Chapter 98: Unexpected Clues and a Deal
“Sister Yuyan, I’m here again!”
Jian Minglang familiarly turned into a ward, calling out before even seeing the person. Le Can followed behind, casually closing the ward door.
This was a single ward, bright and tidy. However, the air was inevitably filled with the smell of disinfectant unique to hospitals.
Le Can reached out and rubbed his itchy nose, his gaze scanning the bedside card on the wall.
Yuan Yuyan—the patient’s name.
Yuan Cheng, Yuan Yuyan, Yuan Yulan—they indeed seemed like children who had come from the same place.
Aside from that, the bedside card also listed the attending doctor, nurse, nursing level, and dietary requirements. As for more private information like age and diagnosis, there was no description at all.
Le Can couldn’t know the cause of Yuan Yuyan’s illness, but since he was in a mental hospital, he could guess the symptoms…
Jian Minglang placed the fruit in his hand by the bedside, and seeing the “semi-liquid” displayed on the card, he let out a groan. “Didn’t the doctor say you could switch to a regular diet in these few days?”
The person sitting up in the hospital bed couldn’t help but smile.
Le Can noticed that her smile was very faint, her skin transparently pale, and her features carried the frailty and fatigue of someone newly recovered from a serious illness. Even so, she answered very seriously.
“It started changing from today; the nurse already changed the card this morning. I guess when Xiao Yu came to play this morning, he flipped it back.”
Jian Minglang obviously knew about Xiao Yu’s situation, and he laughed and scolded in feigned anger, “Hah, this kid—no fruit for him today!”
As if thinking of the reaction Xiao Yu would have, the smile on Yuan Yuyan’s face deepened. But no matter how deep it was, she was still more like a night-blooming cereus, possessing the tranquility of the night but lacking the heat and vitality of being toasted by the sun.
Le Can found it hard to imagine that such a quiet and gentle person would have mental problems.
“And this is?”
Yuan Yuyan saw the youth who had entered later.
Jian Minglang stuffed the red pomelo meat into Yuan Yuyan’s hand. Not forgetting to stuff a segment into his own mouth at the same time, he took a moment to look at Le Can behind him.
“Oh, I forgot to introduce you.
This is Le Can, my friend, he happened to come see me today.”
“He also knows Da-Chengzi; he’s his legitimate ‘Brother-in-Law,’ very rich! Today’s fruit was bought by him, and it was bought from little Yulan—hahaha, isn’t it a coincidence?”
Hearing the subtext of “don’t be polite about eating from the wealthy” in Jian Minglang’s words, Le Can gave an annoyed eye-roll. He knew the other hadn’t forgotten about the account balance competition.
The moment she heard Le Can’s identity, Yuan Yuyan struggled to get out of bed. But she was groggy after taking her medicine and had no strength to stand up at all.
Thus, she could only sit in the bed and bow deeply in Le Can’s direction.
“Mr. Le, thank you, thank you for the help you and Mr. Xi have given us…”
Le Can shifted his steps, avoiding the grand gesture directed at him. If it was about gratitude, he didn’t feel like buying two fruit baskets was something worth thanking him for.
Most likely, Xi Yun had done something…
Although Le Can wasn’t clear about what Xi Yun had done, he knew Xi Yun’s character.
“If Xi Yun did something, the starting point for his actions would definitely not just be because of feelings. You might not know it, but he’s a very rational person.”
The youth’s amber eyes were clear like the morning sun, and his unhurried tone carried no special emphasis, yet possessed a silent power sufficient to make the listener’s heart settle firmly.
“So, there’s no need to thank us; if you want to thank someone, thank Yuan Cheng.”
“He is worthy of what Xi Yun did, and he is worthy of your thanks.”
Listening to Le Can’s gentle and firm voice, Yuan Yuyan suddenly covered her face and bent down deeply. Small sobs leaked from between her fingers. “Thank you, truly, thank you…”
What Yuan Yuyan swallowed in her throat was a “sorry” that only she knew.
She had survived again and again with great difficulty and had painstakingly made it to today, but her will had suddenly collapsed and she had chosen suicide…
Yulan must have been terrified, but she could only endure her fear and run the fruit shop every day to obtain the funds for the two sisters’ survival.
Yuan Cheng had used his boss’s connections to change her to the best doctor and chose the most basic single room, also because he was afraid of causing her a psychological burden.
Every day, the two of them made phone calls at staggered times as agreed, or asked the close people around them to visit frequently.
He was too… if he knew in heaven that she didn’t cherish this life, she was afraid that even if she went to find him now, he wouldn’t be willing to see her…
Jian Minglang’s hand, which had reached out to stop her, was awkwardly retracted. He looked at the sky and the ground, scratching his head, and finally pulled out two tissues and handed them over.
Le Can let out a slow breath, a flash of relief in his seemingly calm eyes.
Crying was fine; it was good that she had understood.
Crying heartily and using tears to vent the emotions accumulated in her heart—later, when any thoughts arose again, she would at least retain a few seconds of hesitation, letting her final decision be closer to her inner self.
The crying didn’t last long, and the ward soon became quiet.
Jian Minglang secretly winked at Le Can, who was standing opposite him. Say something quickly, otherwise the three-bedroom apartment I’m digging out with my toes is going to become a four-bedroom one.
Le Can returned a “helpless” look; after all, he had only met Yuan Yuyan once. His “face value” with her was actually the face of his legal husband—Xi Yun.
In the end, Jian Minglang could only grit his teeth and fish out the TV remote.
“Hahaha, I don’t know what the news is lately. That whole ‘family affairs, state affairs, world affairs, concern for everything’ thing, right? I’ll show some concern too.”
Le Can silently covered his face and retreated several steps toward the window.
Jian Minglang didn’t want to continue the awkward chat here either, but he had previously patted his chest and promised Yuan Cheng that he would spend six out of twenty-four hours a day with “our sister” so she wouldn’t be too lonely.
Everything had been fine before; today was definitely because of the huge variable that was Le Can!
Variable Le Can: “…”
Keep your expression in check; it’s too easy to get caught.
Jian Minglang actually wasn’t as interested in the news as he claimed. He didn’t even look at the news headlines or the page, and his hand on the remote pressed randomly twice.
He didn’t know which section he had pressed, but it smoothly entered a playback interface.
When the jewel-bedecked Bai Xiaotong appeared, Jian Minglang, who vaguely felt she looked familiar, knit his brows: “Tsk, did she dress herself up as a Christmas tree?”
She simply hung everything on herself.
Look at those massive gem earrings, rings, necklaces, and brooches. Even that—the hairstyles of real and fake hair coiled together with hair accessories stacked one upon another…
The blinded Jian Minglang: “My eyes!”
He didn’t know which country’s backward aesthetic this was; before he transmigrated, the wealthy nouveau riche in his circle didn’t even dress like this.
Le Can’s initial expression of watching the show slowly faded.
He narrowed his eyes, carefully sizing up the smug Bai Xiaotong from head to toe. Unsurprisingly, Jian Yu’s face appeared in the video shortly after…
The youth sitting by the window with his chin resting on one hand slowly lowered his arm.
Jian Minglang wasn’t as restrained as Le Can; he braced himself against the wheelchair armrest and suddenly stood up.
“Holy crap, why is this person so persistent?”
“I’ve hidden all the way in a mental hospital, how can he still appear here?!”
Jian Minglang was simply having a breakdown.
He raised the remote in his hand, preparing to switch the screen. But he didn’t know what was going on with the news media today; when he changed to another channel, the same face still appeared in the middle of the TV screen.
Just as he was about to press the power button and have “out of sight, out of mind,” suddenly, two different voices spoke in unison:
“Wait.” “Don’t turn it off!”
The former came from Le Can; he wanted to listen carefully to what Jian Yu and Bai Xiaotong were standing up to do together, and what they wanted to do against Xi Yun and Wei Yuanjing.
The latter was beyond the expectations of both Le Can and Jian Minglang—it came from Yuan Yuyan, who had been silent for a long time.
At some point, she had raised her head, her slightly red eyes staring fixedly at the man talking eloquently under the high-definition lens. As if recalling something, her gaze was dazed yet stubborn, scanning Jian Yu’s face inch by inch.
Le Can watched Yuan Yuyan’s hands tightly clutching the quilt, her knuckles white with force. Then, he cast an inquiring look at Jian Minglang.
Does she know Jian Yu?
Jian Minglang blinked in confusion, spread his unharmed hand, and silently shook his head.
At this moment, Bai Xiaotong, who was outside the lens, stepped forward very noticeably. Her face, which Yuan Yuyan had missed in the first half, appeared in the frame again.
Originally, Yuan Yuyan’s heart had been somewhat wavering, but after seeing the two faces appearing one after another on the TV screen clearly, long-ago memories suddenly rushed toward her like a bursting flood.
“It’s him! I know him!”
The person on the hospital bed clutched her chest and cried out in a hoarse voice. Large teardrops rolled from the corners of her eyes, instantly wetting the messy hair stuck to Yuan Yuyan’s cheeks.
Having just stabilized her emotions, they suddenly fluctuated violently. The great rise and fall of her mood caused darkness to flash before Yuan Yuyan’s eyes in waves.
But she simply couldn’t bear to blink, instead forcing herself to keep her eyes locked on the two people on the TV screen with hatred.
“It’s him, it’s them who stole A-Yu’s identity!”
Yuan Yuyan had been looking for these two people, thinking about it day and night without interruption. But her ability was too small; the social class restricted from birth made it impossible for her to come into contact with these robbers who could forcibly use their power and influence to occupy others’ identities.
The burden of life, the goal with no possibility of success—Yuan Yuyan could only watch herself get sicker and sicker, so deep that even the faint cries for help in her mind were drowned in thick despair.
Who is A-Yu?
Why did Jian Yu want to steal his identity?
They—in other words, Jian Yu had contact with Bai Xiaotong a long time ago; they were people who knew each other originally. Why was this unknown to everyone?
Le Can suppressed the doubts surging in his heart and clenched his fists with restraint.
Jian Minglang: “Isn’t Jian Yu…”
Le Can waved his hand to interrupt Jian Minglang’s words. He stood by the hospital bed, his amber eyes looking down with scrutiny and judgment.
At that moment, Jian Minglang, who had stepped back, felt a momentary daze.
The youth’s upright back, like pine or bamboo, seemed to subtly overlap at a certain moment with Xi Yun, whose aura pressed down so hard people couldn’t speak.
Finally, Le Can spoke calmly: “Tell me what you know.”
“In exchange, I’ll help you take back A-Yu’s identity.”
And conveniently, kill off a certain fake.
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