Tianyi knew he was struggling and said, "Before you leave Lancheng, go through your mother's belongings again and see if there are any clues. Give me any clues you find. I don't know if those who died unjustly died in vain, but I want to help those who will be harmed by her again, at least to ensure my friend doesn't get into trouble."
Song Jiaping loosened his clenched fists and said, "Okay, I'll go back and sort through them now and give you all of my mother's belongings."
"It's good that you can understand," Tianyi guessed, "You're letting go of such great hatred because of Huangfu Mengyao, right?"
Song Jiaping's expression changed slightly, but he didn't answer him.
He continued, "Last time Su Su and I treated you to dinner, at the entrance of the restaurant, Huangfu Mengyao blocked the car for you regardless of the consequences. I knew you were deeply in love. Only love can change the hatred in a person's heart. You are very lucky to have someone who can soothe your hatred with love, so don't be so fixated on these things. I'm telling you the truth only to let you know your true background, so you're not kept in the dark. I didn't mean for you to seek revenge again."
"Thank you for telling me this. At least I know the reason, unlike my mother who died with hatred, and besides hatred, she never understood why all this happened until her death."
Tianyi poured him another glass of wine and said, "It's also thanks to you wanting to see me. After hearing you speak, I'm even more certain of my guess."
Song Jiaping raised his glass to him and said, "I don't know what grievances you have with the Huangfu family, but your group is competing with the Huangfu Group in the business world. So, I'll leave the investigation of the truth from back then to you. I'll go back now to carefully sort through my mother's belongings again."
After speaking, he drank the entire glass of wine and got up to leave.
Tianyi didn't try to stop him. He swirled the red wine in his glass and thought that if there was any evidence in Song Jiaping's mother's belongings, it would be best. If not, he could try to trick Wu Xiufang in other ways and see her reaction.
Also, did Huangfu Sisong know Wu Xiufang's true identity, or was he also kept in the dark all along?
None of this could be determined yet; it had to be tested step by step.
...
Song Jiaping returned to the sanatorium and sorted through the things his mother left behind in her room.
He never expected his mother, Zhu Qin, to possibly be a young lady of a prominent family, yet live such a tragic life.
Some staff and caregivers, upon learning of his mother's passing, came to offer their condolences. They all said his mother was a very good person, friendly to the people there when she wasn't ill, and liked to chat with the caregivers.
Song Jiaping was glad he had resigned. He had stayed by his mother's side for over a month and had not missed her final moments.
The doctor's estimate of two to three months was for someone with a very strong constitution, but his mother had other illnesses and couldn't last that long.
For over a month, his mother could barely eat anything, vomiting whatever she consumed, surviving solely on IV drips and suffering from pain. In the end, she was in great agony.
He felt heartbroken just looking at her, wishing he could suffer in her place.
Then he looked at Wu Xiufang now, a wealthy socialite, adorned with gold and silver, living a life of splendor...
When he cleared out his mother's belongings, there wasn't a single valuable item, just clothes for changing, daily necessities, reading glasses, and a bracelet he had given his mother after he started working.
Then, at the very bottom of the wardrobe, there was a square tin biscuit box. When he opened it, he found an old photo album, a jade pendant, and a pair of very small gold bangles.
These two pieces of jewelry looked like they were for a newborn baby. Did his mother prepare them for his future marriage and children?
The jade pendant was shaped like a Qilin, meant to ward off evil and ensure peace.
He looked closely at the pair of gold bangles. Although they were small, they fit perfectly. They were likely pure gold, with a line of small characters engraved on the inside of each.
One bangle was inscribed with "Mu Xiu Yu Lin" (Wood excels in the forest), and the other with "Fen Fang Sui Yue" (Fragrant years).
Song Jiaping couldn't recall the meaning for a moment, so he flipped through the old photo album. There was a very old black and white photo.
An old woman sat holding a child, and a woman with curled hair wearing a qipao stood behind them.
In that era, the woman's attire was considered extremely fashionable, and her features bore some resemblance to his mother. Could this woman be his maternal grandmother?
Was the old woman his great-grandmother, and the child his mother?
If he could find old family photos of the Wu family with his grandmother, could that prove his grandmother was the original wife of the Wu family's boss?
Song Jiaping felt the photo album might be useful and immediately put it away. Then he suddenly thought of those two phrases. Taking one character from each phrase, wouldn't it spell out Xiu Fang?
He remembered his mother mentioning that the current Wu Xiufang originally didn't have this name; she was called Li Chunxing.
This Li Chunxing later went to the city, graduated from university, and changed her name to Wu Xiufang after starting her career. Suddenly, overnight, she became a young lady of the Wu family and incredibly wealthy.
At the time, although his mother envied her education and success, she and his father lived a content life in the village and had no conflicts with Li Chunxing.
Li Chunxing once invited them to the city. At that time, his mother and Li Chunxing were best friends.
His mother was completely unguarded with her and told her that his grandfather and father were revered as divine doctors in the village because they possessed a secret ancestral medical book, many of whose prescriptions were miraculous.
Li Chunxing suggested that his parents sell a traditional secret recipe to a pharmaceutical factory, which would not only make them rich but also benefit more people.
They were tempted at the time, but after returning and discussing it with his grandfather, his grandfather was very conservative and disagreed, saying that secret recipes could not be divulged and could only be passed down secretly from generation to generation.
His father couldn't persuade his grandfather at all, so he secretly copied a few prescriptions from the medical book and took them to the city to give to Li Chunxing, asking her to help contact a pharmaceutical factory.
Li Chunxing did help them contact a pharmaceutical factory, saying they could mass-produce these prescriptions, and thus his parents earned a significant amount of money for that time.
When these finished medicines were produced, Li Chunxing sent them to his parents in boxes.
His mother once told him that when his father saw the finished medicine made into capsules, he thought this packaging was convenient and easy for patients to take. Without thinking much, he prescribed these medicines to the villagers who needed them.
Unexpectedly, several villagers who took these finished medicines suddenly died. Some villagers reported the incident to the police.
The police discovered that the medicine his father prescribed to the villagers was fake. When they found the pharmaceutical factory, they discovered it wasn't a pharmaceutical factory at all but a manual black workshop, and the people inside had already fled.
After his father and grandfather were arrested, his father truthfully explained the whole story to the police.
When the police questioned Li Chunxing, she flatly denied it, saying she knew nothing about the matter and had never taken his father's prescriptions.