“My sister would never murder someone! Mrs. Qin, Huan, you guys must have gotten it wrong!” Feng Qiqi cried.

“Yes, yes. We got it all wrong. It was all a mistake. Don’t cry, Qiqi.” Mu Yu quickly rushed forward to explain herself. But Feng Qiqi shoved her away as she continued crying. “I want to see my sister, Mrs. Qin.”

“Your sister’s still getting an IV drip; you’d scare her if you barged in like that.” Qin Jinhuan quickly stopped Feng Qiqi as he gently spoke to the young girl. “Your hand is not fully healed yet, so you shouldn’t be roaming around.”

Feng Qiqi brushed her tears off as she spoke. “Huan, my hand’s fine, and I won’t make any noise. I just want to see my sister, okay? I promise not to disturb her!”

“Okay. Come here.” Qin Jinhuan gently held onto Feng Qiqi’s shoulders before guiding her over to the glass window that allowed them to observe the insides of the room. “Your sister has been overworking herself recently. The doctor said that she needs to get more rest.”

With the window separating the two sisters, Feng Qiqi stared at Feng Rubing—who was in a deep slumber—for a long while. The young girl then turned around with tears in her eyes. “Is she overworked because of her job, or because of me?”

“It’s definitely her job!” he insisted.

“Then what were you guys talking about just now? Why did you say my sister was a murderer?” she continued asking.

“You got it wrong; that’s not what we said. We were simply analyzing the whole case,” Qin Jinhuan explained.

“Really?” she asked.

“Have I ever lied to you?” he asked in return.

Feng Qiqi shook her head. However, she then continued questioning him as she still felt a little worried. “Are you sure you guys didn’t call my sister a murderer just now?”

Qin Jinhuan replied with a question. “Do you think your sister would murder someone?”

“Of course not!”

“Then what are you worried about?” he asked with a grin.

“I just feel like I heard you guys talking about my sister being a murderer!” Feng Qiqi insisted.

Mu Yu interrupted their conversation right then. “Your sister didn’t murder anyone, but we have a few reasons to list her as one of our suspects…”

“Yu!” Qin Jinhuan exclaimed. Mu Yu ignored his protests as she turned to Feng Qiqi and continued, “However, don’t worry; we’re trying our best to prove your sister’s innocence right now.” Mu Yu personally thought that it’d be better not to hide anything from Feng Qiqi now, especially since Feng Rubing was in such an unstable state. If Feng Qiqi were to say anything that triggered her sister by accident, it would only make things worse.

Feng Qiqi was shocked to hear this. “What’s going on? How did my sister become a suspect?”

“It’s a long story. You don’t need to know all the answers; you just need to believe that we’ll find proof of your sister’s innocence,” Mu Yu answered.

Feng Qiqi stared at the older woman for a few seconds before she burst into tears. “Well, what happens if you guys fail to prove my sister’s innocence? Wouldn’t my sister have to bear the crime of being a murderer, then? Will you guys shoot my sister to death if that happens? There’s a death penalty for being a murderer, right?!”

“Don’t cry! Don’t cry!” Mu Yu quickly pulled Feng Qiqi over to the end of the walkway as she was afraid that the noise would awaken Feng Rubing. “Don’t worry; your sister’s going to be fine!” she consoled the young girl.

“But I am worried! Previously, I unintentionally overheard Ying making a call behind my back. I heard her talking about my sister being ill, and I thought that she was hiding it from me because she had some sort of terminal illness. That was the reason I sneakily followed Ying over to find out more my sister’s condition—I hadn’t expected to find out that my sister’s a murder suspect instead! Mrs. Qin, my sister’s the only family I have left! I don’t want anything bad to happen to her!” Feng Qiqi was inconsolable at this point. “Although I often argued and quarreled with her—although I always made her angry—I still love her a lot! I can’t live without her!”

“I know, I know. Don’t cry.” Mu Yu felt her heart aching as she wiped the girl’s tears. “Even if you don’t trust me, you should at least trust Rong Jian and Huan, right? They’re all trying their best to help your sister.”

Feng Qiqi sniffed suspiciously. “I haven’t even seen Rong Jian in the past few days. I don’t know where he is.”

“He traveled away to hunt for evidence of your sister’s innocence,” Mu Yu explained.

“Did he find any?”

Mu Yu was left speechless at this point. “He’ll find it soon,” Qin Jinhuan said. He finally understood Mu Yu’s intentions.

“Will that immediately show that my sister’s innocent?” the young girl asked.

“Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, your sister’s going to be fine,” he reassured her.

“Really?”

“Of course!” Mu Yu nodded quickly. “Huan’s really impressive, and he’s a man of his word.”

“I trust you, Huan.” Feng Qiqi finally calmed down a little. She sniffed softly as she glanced toward Feng Rubing’s ward with a worried and guilty expression on her face. “It explains why I haven’t seen my sister for a few days. I really thought she was busy with work; I even lost my temper when she called me during my birthday a few days ago. I was angry because she didn’t spend time with me on my birthday, and I even hung up on her. I was so immature.” She covered her face with her hands and began to sob again.

Mu Yu edged forward to hug and comfort her. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know anything about your sister’s situation. You were only angry at her for missing your birthday because you care about her a lot, right? Your sister only hid this from you because she loved you and didn’t want to scare you or make you worried. Ultimately, the two of you clearly care about one another. I feel envious just looking at the relationship you two have,” she uttered.

“I know my sister cares about me. I just don’t like it when she keeps ordering me around; it makes me feel like I can never satisfy her wishes.” Feng Qiqi heaved a sigh. “If anything, it’s because our age gap is too huge! There’s a 16-year gap between the two of us! If we were living in the past, she totally could have been my mother! No—I heard that young girls used to get married when they were 12 or 13 in the past; she could have been older than my mother! Ha! It’d be surprising if we shared similar views and personalities!” she exclaimed.

Mu Yu chuckled at the sight of Feng Qiqi’s comical manners of sighing. She then pointed toward Qin Jinhuan as she teased him. “Huan’s 2 or 3 years older than your sister; if your sister could be your mother, then wouldn’t he be your father at his age? You shouldn’t be calling him Huan anymore.”

“What should I call him, then?” Feng Qiqi asked, stunned.

“Uncle Huan.”

Feng Qiqi burst into laughter as she quickly ran over to hug Qin Jinhuan’s arm with a sly grin. “No, thanks. Huan isn’t that old.”

“But he’s 2 or 3 years older than your sister!” Mu Yu insisted.

“He’ll always be a handsome, 18-year-old young boy to me! If I were at a legal age, I’d definitely pester him all the time until he fell in love with me!” Feng Qiqi then flashed a smirk at Mu Yu. “Don’t get mad, Yu; there are two conditions that have to be satisfied before I go for Huan. Firstly, I have to be of legal age. Secondly, it had to be before he met you.”

Qin Jinhuan chuckled as he interrupted them, “Since you’re not legal and I’m married to Yu, I don’t mind you calling me ‘uncle’.”

“No!” Feng Qiqi’s face turned serious as she reminded them. “How could you guys forget that Rong Jian is supposed to be my brother-in-law? He’s your solid partner and brother, Huan; if I call you uncle but call him my brother-in-law, wouldn’t that be confusing in terms of seniority?”

“That’s true! You can’t jumble that up!” Mu Yu laughed as she agreed with Feng Qiqi’s words. Seeing that they had successfully diverted Feng Qiqi’s attention, Qin Jinhuan then urged the young girl to go back and get some rest. “Qiqi, we’ve been really busy with your sister’s case, which may explain why we don’t have the time to take care of you. Don’t be too stubborn about this; you have to be obedient and take good care of yourself so that you recover soon, alright?”

“I will!” Feng Qiqi nodded furiously. “Huan, Yu, I understand why you guys don’t allow me into my sister’s ward. She didn’t want me to know about her situation because she didn’t want me to worry about her, so I’ll pretend that I don’t know anything at all. I won’t let her worry about me at all,” she began to tear up a little as she spoke.

“Don’t cry! Don’t worry; your sister’s going to be fine!” Mu Yu said.

“We’ll make sure that she’s fine,” Qin Jinhuan added.

Feng Qiqi stared at them, teary-eyed. “I trust you both!”

Mu Yu pulled her in for a hug. “Let me send you back to the villa.”

“It’s fine. I can go home by myself.” Feng Qiqi stopped her from coming along. “Yu, Huan, I’ll be obedient, and I’ll take care of myself from now on. I won’t trouble you guys or my sister, but I hope that you guys can take good care of my sister for now! I’ll definitely repay you guys when I grow up!” Tears began to stream down her face again. But before Mu Yu could wipe her tears, Feng Qiqi wiped them off with her own sleeves before she sniffed and looked up at the two adults. “Thank you, Yu; thank you, Huan. Thank you for all your hard work.” She waved at them and turned toward the elevator without looking back.

Mu Yu felt her heart shattering at the sight of the young girl drying her own tears, and she heaved a long sigh before turning to Qin Jinhuan after Feng Qiqi stepped into the elevator. Qin Jinhuan initially thought of convincing Mu Yu to head home, but he now knew that she would definitely refuse to do so. He therefore gave up on the thought and instead led her over to the ward next door—Rong Ying had prepared an area for them to rest there.

“I’ll go take a look at Madam Feng first,” Mu Yu said as she strode toward Feng Rubing’s ward. Feng Rubing was still fast asleep as she was receiving the IV drip. The nurse that Rong Ying had specially arranged to care for Feng Rubing quickly stood up and greeted Mu Yu as she walked in.

“Is she alright?” Mu Yu asked quietly as she stepped toward Feng Rubing’s bedside. The nurse shook her head slightly. “She’s better than before, I guess. She’s not shouting and wailing in fear any longer, but she cried a while ago.”

“She cried? Did she wake up?”

“No. She cried in her sleep. It was a really silent cry, as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear her crying. It hurt me to watch her like that. Oh, she also called for her grandmother,” the nurse replied.

“What?” Mu Yu seemed surprised.

“But she’s silent now. I just measured her temperature, and it’s back to normal. I guess she must’ve been too exhausted. I’m sure she’ll get better with a little more rest,” the nurse replied.

“Okay. Thanks,” Mu Yu said.

“No worries; it’s my job. Go ahead and get some rest. I’ll be here to take care of things.”

“Alright. We’ll just be next door. You can call us if anything happens,” Mu Yu uttered.

“Alright.”

Mu Yu felt a little more at ease once she saw how Feng Rubing’s breathing seemed to have stabilized. Qin Jinhuan stepped ahead of her and opened the door to leave the ward, as they both decided to get some rest in the adjacent room. However, a figure hastily barged into the door right as they opened it, and the figure collided headfirst with Qin Jinhuan.

“I’m sorry…” the figure said.

“Rong Jian?!” Qin Jinhuan was shocked. “Why are you back here?!”

Rong Jian couldn’t be bothered to answer him as he speedily walked toward the bed before lowering himself to take a good look at Feng Rubing. Mu Yu quickly followed behind him as she gently spoke to him. “Madam Feng’s alright. Don’t worry, Chief Rong.”

“Ying said that she needs rest, so don’t wake her up just yet. We can talk in the room next door.” Qin Jinhuan’s voice was just as gentle.

“Alright.” Although Rong Jian agreed, he still seemed reluctant to leave the room as his worried gaze lingered on Feng Rubing for a long while. Eventually, he looked away and followed Mu Yu and Qin Jinhuan into the room next door.

Mu Yu only realized how terrible Rong Jian looked when they entered the adjacent room. His hair was a mess; the stubble on his face was unshaved, his eyes bloodshot, and his clothes were wrinkly. He looked completely different from the Chief Rong that she knew.

Qin Jinhuan spoke up before she did. “Didn’t you find anything after spending a few days there?”

“I didn’t find anything huge, but I guess I did find out about some stuff.” Rong Jian’s voice was hoarse as he spoke. “I found something really odd.”