“I agree.”
Jiang Chengli seemed to have made up his mind. He was the one who had swapped the babies, so he had to cover it up anyway. He had only just been trying to force Zhou Yue to promise to leave.
Besides, after hearing Zhou Yue’s words, a sense of vengeful pleasure inexplicably rose in his heart. That old fool Yan Binghua had been so happy when he saw the child today, giving her five percent of the company’s shares on the spot. All of that would belong to his daughter in the future, yet have no connection to the Yan Family. Hahaha!
Jiang Chengli pulled Zhou Yue into his arms to comfort her, even making a promise. “I will also take good care of our daughter. She will grow up as happy as a little princess.”
Holding Yan Songyu, Feng Yu had listened to the entire exchange from the darkness. He finally understood why Yan Songyu had been acting so strangely tonight.
“Let’s go,” Yan Songyu whispered in his ear.
Feng Yu turned and left, carrying Yan Songyu. Back in the hospital room, he gently placed her on the bed and, without a word, pulled the covers over her.
After doing all this, Feng Yu pulled over a chair and sat down, looking at Yan Songyu with heartache. “So—is this the reason?”
“Yes.”
“You found out, so the baby in the nursery is…?”
“My daughter. I swapped her back.” She looked at Feng Yu. “I want them to reap what they sow… If the heavens won’t pass judgment, I will wield the blade!”
As Yan Songyu said this, her eyes looked as if they were laced with poison, and she spoke each word through gritted teeth.
Feng Yu simply tucked the corner of her blanket in. “Leave the rest to me. You focus on getting better. I’ll watch over the child.”
Yan Songyu reminded him, still worried, “Feifei has a red mole on the web of her right hand. Remember that.”
“Alright. Feifei, which characters?” Feng Yu wanted to distract her from her highly tense state.
“Fangfei (fāngfēi)—” Just then, snowflakes began to drift past the window. Yan Songyu paused, then changed her mind. “Rain and snow falling gently.” Yan Feifei.”
Feng Yu smiled gently and praised, “That’s a beautiful name. Go to sleep now. I’ll watch over Feifei.”
“Okay.”
Drowsiness washed over her, and Yan Songyu drifted into a deep sleep with Feng Yu by her side. Her last conscious thought was: *Feng Yu can be trusted.*
Like Jiang Chengli, Feng Yu was a university student who had come from a poor mountain village. He had only been able to complete his studies with the help of a grant from Yan Songyu’s foundation.
After graduating, Feng Yu joined Ruixin Group. In five years, he went from being an ordinary employee to the general manager, becoming Yan Binghua’s right-hand man. Yan Binghua had even intended to set Feng Yu up with Yan Songyu, as he thought very highly of him, but then Jiang Chengli had appeared out of nowhere.
In her previous life, Feng Yu had only left Ruixin Group after Yan Songyu’s daughter’s tenth birthday to establish his own company, Hua Sheng Group.
He had received four years of funding from Rui Xin and had dedicated sixteen years of his life in return. Even after starting his own company, he often gave Rui Xin favorable terms in their business dealings. Even when Yan Songyu and Yan Binghua disagreed, he would always find ways to repay them.
By the time Yan Songyu was murdered, Feng Yu’s Hua Sheng was already on par with Ruixin Group.
Feng Yu waited until Yan Songyu’s breathing was steady before heading to the neonatal nursery, where he ran into Jiang Chengli.
“Feng Yu?” Jiang Chengli looked in surprise at the three tall, sturdy men with him. “What are you doing here? And these two are…”
“Kidnappers are rampant these days. Chairman Yan was worried about the baby, so he asked me to find some people to help stand guard.”
Jiang Chengli’s heart leaped into his throat. For a moment, he thought his scheme had been exposed. He dug his nails into his palm and forced himself to ask calmly, “Oh, thank you for your hard work. By the way, how long have you been here? Let me go buy you all some late-night snacks.”
“We just arrived. An urgent project came up before closing time today, and we just finished. We came over as soon as we got off work.”
Jiang Chengli breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, he had already swapped the babies long ago. This was good, too. With someone standing guard, Yan Songyu probably wouldn’t suspect anything about the child in the future. As he thought this, his smile became much more sincere. “Then you must not have eaten. There’s a night market next to the hospital. I’ll go buy you some food.”
Feng Yu’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Then we’ll have to trouble Mr. Jiang.”
“No trouble at all, no trouble at all. You’re the ones doing the hard work. We’ll have to trouble you to stand guard for a few days.”
Who would have thought that behind such a humble and gentle face was a man who had just committed such a heinous act?
Meanwhile, after Feng Yu left, Yan Songyu did not sleep peacefully in her hospital room. She was trapped in a nightmare.
In her dream, Feifei walked step by step into the deep sea, her eyes filled with a dead stillness.
“Baby, Mommy’s here to join you.”
“No one in this world loves us, but we still have each other. We’ll depend on one another. You’ll love Mommy, won’t you?”
The seawater submerged Feifei’s mouth and nose. She let herself fall into the sea, allowing the waves to carry her away.
Yan Songyu could only watch, unable to do anything. She screamed desperately, “No, Feifei, Mommy loves you! You still have Mommy! Mommy hasn’t had the chance to acknowledge you yet! Mommy loves you, and Grandpa loves you very much too!”
“Help! Is anyone there? Somebody! Help, save my daughter! Save my daughter…”
“Can anyone save my daughter? She’s only twenty-three! Help! Help! Somebody!”
Yan Songyu screamed until her voice was hoarse, but no one heard her cries.
Finally, Yan Songyu seemed to break free from her restraints. She threw herself into the sea to save Feifei, but her hands couldn’t touch Feifei’s body. She could only watch as Feifei’s life faded away.
“Feifei…”
Yan Songyu’s shouts turned into a murmur. She followed beside Feifei, swept along by the waves to an unknown destination.
It wasn’t until half a month later that Feifei’s body, now swollen, peeling, and completely unrecognizable, was discovered on a shore thirty kilometers away and reported to the police.
“The deceased’s features match a missing person report from half a month ago, but we still need to go back to the station and wait for the DNA test results.”
Yan Songyu floated along with them back to the police station. By the time they arrived, the results were out.
“The deceased’s identity has been confirmed. Zhou Feifei, female, 23 years old, married. Her file records a history of domestic abuse and miscarriage. She was suffering from depression upon her discharge from the hospital and had suicidal tendencies. Half a month ago, her husband and mother reported her missing.”
“Notify the family,” the old police officer sighed. “Such a fine girl, so young…Sigh…”
Xia Mingyang and Zhou Yue arrived. Neither of them dared to step forward and lift the white sheet, yet tears streamed from both their eyes.
Yan Songyu wished she could lunge forward and tear them apart. “What are you murderers crying fake tears for? You’re the ones who killed Feifei! You’re the ones who should be dead! You should be dead!”
A police officer stepped forward to speak with them. “The deceased is confirmed to be Zhou Feifei. Cause of death is drowning, a suicide.”
Zhou Yue suddenly pushed the officer aside, lunged forward, and ripped off the white sheet. Feifei was already unrecognizable. Zhou Yue gagged, then grabbed Feifei’s right hand. The red mole on the web of her hand was still there. She suddenly began to laugh and cry, as if she had gone mad.
“Ha… hahaha… ha… Dead! It’s good that she’s dead! Hahahaha!”