The person had been found.
Lin Zhishui was grateful that she was sitting snugly in Ning Shangyu’s arms, with the phone resting securely in his palm; otherwise, she would have surely fallen like a limp rag.
At the same time, she was unusually tense, waiting anxiously for the next words from the phone, unaware that her heartbeat was pounding so loudly—thump, thump—clearly striking against Ning Shangyu’s chest.
Ning Shangyu’s long, strong arms tightened around her. In the brief few seconds, Lin Zhishui’s heartbeat grew even more intense, which only made his calm tone sound all the more unusual: “Zhuoyu.”
Ning Zhuoyu, who was taking a quick smoke break, soon replied, “They found the person by the seaside. Still alive.”
“Seaside?”
Lin Zhishui immediately named a rather remote coastal spot, asking if it was that location.
Ning Zhuoyu said, “Yes, Cui Daiyun went missing there. He fell deep among some reefs and hasn’t cooled off yet. He suffered severe head injuries and fractured ribs on the left side. He’s been rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.”
Lin Zhishui slightly held her breath.
Through the call, she seemed to hear the roaring waves on Ning Zhuoyu’s side of the line.
Instinctively, she grabbed Ning Shangyu’s wrist like grasping a lifeline.
Her eyes glistened with moisture as she said, “That place… my father died in those waters years ago.”
During the day, she had thought of the cemetery because Cui Daiyun often visited it to seek spiritual solace.
But why on earth would he end up in that sea…
Lin Zhishui was stunned, and her body instinctively wanted to go to the hospital, but suddenly, Ning Shangyu pressed her down firmly and tightly.
He refused to let her go, his tone, expression, and attitude all firm and consistent: “Ning Zhuoyu will follow to the hospital and update the situation anytime. You stay home.”
Lin Zhishui tilted her head up slightly, lips parted as if to speak.
But Ning Shangyu had already unilaterally given new orders to Ning Zhuoyu and hung up the call.
Then, his palm slowly stroked her slightly trembling back as he looked into those large, confused eyes: “Just consider it as keeping me company.”
Lin Zhishui’s mind was in a mess.
She couldn’t understand why Ning Shangyu wanted her to stay home alone, but he didn’t relent.
Evidently, the bodyguards and secretaries at Taiping Mountain’s summit dared not make decisions on her behalf to prepare a car.
At first, Ning Zhuoyu sent updates every hour:
Cui Daiyun’s condition was critical and had been moved into ICU for emergency care.
Her mother, Ms. Sheng, promptly went to the hospital as well, stayed for over twenty minutes, then left in a hurry after leaving behind her personal secretary Ying Shixian.
Ying Shixian discreetly inquired about her whereabouts.
Then, as if Ms. Sheng and Ning Shangyu had reached a tacit agreement, their attitudes were unusually alike—they did not want Lin Zhishui to appear at the hospital during Cui Daiyun’s life-or-death crisis, to avoid confronting the cruel and profound topic of death.
The whole night passed.
By late night, Ning Zhuoyu had sent no updates.
Lin Zhishui almost wore out her phone from refreshing.
Eventually, her entire state grew heavy and drowsy.
Leaning against Ning Shangyu’s chest, she kept waking up from shallow sleep abruptly, only to see his clear, beautiful amber eyes reflecting the blank expression on her face.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, dawn was breaking.
Ning Shangyu’s previously postponed tasks piled up, and after tapping lightly, he replied to one last email, then closed his laptop and tossed it onto the edge of the sofa.
Still holding Lin Zhishui in his arms, he said calmly, “I’m going to take a shower. Will you come with me, or wait in bed first?”
Lin Zhishui didn’t hesitate much.
Her thin, fragile body relied on Ning Shangyu’s warmth for support everywhere—bones, organs, everything.
She accompanied him to the bathroom, and their shower time naturally extended a bit longer.
***
Later, Lin Zhishui curled up in Ning Shangyu’s arms and fell into a deep sleep.
The corners of her eyes were red, her mole flushed, and the skin on her cheeks glowed crimson as golden sunlight filtered through the curtains.
Thankfully, her closed lashes remained still and peaceful.
Ning Shangyu traced her face with his gaze, then carefully examined the soft black wisps dampened by the steam on her forehead.
He gently withdrew his strong arms and quietly got out of bed.
Outside the door, clad in a robe and full of energy, he went downstairs and called Ning Zhuoyu.
Once connected, Ning Zhuoyu was leaning casually against a secluded rooftop railing, smoking to stay alert. His tone grew somewhat lazy: “Almost lost him last night. They issued the critical condition notice twice. The doctors said his will to survive is weak… Brother, Cui Daiyun is interesting—he deliberately avoided deserted surveillance blind spots and went to the seaside at midnight.”
Mist.
Living alone for many years without an intimate partner, had he been discovered just a bit later, the body lying beneath the reefs would have been a cold corpse.
Ning Shangyu’s tone was steady and calm: “Find out the full story in due course.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ning Zhuoyu’s lips curved into a faint but sharp smile under the fiery red dawn light.
He slowly exhaled a gray-white plume of smoke, fully complying with Ning Shangyu’s orders, while already having overnight investigated the movements and backgrounds of all the Lin Family’s recent competitors in the harbor district and business circles.
But the truth would have to wait for Cui Daiyun’s awakening.
By now, Cui Daiyun had been transferred to the intensive care unit.
Though out of danger, he remained unconscious.
Lin Zhishui could no longer calmly stay at Taiping Mountain’s summit.
After briefing Ying Shixian at the Lin Family Old Residence, she asked Ning Shangyu in the afternoon if she could visit the hospital.
She expected some resistance.
Yet Ning Shangyu easily agreed, only requesting she return before sunset.
Though Lin Zhishui didn’t understand why he had softened his previous firm stance from the night before, at least she was permitted.
She quickly changed clothes and left.
On the way, Lin Zhishui called Ying Shixian again.
In their brief conversation, Ying Shixian told her, “I interrogated the institute assistant. Before Professor Cui went missing, he seemed to mutter about the Qin Family. But why he went to that seldom-visited sea area remains unclear. Our people searched thoroughly but found no phone near the reefs.”
Cui Daiyun’s phone was not with him—perhaps washed away by seawater, or taken by someone.
Ying Shixian dared not jump to conclusions.
“Don’t block news of Uncle Cui’s rescue,” Lin Zhishui softly instructed, her back resting against the seat, her lashes casting faint shadows as she spoke, “Let’s see who secretly tries to pry into the Lin Family’s affairs.”
Ying Shixian replied, “Miss also said not to seal it. Let the Lin Family spread the news.”
Tongtong?
Lin Zhishui’s thoughts halted abruptly in surprise: “Has sister returned?”
“She returned to the harbor district at noon. After meeting Chairman Sheng at the company, she went straight to the hospital.”
Ying Shixian’s words stirred something inside Lin Zhishui, though she tried to maintain a calm expression.
When the bodyguards arrived at the hospital’s underground garage, she wasted no time and pushed the door open.
Taking the elevator to the ICU floor, she stepped out, her skirt swaying with her pace.
As she approached, she opened her mouth to speak but suddenly stopped.
At the quiet end of the corridor stood a group of suited bodyguards, their shadows painted on the walls like ink drawings.
Further ahead, the bright blue sky beyond the glass window cast shimmering light on a bench, like a wave yielding beneath someone’s feet.
And there, Lin Xiguang—married into Jiangnan’s most prestigious Chu Clan and renowned in the harbor district as Miss Lin—sat leisurely, her red silk skirt trailing nearly to the floor.
Her pointed high heels clicked rhythmically on the ground, echoing with an ethereal sound.
The sound fell.
At that moment, Min Gu Xue, who had been politely invited to the hospital by bodyguards during a magazine cover shoot, knelt on the ground, being slapped several times on the face by an elegant female secretary.
The exquisitely made-up cheeks swelled instantly.
The sharp pain made Min Gu Xue’s shoulders tense and her breathing visibly tremble.
No one spoke, and the atmosphere thickened.
Lin Xiguang glanced at the secretary, her tone laced with a hint of indifference: “I told you to slap her hand, why did you hit her face?”
The secretary bowed respectfully, “Sorry, Miss Lin, my movement wasn’t proper.”
She then prepared to correct her actions again, but just as Min Gu Xue’s lips turned even paler, Lin Xiguang said lightly, “Enough.”
The secretary’s foot retreated immediately.
Before Min Gu Xue could react, Lin Xiguang asked, “You don’t mind a few more slap marks on your face, do you? I think it looks quite nice.”
Blood trickled from the corner of Min Gu Xue’s mouth. Her eyes betrayed furious emotion, but with two bodyguards holding her, she was clearly helpless.
Forcing herself to swallow the faint metallic taste of blood, she raised her head and asked the unfamiliar Lin Xiguang, “Miss Lin, do we have a grudge?”
“Do we?”
Lin Xiguang pressed her cold jade fan gently against her forehead, pondering seriously for a moment, a hint of confusion in her voice.
“I was just about to ask why a Miss Min with no hatred or grievances has recently been neglecting those few insignificant magazines you shoot for, and instead has been frequently mixing in the harbor district’s socialite circles to pry into the Lin Family’s affairs?”
Obviously, living married life in Jiangnan, Lin Xiguang had heard some rumors.
Min Gu Xue’s face instantly changed as she stammered, “I was just having afternoon tea with someone and casually asked, I overheard some things…”
“Oh? What did you hear?”
Lin Xiguang’s interest was piqued.
She leaned in slightly and lazily traced from Min Gu Xue’s neck to chin with the tip of her fan.
Then, her voice seeped cold enough to chill the bone: “Be clear. Did you hear about my father, or my mother, or my sister?”
Min Gu Xue struggled to steady herself.
The slight tremble she tried to hide was transmitted through the fan.
She now fully understood why she had been hunted down and recalled the harbor district’s gossip about Lin Xiguang.
This woman’s revenge was fierce—
Even with a rare beauty that seemed blessed by the heavens, like the brightest splash of color in a sensual world, her temperament and reputation were notoriously rebellious.
Before marriage, when the Lin Family was far less prosperous, no one could control her.
Now, married and backed by the Chu Clan’s power, no matter what trouble she caused, someone would have her back:
Chu Tian Shu.
The Chu Clan Master of Jiangnan.
Min Gu Xue’s breath grew rapid.
The lingering heavy, cold fragrance from the fan wrapped around her like a rare silver snake coiling tightly around her neck in the dense forest.