After calming down, Qin He knew she couldn't let her brother worry about her any longer. He must have been the one suffering the most.
She sat up straight, "Brother, Wanwan won't mind."
"But I do," Qin Yun's expression turned serious. "He'er, you must swear to me that you will never tell Wanwan about this!"
Qin He bit her lip, "I won't—"
"The Xu family only has Wanwan as their daughter. In the future, the inheritance of the Xu Corporation will depend on her. And she loves children so much; she deserves a complete marriage."
Guilt flickered in Qin Yun's eyes. "Lately, with her staying here at night, I truly—"
Xu Wanwan, having been suddenly broken up with by him, had always harbored resentment. It started with her causing trouble for him and then deliberately doing things he disliked.
Qin Yun had been avoiding her.
But recently, due to caring for him while he was injured, they had been spending extended periods together, and with his leg wound, he couldn't avoid her at all.
The woman he deeply loved slept beside him. Xu Wanwan, with her fiery and open nature, had simply kissed him, leaving his mind in a haze.
Qin He clenched her palms, "Then what about you, Brother? Shouldn't you marry the person you love?"
Qin Yun smiled faintly. "Brother is different from Wanwan. Qin family still has you, He'er. When you marry a good man in the future, your child can inherit Qin Corporation then."
Qin He glared, "No!"
"Brother, give me your medical records. This illness might be curable!"
Qin Yun chuckled, "Alright, alright, don't cry."
...
When Qin He left the hospital, her eyes were swollen like peaches.
She had managed to hold back in front of her brother, but once in the car, she slumped over the steering wheel and cried silently for a while.
Her emotions collapsed, transitioning from silent tears to sobs that left her gasping for air.
Qin He returned home with red eyes and went to bed with red eyes.
The next morning, Qin He woke up feeling as if a fly was trapped between her eyelids, making it difficult to open her eyes.
When she washed up, she looked in the mirror and indeed, her eyes were swollen like two plump grubs.
Without bothering to wear sunglasses, she went to Qin Corporation with her swollen eyes, heading straight to the top-floor office.
Around noon, while working, Qin He asked Zhou Yang for Qin Yun's medical records.
The injury was far more severe than she had imagined. Qin Yun had only mentioned it was from the past, but he hadn't disclosed that the knife had nearly severed his internal organs.
A little deeper, and her brother would have had to live with a colostomy bag for the rest of his life.
How agonizing that would be for her handsome and proud brother.
Zhou Yang replied to Qin He, "President Qin asked no one to inform anyone. He was in the hospital for half a month, and he told Madam he was on a business trip."
Qin He's lips twitched slightly, "What about me?"
"At that time, you were under an assumed name at the Gu family. President Qin didn't want to notify you—"
"What happened to the man who injured my brother?"
"He has already escaped, and the police are still pursuing him," Zhou Yang said.
Qin He put away the shocking medical records and, with a chilling expression, went into the restroom.
When she emerged, her face was stern, but her eyes had become even more swollen.
She clenched her fists tightly. No matter what, she was determined to cure her brother!
After lunch, Zhou Yang remained at the company, while Qin He drove to the joint department.
As soon as she parked and entered the joint department, she noticed many people peeking at her.
Qin He frowned slightly. What was so noteworthy about her swollen eyes?
As she neared her office door, she encountered Gu Qichen coming out.
Qin He, being in a bad mood, intended to go directly into her office.
Gu Qichen grabbed her wrist, his face cold, his gaze fixed on her eyes.
"You've been crying?"
"Who bullied you?"
Qin He scowled, "It has nothing to do with you."
She pushed Gu Qichen's hand away and entered her office.
Outside the office, the man's face was chilling as he stood in the hallway.
Yu Jing stood beside him, "President Gu—"
"Go investigate what happened." Gu Qichen pursed his lips. Seeing Qin He's red and swollen eyes, his heart was pierced as if by a needle, the sudden pain causing him to momentarily overstep the boundaries of their current relationship.
Yu Jing acknowledged the order.
However, before Yu Jing could investigate, the internet had already erupted.
At nine in the morning, someone posted a picture. The image was of a work ID.
The ID had a photo attached, with the department listed as: Qingcheng Funeral Home.
Beneath the department, the woman in the photo looked at the camera, her eyes like clear water, stunningly beautiful.
Mortician: Qin He.
The poster added a caption: "A mortician, someone who applies makeup to the deceased. How unlucky to be posting makeup tutorials online. Aren't the fans of the hardworking Xiao He afraid?"
"Applying makeup meant for the dead onto oneself. Isn't that cursing oneself? Qin He is quite malicious. Is she cursing you all?"
This Weibo post was made in the morning, but its initial spread was slow. Now, someone had posted it in the "Hardworking Xiao He" super topic, causing a massive stir.
Netizens were terrified of this profession.
"A job that involves constant contact with the deceased. This woman must be perverted!"
"Don't talk nonsense upstairs; being a mortician is a noble profession!"
"But it's still scary to think about. I'd faint if I saw a dead body."
"Yes, the cause of death varies, and the body can present differently. I wonder if Qin He has ever dealt with a 'bloated body'—"
"Anyway, she's definitely not ordinary. How could she not be afraid? Doesn't she have the natural human fear of death?"
Among the netizens, there were three types of reactions. One group considered morticians to be noble, but they were the fewest.
The majority were fearful. People are naturally afraid of corpses. Most were discussing why Qin He, as the eldest daughter of the Qin family, would take up such a profession.
Another group was simply cursing Qin He.
"Qin He is definitely cursing people!"
"Exactly! She's not short of money, so why do this job? I heard my grandfather say people in this profession know some obscure sorcery for self-defense! She deliberately posted so many 'dead person' makeup looks in her live streams before. Was she performing some dark magic?"
Once public opinion began to stir, all sorts of bizarre rumors emerged.
Most netizens enjoyed the most sensational speculations.
In Gu Qichen's office, he looked at the trending topic online with a frosty expression.
Yu Jing stood beside him, "I haven't found anything unusual for Miss Qin these past two days, only this trending topic online. Perhaps Miss Qin was crying because of the trending topic?"
Gu Qichen was aware of Qin He's profession as a mortician.
Because of this, his mother had always called Qin He unlucky.
However, he personally had no aversion to the profession. Thinking of Qin He's red and swollen eyes, he looked at Yu Jing.
Yu Jing hesitantly said, "President Gu, should we have this trending topic removed?"
"No need."
Removing the trending topic wouldn't solve the issue. What needed to change was public perception.
Gu Qichen opened his own Weibo account. He had many followers, but he had never posted anything himself, only allowing Yu Jing to repost some announcements and activities of the Gu Corporation.
He typed on the keyboard, writing a few lines.
He then felt it wasn't enough and opened a search engine.
Yu Jing stood by, watching Gu Qichen's solemn expression and silently thinking that the President never seemed this serious even when handling major meetings—
...
In Qin He's office, she took two ice packs and applied them to her eyes through a towel, gazing at the sky for a moment, then switched to warm water compresses.
Alternating between hot and cold was the fastest way to reduce swelling.