Hearing Yin Anran’s name brought up by Dong Wanqing, Mu Yu felt her skin prickle in surprise. “Yin Anran gave you those fruit gummies?” Mu Yu demanded with urgency.

“Yes!” On this, Dong Wanqing’s response was unwaveringly certain. It was with disbelief that she asked, “Was there really poison in those fruit gummies? And, Xi was poisoned because she ate those gummies? Are you sure? Could there be some sort of misunderstanding?”

Qin Jinhuan did not answer any of those questions but enquired instead, “Where did you buy those gummies?”

“The gummies aren’t sold at supermarkets or shopping malls. They were specially made at a workshop, and Anran happens to be a regular customer—she gets on well enough with the owner. Were the gummies really poisoned? My goodness!” Dong Wanqing looked horrified. “The owner must have not known that Anran meant for those gummies to be a gift. What if the owner was out to get Anran?”

“Wanqing!” Dong Yueyun cried out in interruption. “Did Yin Anran know you were going to give those gummies to Xi?”

“Of course, she did!” Dong Wanqing replied with conviction. “I was with her the other day when I saw her eating the gummies. I tried one and it was delicious, so I asked her where she got them. I told her Xi had a sweet tooth and I wanted to get them as a gift for her. All she told me was that the gummies were handmade at a workshop and that she would help me get them. She didn’t tell me where the workshop was. I didn’t think much of it then—it was convenient enough for me. A couple of days ago, Anran passed the gummies to me after work, and I called up Xi so she could come over to get them.”

Having said this, Dong Wanqing cried, “Aunt Yueyun, I had no idea that those gummies were poisoned! They really were meant to be a gift for Xi!”

Qin Xiaozhi’s patience had run thin, and he was now furious as he pointed an accusing finger at Qin Jinhuan. “This is all your fault! Keeping that vicious, ungrateful wench around—now look at what she’s done to your sister!”

Dong Yueyun was doubtful. “Our family has no qualms with Yin Anran. Why would she hurt my darling Xi?” she asked with suspicion.

“What if the person she was after was not Xi, but somebody else?” Qin Wentao suggested almost immediately.

“Who could it be?” Dong Wanqing sputtered, bewilderment clear on her face.

Dong Yueyun’s gaze lingered on Mu Yu for a brief moment. “I seem to recall Xi telling me that she would always share delicious goodies with her sister-in-law,” she began in a pensive voice.

“Oh, heavens!” Dong Wanqing cried in astonishment. “You mean someone wanted to hurt Mu Yu through Xi and me?”

Dong Yueyun’s hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. “Thank goodness Xi didn’t share the gummies with anyone this time! Particularly with Mu Yu! Oh, imagine how terrible it could have been!”

Qin Wentao chuckled lightly despite everything. “Don’t be so dramatic. Even if Xi had shared the gummies with Mu Yu, nothing drastic would have happened. At the very worst, Mu Yu would just have to get her stomach pumped, like Xi did.”

“Mu Yu is pregnant! Did you forget about that? She’s still in her first trimester—it’s barely been two months since she conceived!” Dong Yueyun sounded shrill as she reminded her husband of this fact. “If the poisoning had happened to Mu Yu, she would have lost the baby!”

“What? So that vicious Yin Anran was trying to harm my grandchild all this while?” Qin Wentao snarled, his face white with fury. “How despicable of her! How evil it is to want to harm an unborn child!”

“Oh, how awful!” Dong Wanqing exclaimed with her head in her hands. “Well, it’s a good thing that Mu Yu hadn’t taken those gummies. If she had, Xi and I would have been accomplices to feticide. The severity of that crime—”

“Shut up!” Qin Jinhuan snapped, breaking his silence. “All of you have been saying that Yin Anran was behind the poisoning, but did you actually see her spike the gummies? Does anybody have evidence of her lacing poison into those gummies?”

Dong Yueyun raised her brow. “The gummies were given to Wanqing by Yin Anran herself. If she wasn’t the one who poisoned the gummies, then who else could it be?” she retorted.

“The poisoned gummies were given to Xi by Dong Wanqing. It might not have been Yin Anran who spiked them,” Qin Jinhuan corrected, his voice growing cold.

Dong Wanqing faltered. “Huan, a-are you suggesting that I was the one who poisoned Xi?”

“No, I’m suggesting that you were the one who set out to poison my child,” Qin Jinhuan corrected again.

“No, no, no! It wasn’t me!” Panic-stricken, Dong Wanqing shook her head profusely, hands waving in protest. “It’s a sin to murder someone. I’d never hurt anybody—not Xi, not Mu Yu, and definitely not your child. I don’t have an evil bone in my body! How could I even do something as cruel as that? Grandpa, aunt, uncle—please, you have to believe me!”

Dong Wanqing was sobbing through the flurry of words, fearing that they would not believe her.

“You’re a good kid. I know you wouldn’t do anything so inhumane,” Dong Yueyun comforted, drawing Dong Wanqing into her arms. She then turned to look at Qin Xiaozhi, who was still fuming. “Dad, you’ve watched Wanqing grow up; you know her. She can be stubborn at times, and she may not have a way with words, but she’s so inherently kind that there’s no way she could be behind something so evil.”

“Besides…” Qin Wentao added in an attempt to be helpful, “she doesn’t have the guts.”

Qin Jinhuan scoffed. “You mean, she doesn’t have the brains?”

Angered by the mockery that belied Qin Jinhuan’s remark, Qin Wentao yelled, “What do you mean by that, Qin Jinhuan?”

“I think you know perfectly well what I meant.”

“Qin Jinhuan, you’d better be sure of what you’re saying, you—

“That’s enough! All of you…”

At that moment, the door to Qin Chengxi’s hospital room opened, and Qin Chengxi walked out with Shang Qi clutching her. “Grandpa,” she called out weakly.

Qin Xiaozhi paused, then hurried over to hold Qin Chengxi by the arm. He began guiding her toward the direction of the room with a pained look on his face. “You shouldn’t be getting up. You still need plenty of rest!”

“Grandpa, I have something to say.”

Her face was a ghastly shade of white, but Qin Chengxi tugged on her grandfather’s arm with all her might, refusing to turn back to where the room was. With all her exertion, Qin Chengxi’s legs began to cave under her weight, and she stumbled. Shang Qi reached out to steady her—his eyes were full of concern—but he did not urge her to return to her room. Instead, he stood by her in silent solidarity.

“Whatever it is, save it for after you’re done recuperating.”

“No, Grandpa, please…” Qin Chengxi pleaded, “let me say it here. It’s just a few words. It’ll be quick!”

“Xi, don’t push yourself.” Dong Yueyun had pushed forward and pried Shang Qi away, then her grip was on Qin Chengxi. She sounded like how a worried mother would be in these circumstances, but there was a warning undertone as she crooned, “Your body hasn’t really recovered from your last surgery, and now it’s been put through this horrible ordeal; if you put any more strain on yourself, you’ll fall sick! Be a good girl and listen to me: go back to your room and rest.”

“No! Mom, listen to me!” Qin Chengxi was determined, but her voice wavered. It probably had something to do with all those years of not speaking up for herself despite the adversities she faced. “Mom, please, I just have a few words. I’ll go back to the room when I’m done; I promise,” she bargained, sounding piteous.

“Xi…”

“Let her speak.”

Qin Xiaozhi spoke with a thunderous conclusiveness that made Dong Yueyun retreat. She clamped her mouth shut, then exchanged quick looks with Qin Wentao and Dong Wanqing. Her eyes shone, but she remained quiet nonetheless.

Qin Chengxi chewed on her bottom lip as her eyes turned nervously to Qin Jinhuan and Mu Yu. Her gaze then flickered over to where her parents stood with Dong Wanqing. There was a long pause before Qin Chengxi looked at the ground and said softly, “Huan, Mom, Dad… I heard everything you said while I was in the room. You’re all wrong. There was no poison in the gummies that Wanqing gave me. I was poisoned because… because… I wanted to kill myself.”

The words ‘I wanted to kill myself’ hung heavy in the air, and despite the lowered voice with which Qin Chengxi spoke, it was as though a bomb had detonated—everyone was feeling the shock waves. The stifling silence that came afterward lasted for what felt like an eternity before the hallway imploded.

“Xi, what are you saying?” Dong Yueyun and Qin Wentao’s angry voices overlapped.

“Why? Why did you want to kill yourself?” Shang Qi asked, unable to believe what he had just heard.

“Why would you put yourself through this again?” Mu Yu was saddened, and her chastising tone was filled with hurt.

“What in the world is going on? Has someone been pushing you again? Tell me who it is! I’ll put them in their place!” Qin Xiaozhi was turning a dangerous shade of crimson as his cane struck the tiles in a fit of fury. He casted an accusatory glare at Qin Wentao and Dong Yueyun.

“Dad, it wasn’t us! It had nothing to do with us.” Dong Yueyun feigned innocence, then turned to look at Qin Chengxi. “Xi, talk to me. What happened? You’ve been fine all this while. What made you have suicidal thoughts again?” she implored gently. Her tone switched to a demanding one when she asked, “Shang Qi, did you bully her?”

Shang Qi made no answer, and instead, he stared at Qin Chengxi with a conflicted expression—the hurt and confusion were evident in his eyes.

As of right now, a crowd had amassed within the hallway to witness the commotion. Rong Jian had been quiet all this while, but he sensed the urge to put a stop to this before it became an even bigger spectacle. He approached Qin Xiaozhi and whispered, “Grandpa, perhaps we should talk in the room? People are beginning to gather.”

Qin Xiaozhi looked around and saw what Rong Jian meant. “Everyone, in the room. Now,” he ordered. He led the way into the privacy of the hospital ward, followed by Shang Qi, who maintained a firm hold on Qin Chengxi. Dong Yueyun and her two companions tailed behind.

Mu Yu watched Qin Xiaozhi’s heavy footsteps and let out a sigh.

“Yu, perhaps we should—”

Lowering her head, Mu Yu decidedly ignored Qin Jinhuan and briskly walked into the room.

“Hey—” Qin Jinhuan’s hand now hung awkwardly in mid-air. He let it fall to his side, and made a noise of frustration before striding in.

“Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Huan, Yu, Shang Qi.” Qin Chengxi let her eyes fall upon each of them. She let her gaze linger on Shang Qi—her face was pale—then she bowed her head. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Xi,” Shang Qi began. He could think of nothing more than to blame himself for what had happened to Qin Chengxi, and now he clasped her hand as he felt his heart break. “Let me know what I’ve done wrong. You don’t have to take your own life. It won’t solve anything.”

“No, no! You’ve done nothing wrong. You’ve been wonderful—really, you have!” Qin Chengxi was desperate to convince him. She looked at him with tears in her eyes. “It’s not you; it’s me. I’m not good enough for you. You’re perfect in everything you do and I’m… not.”

“How could you even think that?”

“Shang Qi, let me finish,” Qin Chengxi pleaded, her voice cracking as tears rolled down her cheeks. She shifted herself so she could look at him better. “I was so scared that one day you’d finally realize how different we are, and that you’d leave me because of it. I was so afraid of what would happen when that day finally came and I didn’t think I could face it, so I… I…”

“You ran away instead of facing the problem! That is not how the Qin family works!” Qin Xiaozhi bellowed. “If you know you’re not good enough, why don’t you work on yourself? What use is there to run away from your problems?”

“I’m sorry, Grandpa. I was wrong to have done that,” Qin Chengxi apologized through her tears, addressing Qin Xiaozhi now. “I knew I made a mistake before I even passed out from the poison. I remember telling myself that I’d make sure to live my best life if I survived this. I’d work hard to be better than who I was so I could finally be good enough for Shang Qi. Grandpa, please help me put this matter to rest once and for all.”

Qin Xiaozhi instantly composed himself, and his gaze swept over the room with full authority. “Did everyone hear what Xi said? I’ll say it again: this suicide incident ends here. No one shall bring this matter up again, and I will not tolerate even the slightest mention of it! Well, Xi needs to catch up on some sleep now. You should all leave.”

Qin Jinhuan casted a sideways glance at Dong Yueyun and Qin Wentao, then scoffed. He reached for Mu Yu’s hand and prepared to leave the room, but was left surprised when she slapped his hand away and strode out of the room without him.

Exasperated, Qin Jinhuan trailed after her.

Meanwhile, Dong Yueyun and Qin Wentao regarded Dong Wanqing with a meaningful look. They were heading toward the door when Qin Xiaozhi’s voice echoed throughout the room. “Wanqing, Shang Qi, Qi Hao, leave the room. Yueyun and Wentao, both of you stay.”

Dong Yueyun and Qin Wentao froze at the Old Master’s orders. They turned back on their heels, frantic, and looked at Qin Xiaozhi with panic in their eyes.