Putting aside her grandfather's favoritism, she couldn't find any substantial evidence here.
Zhao Shuyao couldn't help but shed tears, her eyes feeling sore and throbbing.
What good would finding evidence do? Her best years had been stolen by Huo Yanxue. Moreover, her heart was already riddled with holes; how could she find the courage to love this man again?
A sharp pain shot through the area of her heart and kidneys.
Zhao Shuyao lowered her head, clutching the painful spot, and let out a sob, curling up on the floor.
When Jiang Shiyu arrived and opened the hotel room door, she saw Zhao Shuyao collapsed on the living room floor, drenched in sweat.
"Yaoyao!" Jiang Shiyu's heart tightened. She called out softly and rushed forward, helping Zhao Shuyao up, while pulling out her phone to make a call.
Ren Ai Hospital.
Qin Yusheng, who was smoking in the safety stairwell, suddenly felt a sharp pain in his kidney area. He frowned and gasped.
He initially thought it was just due to smoking too much lately and would pass with a moment's rest, but the pain grew more intense.
It felt as if he was being influenced by his host.
Qin Yusheng's expression changed, and he rushed to Huo Yanxue's ward.
He pushed the door open and saw Huo Yanxue sitting peacefully on the hospital bed.
Huo Yanxue was startled to see Qin Yusheng, covered in sweat, appearing at the doorway. "Brother Yusheng, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Don't scare me!"
Recalling what the doctor had said last time, Qin Yusheng grabbed Huo Yanxue's hand. "Does your body hurt? Where does it hurt?"
"No, Brother Yusheng, what's happening? What's wrong with you? I'll call the doctor for you!"
Before Huo Yanxue could finish, the man collapsed like a toppling mountain.
Zhao Shuyao slowly regained consciousness.
"You're awake. The doctor said you weren't eating on time, which upset your stomach. Coupled with your previous surgery, you need to be even more careful. Are you feeling any better?"
Jiang Shiyu's gentle voice slowly reached her ears.
"Shiyu, darling..."
Zhao Shuyao's eyes welled up, and she almost cried.
"Ugly woman, stop crying. You'll look even uglier if you keep crying!"
Cheche, who had appeared from somewhere, sat on the chair next to Jiang Shiyu, frowning at Zhao Shuyao with apparent disdain.
Looking at Cheche's face, which bore a resemblance to Jiang Shiyu's, Zhao Shuyao couldn't bring herself to be angry. "You little sharp-tongued brat, would it kill you to say a few less words?"
Cheche stuck out his tongue. "Nyah nyah nyah, I won't, unless you stand up and hit me!"
Zhao Shuyao tried to get up, but she still had an IV drip and couldn't move.
However, seeing the little fellow's arrogance, Zhao Shuyao couldn't stand it and struggled to get up to hit Cheche.
Jiang Shiyu held her down. "Don't move, just finish your infusion."
Then Jiang Shiyu turned to Cheche. "If you provoke your godmother again, Mommy won't like you anymore."
"I was wrong, Mommy." Cheche obediently surrendered.
Seeing the little fellow taken down a peg, Zhao Shuyao felt her mood lift. "You little rascal, you have your moments. If you dare bully me again, I'll tell your mommy!"
"You!"
Cheche pouted, his cheeks puffed out in indignation.
Cheche was taken away by the auntie after a while. Despite his reluctance, the little fellow was carried away.
As soon as the child left, Zhao Shuyao began to recount what had happened in the past few days.
Hearing that Huo Yanxue had woken up, Jiang Shiyu was also surprised. "Why did she wake up at this time?"
"It's one thing that she's awake, but she's still disgusting me with such matters. I'm in a predicament now, suffering terribly. Shiyu, darling, I really don't know what to do..." Zhao Shuyao buried her face in her hands.
Qin Yusheng wouldn't believe her side of the story, and all the evidence had been destroyed by Huo Yanxue.
"There's no point in talking about it anymore. Since you want to divorce Qin Yusheng, there's no need to tell him about this. Without concrete evidence, it would be too rash."
Jiang Shiyu's brows furrowed slightly as she offered a sensible suggestion.
"That's what I thought too, but I'm not reconciled. All that love and affection should have belonged to me..."
The thought of everything being stolen by Huo Yanxue over the years brought a surge of nausea and resentment to her stomach.
Zhao Shuyao grew more distressed at this thought, and another sharp pain pierced her heart.
"Qin Yusheng is the Qin family's only son, and he's also excellent and intelligent. If such an heir truly lacks the sense to distinguish right from wrong, what's the use of being with him..."
As Jiang Shiyu spoke, Murong Cheng's image involuntarily surfaced in her mind.
This man, apart from being jealous, could discern right from wrong at other times and stood firmly by her side...
It was just that when he got jealous, he was too difficult to handle...
"You have a point." Zhao Shuyao outwardly agreed with Jiang Shiyu, but her heart remained unfulfilled.
She had loved him for her entire youth.
Even when he was with Huo Yanxue, just seeing him from afar made her happy.
When she was abroad, she always carried their graduation photo, often staring at the man in it in a daze.
She loved him, no doubt about it.
But...
Zhao Shuyao stayed in bed for two days. During this time, her grandfather visited her once. It was from her grandfather that Zhao Shuyao learned about Qin Yusheng falling ill.
She felt a strange sense of schadenfreude.
Could someone like Qin Yusheng also fall ill?
Upon learning that Qin Yusheng was also in the same hospital, Zhao Shuyao couldn't resist sneaking into Qin Yusheng's ward, intending to mock him.
The ward was empty. Pushing the door open, Zhao Shuyao tiptoed inside.
Qin Yusheng lay on the hospital bed, still wearing a patient's gown, receiving an IV drip, sleeping soundly with steady breathing.
Zhao Shuyao watched for a while. Seeing no signs of the man waking up, she moved to leave.
Suddenly, she heard the man murmur, as if talking in his sleep.
"Yaoyao..."
Zhao Shuyao froze.
Since when did Huo Yanxue have a nickname like Yaoyao?
In her panic, she yanked open the ward door and ran out.
Her mind in a whirl, she ran hastily, not watching where she was going or whom she was running into.
She bumped headlong into someone's embrace.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Zhao Shuyao apologized quickly.
"Are you alright?" A warm and pleasant voice sounded from above her.
Unlike Qin Yusheng's rough dominance, or Murong Cheng's cold, deep tone, this was a voice that was gentle to the bone.
Just hearing the man's voice felt like basking in a spring breeze.
"I'm fine!" Zhao Shuyao quickly shook her head, then looked up.
The man was fair-skinned and rosy-lipped, with black, tousled hair brushing his forehead. He wore rimless glasses, behind which were a pair of deep, gentle peach blossom eyes. His light brown irises, high nose bridge, slightly deep philtrum, and a pair of beautiful lips, even the color of his lips was as alluringly red as if he had applied lipstick.
"A man like jade, a peerless gentleman."
It was not an exaggeration to describe this man.