your own business before you say something foolish." Granny Ai pursed her lips and kept quiet, tapping her foot.
The doctor sat down and looked at Yibo. "She needs a blood transfusion....she's lost a lot of blood. Luckily, it didn't damage the area we were most worried about when she arrived. However, the wound is very deep. It's on the side of her head, and her forehead was also injured. We've stitched it up and dressed the wound. She also has some bruising on her face. That's all. We expect her to regain consciousness within a few hours. Right now, we just need to give her blood. If your blood type matches, you can donate here. If not, you'll have to buy from the blood bank."
Yibo nodded. "Alright, doctor. Thank you very much." They left the office together. Before going to the lab, Yibo returned to Granny Fang Yu and Granny Ai. "You can go home now. She's stable....they're just giving her a blood transfusion."
"So there's nothing seriously wrong with her head?" Granny Fang Yu asked.
"It's just an injury. The doctor says she'll be fine," Yibo replied.
Granny Ai held her jaw. "Still… she lost so much blood.....it's like they slaughtered an animal!"
Yibo didn't respond and went straight to the laboratory. Granny Ai stood up. "Since she's not dying, let's go. I'm starving.....I've been holding it in all this time."
Granny Fang Yu sighed. "All we can hope for now is that she recovers. Then we'll see what happens next." Granny Ai adjusted her scarf and left the hospital, with Granny Fang Yu following behind.
- - - -
By a quarter to twelve, Yibo was sitting in the room where Min was lying, her head wrapped in layers of bandages, with nearly half her hair shaved off. A blood bag was connected to her arm. He just sat there, staring at her, Shu's words echoing in his mind. Even now, he hadn't called any of her relatives....he had only told Lan Yi that Min was in the hospital.
Slowly, Min opened her eyes. Yibo kept watching her from his chair. When their eyes met, she tried to sit up with difficulty. "Yibo, I swear Shu is lying about me.....none of what she said is true."
Yibo stood and stopped her. "I know. You don't need to strain yourself.....just lie back down."
Her voice trembled. "You know what she's like. She's always been this way, making up stories. Look at what she did to Zhan...she's lying about me too."
"I know everything. Don't worry.....just rest," Yibo said, gently laying her back down.
Min stayed quiet, feeling as if a hammer was pounding in her head.
"I'll go get the doctor," Yibo said, then stepped out of the room.
A few minutes later, a nurse walked in and came to Min's bedside. "How are you feeling?" she asked kindly.
Trying to stay strong, Min said, "Nurse, my head feels heavy, almost like it's not mine. Could it be the bandages?"
The nurse said, "Please be patient, you'll feel better soon. Just take things slowly, and try not to talk too much, okay?"
Min could only cry. The nurse continued, "Let me get the injection ready. Your husband has gone to get you something to eat before I give it to you."
Min wanted to nod, but her head felt too heavy. Summoning her strength, she said, "Could you please lend me your phone for a moment? I need to make a call."
The nurse replied, "Of course, no problem." She reached into the pocket of her uniform, took out her phone, and handed it to Min before turning to leave.
"What's the name of this hospital?" Min asked. The nurse told her and stepped out.
Min dialed the number of her mother's sister, Aunty Fei. As soon as the phone rang and was answered, Min broke down in tears and managed to say between sobs, "Aunty, I'm in the hospital."
Aunty Fei exclaimed, "The hospital? What happened to you? Which hospital?"
Min painfully explained everything that had happened, her voice shaky from the pounding headache.
Aunty Fei stood up abruptly. "So it was Shu who hit you in the head? And your useless husband didn't even call to tell us? She just attacked you for nothing? Which hospital are you in now?"
When Min told her, Aunty Fei hung up immediately.
Min then tried calling Aunty Fan, another one of her mother's sisters, but she was on another call. She called her cousin Song and told her what had happened and which hospital she was in. Just after she finished, Aunty Fan called back.
Min answered quickly, ready to explain, but Aunty Fan cut in, her voice raised: "Fei already called me and told me everything. We're on our way to the hospital right now to see who dared back Shu enough to let her do this to you." She hung up without another word.
Meanwhile, Lan Yi had been told by Yibo about the incident. She was about to go downstairs but paused for a few seconds. Granny Ai had already told her earlier that Zhan was in Yibo's room. She opened the door and found it empty. Without saying anything, she left the house and went straight to the hospital Yibo had mentioned.
When Lan Yi arrived, she called Yibo, who came out and led her into Min's ward. He didn't dare meet her eyes. Lan Yi stood by Min's bed, watching her twist and turn in pain as the anesthesia wore off. Seeing Min's head wrapped heavily in a bloodstained bandage made her feel weak all over....this was clearly no minor injury.
The ward door swung open, and in came Aunty Fan, Aunty Fei, Aunty Mui (their cousin), and a friend of Aunty Fan's. Without a greeting or even a glance at Lan Yi or Yibo, they strode to Min's bedside like soldiers on a mission.
Aunty Fan hissed, "So it was Shu who did this? Shu? I swear, we're taking this to court. I want to see who in Beijing thinks they can protect her."
Aunty Fei, equally furious, said, "If you hadn't called us, they'd probably have waited until you were dead before telling us....just because Shu is their girl, they think they can cover this up? Well, I swear we'll find whoever is backing her. Even if she runs out of Beijing, we'll have her mother dragged out to face us. People can't just hurt others and walk away."
Aunty Mui narrowed her eyes. "She tried to kill her.....no, they planned to kill her. Who are these people that Min married into? How long has it been since the wedding? Barely a month, and they've done this?"
Lan Yi stood speechless, staring in shock. Yibo leaned against the window, silent. Min cried out, tossing and turning on the bed, saying she felt like she was going to die.
Aunty Fei and Aunty Fan stormed out of the ward, followed by Mui and the friend. Aunty Fei's husband was a high-ranking police officer based in Shanghai, recently transferred from Beijing. The moment she stepped outside, she called him, her voice sharp:
"Mei's dad, we've just been to the hospital.....this is no small matter. It's worse than we thought. The girl's head is a mess, and it's only luck that the injury didn't damage her brain. And the worst part? Not a single one of them called us before now.....they're trying to cover this up. Our niece has been assaulted and seriously injured. Call your division and get us a police escort immediately. I know where Shu's family lives, and even if she's run off, we'll bring her mother out to face us."
Within minutes, they were in Aunty Fei's car, leading a police vehicle toward Granny Fang Yu's house.
***
Granny Ai was in the courtyard, getting ready to visit Lan Yi's house, while Granny Fang Yu was in the kitchen preparing food to take back to the hospital for Yibo. Suddenly, about five police officers entered the courtyard.
Behind them were Aunty Fei and Aunty Fan. Startled, Granny Ai dropped to the ground in shock.
Aunty Fan, fuming, demanded, "Where is Shu?"
Granny Ai's lips trembled. "I'm just the house help. Her grandmother is in the kitchen....she might know where Shu is. I don't know anything."
The police headed into the house, with Aunty Fei following closely. Granny Fang Yu froze when she saw the officers at the kitchen door. The same question they had asked outside was now directed at her: Where was Shu?
Granny Fang Yu's body shook. "I swear Shu hasn't come back to this house."
One of the officers asked, "But you know what she's done, right?"
Tears welled up in Granny Fang Yu's eyes. "I saw everything happen right in front of me, Officer. Please, have mercy on her.....she's an orphan. She's never done anything like this before in her life."
Aunty Fan's voice was sharp. "Orphan or not, that doesn't excuse her. She's not innocent.....she has to face the consequences."
One officer looked at Granny Fang Yu and said, "From what you've just said, it sounds like you know where she is or you're supporting what she's done. So you'll need to come with us to the station. If you hand her over, we'll release you. But if you keep talking like this, we'll use it against you."
Granny Fang Yu shook her head frantically, crying. "Search every corner of this house if you want.....she's not here. Please, I've never been to a police station before, don't put me through this."
Aunty Fei, frustrated, turned to the officers. "Let's just go. She's wasting our time. She obviously knows where Shu is and helped her escape. At the station, she'll talk."
The officers led the crying Granny Fang Yu into the courtyard. Granny Ai, meanwhile, pretended to be busy washing dishes, stealing glances at the scene. The neighbors gathered outside to see what was happening when they spotted the police vehicle.
Moments later, the officers escorted Granny Fang Yu outside, still weeping, and put her in the car before driving off. One of her neighbors, shaking, quickly called Lan Yi to tell her that the police had come, taken Granny Fang Yu, and driven away.
Lan Yi was deeply shaken after the call. She rushed out of the ward, but on the way, she ran into Yibo, who had just returned from the doctor's office.
Seeing her distressed, Yibo asked, "Mama, what happened?"
Lan Yi burst into tears. "Your grandmother's neighbor just called me.....the police came and took my mother away."
Yibo's mouth fell open in shock, but he couldn't find any words. Lan Yi hurried toward the reception, still crying, and Yibo followed her.
"Where are you going, Mama?" he asked.
"To the police station, of course!" she said. "How could they take her there without any respect for her age?"
Yibo caught her hand. "But we don't even know which station it is. Let's find that out first before we go."
Lan Yi's legs gave way, and she sank into a chair in the reception area, still crying. "What kind of trouble is this? What kind of girl is Shu to bring this on us?"
Yibo, completely confused, pulled out his phone, wondering who to call first.
- - - -
Xuxui was sitting in the sitting room around two in the afternoon when Qiren walked in. She stood up after greeting him and asked,
"Did you manage to reach him on the phone, dear?"
Qiren replied, "No, I didn't. Since when did you notice he wasn't at home?"
Xuxui said, "Around ten this morning, I went into his room but didn't see him. I thought maybe he was in the bathroom, so I just went back to bed. I only got up again a short while ago, went to his room to check if he'd eaten, but he still wasn't there. Then I looked in the bathroom.... it was empty."
With surprise, Qiren asked, "And he didn't tell you he was going to school today?"
Xuxui shook her head. "No, he didn't. You know, yesterday before he left for school, he told me. And this morning, I was in the sitting room when Granny Ai went out, so I know they didn't leave together."
Qiren went through his call log, trying to find the number Dr. Kexing had used to call him yesterday. He traced his calls back to the previous evening, trying to recognize it before calling. Just then, Yibo's call came through. Qiren hesitated for a moment but eventually answered.
As Xuxui left the sitting room and went upstairs, Qiren exchanged a brief greeting with Yibo. Then, speaking in a lower tone, Yibo told him everything that had happened. Qiren listened in silence, clearly surprised, then finally asked,
"The police station? Where were you when all this happened? And where's Shu now, if they took Granny Fang Yu?"
Yibo replied, "They couldn't find her, that's why."
Qiren let out a deep breath. "So which station did they take mother Fang Yu to?"
"I'm not sure which division," Yibo answered. "The neighbors called us just now to let us know."
"All right, I'm on my way…" Qiren hung up and started dialing the number of a police officer friend. Just then, Xuxui came back downstairs holding a white piece of paper she'd found in Zhan's room. She looked at Qiren without blinking.
Qiren glanced at the paper and asked, "What's this?"
She didn't say a word, just kept looking at him. Qiren walked over, took the paper from her, unfolded it, and began to read what it was about.
NB
I start updating my new story, TAKING REVENGE... you can check it out.
Zhanxianyibo💚❤️💛