"I’m even more anxious than you are. This matter has me absolutely frantic. What exactly are you planning? Tell me your plan so that I can have some peace of mind," Lu Yi paced back and forth in the living room, his agitation palpable. He would never be able to calm down without a foolproof plan.
"You don’t need to know how I plan to handle this. All you need to know is that tomorrow morning at nine you don’t have to go. I guarantee everything will go smoothly," Chen Wenzhou spoke confidently, as if he had everything under control, causing Lu Yi to furrow his brows deeply.
"You’re not planning to use Yuexue’s safety to threaten Shen Heyu, are you? I’m warning you not to mess around. After all, Yuexue is just a three- or four-year-old little girl."
The thought of it made Lu Yi’s scalp tingle. Although Yuexue wasn’t his biological daughter, he had cared for her for a long time; even without blood ties, he had developed feelings for her. He worried that Chen Wenzhou, in his pursuit of his goal, might do something drastic.
Chen Wenzhou was somewhat surprised. Lu Yi was hardly in a position to save himself, yet he still cared about comforting Yuexue. Chen chuckled mockingly.
"To get Shen Heyu, you’re even willing to present a fait accompli. I thought you were the kind of person who only cared about your own goals and paid no attention to anything else. I didn’t expect you to actually care about Yuexue’s safety."
Lu Yi gasped sharply. Responding in anger, "Just thinking about your harming a three- or four-year-old girl horrifies me. If you could be so cruel to her, then perhaps one day you might turn on me. How can I dare to truly trust you?"
Chen Wenzhou didn’t care whether Lu Yi was sincere—he just laughed and said, "Rest assured, I’ve already returned Yuexue to Shen Heyu. If anything happens to her now, it has nothing to do with me."
"Are you crazy? By returning Yuexue to Shen Heyu right now, how will you get Heyu to listen to you without Yuexue in your hands? This is obviously setting me and Heyu to fail!" Lu Yi nearly went insane upon hearing Chen Wenzhou’s words.
Chen laughed dismissively as if watching a joke, "You really are interesting. When Yuexue was in my hands, you worried I would mistreat her, do something to harm her. Now that I’ve sent Yuexue back to Shen Heyu, you think it’s inappropriate because it loses a trump card."
"I’m not saying you should have kept Yuexue by your side forever, just that you should have waited until the issue with Shen Heyu and me was resolved before returning her," Lu Yi explained hastily, defending himself, not wanting to appear heartless.
"You don’t have to worry about that anymore. All you need to know is that tomorrow morning at nine, you don’t need to show up."
"That’s up to you. Whether you believe it or not doesn’t concern me, but everything I’ve told you is true."
After ending the call, Lu Yi still felt bewildered. He sat wearily on a nearby sofa.
He looked up at the clock. Less than a day remained until tomorrow morning at nine. Could he afford not to go?
The next day at 8:50 am, Shen Heyu had already arrived early at the entrance of the civil affairs bureau. She looked at her watch; only ten minutes were left until her scheduled meeting with Lu Yi.
Lu Yi surely hadn’t forgotten today’s important matter. If he didn’t show up, it would clearly mean he did it on purpose. Heyu hesitated, then couldn’t help but send Lu Yi a message.
"There’s no point in avoiding things. What is meant to come will always come, Lu Yi. It’s time to end this farce. If you don’t show up at nine and don’t give me a clear response, I’ll proceed to the courthouse."
In fact, Lu Yi had already arrived, having parked a car unrecognized by Shen Heyu at the entrance of civil affairs bureau.
His phone vibrated, and he read the message from Shen Heyu.
Lu Yi clenched his teeth. Letting this matter go to court wouldn’t look good; he reached for the car door to get out. But then he thought of Chen Wenzhou’s words and hesitated again.
Less than ten minutes remained until his appointed time with Shen Heyu, yet there had been no word from Chen.
His plan couldn’t have failed, could it? Indeed, he had returned Yuexue to Shen Heyu; now he held no leverage over her.
Should he get out of the car?
If he didn’t and Shen Heyu impulsively took the matter to court, it wouldn’t just be embarrassing for Lu Yi—he also didn’t want to confront Shen Heyu in court or truly antagonize her.
As Lu Yi wavered, time ticked away.
By 9:58, Lu Yi took a deep breath, steeled his heart to get out of the car, when he saw Shen Heyu at the entrance of the civil affairs bureau suddenly reel as if about to fall. However, she quickly regained her composure and headed toward her car while on the phone.
From a distance, Lu Yi couldn’t tell who Xia Qing was talking to or read her expression, but he knew something urgent had happened to Shen Heyu; she got into her car without a backward glance.
Her car soon sped away.
Shen Heyu, wearing a Bluetooth earpiece, asked anxiously, "How could Yuexue suddenly faint? She’s always been healthy, and just yesterday, she seemed perfectly fine."
"Miss Shen, please don’t worry. We’ve already taken the little miss to the hospital. This morning, when I called her to get up for breakfast, she didn’t respond. I thought she was just in a deep sleep, but after a while, I sensed something was wrong. When I opened the door, I found the little miss collapsed on the carpet."
"The little miss looked terrifying; her breathing and heartbeat seemed normal, but no matter how I called her, she wouldn’t wake up. She was like a person in a vegetative state, so I rushed her to the hospital immediately."
"The doctor is still examining the little miss, but he advised that it’s best to have her guardian come at once, so please hurry, Miss Shen."