My Lovely Wife is a Forensic Doctor - Chapter 237
Chapter 237 Poisoned
Li Xianglan let out a shriek. “Oh my goodness! What happened to Miss Qin?”
Mu Yu immediately dashed over and began examining Qin Chengxi.
“It looks like poisoning. Quick; get her to the hospital!”
Before she could finish speaking, Qin Jinhuan had picked up Qin Chengxi and was now running out of the room. Mu Yu followed closely behind him.
Qin Chengxi was soon in the emergency room at Fraternity Hospital.
“What in the world is going on? Xi was fine! How did she get poisoned all of a sudden?” Qin Xiaozhi roared outside the emergency room.
“Grandpa, please calm down. It’s probably a bad case of food poisoning,” Mu Yu said assuringly as she steadied the old man, worried that he might hurt himself in his state of panic.
“Is Xi’s life in danger?”
“No, of course not, Grandpa. Take a seat, and let’s try to remain calm.” Mu Yu eased him onto a chair and began rubbing his back in soothing circles.
Qin Chengxi’s symptoms were indicative of a clear case of poisoning, though the cause remained unknown. Through observation, it appeared that the poisoning was not serious, but while Qin Chengxi’s life would not be in danger, Mu Yu was unsure if the poison had any other side effects on the body.
“Yu, you’re not feeling unwell, are you?” Qin Xiaozhi suddenly cast an anxious glance toward Mu Yu.
“Me? I’m fine.”
“That’s good.” Turning his head to look at Qi Hao, Qin Xiaozhi gave his orders. “Go and find out from Lan and Zhongguang what Xi ate in the afternoon. Be thorough.”
Qin Chengxi had taken her lunch with Shang Qi earlier that day, and when Shang Qi had been called back to the office, Qin Chengxi was sent back home. She had not gone anywhere else since, and Shang Qi had not shown any signs of being unwell. From this series of events, Qin Xiaozhi deduced that Qin Chengxi’s case of food poisoning must have happened at home, and he had to find the source of it to prevent it from happening to the rest of the family.
“Yes, sir.”
Qi Hao was prepared to leave when Mu Yu called out to him, “Wait.”
Mu Yu then turned to look at Qin Xiaozhi. “Grandpa, I want to go back with Qi Hao.”
“Qi Hao will be fine on his own.” Qin Xiaozhi held her back gently. “You’re in no condition to go wandering about and touching things you shouldn’t.”
“But—”
“Yu!” Qin Jinhuan, who had been silent all this while, interjected with an urgent tone. “The snacks on our bed—was Xi the one who bought them?”
He had seen the snacks littered across the bed earlier, and, under the impression that Mu Yu was the one who bought them, he had teased her for being a glutton in the guise of a pregnant woman. ‘Xi brought them over’, Mu Yu had answered without much thought at the time.
At Qin Jinhuan’s question, Mu Yu now looked over at Qin Xiaozhi. “I think Grandpa bought those, right?”
“The ones on the coffee table?” When Mu Yu nodded in response, Qin Xiaozhi nodded in affirmation as well. “Qi Han and Lan bought those.”
Qi Han, who had been standing by the side, was affronted as he countered, “Aunty Lan and I got those from Heavenly Shopping Center.”
Qin Jinhuan ignored Qi Han and pressed on with his question to Mu Yu. “You had those snacks with Xi, didn’t you? What did you both eat?”
Mu Yu tried to recall. “All we had were the fruit gummies; you know, the sweet and chewy ones in the pretty packaging. It couldn’t have been those that gave her the food poisoning; I had quite a lot of those.”
“Fruit gummies?” Qi Han repeated, frowning. “We didn’t buy fruit gummies.”
Mu Yu thought about how Qin Chengxi had gushed over the sweets and was doubtful all of a sudden. “Perhaps… Xi bought them herself?”
“Go back right now and check my bedroom as well as Xi’s; see if you can find any of the fruit gummies that Mu Yu mentioned. If you find any, bring it for a lab test.”
“Yes, Young Master.” With that, Qi Hao left hurriedly.
Mu Yu eyed Qin Jinhuan questioningly. “If the fruit gummies were poisoned, how is it that I’m fine? I ate more than Xi did.”
Qin Jinhuan shook his head as he tried to think of an explanation. “Maybe it’s because everyone reacts differently to substances,” he finally said, though he was unsure.
“Hold up!” Mu Yu exclaimed as she recounted something. “When Xi left my room, she took the candy wrappers with her. Do you think that would be a cause for concern?”
“She took the candy wrappers?”
Mu Yu nodded. “I thought she might have a thing for collecting candy wrappers, especially since the ones for the fruit gummies were so pretty, and I didn’t think too much of it. Now, I’m beginning to wonder if there was something going on with that.”
Upon hearing this, Qin Jinhuan called Qi Hao’s phone and explained this new piece of information to him, then told him that it was imperative to bring those candy wrappers for a lab test.
After the phone call, Qin Jinhuan was about to dial Shang Qi’s number when he saw Shang Qi rushing over to where they stood. Qin Jinhuan pocketed his phone. “Did you buy fruit gummies for Xi?” he asked immediately; his tone was confrontational as he barred Shang Qi from walking any further.
Shang Qi, now covered in a sheen of perspiration, ignored his question and demanded, “How’s Xi? How did she even get food poisoning?”
“Food poisoning? Who told you it was food poisoning?”
Shang Qi was flustered. “What? Is the poisoning not food-related? Was there someone trying to poison Xi?”
Qin Jinhuan’s expression shifted, but he said nothing as he stepped aside to let Shang Qi pass. Shang Qi did not press on with any more questions and ran over to the doors of the emergency room, peering inside. When he could not see anything, Shang Qi rushed to where Qin Xiaozhi sat and began to bombard him with a flurry of questions. “Grandpa, how’s Xi doing? What happened? She was fine when I dropped her home after lunch!”
Qin Xiaozhi did not answer his questions. “When you brought her home, did you buy her snacks or anything of the like?”
“Snacks? No. There was an important meeting I had to get ready for so I went back to the office after dropping Xi home.”
Qin Jinhuan nodded and did not press further. “Xi should be fine.” He said nothing more after that.
Shang Qi shifted his gaze toward the emergency room again, knowing that everyone was likely thinking about the same thing as he was, he did not follow up with any more questions. He stayed by the doorway of the emergency room and barely moved.
Mu Yu and Qin Jinhuan had seemingly retired from further discussing the poisoning incident. Instead, they sat waiting; their expressions were somber. It was of little use to take wild guesses as to the how’s and the why’s—it would be better for them to demand an explanation from Qin Chengxi herself once she was out of the emergency room.
Half an hour later, the doors to the emergency room swung open. When it was certain that Qin Chengxi had only suffered from mild poisoning and that her life would not be in danger, everyone let out sighs of relief.
Mu Yu and Shang Qi flanked Qin Xiaozhi as the trio followed the hospital cot that was now wheeled into the VIP ward. Qin Xiaozhi stopped the doctor in his tracks and asked for more details on the poisoning.
Qin Chengxi lay in the hospital bed in Room 7 of the VIP ward; her face was still ashen and her eyes were half-open. She looked drained.
“Xi, how are you feeling?” Qin Xiaozhi asked with a worried expression.
“Grandpa, I—”
“Don’t move! You need rest!” Rong Ying, who had been standing by the bed, reached out to gently, but firmly, keep Xi in a lying position.
“Ying—” Qin Chengxi broke out in a fit of cough.
“Xi, how are you feeling? Are you in pain?” Shang Qi pushed forward and took Qin Chengxi’s hand in his, casting her a pained look as he half-knelt by the bedside.
Qin Chengxi forced a weak smile. “I’m fine. Just a bit of pain in the stomach and the throat…”
Rong Ying’s voice was soft. “That’s stomach-pumping for you. All you need is a bit of rest.”
Rong Ying then glanced up at Qin Xiaozhi. “Grandpa, Xi will be fine. A couple of days’ rest and she’ll be okay. Don’t worry.” She reassured him with a comforting tone.
“Xi—”
“Xi…” Qin Jinhuan interrupted, his words cutting over Qin Xiaozhi’s, “where did you get the fruit gummies?”
Earlier, the doctor had confirmed that the source of the poisoning was the fruit gummies.
“I—” Qin Chengxi’s face scrunched up as she broke out into yet another coughing fit.
“Xi!” Hastily, Shang Qi propped Qin Chengxi into an upright position and began patting her back gently to ease the coughs.
Rong Ying was rubbing Qin Chengxi’s chest in circles, and in a low voice, she told her not to speak. She looked up at Qin Jinhuan. “Huan, perhaps you should save your questions for later. She needs to get some rest.”
Qin Jinhuan made no protest, but his gaze was fixed on Qin Chengxi. She avoided his eyes and said nothing; her head was lowered as another fit of coughing took over her. Xi sneaked little glances up at them, but those were retracted just as quickly.
Afraid that Qin Chengxi would cough herself into a stupor, Shang Qi anxiously asked Rong Ying what should be done. Rong Ying merely suggested that Qin Chengxi needed rest, and asked all of them to leave the ward.
“The weather’s cold today. Bring Grandpa home. Shang Qi and I will take care of Xi.”
Qin Jinhuan and Mu Yu exchanged looks, then, without another word, helped Qin Xiaozhi out of the ward. Qin Xiaozhi, sensing something, took note of Qin Chengxi and her eyes that shone with tears, and left the room without protest.
The three of them had only just come out from the ward when they bumped into Rong Jian. “Grandpa, Huan, I just heard. How’s Xi?”
“Food poisoning. She’s fine now,” Qin Jinhuan answered stoically.
“Food poisoning? What did she eat that could…” Refusing to entertain the thought that someone had deliberately poisoned Qin Chengxi, Rong Jian let his sentence hang in mid-air.
“Maybe it was just something that went bad…” Qin Jinhuan trailed off the moment his phone started ringing. He answered Qi Hao’s call and listened as Qi Hao informed him that he had found the wrappers for the fruit gummies in Qin Chengxi’s bedroom and that he had sent them to the lab for tests to be carried out.
Rong Jian could just make out the words spoken over Qin Jinhuan’s phone. With a stricken expression, Rong Jian stammered, “Someone poisoned Xi with drugged candies?”
Qin Jinhuan put his phone back into his pocket. “I don’t think it was Xi they were after.”
“If it’s not Xi, then…”
“Then, it’s probably me,” Mu Yu continued.
“You?!” Rong Jian was taken aback, then composed himself. “Could it be…”
Suddenly remembering that Qin Xiaozhi was still with them, Rong Jian cleared his throat. He certainly did not want to stress him out with whatever he was about to say.
Qin Xiaozhi was stronger than they thought. With both his hands on his cane, Qin Xiaozhi was grim as he listened to their conversation. “You think the poisoned fruit gummies have something to do with Wentao or Yueyun wanting to hurt Mu Yu?”
Noting that Grandpa seemed fine with this theory, Qin Jinhuan decided to be frank. “Xi is a terrible liar, and you saw the look in her eyes back there. She didn’t want to hurt Mu Yu, but she couldn’t let her parents down, so the only thing she could do was eat those poisoned candies herself.”
Qin Xiaozhi was quiet as he processed what Qin Jinhuan had just said, then sighed. “You’ve agreed to split the assets with Xi, and you’ve been good to her all this while. Logically speaking, Wentao and Yueyun would have no reason to hurt Mu Yu. It won’t do them any good at all if they were discovered to be behind this.” His disbelief was evident.
Qin Jinhuan scoffed. “Maybe they weren’t trying to hurt Mu Yu. Maybe they were going after the baby.”
“No! They wouldn’t do that,” Qin Xiaozhi denied vehemently.
“Why not? Once my child is born, it would mean that Xi would lose out on a huge cut of the assets. We don’t know how far Wentao and Yueyun would go for money. I shouldn’t have been lenient with them the last time!”
“Huan…”
“Xi! Where’s my daughter?”
At this moment, Dong Yueyun’s cry came from around the corner. Qin Jinhuan’s face darkened and he glowered at the direction from which the cries came.
“Huan!” Dong Yueyun already saw him and came running to him nervously. “Where’s Xi?”
Tailing her was Qin Wentao. He was out of breath as he asked, “How could Xi be poisoned?”
Qin Jinhuan shot them a cold, humorless smile. “Wouldn’t the both of you know that better than I would?”
“Excuse me?” Dong Yueyun snapped, bewildered. “Why would we know that? We haven’t seen Xi for days!”
Qin Jinhuan’s glare shifted over to where Dong Wanqing lingered behind the out-of-breath couple. “Didn’t you ask Dong Wanqing to pass the poisoned fruit gummies to Xi?” he demanded.
“Fruit gummies?” Dong Yueyun furrowed her brows and she looked doubtful. “You mean the fruit gummies that Wanqing gave to Xi were poisoned? Xi was poisoned from eating those fruit gummies?”
A slow realization dawned upon Dong Wanqing. “You’re saying that the fruit gummies—the ones in the colorful wrappers—are what caused the poisoning?” she questioned in shock.
“Yes!” Mu Yu answered firmly while her lips were pressed into a thin line.
“How could that be? How could the sweets be poisoned?” Dong Yueyun’s hand flew to cover her mouth in astonishment. “Anran was the one who gave me those sweets. I heard that Xi loved them too, so I gave them to her!”
“Anran?” Qin Jinhuan was stunned.
This incident actually had to do with Yin Anran?