Chapter 94

Chapter 94: His Physiognomy Changed

“What ‘just that’?” The hearts that Du Lian Shuang and the others had finally managed to put down jumped right back up.

Yin Bai Lu had no idea how to explain it to Du An Rao and the others, so she simply led them to the ward where Liao Yu Qian was staying.

The moment they walked into the ward, everyone froze.

Liao Yu Qian’s room was much bigger than Du Lian Shuang’s because it was a double room. Besides Liao Yu Qian, there was another man lying in the other bed, a stranger none of them knew.

“This is…?” Although Du Lian Shuang was close to Yin Bai Lu, she did not know every single person around Liao Yu Qian.

“This is Zou Heng, the department manager at Yu Qian’s company. He’s also one of his best brothers. Their relationship is like ours.”

Once Yin Bai Lu made that comparison, Du Lian Shuang understood.

Then she remembered his name. Wasn’t this the same petty man who had blamed Liao Yu Qian for his sister’s death?

The expression on Du Lian Shuang’s face stiffened. She looked at Liao Yu Qian, then at Zou Heng. Only after a long pause did she ask: “So what happened to them?”

At that, Yin Bai Lu could not help shivering with fear: “Early this morning, Yu Qian went to the south of the city for a site inspection. When he got there, he found one of the roads under construction, blocking the way. Taking another route would have delayed them a lot, so he decided to just walk over. But as soon as he got out of the car, they were surrounded.”

When she heard this, Du Lian Shuang felt her heart climb into her throat: “And then?”

“Those people clearly came with bad intentions. Because they thought it was just a normal inspection, Yu Qian didn’t bring many people. Including the driver, there were only five of them. How could they fight against those desperadoes? And that’s not even the worst part. Those people brought… guns.”

“Guns?!” Du Lian Shuang’s voice suddenly jumped in pitch.

You could not blame her for losing control. In their city, that kind of thing was forbidden. Who on earth were these people who came after Liao Yu Qian that they could get their hands on something like that?

A glint of understanding flashed through Du An Rao’s eyes. No wonder Liao Yu Qian had capsized in the gutter this time. His enemies really were out for his life.

“Then how did they… get saved?” she asked.

Yin Bai Lu looked over at Zou Heng, her expression complicated.

Liao Yu Qian, on the other hand, was in a pretty good mood. Lying in bed, he grinned and said: “It’s all thanks to A Heng. He used to compete in boxing matches when he was younger, so he knows some moves. Even though there were a lot of people surrounding us, he still managed to drag things out. People nearby heard the noise and felt that something was wrong, so they called the police. The police officers came quickly, and that scared those guys off.”

He rubbed his sprained ankle and went on: “Thanks to A Heng, I barely managed to keep my life. When those guys heard someone was coming, they panicked and fired a shot at me. A Heng was standing right next to me. He hurried to push me out of the way but couldn’t dodge it himself. In the end, I was fine, and he ended up with a shoulder wound.”

Only then did Du Lian Shuang and the others realize that, other than the foot that was wrapped up thick like a steamed bun, there was not a single visible injury on Liao Yu Qian’s body.

Zou Heng, in contrast, had bruises on his forehead and the corner of his mouth. His arm was hung up, and at the edge of the bandage they could faintly see spots of red seeping through. He really did look much worse than Liao Yu Qian.

Yet this man, who had kept his head slightly lowered and stayed silent from the moment Du An Rao and the others came in, suddenly spoke when Liao Yu Qian held Yin Bai Lu’s hand to comfort her and said they all needed to thank him.

Zou Heng’s voice was hoarse and low, with a faint, heavy pressure in it: “No need to thank me. This mess was originally brought in by me. I just didn’t expect their eyes and ears to be so sharp. As soon as they knew I wanted to back out, they found someone else and moved up their plan. They caught us completely off guard.”

It turned out that after Du An Rao talked with Liao Yu Qian and his wife that day, Yin Bai Lu had rushed home and called Zou Heng over, then she and Liao Yu Qian told him everything about what happened with Zou Shan five years ago.

After hearing it all, Zou Heng was stunned. His hands shook as he picked up the small pregnancy test slip. He stared at his sister’s name printed on it and at the ultrasound image of the two-month-old fetus. It felt like he had been struck by lightning.

Liao Yu Qian had found these materials by accident later on when he was searching Zou Shan’s room for the tender documents. Besides that, he had also found surveillance footage of Zou Shan sneaking into Zou Heng’s room to steal the tender documents.

To keep Zou Heng from learning the truth, he had people delete all the backup copies. Only the originals were kept, and even he could not say why. It was as if some strange force had made him hold onto them, including the recording from before Zou Shan died.

Why did he have a recording? Because when he saw Zou Shan was about to die, he had taken out his phone to call Zou Heng, but the call wouldn’t go through. So he simply turned on the recording function. He figured that if she had any last words and Zou Heng could not make it in time to hear them himself, he would regret it for the rest of his life, so it was better to record them.

He never imagined that this recording would become the key evidence to prove his own innocence.

After learning the truth, Zou Heng skipped work and stayed silent for days before he finally accepted reality. Then he went to Liao Yu Qian on his own and confessed all the rumors that Liao Yu Qian’s enemy had made him spread, along with what they had told him to do.

After that, he apologized, turned in his resignation, but Liao Yu Qian did not accept it and kept dragging things out until today, when they both got into trouble.

At first, when she heard how Liao Yu Qian talked about it, Yin Bai Lu’s face stayed calm, like she did not really care.

But when she heard what Zou Heng said, her face instantly darkened: “You don’t need to take all the blame onto yourself. This is not your fault.”

Zou Heng stared at her in surprise, eyes wide: “Sister-in-law?”

Facing her husband’s smiling gaze, Yin Bai Lu twisted his arm in anger and embarrassment: “Don’t. I’m still mad about what happened before. I don’t deserve to be called sister-in-law. But that’s a separate matter. Your brother is right. This time we really do owe you. If not for you, he would definitely have one more hole in his body. We really should thank you.”

By the time she finished, even Yin Bai Lu herself felt awkward. No one knew her better than Liao Yu Qian. Ignoring the pain in his arm, he grinned even wider.

“You’ve already admitted I’m his brother. Who else is he supposed to call sister-in-law? Don’t just stand there stunned. You know what your sister-in-law is like, sharp tongue and soft heart. She’s still mad right now, so you’d better be careful and listen to her. That way she’ll cool down sooner.”

Zou Heng froze. Of course he understood that Liao Yu Qian was trying to keep him around. But he really felt too ashamed to keep working under him.

“Brother, sister-in-law, I really…”

Before he could finish, Yin Bai Lu shot him a sharp glare: “I really don’t get you big men. Why do you always have to act all wishy-washy about small things and drag them out like a nagging mama? This matter ends here. The past is over. If anyone dares bring it up again, don’t blame me for turning my face on them.”

“Yes, yes, yes, you’re right about everything. You hear that? From now on, you’re not allowed to mention any of this again. Don’t make your sister-in-law angry.”

Looking at the husband and wife taking turns to speak, how could Zou Heng not understand their kindness?

Fine. He had no other family anyway. After everything that had happened, he might as well spend the rest of his life behaving himself and treat that as his way of atoning.

The whole time, Du An Rao had been watching the changes in Zou Heng’s expression. Suddenly, her eyes widened in surprise.

[Huh, his physiognomy changed.]