"When I was swimming, for some unknown reason, I couldn't get up. Later, I had a dream. I dreamed of your mother. She told me not to go home, saying that if I went back, she would take me away."
Xu Guimin finally revealed the reason why he had Xu Xiuhe save him.
Xu Xiuhe was wearing sunglasses. Shen Yin looked at Xu Xiuhe but couldn't see any particular expression on his face. As for herself, she found Xu Guimin's words unbelievable.
"What right do you have to mention my mother?" Xu Xiuhe's voice wasn't loud, but his tone was accusatory.
"Xiuhe, you have to believe your father. I really did dream of your mother. She appeared before me wearing a white dress, gently telling me not to return to the Xu family house, to stay away from Yang Cui, otherwise she would take me away."
"Shut up. That's nonsense. I wish my mother could take you away."
"How can you talk like that? I'm still your father. What kind of son wishes for his father to leave this world? Don't you know that's unfilial?"
Xu Guimin said resentfully.
Xu Xiuhe removed his glasses. Guided by the sound of Xu Guimin's voice, he turned his head. Though he couldn't see, his eyes were directed towards Xu Guimin.
Xu Xiuhe's eyes were lifeless. Xu Guimin sensed something was off at first, and after a while, he asked, "What's wrong with your eyes?"
"I'm blind."
Xu Guimin was momentarily stunned.
"How did you go blind?"
"I bumped into something while walking."
"Was what you just said the truth?" Xu Xiuhe asked again.
"It's the truth. I swear to heaven, I, Xu Guimin, really did dream of Sun Wenting. Sun Wenting told me not to go back. If I've spoken even half a lie, may heaven strike me down." Xu Guimin raised three fingers as he spoke.
"Then you'd better stay here."
"Can I have a phone?" Xu Guimin asked weakly.
Xu Xiuhe turned and left. He shouldn't have brought Xu Guimin out in the first place. What kind of father, upon learning his son had gone blind, wouldn't even say a word of concern?
He had always only loved himself. Xu Guimin would forever be a selfish person.
Shen Yin supported Xu Xiuhe's arm as they left the hospital room.
"Was what he said true?" Shen Yin asked.
"Maybe. His tone didn't sound like he was lying, and he even swore an oath."
"Could it be that mom appeared in his dream? Perhaps his near-drowning wasn't an accident. It's possible that mother and son duo really did have plans to harm her, but mom couldn't bear it and appeared in his dream to save his life."
Shen Yin shared her theory.
It made sense. Xu Xiuhe pondered it as well. This idea was entirely plausible because only he knew just how much his mother had loved that scoundrel.
Looking at it now, Sun Wenting might have always known about Xu Guimin's mistress, but her love was too humble.
In Xu Xiuhe's memory, Sun Wenting had always been very gentle, obeying and accommodating Xu Guimin in everything. She always put Xu Guimin first.
Sometimes, people are just like that. For some inexplicable reason, even when they know all of the other person's flaws, even when the other person might not love them, they still can't let go. They can't control their feelings and continue to love the other person recklessly.
Love is truly such a difficult thing to understand. How many people find happiness because of love, and how many fall into the abyss because of it?
Perhaps Sun Wenting still loved Xu Guimin even now, unable to bear seeing him hurt, which is why she appeared in his dream with a threatening message.
Men can sometimes be hard to understand too. They don't cherish what they have. Xu Guimin was a typical example, summed up in one word: "despicable."
"Let's go back."
"Okay."
Shen Yin looked at Xu Xiuhe, worry rising in her again. When would his eyes heal? She wanted very much to treat Xu Xiuhe, but she didn't trust her medical skills. More importantly, she was facing the most important person in her world.
Just as they reached the ground floor of the hospital, Shen Yin's phone rang.
"Hello, Mom."
"Mama."
Shen Yin thought it was Fang Yue calling and immediately called out "Mom," but the voice on the other end was actually the little one.
"Oh, is that Zhengzheng?"
"It's Zhengzheng. Zhengzheng misses Mommy and Daddy. When are Mommy and Daddy coming back?"
The little one's voice was sweet and childish.
Xu Xiuhe, standing nearby, said, "Daddy and Mommy will be back soon."
When they arrived at the hospital, Zhengzheng immediately ran over and hugged Xu Xiuhe's legs.
"Daddy, Zhengzheng wants you to play with me."
Fang Yue, who was nearby, quickly said, "Zhengzheng, Daddy is still sick right now. Is it okay if Grandma plays with you? When Daddy feels better, he can play with Zhengzheng."
"Then I hope Daddy gets better quickly."
Xu Xiuhe crouched down, and Xu Yunzheng patted Xu Xiuhe's back.
Shen Yin then led Xu Xiuhe out. The hospital staff gave Xu Xiuhe a comprehensive examination. The results were the same as before – there were no other issues, just that the blood clot near his eye had still not dissolved.
"Doctor, how long will this take?" Shen Yin asked again. In the Dasheng Dynasty, there had been people who went blind due to severe collisions. Some recovered on their own after a while, others sought out famous doctors and regained their sight, and some lived in darkness for the rest of their lives.
"It's hard to say, but it shouldn't take too long. Mr. Xu's body has a relatively good recovery ability, and the blood clot isn't large. It shouldn't take too long."
Shen Yin and Xu Xiuhe felt somewhat relieved upon hearing this. If the doctor said so, it might really not take long.
When they returned, Fang Yue had already sent someone to bring dinner, and she was feeding Zhengzheng.
"Xiuhe, Yin Yin, you should eat too. Eat and then get some rest early."
Fang Yue left only after Shen Yin and Xu Xiuhe had finished eating.
In the evening, Shen Yin gave Zhengzheng a bath as usual. When she looked at Xu Xiuhe again, she was a bit at a loss. With his eyes unable to see, he obviously couldn't bathe himself.
"I'll help you bathe."
"Okay."
At night, Xu Xiuhe wouldn't let Shen Yin sleep on the inner bed, so Zhengzheng slept alone on the inside, while Shen Yin and Xu Xiuhe lay on the outer 1.2-meter hospital bed.
"You've had it tough these days. I've made you worry."
"You know I've been worried, yet you woke up so late." The woman pouted.
"It's my fault. It won't happen again."
"You're planning on a next time?" Hearing this, Shen Yin gently pinched the man's waist.
"Stop moving around."
Shen Yin understood immediately. Indeed, they couldn't move much now, as the bed was only so big.
Xu Xiuhe changed the subject: "It won't happen again in the future. Without your permission, I won't even get a fever."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
"It's a deal."
"For a hundred years, it won't change."
"How's the company been doing while I was unconscious?" Xu Xiuhe had only just remembered he had a company.
"Thanks to Liu Assistant, everything at the company has been running smoothly. We even signed a contract with Ruida this morning."
"Did Liu Bo sign it?"
"I did," Shen Yin said with a hint of pride.
"You went to the company this morning? Was the contract signed there?"
"I did go to the company this morning, but the contract wasn't signed there."
"Oh? Where was it signed then?" The man was a bit curious.
"At the hospital. Anthony came too. Are you Anthony's Chinese teacher?"
"Did he say that?"
"Yes, Anthony is incredibly stubborn. At first, when we were at the company, no matter how I tried to persuade him, he refused to sign the contract because you weren't there. Even when I said I was your partner, he still wouldn't budge."
"In Chinese, we'd say he's 'single-minded'."
"Hahaha, his Chinese is quite good, just with a bit of an accent. I almost got carried away by his way of speaking."
"He learned Chinese from me. How could it not be good?" The man said narcissistically.
"Do you know why he admires you so much? My mother was watching him react to you and almost thought you two had an inappropriate relationship."
"Perhaps your husband just has a magnetic personality."
"Hmm, like me."
...
"By the way, has Liu Bo returned to work at the company?" Xu Xiuhe asked.
"Of course. If he hadn't gone back after you had an accident, you'd really be in trouble."
"What about his wedding?"
"No news yet."
Xu Xiuhe became anxious upon hearing this, feeling a bit guilty. Because of him, the wedding was postponed – a blame he couldn't accept.
"Then let the company organize his wedding. As compensation for them."
"Alright, good. Let's sleep." Shen Yin had been busy all day and was indeed feeling tired now.
"Okay."
The next day.
As soon as dawn broke, the little one crawled out of bed and ran outside, waking up the two adults.
Shen Yin opened her eyes groggily, while Xu Xiuhe's eyes were still in darkness.
Shen Yin's phone rang early in the morning. It was Shu Yi calling.
On days when Shu Yi wasn't filming, she had never woken up this early. Today, she got up so early only because she had gone to the bathroom, then checked her phone and saw the trending topics on Weibo. She instantly became alert, got out of bed, and called Shen Yin.
"Yin Yin, are you awake?"
Still groggy with sleep, Shen Yin mumbled, "I am now. A second before your call, your godson crawled onto my bed."
Usually, Shu Yi would have made some jokes about this. But today was different. What Shen Yin had feared most had finally happened.
"Yin Yin, check the trending topics on Weibo. That woman finally leaked the story."
Hearing this, Shen Yin instantly woke up. Before she could even hang up the phone, she switched to the Weibo app.
Sure enough, the top trending topic was about Shen Yin.
"Heyuan Group CEO's wife suspected of being a lesbian."
Shen Yin clicked to read more. Unsurprisingly, the comments were all criticizing her, with some even calling Xu Xiuhe a "cuckold".
The former CP fans reacted even more strongly, using increasingly harsh language to curse her. They were the first to unfollow. Some even went as far as to curse themselves, saying they must have been blind to have ever shipped such a couple.
"What's wrong?" Xu Xiuhe asked.
Shen Yin hesitated, unsure whether to let Xu Xiuhe know about this issue in his current state.
"If something's happened, you don't have to tell me. I can find out from others what's going on."
"It's Zhou Man. She leaked the story about her and me."
Hearing this, Xu Xiuhe's face showed no particular shock. He had been unconscious for a while, and the moment he let his guard down, they released the news. The timing was impeccable.
"It's okay. We'll clarify it."
Xu Xiuhe made a phone call, and immediately received a document.
He had already investigated everything Zhou Man had done. Even if she leaked this information, he wasn't afraid.
"Take a look at this document." Xu Xiuhe handed his phone to Shen Yin. This document was compiled later by a detective; he had already seen some of the earlier materials.
Shen Yin took the phone and opened the document, reading through it line by line.
It contained Zhou Man's background, age, work and marital status, as well as some of her past actions.
The thing Zhou Man had done most was fraud. Even after scamming the original Shen Yin, she hadn't stopped. She had tricked many men out of their money, specifically targeting married men who were afraid of their wives. After seducing them, she would threaten to tell their wives unless they gave her money.
Even more terrifying was that this woman had scammed several men simultaneously. Looking at the collected information, Shen Yin felt the world was too bizarre.
If Shu Yi saw this, she would probably give Zhou Man a thumbs up and say, "Impressive."
Unbelievably, such a person had eventually married into a wealthy family and become a rich man's wife.
What surprised Shen Yin even more was that this woman had gotten involved with Guo Hui, the son of her husband Guo Wei, and Guo Wei had found out.
Guo Wei had cut off this woman's finances, but to save face for himself and his son, he chose to keep the matter quiet.
This was probably why Zhou Man had come back to Shen Yin asking for money.
"I'll have them clarify that you were just friends before. She doesn't really have any substantial evidence. The previous Shen Yin was indeed too naive and was tricked by her. Releasing this evidence should be enough."
"Send the document to Liu Bo."
Shen Yin did as told, realizing that Xu Xiuhe had already uncovered so much information behind the scenes.
After sending it, Xu Xiuhe took out his phone and used voice control to call Liu Bo.
"Hello, CEO."
"Are you awake?"
"Yes, yes, I've seen what's on Weibo. How should we handle it?"
Liu Bo was looking at Weibo at the time, feeling extremely shocked. He knew what Shen Yin was like before, and if things were really as revealed online, everything would make sense.
"Look at the document I sent you, then organize and release all the evidence to clear Madam's name. The gist is that Zhou Man fabricated rumors and defamed her for money."
"Understood."
Liu Bo didn't bother investigating what actually happened; he just did whatever Xu Xiuhe told him to do.
After hanging up the phone, Liu Bo looked at the materials in the document and exclaimed that Zhou Man was one hell of a woman. She was incredibly impressive - for a woman to be so skilled and cunning was truly extraordinary.
When he read the last line of text, Liu Bo felt even more astonished. Holy crap, he thought, the world is full of wonders. Yet it's also so small that anything can happen.
This piece of gossip, he would call it the scandal of the year.
