Chapter 35

Ran Jin lay on the lounge chair with her eyes closed, her head tilted slightly off the backrest.

Chi Yu’s fingertips slipped into her thick, smooth black hair, gently moving it so the warm air from the hair dryer could chase away the damp, cold moisture trapped in the long strands.

By the time Dr. Lin arrived, Ran Jin had already fallen into a comfortable sleep under Chi Yu’s care. She woke up briefly when they measured her temperature. Dr. Lin began administering an IV drip. Feeling that the lounge chair was a bit hard and would surely be uncomfortable for a long stay, Chi Yu leaned down beside her and asked:

“Sister Ran, shall I carry you to the bed?”

Ran Jin’s brow furrowed slowly, and she said in a weak voice, “I’ll go myself.”

Chi Yu actually wanted to lift her, but she saw that after sleeping for a while, Ran Jin seemed to have gained some spirit and could prop herself up. With Dr. Lin watching, it would have seemed overly intimate for Chi Yu to insist on carrying her. Fearing Ran Jin might fall while getting up, Chi Yu stood close by, watching her movements carefully.

Ran Jin moved safely to the bed on her own. Dr. Lin secured the needle and hung the IV bag.

“Second Miss, I’ll stay here to watch over Miss Ran. You should go rest.” Fearing they might disturb Ran Jin, Dr. Lin spoke to Chi Yu at the doorway.

Chi Yu gave a faint smile. “No need, I’ll stay here. I know how to change the IV bags. You go rest; I’ll call you if anything happens.”

As a private doctor, Dr. Lin was very discerning and naturally didn’t insist on staying. Auntie Su came over to lead her to a dedicated guest room to rest.

Once again, only Chi Yu and Ran Jin were left in the room.

Chi Yu went to her room to grab a book and sat on the sofa next to Ran Jin. Ran Jin had assumed she had gone to her own bedroom to sleep and hadn’t expected her to return. In [unauthorized copy]her grogginess, Ran Jin heard a soft rustle and opened her eyes to see the floor lamp illuminating half of Chi Yu’s pale, translucent face.

“Xiao Yu? Why haven’t you gone to sleep? It’s very late.” Ran Jin’s voice was faint, little more than a whisper.

“I’m not sleepy, and you still need your IV bags changed.” Chi Yu leaned back firmly against the chair and turned a page in her book. “I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had time to read the books I want. This is a good time to finish one in one go. Just sleep peacefully; you’ll feel better when you wake up.”

With Chi Yu watching over her, Ran Jin felt a sense of security despite her headache and sore throat. However, being wrapped in a blanket while wearing a thick bathrobe was incredibly uncomfortable. She glanced at the pajamas placed to the side.

Chi Yu quickly sensed her intention from her gaze.

“Do you want to change into your pajamas?” Chi Yu closed the book and set it on the nightstand.

“I’ll do it myself…” Ran Jin struggled to get up from under the covers.

Chi Yu gently pressed the back of her hand against the bed. “Can the patient please lie still? I’ll get them for you.”

Chi Yu brought the pajamas over. As Ran Jin pulled back the covers, she found that she couldn’t use one hand because of the IV; she could only use her left hand, which made the task look exceptionally difficult.

Chi Yu wanted to say, “I’ll help you change.”

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t helped Ran Jin change before.

When Ran Jin first arrived at the Chi house, she lived alone in the attic. At that time, her sister was too busy to look after her and sent Dr. Lin to tend to her wounds. If Chi Yu finished school early, she would go check if the strange older sister could get out of bed yet. Back then, Ran Jin’s leg injury was severe, and her back was covered in a mix of old and new scars. Not only could she not leave the bed, but even lying flat was painful; she had to lie on her stomach.

Because of the wounds, Ran Jin couldn’t bathe. [bailiantales.com]Chi Yu would bring a basin of hot water and gently wipe the grime from her body bit by bit. It was also Chi Yu who untangled her knotted hair strand by strand.

“Does it hurt?” Chi Yu would ask every time she wiped Ran Jin’s body. “I’ve never cared for a patient, and I’ve never seen anyone injured like you. I’m naturally strong, so I might be a bit rough. Tell me if you’re uncomfortable.”

Ran Jin, stained with blood from unknown origins and the filth of the world, was slowly cleansed by Chi Yu until her clean face and bright eyes were revealed.

“It doesn’t hurt,” she said in a raspy voice. “Thank you… Xiao Yu.”

Chi Yu hadn’t expected her to remember her name; she thought the silent girl wasn’t listening at all.

“Your leg is so badly injured, yet you insisted on standing in the living room the day you arrived,” Chi Yu said as she changed the basin for a second time and dipped a soft towel into the water. “Really, look at what you’ve done to yourself. If it were me, I’d be crying and screaming, but you don’t say a word. You’re too good at enduring.”

A hint of a smile flickered in the corners of Ran Jin’s eyes, but she didn’t dare truly laugh; moving her wounds would make her lose control and cry out in pain in front of Chi Yu. She didn’t want to worry this person who was being kind to her without even knowing her true identity, so she kept enduring.

However, she had been at the Chi house for several days, and despite Chi Yu’s care, the filthy clothes she was wearing were starting to smell. They had to be changed; she didn’t want the scent to reach Chi Yu.

Chi Yu brought over a set of new, unworn pajamas for Ran Jin. “These are super soft and comfortable; it should be fine even if they touch your wounds directly. Let me help you change.”

Ran Jin was a bit shy and wanted to do it herself. At the time, they had only just met, and Chi Yu had no idea Ran Jin would eventually become her sister-in-law. Seeing her grit her teeth just to turn over, Chi Yu didn’t waste words and put her arms around her waist:

“Wrap your arms around my neck, and I’ll help you up.”

Ran Jin smelled her fragrance and feared she would soil the Chi Yu who was like a fresh spring flower, so she tried to pull back. Chi Yu thought she simply lacked the strength to get up and instead held her tighter, helping her sit up.

“Can you stay seated?” ​Read on BaiLianTales​Chi Yu knelt on the bed, her bright eyes full of concern as she asked Ran Jin.

Ran Jin was in pain from her waist to her legs, a result of jumping from a height, but she didn’t tell Chi Yu. She bit her lip and shook her head.

Chi Yu laughed. “Look at you, your face is pale and yet you’re still acting tough. Quick, lift your arms. We’ll change quickly so you don’t have to suffer, and then I’ll help you lie back down.”

Before Ran Jin could even feel embarrassed, Chi Yu gripped her arms, lifted them, and pulled the filthy clothes over her head. Ran Jin didn’t know why her heart beat so fast facing this girl.

Chi Yu, focused on the task and not looking at her more than necessary, quickly spread the unbuttoned pajamas behind her: “Here, reach out.”

Despite the pain, Ran Jin immediately raised her hands and put the pajamas on.

“Comfortable?” Chi Yu even thoughtfully buttoned them for her. She propped her arms on either side of Ran Jin’s waist, leaned forward, and waited with a smile for her praise.

“Comfortable…” Ran Jin whispered. After speaking, perhaps feeling she had said a strange thing in a strange tone, she felt her face flush.

Chi Yu didn’t think anything of it and brought the trousers: “If it’s comfortable, then good. Come, stretch out your legs, the pants…”

“I can do it myself!” Ran Jin immediately grabbed the pajama pants, vowing to dress herself. Chi Yu watched as she struggled into the pants, her forehead beaded with sweat and her ears and face red, assuming it was from the pain.

Six years had passed since then. Chi Yu didn’t know how Ran Jin’s state of mind had changed after coming to the Chi house, but she knew that today, six years later, it was impossible for her to help Ran Jin change. So, the words “I’ll help you change” remained unsaid.

Looking back now, because she hadn’t noticed the secret on Ran Jin’s wrist then and hadn’t paid attention, she had no matching memory of it. Moreover, Ran Jin had been covered in injuries then and hadn’t yet undergone cosmetic scar removal; if there had been something unusual on her wrist, it wouldn’t have been out of place.

Chi Yu watched as Ran Jin, beneath the covers, struggled to undo the sash of her bathrobe with one hand. This hidden movement was somehow more evocative than a blatant one. Images of her kiss with ​read the original at bailiantales.com​Ran Jin suddenly flooded Chi Yu’s mind, and connecting it to what she was seeing now, her thoughts wandered even further.

She wanted to soothe her pain.

A ringing started in her ears, and Chi Yu’s chest heaved. She left a quick “I’m going out for a moment” and fled the room, walking all the way to the backyard.

The rain had stopped. Standing in the freezing winter night in thin clothes, the cold quickly seeped into her skin and bones, calming her down.

What am I thinking?

Chi Yu took a deep breath, filling her lungs with cold air. She told herself—forgetting for a moment that the truth of her sister’s case wasn’t fully out yet—even if Ran Jin was innocent, there was no possibility for the two of them.

Me and her…

Chi Yu stood under the starry sky and exhaled a plume of white mist. Looking up at the horizon, every star seemed like her sister’s eyes.

When Ran Jin woke up the next day, her fever had broken. After changing into Chi Yu’s pajamas the previous night, she hadn’t even known when the IV bags were changed and had quickly fallen into a deep sleep.

Upon waking, she still had a slight headache. Dr. Lin checked her temperature; it had returned to normal. This was the best sleep she had had in a long time, and now she was a bit hungry.

Coming out of the guest room on the way to the dining room, she passed a full-length mirror. Usually, she wouldn’t look at herself in the mirror, but now she was wearing Chi Yu’s pajamas. They were slightly too large, the pants pooling over her feet. The oversized, familiar clothing gave her the illusion of being in an intimate relationship.

After staring at herself in the mirror for a while, Ran Jin walked to the dining room, where Auntie Su had breakfast ready. Ran Jin pulled out a chair to sit, then glanced toward the third floor and asked, “Where is Xiao Yu?”

“The Second Miss went out early this morning. She left [unauthorized copy]in quite a hurry,” Auntie Su said.

Ran Jin took out her phone. It was full of company business; Chi Yu hadn’t sent her a WeChat message. What could make her leave so urgently? It’s only eight o’clock, and after everything last night, what time did she have to wake up?

At this moment, Chi Yu had already reached the airport. She was in the international terminal; her flight would take off in forty minutes.

She hadn’t slept much last night. In the early morning, she received an email from FPIU asking when she could return. She was a pillar of the project, and being away for this long had surely made progress difficult. It was thoughtful of the company not to haunt her daily, and she couldn’t be so irresponsible; she had to go back and give them an answer.

Chi Yu hadn’t told Ran Jin where she was going; she only sent a handover email to Xiao Zhang to ensure that nothing would go wrong with Ran Jin’s work during her absence. Ran Jin would eventually find out from Xiao Zhang that she had left.

Chi Yu sat in the morning airport, drinking refreshing coffee and waiting to board. The winter sun shone on her, but it felt only piercing, not warm. She needed to leave for a while to settle some things and understand others.

“Hello? Sister Yu!” Just before Chi Yu boarded the plane, Qi Tong called, sounding frantic. “Where are you! Something’s up, come to my studio right away!”

Chi Yu said she was boarding now.

“Ah? You’re going back? True… you’ve been home for so long, the company is probably worried sick. I’ll send the things I found to your email then. You can look at them slowly on the plane.”

Chi Yu asked urgently, “Who is it about?”

“Zhou Yu!”

Hearing it was about Zhou Yu, Chi Yu relaxed slightly. “Send it over.”

Chi Yu pushed open the door to the first-class cabin, set her backpack aside, and sat on the bed to read the files Qi Tong had sent. stolen content Qi Tong hadn’t been idle and had been helping Chi Yu investigate.

The first lead was about Zhou Yu’s accident in Shanghai. Road surveillance hadn’t captured the details, so Qi Tong had been checking the dashcam footage of surrounding vehicles one by one. A staff member from her studio was specifically in Shanghai investigating.

The investigation revealed that Zhou Yu’s car had slammed head-on into a guardrail, crushing the front end. Someone had immediately called the police and an ambulance. When the official 120 ambulance arrived, they found Zhou Yu wasn’t in the car. Dashcam footage from other passing vehicles showed that before the 120 arrived, another ambulance had already shown up and taken away a man who was no longer moving.

Comparing the clothing Zhou Yu wore that day, the man taken away was very likely Zhou Yu himself. Some ambulances are privately contracted, making them harder to track. Usually, Qi Tong could find them if they were legitimate private contractors. The strange thing was that after picking up Zhou Yu, this ambulance didn’t head toward any public or private hospital.

The last time this ambulance appeared on surveillance was in the suburbs of Shanghai. From that point on, it seemed to evaporate into thin air.

Chi Yu propped up her chin and finished reading all the documents. She went back to re-watch the footage from a dashcam in the opposite lane. The people who stepped out of the first ambulance were all wearing masks and looked very professional; they loaded Zhou Yu into the vehicle very quickly. Zhou Yu didn’t move the entire time.

According to Chu Wei, Zhou Yu had only been in Shanghai for about two weeks. If he had been in such a severe accident, how could he have no scars at all? However, it made sense—Chu Wei said that since he returned from Shanghai, they hadn’t been intimate. If Zhou Yu’s injuries were on his torso, it wouldn’t be easy for Chu Wei to notice.

But what was with that ambulance? Where did it take Zhou Yu?

The secrets surrounding Zhou Yu couldn’t be directly proven to be related to Ran Jin, but Chi Yu could sense a similarity between the two. She knew that as long as she cracked Zhou Yu’s secret, she would be closer to Ran Jin and closer to the truth of her sister’s death.

During the time Chi Yu was away, Ran Jin was able to focus on her work, including tasks that were difficult to carry out with Chi Yu around. The Chi Group, having secured the lunar mining rights, was no longer focused primarily on expansion. Even for the Chi Group, it would take time to digest such an epic project.

After organizing the internal engineering of the Group, Ran Jin sent the files to Chi Yu’s email. Looking at the recent work plan, if she worked hard for two more days, she could squeeze out a week of time.

That week, she planned to fulfill a promise.

“Are you really coming to see me?”

The little girl on the other end of the video was so excited by the news that she spun in circles, her large eyes wide with surprise.

“Yes, Mommy finally finished her work. I’m coming to stay with you.” Ran Jin sat in the lounge of her office with the door closed, smiling tenderly at the little girl on the screen.

“Mommy is so good! I’ll be waiting for you guys then!”

Hearing the word “guys,” Ran Jin understood—what must be faced must be faced. She had to tell her eventually; she would use this visit to tell her.