Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Xie Qiyan was certain that An Bihua had had no contact with Hou Mengqiu over the past six months.

His people had been watching Hou Mengqiu like hawks. During this entire period, no one had gone near her.

An Bihua had no idea about Xie Qiyan’s arrangements around Hou Mengqiu, and with a very clear purpose, he spent two days loitering around the Mental Hospital where she was staying.

Xie Qiyan went along with it and cast out a hook, having the director post a recruitment notice online.

The number of people watching Hou Mengqiu decreased, but ever since she had been made to share a room with a madwoman, Hou Mengqiu had spent every day in a daze, terrified and on edge.

In places where no one could see, Hou Mengqiu bit her lip until it bled from sheer resentment.

But she could only endure it. She had nowhere to vent.

She had no idea how many people Xie Qiyan had sent to monitor her. To avoid being detected, she even pretended to be insane in her dreams.

She also did not know why she had been moved from a single room to a double. In her heart, she guessed that perhaps Xie Qiyan was so furious that he had truly started treating her like a lunatic, but even so, she still did not dare let down her guard.

Xie Qiyan was a tough nut to crack. She could tell he was a man with methods, and she was afraid of those methods.

“President Xie, An Bihua submitted a job application online. The director has already communicated with him and scheduled an interview for nine-thirty tomorrow morning.” As soon as Huo Yang finished coordinating with the director, he came in to report.

“Mm.” Xie Qiyan twirled the fountain pen in his fingers, then pondered for a moment. “Don’t let Hou Mengqiu notice anything.”

Huo Yang nodded. “Understood.”

Early the next morning, Xie Qiyan brought Huo Yang to the Mental Hospital half an hour ahead of time.

The position they were hiring for was a care worker, so the director did not need to personally conduct the interview. The staff at the hospital had received instructions from above and merely went through a simple interview process with An Bihua.

An Bihua seemed desperate to see Hou Mengqiu. When the interviewer asked when he could start a trial shift, he answered without hesitation by asking, “Can I start today?”

Yes. Of course he could.

That was exactly what Xie Qiyan had been waiting for him to say.

A staff member took him to change into a care worker’s uniform. To avoid arousing his suspicion, they followed procedure and brought him along on the ward rounds, going from the second floor to the third. At last, they reached Hou Mengqiu’s room.

When An Bihua entered, Hou Mengqiu was sitting on the bed with her hair loose, muttering to herself.

Originally, she had been lying under the covers. The person in the opposite bed was a lunatic, and Hou Mengqiu found her so irritating that she preferred to hide and pretend she did not exist. But the moment she heard footsteps in the hallway outside, she reflexively sat up and started acting foolish.

The instant she saw that the person who had come in was An Bihua, Hou Mengqiu froze completely. A thread of fear crept from her tailbone through her entire body, inch by inch. She was terrified of being exposed, yet at the same time, she was desperately anxious to know whether something had happened to her son.

When she had asked An Bihua to take Xie An away, she had warned him over and over again that if she did not contact them, they absolutely could not return to the country.

But An Bihua had come back…

Did that mean something had happened to Xie An…?

Hou Mengqiu nearly lost control of her emotions.

But reason told her she could not expose herself at a time like this. She rolled her eyes around, pretending to be dazed and foolish, trying to see whether Xie Qiyan’s people were nearby.

After waiting for a while and observing that An Bihua was only looking at her without saying anything-instead listening carefully as another care worker explained the basic situation of the patients in this room-Hou Mengqiu slowly regained her composure.

The trial shift lasted three days. An Bihua was not allowed to stay overnight at the hospital. When he returned the next morning, he was afraid of arousing suspicion and did not take the initiative to look for Hou Mengqiu.

Hou Mengqiu, however, was afraid of unexpected complications. She was also afraid that if he stayed here too long, Xie Qiyan would grow suspicious. So she took the initiative and acted crazy right in front of him.

Inside a certain room, Xie Qiyan quietly watched how things unfolded.

Seeing that he said nothing, Huo Yang understood that although he looked calm on the surface, he was more tense than anyone. So, in an attempt to ease the tension, he took the initiative and said, “The one sewn into the care worker’s uniform is a miniature listening device. It’s about the same size as a shirt button. An Bihua won’t notice it.”
Xie Qiyan only nodded.

He knew.

If An Bihua had found out, he wouldn’t have come looking for Hou Mengqiu today.

Huo Yang put the call on speaker, and faint rustling could be heard from An Bihua’s end.

Hou Mengqiu had run up to An Bihua and thrown a fit. When the other two caregivers tried to hold her down and take her back to her room, An Bihua took the task upon himself.

Seeing their hesitation, An Bihua promised again and again, “I’m a grown man. You think I can’t control one woman? Don’t worry, leave her to me.”

For the safety of every patient, there were surveillance cameras installed in the wards. If Hou Mengqiu wanted to ask him something, she obviously couldn’t do it in her room, so she launched into another bout of madness and headed toward the restroom.

Once the door was shut and locked, Hou Mengqiu didn’t care how disheveled she looked. She grabbed An Bihua’s hand and asked urgently, “Did something happen to Xiao An?”

Xie An was her only son. To her, Xie An was more important than her own life.

An Bihua violently shook off her hand and said bluntly, “What could possibly happen to him? All he does every day is ask where you are and why that old bastard Xie Tianqi sent him abroad.”

Hearing that her son was all right, Hou Mengqiu immediately relaxed-only to slap him hard across the face the next second. “If Xiao An is fine, then why the hell did you come back? Do you have any idea that coming back so recklessly could destroy us…”

“How long are you going to keep pretending to be insane?” An Bihua roared, holding back his fury. He pinned her shoulders against the door, his eyes bloodshot. “Xiao Qiu, come with me. Let’s go overseas together and reunite as a family…”

Hou Mengqiu pushed his hands away. “Impossible. I can’t get away. Xie Qiyan is watching me too closely. If I go to Xiao An, he’ll use Xiao An to threaten me! He’ll tell Xiao An that his father isn’t Xie Tianqi. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do!”

At this, Hou Mengqiu’s hatred for Xie Qiyan deepened even further.

If Xie Qiyan hadn’t uncovered her while investigating Yao Qin, how would anyone have found out about that little affair between her and An Bihua?

Xie An respected and loved his grandfather and father so much. His love for Xie Tianqi ran even deeper than her own as his mother. Hou Mengqiu didn’t dare imagine what would happen if Xie An learned the truth about his birth.

She was afraid her son would hate her.

“Tell Xiao An that this is his grandfather’s way of tempering him. Back then, Xie Qiyan was sent abroad at the same age too. Find a way to explain it to him. He’s always been obedient. If you pass on my words, he’ll listen.” Hou Mengqiu steadied her breathing, wiped her tears, and continued, “Wait for me a little longer. I’ll find a way to get out.”

An Bihua gripped Hou Mengqiu’s wrist tightly, his eyes filled with rage. “But Xiao An is my son! Mine and yours! Why can’t we let him know…”

“He won’t be able to take it! He’ll hate you, and he’ll hate me too…” Hou Mengqiu’s face was streaked with tears. “Listen to me, all right? Once I get rid of Xie Qiyan, I’ll come find you.”

“How are you going to get rid of him? If he wants to know something, just tell him and be done with it…”

“If I tell him, then it really will be over!” Hou Mengqiu wiped at her tears. “If he finds out that I was the one who killed Yao Qin, then me, you, and my Xiao An-we’re all finished…”

Listening in, Xie Qiyan’s ears rang. The instant he stood, his entire body went rigid.

Huo Yang clenched his fists as well.

After only three seconds of stunned silence, he charged with Xie Qiyan toward the third floor of the ward building.