Li Chuntao sat on the couch after changing her clothes into new ones to let Shen Zichen give her a quick fix. The small shards piercing her skin were removed one by one and the wounds were cleaned by him. Fortunately, her wounds weren"t deep enough and he didn"t need to st.i.tch her up. After disinfecting the wound on her temple, he covered the wound and wrapped a bandage around her head.
"There. You better not forget to disinfect it regularly. I shouldn"t need to remind you to look after yourself." He told her.
Li Chuntao only hummed, barely paying attention to what he was saying as her stomach was now rumbling from hunger. With a new reason to continue forward, she had decided not to waste her time and life over trivial things and focus to hunt down the person responsible for her sister"s death.
"Chuntao! Zichen! The food is ready!" They heard Zheng Yue"s voice at the dining area.
"One sec!" Li Chuntao responded before turning her attention back on Shen Zichen. "Who else knows about it?" She tried to interrogate him for answers. Although she needed to confirm this with her uncle, she wanted to find out how he knew about it.
"Your uncle, my dad, and Yuyan." Shen Zichen admitted.
"Sister Yuyan?" She raised a brow on him.
"She accidentally overheard your uncle asking our dad for a favor. He was asking Dad to help him convince the Ye family for cooperation. I"m sure it wouldn"t be a problem since Aunt Feiyan would agree with it." Shen Zichen said, closing the first aid kit Hou Chen brought earlier and stood up from his seat.
"But…"
"I told you, you should ask your uncle yourself. I doubt that my dad would even allow me to get involved with it." He cut her off. "Let"s go before Aunt Yue suspects anything."
Li Chuntao wanted to ask him more but he already decided to drop the issue. She shook her head and followed his lead to the dining area where several dishes were served at the table.
Her stomach growled from hunger again, making her blush with embarra.s.sment. She had barely eaten any decent meals lately and had neglected her health.
Zheng Yue smiled at her as she placed another dish on the table.
"Sit down and eat. I know you"re starving." She told her niece. "Zichen, I hope we didn"t cause you trouble at work by calling you." She then sat across Shen Zichen who was sitting next to Li Chuntao, who had started eating without waiting for them.
"It"s fine, Aunt Yue. I"m glad I was able to help you,"
"Why don"t you stay for the night? I"ll ask Hou Chen to prepare the guest room." Zheng Yue told her which made Li Chuntao stop midway while she was about to pick her favorite roasted pork ribs.
She glanced at Shen Zichen"s way then to her aunt. It seemed that the older woman was still worried that Li Chuntao would decide to sneak out again and hurt herself.
Shen Zichen had decided to leave after dinner but Zheng Yue"s face reminded him of his mother. It was hard for him to say no whenever they look at him like this.
"Just for tonight," He conceded. He really should start practicing how to say no to these women.
"Great!" Zheng Yue clapped her hand and gestured to Hou Chen to prepare the guestroom and make sure their guest would have clean linens and towels to use during his stay.
Once they were done, Shen Zichen excused himself to follow Hou Chen to the guest room and was left alone. After showering in the bathroom connected to the guest room, he took his time to answer the mails he"d ignored earlier and make phone calls, especially to his mother, or else she might appear on his doorstep unannounced again.
When everything was settled, he got into bed and instantly felt his eyelids getting heavy. He didn"t realize how tired he was for the past few days until now. He tried to stay awake for a little but failed as he was sound asleep minutes later.
Meanwhile, since Li Chuntao basically ruined and thrashed her own room, she had to use her sister"s room again. She tucked herself between the sheets and felt a slight dip on the other side of the bed as her aunt settled next to her after turning off the lights.
"I didn"t know we"re having a sleepover tonight," she said with a chuckle that earned a smile from her aunt.
Zheng Yue turned to her side and gently stroke Li Chuntao"s hair.
"I feel like it"s been a long time since we did this together."
Indeed, when the Li twins were younger, they usually spent their nights snuggled beside their Aunt Yue while their Uncle Yuren was away for work. It made it easier for them to ease the loneliness as the twins did not have their parents around and Zheng Yue was left alone by her husband for weeks.
Before she gave birth to her son, the Li twins were practically her babies.
"Yes, I remember Uncle Yuren sometimes getting mad when we insist on sleeping next to you even if he"s home." Li Chuntao agreed easily. Those were such happy moments that didn"t fail to make her smile. With their Uncle Yuren and Aunt Yue around, she and Ying didn"t feel alone at all.
"I know you"re missing Ying. I miss her too. So badly." Zheng Yue tried not to cry but the look on her face betrayed her. "But I also know Ying wouldn"t want to see us hurting. I also don"t want to lose you too, Chuntao. So let"s be strong together, okay?"
Li Chuntao nodded and let herself feel the warmth her Aunt Yue gave her. She felt better compared to the previous days of being alone.
"Auntie, can you sing me the lullaby you used to sing for me and Ying when we were young?"
"Sure," Zhen Yue agreed and sang the familiar lullaby.
It didn"t take long for Li Chuntao to fall asleep as the voice and the gentle stroking of Zheng Yue"s hand made her feel sleepy and for the first time since Li Xiuying"s pa.s.sing, Li Chuntao slept peacefully.
However, the peacefulness within the Li twins" penthouse was short-lived.
Past midnight, an unwanted visitor came and disturbed their night. It was Su Ling who confronted the man while Hou Chen stood behind him scowling at their guest.
"Mr. Mu, you better leave this place. You aren"t welcome here anymore." Su Ling said, his tone filled with disdain. He was waiting for Mu Jianyu to strike so he could unleash the hatred he"d been trying to keep at the bay for the past three months.
"Su Ling! I dare you to block my way! Let me see my wife! Why are you hiding Ying from me? Out of my way!" Mu Jianyu sneered at him.
Hou Chen scrunched her nose from disgust. Mu Jianyu was reeking with alcohol and why the h.e.l.l did he still want to see Miss Ying when he had already trashed her for a wh.o.r.e?
He said he wanted to see Miss Ying? Then go die and see her in the afterlife! Well, that still depends if the heavens above would let him see Li Xiuying at all!