Chapter 110: The Childhood First Love Was Right Beside Me All Along

After simmering the late-night stew until the meat was tender and the bones soft, Zhou Lichuan greedily licked his molars before carrying his delicate beloved to wash up.

That night, Zhou Jiayan wanted to ask Jiang Zao if she wanted to try the new skincare product she had bought, but before she could knock on the door, Du Bin intercepted her halfway, dragged her back to his room, and silenced her.

Du Bin's hearing was far sharper than ordinary people’s.

The moment that unusual wind sound arose, he immediately guessed what was happening inside Jiang Zao’s room.

After months of struggle, Mr. Zhou had finally reclaimed his precious wife. If Zhou Jiayan caused trouble now, she would truly be sent abroad.

...

Shen Mushi had not been feeling well lately.

Since Meng Qiaoyuan’s accident, he hadn’t slept through a single night.

Whenever he closed his eyes, all he saw was the image of Meng Qiaoyuan, bloodied, collapsed over Zeng Yingying.

He sat up in bed, slipped on his slippers, and stared blankly at the floor.

After a long while, the sharp ring of his phone pierced the night.

“Uncle Liang, have you found what I asked for?” came a calm, capable middle-aged male voice from the other end.

“Yes. My plane is about to take off. I’ll arrive at Jingzhou Airport in three hours. Come pick me up and I’ll hand it over to you.”

Shen Mushi stood and headed to the bathroom. “Okay, I’ll get ready and come.”

Fully geared up, Shen Mushi got into his car and habitually glanced at his phone.

3:35 a.m.

He drove slowly all the way, and by the time he reached the airport, over an hour had passed.

He did not enter the terminal but parked in the lot, reclined his seat, and barely fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw Uncle Liang outside, clearly anxious.

Dressed neatly in a Zhongshan suit, with a party emblem pinned to his chest, Uncle Liang looked hurried and worried.

Opening the car door, a torrent of scolding poured out.

“What’s wrong with you? You were supposed to pick something up, and you fall asleep in the car! If anything happened, how would I explain to your family?”

Shen Mushi’s eyes were bloodshot from sleep, his mind not fully awake.

Uncle Liang reached out, pulled him from the driver’s seat, then instructed the person behind, “You drive now, drive carefully.”

He pushed Shen Mushi into the back seat and sat down himself.

Shen Mushi’s second uncle was currently the head of the Shen family. Uncle Liang had been the previous head’s deputy and a trusted confidant who had grown alongside the family’s leadership. Though later transferred to another department, he remained closely connected to the Shens.

In Shen Mushi’s father’s generation, family resources should have passed to his father. Within the complex political system, there were unwritten rules: only one person per generation in each family was groomed to inherit all the family’s assets, regardless of relation, based solely on ability.

However, Shen Mushi’s father had insisted on divorce years ago. To legitimize his relationship with another woman, he gave up his inheritance rights, which distanced Shen Mushi from the family’s core. Luckily, Shen Mushi had no thirst for power; being a respected genius doctor was enough.

Just as Shen Mushi settled, Uncle Liang’s nagging resumed.

“Professor Shen gave you that car. If something happened while you were sleeping in it, what would you have Professor Shen do? You’re in your thirties—why so reckless?”

Shen Mushi glanced at Uncle Liang’s mumbling mouth, suddenly his eyes blurred. He bent forward and pressed his palm to his eyes.

The Bentley’s engine roared to life. Uncle Liang, seeing Shen Mushi on the verge of tears, was momentarily at a loss.

“Xiao Mu, did something happen?”

After a long pause, Shen Mushi lifted his head, took a deep breath to steady himself, and finally spoke.

“Nothing. Thank you, Uncle Liang. I’ve just been very tired lately. Sorry for making you worry.”

He suddenly recalled how Meng Qiaoyuan had once accidentally fallen asleep in the car and had been scolded just like this.

He had always thought that one terrifying moment in life was enough.

But to his surprise, the very next day, Meng Qiaoyuan’s accident occurred.

Uncle Liang pulled a sealed bag from his pocket containing a small black memory card.

Shen Mushi looked at the card, somewhat speechless.

In today’s rapidly advancing technology, seeing such an old-fashioned storage device was rare.

“The card reader you’ll have to figure out yourself. The local police equipment is outdated and can only handle this.”

Shen Mushi accepted the bag with thanks.

His eyes gazed absentmindedly out the window; it was nearly seven o’clock, and the hospital was already bustling with voices.

Suddenly, he said, “Uncle Liang, take me to the hospital. I’m not going home. I want to see my friend first. If she’s alright, then I’ll go to Brother Chuan’s place.”

Uncle Liang raised an eyebrow. “Friend? Which friend? The one you asked me to investigate recently—the medical troublemaker?”

Shen Mushi looked back at him.

“Yes. A beauty.”

Uncle Liang’s eyes lit up. “Well then...”

“Not yet, but she will be. That’s why I asked the old man to be thorough with the information. After all, how else can he support his future niece-in-law?”

Uncle Liang slapped his thigh, bursting into laughter. “Ah! That little daughter of the Meng family! She even came to our house as a child. This is wonderful! Now your second uncle can rest easy. How is she now? Seriously injured? If you need anything, just tell me. I promise I’ll get it done!”

Shen Mushi caught the crucial point precisely.

“When did Meng Qiaoyuan come to your house as a child?”

Uncle Liang’s expression stiffened, and awkwardly he shared office gossip about the leadership family. “Uh... it was around the time your father divorced. The Meng family happened to visit Old Madam then...”

Shen Mushi’s hand trembled; the phone he had been clutching suddenly slipped to the floor.

Uncle Liang looked puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

Shen Mushi tapped the back of the driver’s seat. “Hurry. We’re in a rush. Go straight to the hospital—no detours.”

The white Bentley had just parked in the hospital lot when Shen Mushi, without even a word of thanks, dashed toward the inpatient building.

The day his parents divorced... that girl who gave him a pink sachet in the garden... was she Meng Qiaoyuan?

By the time he reached the ward door, Shen Mushi was panting.

He tried to steady his breath but his arms shook involuntarily.

His heart was full of joy yet fearful his suspicions might be wrong. With dread for the answer, his heart pounded wildly.

“Doctor Shen? You’re here so early?”

Meng Qiaoyuan, carrying the soup she had simmered all night, walked over. She had thought she arrived early enough, only to find Shen Mushi was even earlier.

Shen Mushi nodded. “Good morning, Sister Qiaoyan.”

Meng Qiaoyuan smiled. “Why aren’t you going in? Not working today?”

Shen Mushi composed himself before replying, “Not very busy lately, so I took a few days off. I’ll return if there’s an emergency.”