By the time Shi Shengli returned to the ward, his daughter had already fallen asleep.
He called his eldest son outside and repeated everything Doctor Chen had said.
Shi Jingye wasn’t a child anymore. These days, his parents no longer hid family matters from him.
“Dad, you mean… Little Sister’s headaches happen because she’s too scared to remember?”
“Yeah. That’s what the doctor meant.”
“But what could Little Sister possibly have seen that scared her this badly?”
Shi Shengli almost rolled his eyes.
If he knew the answer, would he still have needed to ask his daughter?
“The reason I called you out here is to make sure your younger brother keeps his mouth shut. Don’t let him keep asking your sister questions and make her headaches worse.”
That youngest son of his truly had no filter on his mouth.
“I got it, Dad. I’ll keep an eye on him. Uh…”
Shi Shengli glared at his eldest son.
“If you’ve got something to say, then say it. Stop hemming and hawing. You’re a grown man—be straightforward.”
Shi Jingye scratched his head and grinned.
“Hehe… I just wanted to ask… doesn’t Little Sister seem kind of different?”
This was the little sister he adored most. Of course he’d notice any changes immediately.
Especially because he had been there when she fell from the tree all those years ago.
Deep down, he had always blamed himself a little, which made him even more attentive to any changes in her.
“You noticed?”
Shi Shengli was satisfied with his son’s observation skills.
The eldest son would someday shoulder responsibility for this family. Being too foolish wouldn’t do.
Shi Jingye nodded.
“She doesn’t seem as slow to react anymore. And her eyes don’t look blank and dull either.”
“Right. The doctor said there’s a chance she’ll recover to how she used to be.”
As Shi Shengli said this, his eyes lit up.
Ten years.
They had waited ten whole years.
“Dad, you mean… like how Little Sister was when she was little?”
Shi Jingye still remembered clearly what his sister had been like before the age of five.
Back then, she’d been even more mischievous than their younger brother was as a child. And she had been unbelievably talkative, chirping nonstop all day long.
“Yeah… maybe. We’ll know once your sister recovers a bit more.”
Even he didn’t dare guarantee it.
“Then… are we still reporting this to the police?”
He still felt his little sister shouldn’t just be beaten and let it go so unclearly.
Shi Shengli shook his head.
“Not for now. Your sister doesn’t remember anything right now. Even if we report it, she won’t be able to provide any useful information.”
“Looks like it’s too late.”
Shi Jingye suddenly stared past his father and muttered that sentence.
“What?”
Shi Shengli didn’t understand.
Following his son’s gaze down the hallway, he saw two police officers in uniform walking toward them.
“Who reported this to the police?”
He was certain their family hadn’t even finished discussing whether to report it. There was no way any of them had called the police.
Shi Jingye shook his head.
“No idea. None of us did. Could it’ve been Mom?”
Shi Shengli shook his head too.
“No. Your mother wouldn’t report anything before understanding what happened first.”
In just a few moments, the two officers reached the ward.
“Which one of you is Shi Meiqing’s family member?”
One of the officers asked the question after spotting the older and younger men outside the hospital room.
Shi Shengli stepped forward, wearing the perfect polite smile, though worry for his daughter still showed between his brows.
“Hello, officers. I’m Shi Meiqing’s father.”
One of the officers appeared to be in his forties—steady and stern-looking.
The other was a young man, barely older than Shi Jingye, his face full of impatience and gloom.
Shi Shengli’s eyes flickered slightly, though his expression didn’t change.
“May I ask why you’re looking for my daughter?”
Before the older officer could speak, the younger one impatiently interrupted.
“Why are you asking so many questions? Where’s Shi Meiqing?”
A flash of displeasure crossed Shi Shengli’s eyes, though he suppressed his temper.
“My daughter is injured and resting right now. May I ask what business you have with her? Could you tell me first?”
Again, it was the younger officer who spoke.
“Why are you so full of nonsense? We received a report that Shi Meiqing was assaulted. We’re here to investigate. Hurry up and take us to see her.”
Shi Jingye instantly got angry.
“Anyone who didn’t know better would think my little sister beat someone up and you came to settle accounts with her!”
“What kind of attitude is that? My sister’s the victim here, not the criminal!”
The young officer’s eyes widened angrily as he opened his mouth to scold him, but the older officer stopped him.
The older officer forced a faint smile onto his face.
“Sorry about that. Young people can be a little impatient when handling cases. Don’t take it personally.”
“We received a report saying Shi Meiqing was attacked, so we came to investigate. Assaulting someone in broad daylight on the street isn’t a small matter.”
Shi Shengli lowered his head slightly, his eyes flickering.
Something about these two officers felt wrong.
Could his daughter really have witnessed something serious?
When he raised his head again, his expression remained unchanged. His polite smile still concealed the worry he felt for his child.
“Could you two wait a moment? My daughter woke up briefly earlier. I asked her about what happened today, but she can’t remember anything except that she went out to buy fountain pen ink from the supply cooperative.”
“I wanted to ask why she was attacked, but she can’t think about it at all. The moment she tries, her head hurts terribly. The doctor just finished examining her, and she finally fell asleep.”
“Wait for what? If she’s asleep, wake her up! Do you know what you’re doing? This is obstructing official business!”
Once again, the young officer shouted aggressively.
The older officer made a token effort to stop him.
The righteous expression he’d worn moments ago now looked incredibly fake.
Shi Shengli quickly held back his eldest son, who was about to explode.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think that far ahead. Please understand the feelings of a father.”
“My daughter is incredibly obedient. She went out once and came back injured like this. All I wanted was for her to recover peacefully.”
“Since this is urgent, I’ll wake her up. Please come in.”
It seemed clear now:
If he didn’t let these two see his daughter today, they wouldn’t leave.
Inside, Shi Shengli was extremely nervous.
But his expression remained calm.
After all these years, he had learned one thing:
When dealing with people outside, you absolutely had to keep your composure.
In truth, Shi Meiqing had already been awakened by the young officer yelling outside.
She had been pretending to sleep anyway.
Her discomfort was real enough—the wound hurt terribly, and the dizziness and nausea weren’t fake either.
But keeping her eyes closed was also a form of avoidance.
She still felt nervous facing this family.
What if they realized she was no longer the same person inside?
What if they handed her over?
She had never believed those stories where someone transmigrated halfway into another person’s life and perfectly blended into a completely unfamiliar family without anyone noticing.
How neglected would someone have to be for their family not to realize they’d become an entirely different person?