Chapter 72

Everything was indeed not what he had understood from his one-sided perspective!

Fu Qingyan gave a cold glance to the lying Shen Huaixi and, without a word, turned and left the Shen family house.

"Help me investigate something..."

After making the call to get someone to look into the past events, Fu Qingyan immediately had his assistant purchase a plane ticket and flew to the island where they had gone for their graduation trip.

Within the Shen mansion, Shen Huaixi and Auntie Liu exchanged a glance, both feeling their limbs turn ice-cold.

Neither of them dared to utter an extra word, only cautiously watching Wen Ningshu's expression.

But Wen Ningshu acted as if it were no big deal, seemingly not thinking it was much of a big deal. She didn’t even ask a single extra question, casually put on her sunglasses, and gracefully grabbed her handbag before leaving.

In the back seat of the car, Wen Ningshu's smile gradually faded, and her expression grew serious.

Auntie Liu had been her nanny for over twenty years.

Shen Huaixi was the son she had been raising for twenty years.

Before Su Xingyao had left home, she had never even considered doubting these two.

The last time she had seen Auntie Liu care so much about Shen Huaixi, she could still barely convince herself that Auntie Liu had deep feelings for him, treating him as if he were her own son.

But this time, she found it impossible to overlook their abnormal behavior.

Currently, there was no evidence, but her intuition was telling her that Shen Huaixi had obviously lied to Fu Qingyan earlier.

And Auntie Liu suddenly claiming to have memory loss was deliberately pretending to know nothing to cover for him.

Unable to calm her mind, Wen Ningshu immediately sought out Shen Liangyu.

"Don't you think that Liu Xiaohua and Shen Huaixi are unusually close?"

Hearing Wen Ningshu directly call Auntie Liu by her name for the first time in so many years, Shen Liangyu was momentarily taken aback and didn’t react immediately.

"She’s been taking care of him; it’s normal for them to be close, isn’t it?"

Shen Liangyu said casually, not taking the matter to heart at all.

Wen Ningshu furrowed her brows and recounted today's events to Shen Liangyu.

But Shen Liangyu still didn’t see any issue.

"These things might have been what Su Xingyao told Huaixi later; it doesn’t prove anything."

Seeing Shen Liangyu’s firm trust in Shen Huaixi, Wen Ningshu shook her head.

"But why would Liu Xiaohua say she forgot? She went to take care of Xingyao back then; how could she have forgotten..."

Wen Ningshu couldn’t convince herself otherwise.

Perhaps everything was just a coincidence.

But Auntie Liu’s abnormal behavior made it impossible for her not to suspect that she and Shen Huaixi had conspired in private long ago.

One to deceive them, and the other to deceive Fu Qingyan.

Shen Liangyu saw that Wen Ningshu's face looked very poor and finally began to take the matter seriously.

"So what do you mean?"

"It’s way too coincidental..."

Wen Ningshu recalled the scene and continued, "The hospital called about Xingyao. Shen Huaixi started complaining loudly, saying he had a psychological shadow and wanted to transfer hospitals and return to the country."

When the hospital called, she had intended to rush over to see Su Xingyao immediately.

But Shen Huaixi was acting as if he were scared to death, constantly speaking nonsense and looking especially unwell, keeping them from leaving.

Due to a language barrier, she didn’t know the extent of Su Xingyao’s injuries.

The nurse who called wasn’t clear either, only telling the family to go and settle the bill.

So, they had Auntie Liu, who had come along for no real reason, go and check on the situation.

"When Auntie Liu came back, she told us that Xingyao had trouble adjusting and it wasn’t a big issue."

Wen Ningshu shook her head in disbelief. "But Shen Huaixi had kept this from us and then told Fu Qingyan that Su Xingyao was hiding because he felt guilty."

It was all too ridiculous.

It was so absurd that she started to doubt the actual reason Su Xingyao had been hospitalized in the first place.

Wen Ningshu now deeply regretted it.

Why didn’t she go in person back then?

Why was she so biased toward Shen Huaixi that she didn’t even ask Su Xingyao a single thing before agreeing to return to the country...

Wen Ningshu closed her eyes, feeling a sharp pain in her head.

That was her biological son, and she had so easily ignored him, truly believing it was just a simple case of a reaction to the local environment...

Even after Su Xingyao came back, she didn’t ask him anything else.

Now, thinking back on those times, Wen Ningshu found it impossible to forgive herself.

As a mother, had she been too neglectful toward Su Xingyao...

She had silently promised herself that when she brought him back, she would make up for all the lost time and love him dearly...

But in the end, how had things turned out like this?

Thinking about these things, Wen Ningshu’s head ached terribly, and she found it hard to breathe.

Seeing her condition, Shen Liangyu immediately called the doctor.

Wen Ningshu hadn’t had an episode in many years.

After giving birth, she had suffered from severe postpartum depression.

So, during the three years that her biological son was with her, even after she recovered from her postpartum depression, she wasn’t as close to him as a normal mother would be.

The child may have sensed her emotions, always being cautious in front of her, even hesitating to ask for a hug, watching her face for any sign of approval.

And yet, this child, who desperately craved maternal love, had learned from a young age how to figure out ways to win her affection.

He saved the delicious food for Mom and the toys he liked for Mom.

Other kids would often throw tantrums, but he always had a sweet smile for his mother. Even if he fell and tears welled up in his eyes, he never uttered a cry.

He even went to the extent of comforting his mother, saying, "Mom, I'm fine, it doesn't hurt at all."

Then one day, this well-behaved child suddenly disappeared on a rainy night...

After that, no one called her Mom in front of her anymore.

As a result, Wen Ningshu became more severely ill, often suffering from severe headaches and unable to sleep through the night.

As soon as she closed her eyes, her child's voice echoed in her ears constantly. She almost every day felt guilty about her past emotional neglect of the child and regretted not taking better care of him...

Living in the shadow of her child's disappearance and self-blame, she even contemplated suicide at one point.

However, at her most desperate moment, Shen Huaixi came into her home.

She distinctly remembered that it was Su Xingyao's fourth birthday since he had gone missing.

Liu Xiaohua suggested she go to a temple to pray for the child.

That day, she drew an auspicious fortune stick, and the monk who interpreted it told her her wish would come true.

On her way back, she found the orphan Shen Huaixi not far from home.

The child, with teary eyes, looked at her and, again and again, tugged at her sleeve, timidly calling her Mom.

Mom, Mom...

At that moment, Wen Ningshu felt as though she was seeing her own child who had once loved her wholeheartedly and desperately longed for her embrace...

So she cradled the orphan in her arms in the pouring rain.

Shen Huaixi's personality and behavior as a child were remarkably similar to Su Xingyao's, and everything except for his appearance made her feel as though she had truly found her lost child...

For the next thirteen years, she gave all her love and compensation to him.

The regrets and guilt she had been avoiding seemed to be healed through her interactions with her adopted son.

Especially later, when Su Xingyao was unexpectedly found, Wen Ningshu even believed it was due to the karmic connection from adopting the child.

She believed Shen Huaixi was the little angel who came to save her, so she couldn't let him down.

However, now...

Wen Ningshu finally realized that everything might not be as she had thought.

With her illness showing, Wen Ningshu, looking pale, insisted on sharing her suspicions with Shen Liangyu while holding his hand.

"Go find Xingyao... I think Shen Huaixi... has been secretly bullying him."

Wen Ningshu's sickly appearance made Shen Liangyu feel extremely anxious.

He helped her lie down on the sofa and comforted her, saying, "There's nothing to worry about. Huaixi is just more sensitive and wants to gain more of our attention. Don't overthink it."

Clearly, Shen Liangyu hadn't taken his wife's words to heart.

Seeing his attitude, Wen Ningshu wanted to shake her head and deny it.

But her body was in extreme distress, and she could only cry silently, too choked up to say a word.

*

Fu Qingyan quickly arrived at the villa where the fire had broken out.

He never thought there'd come a day when he would return to this place that had nearly ruined his life.

He'd always believed he could never come to terms with the painful memories of that time.

However, as time went on, he now found himself standing on this land again.

Looking ahead, everything had changed over the past six years.

The villa that had burned down had long since been demolished and rebuilt.

New residents had taken up residence, and tall roses climbed up the walls.

The flowers and leaves blocked Fu Qingyan from seeing inside.

Like the truth that had been buried over time.

It all reminded Fu Qingyan that it was too late to find the truth now.

Fu Qingyan lingered there for a moment, and as he was leaving, he ran into a boy carrying a kitten.

"What are you doing at my doorstep?"

The little boy, about seven or eight years old, eyed Fu Qingyan with caution.

Seeing how tense the boy looked, and realizing he was being seen as a bad guy, Fu Qingyan bent down with an apologetic smile.

"Your place is really nice."

As he spoke, their eyes met.

It was a pair of extremely beautiful amber-colored eyes.

Exactly the same as Su Xingyao's.

Upon realizing this, Fu Qingyan stood frozen on the spot.

At that moment, his phone rang.

It was a call from the person he had been looking for.

"Let's meet, Mr. Fu. I've got something you asked me to investigate."

The other party arranged to meet at a hospital named Disi Luo.

Compared to the hospital where he had been treated after the fire, this one had much worse medical conditions.

In the small garden next to the hospital, Fu Qingyan found the person who had been helping him with his investigation.

They found a bench to sit on, and the person handed a stack of documents to him.

"This is the investigation report of the fire incident from back then."

Fu Qingyan didn't say anything, just flipped through the pages one by one.

His eyes soon landed on one particular page.

The private investigator saw what Fu Qingyan was looking at and immediately explained.

"This is the fire investigation record. The police here suspected it was caused by a deliberate electrical short circuit."

After saying this, the detective pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth but didn’t light it.

Fu Qingyan carefully read through the contents before coldly asking, "Explain in detail."

"It’s what you think it is. However, at the time, there wasn’t enough evidence. Since the incident wasn’t too severe, the police didn’t pursue it further."

The detective gave a roguish smile. "The police here on the island are a bit different from those on the mainland."

Given that explanation, Fu Qingyan didn’t press further.

But his heart grew cold.

Man-made?

There were only a few people in the villa. Who could it have been?

The detective seemed to sense his confusion and slowly spoke again, "Mr. Su wasn’t in the villa when the fire started, right?"

Fu Qingyan coldly replied, "It seems he went out."

The detective smiled. "Yes, he apparently went out to buy medicine."

The detective then handed a printed photo to Fu Qingyan.

"The daughter of the pharmacy owner apparently thought he was handsome and secretly took a picture of his back and posted it on social media."

The detective added with some pride, "It took a lot of effort to find this photo."

Fu Qingyan looked at the photo, his mouth pressed tightly together.

After a long while, he spoke, "I was sick at the time… He probably went to buy medicine for me."

The detective nodded meaningfully and spoke again.

"But he returned to the fire scene afterward and even got injured."

Fu Qingyan froze.

The detective dropped another bombshell.

"The day after the fire, the police got a report, finding him in the burned villa’s backyard, scorched and unconscious."

The documents slipped from Fu Qingyan’s hands and scattered across the floor.

Fu Qingyan stared at the detective in disbelief.

"What are you saying? He was burned too?"

Fu Qingyan said those words as if it took all his strength.

It wasn’t discovered until the next day…

The truths buried in the past were being unearthed one by one, and Fu Qingyan felt as if his insides were being shredded bit by bit at that moment.

The detective didn’t give Fu Qingyan any time to breathe and continued to hand him another file.

It was Su Xingyao's medical record from this hospital.

The sunlight on the island was bright, but it only blinded Fu Qingyan with dizziness.

In a wave of intense dizziness, he finally managed to make out a few lines describing Su Xingyao’s condition on the record.

Inhalation of smoke in the fire.

Extensive burns on his left shoulder and back.

Glass shards embedded in the soft tissue.

Multiple bruises on the soft tissues all over his body.

Fu Qingyan’s breathing suddenly became ragged.

The casual expression on Su Xingyao’s face when Luo Yiyuan read Xiao Xi’s medical record kept flashing in Fu Qingyan’s mind.

No wonder Su Xingyao said he had experienced a fire…

No wonder he could pinpoint that Xiao Xi had been injured by falling debris…

Each word on the medical record felt like a sharp needle, stabbing Fu Qingyan, making it impossible for him to bear reading it again.

Su Xingyao wasn’t hiding like Shen Huaixi said, nor was he suffering from altitude sickness like Auntie Liu mentioned.

In fact, he had been more severely injured in that fire than anyone else!

Why? Why…

Fu Qingyan’s lips turned white, and he clutched the medical record tightly in his hands.

“When did he come back… how… did he get injured?”

Seeing Fu Qingyan’s condition, the detective didn’t dare push him further. He sighed and stood up.

“The truth, perhaps, is known only to him.”

After a moment of stiffness, Fu Qingyan’s body went limp like a marionette with its strings cut, and he helplessly lowered his eyes.

The reason why Su Xingyao went back—hadn’t he already known the answer deep down?

Seeing how badly deteriorated Fu Qingyan’s condition was, the detective hesitated for a moment before offering some comfort.

“Mr. Fu, I’ve also contacted two nurses who cared for him. Perhaps… you can learn more about Mr. Su from them.”

As soon as the detective finished speaking, the two nurses he had contacted came in.

Fu Qingyan looked up and forced a smile, giving them a nod.

At first, the two nurses were a bit nervous, but with the detective’s guidance, they soon began recounting their memories of Su Xingyao’s treatment.

“He was quite severely injured and stayed unconscious for a long time.”

"But he was really tough. I never once heard him cry out in pain."

"Yes, I was a novice back then, and I wasn't very skilled at changing his dressings, but he actually comforted me."

"He was truly a very gentle person. In all my years of work, I've rarely encountered a patient like him."

"Unfortunately, his burns were so severe... He'll likely have scars forever."

The nurses' descriptions felt like a series of sharp slaps across Fu Qingyan's face.

Listening in silence to the two nurses' descriptions, he gently lifted his own burnt left hand.

Having experienced burns himself, he knew just how painful changing the dressings could be.

At that time, Su Xingyao was even more severely injured.

It's hard to imagine the amount of pain he endured at that time...

Seeing that Fu Qingyan's emotional state was deteriorating, the detective appropriately interrupted the nurses.

He cleared his throat, changed the subject, and asked carefully, "Excuse me, do you recall anything else? For example, was there something that stood out about this gentleman during his treatment here?"

After hearing the detective's words, the two nurses tried hard to recall.

"I only remember he was very handsome and gentle..."

One of the nurses said, and then the other suddenly took out her phone.

She glanced at her phone and then put it back in her pocket, offering an awkward smile.

"I forgot I've changed my phone."

She gathered her thoughts and then slowly continued, "But I do remember that when he first woke up, he borrowed my phone."

Upon hearing this, Fu Qingyan's eyes widened, and his body lunged forward in a sudden movement.

Struggling to contain his surging emotions, he stared at the nurse, his voice hoarse as he demanded, "What did he need the phone for?"

The nurse, clearly not expecting Fu Qingyan's intense reaction, quickly patted her chest and shook her head.

"I... I don't really know."

After saying that, she looked at Fu Qingyan, who had red eyes, as if he wouldn't give up until he got an answer. She thought hard and then continued.

"He might have been calling a family member or friend, but I can't recall."

The detective interjected, "Could you try to remember?"

The nurse nodded and then suddenly remembered something, excitedly saying to Fu Qingyan.

"I remember now, he seemed to be calling the same person repeatedly, but the calls were never answered."

Recalling the look of loneliness on Su Xingyao's face, the nurse's tone became somber.

"Because he borrowed my phone for several days in a row, and I noticed it was always the same number that went unanswered..."

"Later, he probably realized it wouldn't go through, so he stopped asking to borrow my phone."

But she couldn't resist complaining, "But I just don't understand, with such severe injuries, why didn't any family or friends come to visit him for such a long time..."

Fu Qingyan's body felt as if it had been mercilessly crushed by a giant wheel, every inch of his skin racked with excruciating pain.

During his hospital stay, he received calls from the same unknown foreign number for several consecutive days.

But at that time, he was too preoccupied with blaming Su Xingyao to answer them.

Thinking about the numerous calls the nurse had mentioned, Fu Qingyan used every ounce of strength just to keep himself from collapsing.

It turned out that Su Xingyao hadn’t been ignoring him.

Even though he was severely injured, the first thing he did upon waking was to call him!

His heart felt like it was being viciously gnawed at by thousands of ants.

The truth he had been seeking was brutally cruel.

The nurse's final words echoed repeatedly in Fu Qingyan's ears.

While he had irrationally hated Su Xingyao, despised him for his silence, and misunderstood why he never reached out,

Su Xingyao had endured all the pain alone, without anyone caring about him.

And yet, he didn’t complain once, and instead, tried to call him as soon as he woke up.

What must Su Xingyao have felt with each unanswered call?

After finally reconnecting upon returning to the country, only to be met with cold silence, what immense patience and courage did it take for him to try and explain?

Fu Qingyan felt like a total fool.

What right did he have to blame Su Xingyao? What right did he have to resent him for six long years?

Su Xingyao had always treated him and their friendship with complete sincerity.

He was the one who had betrayed and let down that friendship from the very beginning.

After returning to the country, Fu Qingyan was like a walking corpse.

He had once cruelly ridiculed Qin Mingchuan for desperately searching for Su Xingyao, thinking it was absurd.

But now, he was doing the same thing.

Someone who was once held in high regard was now, regardless of cost or appearance, searching the world for Su Xingyao.

But no matter how desperately he wanted to meet, apologize, and make amends,

he couldn't reach him at all. Even when he found his contact information, the phone was never answered.

Moonlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows into the living room.

Despite taking large doses of sleeping pills, Fu Qingyan still couldn’t sleep night after night.

As soon as he closed his eyes, all he saw was Su Xingyao, still wounded but eagerly trying to explain, only to be rejected again and again.

Those amber eyes that once sparkled with a gentle smile had lost their brilliance after countless hurts.

He must have been in so much pain.

The wound ached, but the heart ached even more.

The other person could still believe in him without hesitation, even when the whole world was against him.

But in the end, he hadn’t been willing to give him even a fraction of his trust...

Yet even though he had been so heartless, the other person still tried many times to mend their friendship.

However, all these attempts eventually turned into sharp thorns, leaving him wounded and devastated...

Fu Qingyan, completely drunk, opened his bloodshot eyes, feeling as if a dull blade was slicing through his heart.

The usually dignified man had never been so desolate and disheveled.

Leaning against the sofa, he picked up the photo he had torn in half before.

Fu Qingyan carefully stretched out his hands, trying to repair it perfectly.

"Xing Yao..."

"Xing Yao, I'm sorry..."

*

In the study of the Lu family's villa.

The assistant handed over all the gathered information to Lu Jiuxu.

"Mr. Lu, three groups of people have accessed Su Xingyao's medical records from that year."

Looking at the descriptions from the old medical records, Lu Jiuxu's eyes grew cold as he realized how Su Xingyao got the scar on his scapula.

Seeing that Lu Jiuxu said nothing, the assistant continued to report softly, “Among them, someone tried to purchase these medical records for destruction.”

"Who?"

The man uttered a single word, his icy tone lowering the air pressure in the room, the atmosphere chilling instantly.

"Shen Huaixi."

Just as the assistant finished speaking, a message popped up on Lu Jiuxu's WeChat.

Su Maomao: Mr. Lu, want to go see the pandas together sometime?

This message was like a powerful soothing agent.

The assistant noticed that the once irritable man instantly softened as he lowered his head to reply to the message.

"Got it, you can go back first."

After dismissing the assistant, Lu Jiuxu returned to his bedroom to change his clothes.

When he came back, Su Xingyao, wearing a simple white T-shirt, was already waiting for him downstairs.

Su Xingyao looked up at him, amber eyes bright and shining.