Chapter 292 A Meeting for Denunciation?

Coming their way was Qin Xiaozhi, who supported himself with his walking stick while Mu Ziyao and Hu Meiling followed him. However, Qin Xiaozhi’s worry for Mu Yu kept him from noticing the strange look on Bian Zijun’s face. “How is Yu?”

Bian Zijun hurriedly ushered them to the ward before speaking. “The doctor said that Young Mistress’ problem isn’t serious, but it will take some time to nurse her back to health.”

When Qin Xiaozhi saw no one else in the ward but Mu Yu and a nurse, his face darkened at once. “Where is Huan?”

“Boss…” When he did not hear anything from the ward behind him, Bian Zijun pointed back with some hesitation. Then, he lied, “Boss didn’t sleep last night and was very sleepy, so he went inside just now to take a nap.”

Only then did Qin Xiaozhi say nothing else. After seeing that Mu Ziyao and his wife had already rushed into Mu Yu’s ward, he immediately quickened his pace and went inside as well.

“Dad, Mom, Grandpa! All of you are here.” Mu Yu was dozing off in bed at first, but she heard the noise and hastily sat up. However, it made her stretch the wound on her waist, causing her to instantly give a gasp of pain.

“Be careful and stay still!” reminded Mu Ziyao as he quickly rushed over to Mu Yu and held her down. On the other hand, Hu Meiling stood aside and wept with heartache while saying, “What on earth happened? Your old wounds haven’t healed yet, yet you’ve injured yourself again. You’re so neglectful of your health!”

“Don’t do this, Mom. I’m fine.” Mu Yu forced a smile and tugged at the corner of her mother’s shirt despite her pain.

Mu Ziyao sighed. “You should look at yourself in the mirror first, you silly girl. How could you coax us into believing you’re fine with such a sickly complexion? We still have excellent eyesight, you know.”

“Which part of your body did you hurt this time? Let me take a look.” Qin Xiaozhi stood at Mu Yu’s bedside while looking her up and down with an anxious expression.

Meanwhile, Mu Yu grimaced and said, “It’s nothing, Grandpa. I just got a scratch on my waist.”

“On your waist?! How could you hurt your waist?” Qin Xiaozhi was shocked. “Is the wound deep? How severe is it? What did Ying say about it?”

“Don’t worry, Grandpa. It’s just an external injury, so it’s not serious at all. It’ll heal in a few days.”

Obviously, Qin Xiaozhi didn’t believe Mu Yu’s understatement, for he immediately ordered Qi Hao to call in Mu Yu’s attending physician for questioning. “It’s not necessary, Grandpa. I’m really fine, and I’m not the one who said it—Ying did. In fact, she…” Mu Yu spoke, but she could only quiet down when she saw that Qi Hao had gone out under Qin Xiaozhi’s orders.

Just then, Hu Meiling sat down next to Mu Yu and took the latter’s hand as she reproved with a choke in her voice, “Don’t blame me for lacking political awareness, Yu. You’re only a coroner, not a professionally trained front-line police officer. Why should you put yourself in the forefront of everything like a police officer? Don’t you know that it’s dangerous to do so?”

Mu Ziyao immediately chimed in, “You are our only child. How do you think we’re going to live on if anything untoward happens to you?”

Qin Xiaozhi immediately followed as he admonished, “You aren’t strong enough as a lady in the first place, and now you’re wounded. Even if something serious happens, it shouldn’t be your turn to fight. Just let Huan take care of it if the police can’t do their job. He’s got plenty of capable people around him.”

Mu Yu knew that they all cared about her, so she nodded with a smile. “All right, I got it. I’ll take care of it next time.”

Hu Meiling immediately ordered in a stern voice, “Such a thing mustn’t happen again! I’m telling you, Yu, I’m the one who brought you into this world, so you’re not allowed to neglect your life without my permission!”

“Yes, yes, yes. I’ll obey your command, Your Majesty.”

Hu Meiling poked Mu Yu in the forehead as hard as she could in anger. “All you know is to put on that light-hearted grin of yours. You’re never serious in your attitude whenever we talk to you.”

“Be gentle!” reminded Mu Ziyao as he hastily grabbed his wife’s hand. “Yu is currently a wounded patient!”

Only upon seeing how Mu Yu covered her forehead with her face contorted in a grimace of pain did Hu Meiling realize she had poked her daughter’s forehead a little too hard. Since she felt sorry for Mu Yu, she immediately retracted her finger and caressed her daughter’s forehead gently instead. Still, she couldn’t suppress her anger as she chastised, “We’re the only ones who treat her as a wounded patient. She even forgot about her pain despite not recovering from her wounds yet. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have run faster than a hare when she heard that someone needed to be rescued.”

Mu Yu leaned slightly forward and held her mother’s arm with a giggle. “I didn’t run there, Mom. I walked.”

“I’ll beat you up if you banter again!” Instead of striking Mu Yu, Hu Meiling merely raised her hand fiercely in a threatening gesture this time.

“Please spare me, Mom! I’ll never do that again.” Mu Yu held her hands to her ears as if begging for mercy.

“I simply don’t know what to do with you. You’re already in your twenties, but you’re always making your dad and I worry. I wonder when you’ll really grow up,” Hu Meiling chided angrily as she gently adjusted the soft pillow behind Mu Yu to help the latter find the most comfortable lying posture.

Just then, Qi Hao and Mu Yu’s attending physician came in together. The doctor knew Qin Xiaozhi and greeted him politely before telling him briefly about Mu Yu’s condition.

Only upon learning that her injuries weren’t as severe as he had imagined did Qin Xiaozhi sigh with relief. When the doctor left the ward, he immediately put on an angry face and spoke right after Hu Meiling. “Yu shouldn’t be blamed for these recent happenings. If someone must be blamed, Huan should be blamed for not doing everything in his power to take care of Yu and protect her. If he had been more attentive to her well-being, she wouldn’t have been wounded again and again. He has done a poor job as her husband!”

“This is none of Huan’s business, Grandpa. I was the one who…”

“Just stop covering up for him. How could I not know what kind of a person he is? All he cares about is his work and nothing else.”

“This really isn’t Huan’s fault, Grandpa. I should be blamed for being careless. Please be rest assured, though. Whatever I’ll do in the future, I’ll be very careful not to let you all worry about me again.”

“Who’d believe your words? You wouldn’t have hurt yourself again this time if you had kept your word!” Hu Meiling interjected just in time. “How could I not know what kind of a person you are? You make empty promises when everything is fine, but you immediately forget about our advice and exhortations once you want to do something.” As she spoke of this, she turned to Qin Xiaozhi and spoke in defense of Qin Jinhuan. “That’s why Yu should be blamed for this, Old Master Qin, not Huan. Just think about it—she usually appears to be afraid of me, yet she still turns a deaf ear to my warnings at the critical moment. Moreover, Huan consistently spoils her so much. She has become arrogant from being spoiled, so she definitely wouldn’t take his words seriously. As such, the pain and injuries from which she suffers today are the results of her own actions. Huan shouldn’t be blamed for this.”

Qin Xiaozhi disagreed with her, though. “It’s a good thing for a young lady to have a temperament, a personality, and a mind of her own. The fact that she didn’t take Huan’s words seriously proves that his words aren’t quite reasonable. Since he wasn’t being reasonable and didn’t do a good job of protecting her, it must be his fault.”

“It’s Yu’s fault for being fond of going beyond her depth, so she should be blamed instead.”

“No, Huan should be blamed. It’s his fault—”

“It’s not a single person’s fault! Both of them are at fault, so both of them must be lectured!”

Hu Meiling was startled for a moment before she immediately agreed with Mu Ziyao. “Yeah, that’s right. Both of them are at fault, but it’s more Yu’s fault than Huan’s. Yu must be taught a harsher lesson!”

Qin Xiaozhi nodded, for he also thought Mu Ziyao’s words sounded reasonable. “Yeah. Both of them are at fault, but it’s obvious that the fault is mostly Huan’s. He must be taught a harsher lesson!”

Seeing how Qin Xiaozhi and Hu Meiling began another round of denunciation with their words neatly paralleling each other, Mu Yu unconsciously covered her mouth and burst out laughing while Mu Ziyao followed suit. It was only then did Qin Xiaozhi and Hu Meiling realize something, for they exchanged glances and laughed too.

Then, Hu Meiling gently poked Mu Yu in the forehead and advised earnestly, “Your grandpa and I are being serious, so you have to listen to our words! Don’t keep making us worried by doing something simple-minded. You’d only suffer from bodily pain if you put yourself at a disadvantage and get fooled or hurt, but our hearts would ache!” As she finished her sentence, she began wiping her tears again. “Yihan should be blamed, after all. Out of all professions, why did he encourage you to pursue a career as a forensic doctor? It sounds creepy for a fine lady to hold a scalpel and deal with dead bodies and murder cases all the time. Don’t you think it’s good to seriously apply for a civilian post, sit obediently in the office, and be a laid-back lady instead?”

“Why are you putting the blame on Yihan? Has it ever crossed your mind that Yu wouldn’t even have been admitted to the university without Yihan’s help?” Mu Ziyao refuted his wife’s words at once. “Besides, Yu became a forensic doctor not because Yihan encouraged her to, but because she was bent on becoming one to help the police catch criminals and keep the people safe. Hey, didn’t you support her choice vigorously back then?”

Hu Meiling curled her lips immediately. “I was too happy back then since she had just gotten over the shadow that haunted her for so many years, so how could I have the nerve to say even a word of disapproval? It never occurred to me back then that she would become a forensic doctor for real, not to mention the consequences of her becoming one. Had I foreseen that she would do something dangerous at the drop of a hat in the future after joining this profession, I’d rather she stayed in that small room for the rest of her life without getting over her psychological trauma.”

Her words displeased Mu Yu somewhat. “Mom! You—”

“Don’t accuse me of being selfish,” Hu Meiling interrupted her. “In any case, it would’ve been safer for you to stay in that small room, for I wouldn’t need to have my heart in my mouth every single day for your sake as I do right now. I could see you anytime if I miss you. By contrast, I have to call you in advance and agree on a time to meet you these days. When you ate at home in the past, your father’s dishes were not only balanced in diet and nutrition but also colorful, aromatic, and delicious. He doesn’t even have the mood to cook nowadays, so he just makes a few casual stir-fry dishes for him and me to make do with. This is really—”

As Qin Xiaozhi was present, Mu Ziyao immediately nudged his wife as he teased with a simper, “I didn’t expect you to be so fond of good food, honey. I’ll cook a tableful of dishes for you as compensation when we go back today. Is that okay with you?”

“I’m not fond of good food!” Hu Meiling darted an angry glare at Mu Ziyao and was choked up again for a moment. “I just feel upset deep down inside. Just think about it—our lives have become so miserable ever since Yu got married. How are we going to keep on living if anything bad happens to her?” Perhaps because the anxious nerve deep inside her had been touched, Hu Meiling unexpectedly burst out crying like a child when she finished her speech.

“Don’t do this, Mom! I promise you that I’ll never do anything risky in the future! I’ll definitely think twice before doing anything, okay?” Mu Yu advised Hu Meiling as she burst into tears as well. She truly couldn’t stand the sight of her mother’s tears.

“Don’t cry. Don’t cry,” Mu Ziyao advised softly as he stretched out his arms and held his wife and daughter on each side. “Look at both of you. Don’t you two feel shy and embarrassed after crying like children? Won’t you two be laughed at if the doctor and nurses saw you two crying?”

Despite how relaxed Mu Ziyao’s words sounded, Qin Xiaozhi noticed the look of heartache in his eyes, and he couldn’t help but heave a long sigh. Then, he solemnly promised to Mu Ziyao and Hu Meiling, “Don’t worry, the both of you. I’ll definitely talk to Huan later and tell him to learn his lessons. He won’t let Yu be hurt again!” Then, he said in a sincere tone, “One more thing—you heard from the doctor just now that Yu has been severely injured and must be nursed with painstaking care for a long time. You two are most experienced when it comes to looking after her, so why don’t you move in and live with us? That way, it’ll be convenient for you two to take good care of her.”

Mu Ziyao looked reluctant. “But we—”

Knowing that they had misgivings about the Qin Family’s rules, Qin Xiaozhi assured with a smile and said, “I’m old, so I don’t want to care about anything anymore; all I want is a life of tranquility. Of course, I wouldn’t mind it if a great-grandson comes out and makes noises.”

When she saw that her father was about to decline Qin Xiaozhi’s offer again, Mu Yu immediately tugged at Mu Ziyao’s arm and feigned displeasure. On the other hand, Hu Meiling glared at him out of the corner of her eye. Only then did Mu Ziyao smile and agree without raising any objections. “Yippee! I can eat Dad’s dishes again!” Mu Yu raised her arms and cheered. However, she was about to scream ‘Yeah!’ before it quickly turned into ‘Ouch!’ instead.

“Be careful! Don’t forget that you’re still wounded!” Hu Meiling and Mu Ziyao hurriedly supported Mu Yu, whereas Qin Xiaozhi stood up nervously.

“I’m fine—”

“How could you say that you’re fine?!” Hu Meiling glared at her. She then ordered, “Be a good girl and lie down for me! Close your eyes and rest!”

Just then, a discordant voice sounded at the door. “Sorry, but she can’t rest just yet.”