Sun Rain Chapter 33
byIt started raining outside again.
The top floor single-patient rooms still had other occupants, so a nurse stepped forward to remind everyone not to speak loudly. The police decided to move everyone to the dedicated family waiting room on the same floor. Once the door was closed, separating them from the outside world, the atmosphere became even quieter.
Hearing that Shi Meng was missing, Shi Huaiyi anxiously said, “He ran away himself? He was so severely injured, just transferred from the ICU to a regular ward—how could he possibly run away? How are you police handling this? It’s been days and you still haven’t caught the person who hurt my son…”
“He definitely ran away himself, the surveillance cameras captured it.” Fu Xuanliao didn’t want to listen to his nonsense. “Please, Officer Chen, continue to follow procedure. The priority right now is finding him as quickly as possible.”
The officer referred to as Officer Chen nodded. “We’ve already deployed teams via phone. The search is commencing immediately.” He then opened his notepad. “Are you two the victim’s parents? We have a few questions here…”
“Wait a moment.” Li Bihan suddenly interrupted, finally reacting. She turned to Shi Huaiyi. “First, clarify what you meant by… Shi Mu is not my son?”
She sat on the innermost sofa chair in the waiting room, her back perfectly straight, yet she seemed on the verge of collapse. She stared wide-eyed at Shi Huaiyi, as if desperate to hear a denial from his mouth.
Shi Huaiyi had been cornered earlier, and now he was starting to regret his outburst. The peace he had meticulously maintained for five years was ruined. If he could go back ten minutes, he absolutely would not have lost his composure and let impulse dominate reason just because he heard the word “dead.”
He had already lost one son. If he lost another, how would outsiders view the Shi family?
However, the words were already out. If he tried to retract them now, no one would likely believe him. Shi Huaiyi adopted a reckless attitude, taking a deep breath. “Shi Mu is not your son. Shi Meng is your biological child. The two of them… were switched the year they were born.”
At this statement, the entire room erupted in shock.
Fu Xuanliao and Jiang Xue were stunned into silence, and the two police officers exchanged glances, bewildered by the bizarre, soap-opera-like plot twist.
“Switched, switched…” Li Bihan lowered her head, chewing on the word twice, then looked up again. “How is that possible? You’re lying to me, you’re lying, aren’t you?”
Shi Huaiyi sighed. “At this point, what reason would I have to lie to you?”
Li Bihan raised a hand to press against her chest, calming her breathing with deep gasps. “Impossible, impossible… I don’t believe it.”
“If it weren’t for this, why would I have let Mengmeng call you Mom all these years, and tried my best to create opportunities for the two of you to bond…”
“Do you have proof?” Li Bihan couldn’t hear anything else, focusing only on verifying the truth. “Hearsay means nothing. I don’t believe it.”
“The proof is that lab report.” Shi Huaiyi said helplessly. “I became suspicious back then. When Mengmeng had his Bone Marrow Matching done, I had a blood test done at the same time. Both results came out together. I asked the doctor, and based on blood type inheritance patterns, Mengmeng was more likely to be our child… The results were bound together. You were very weak at the time, and I was afraid you couldn’t handle the shock, so I hid it.”
Li Bihan sat there blankly, her hands clutching the fabric of her skirt occasionally trembling, unsure how much she had absorbed.
Fu Xuanliao understood, but found the matter too absurd. “Blood type alone is not a definitive standard for verifying paternity.”
“Of course, I know that.” Shi Huaiyi was full of sorrow. “Later, fearing it wasn’t conclusive, I went and got a Paternity Test done…”
The results of the test were self-evident.
Silence spread through the small space, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.
The first to react was Li Bihan. She braced her arms on the sofa chair and stood up, staggering two steps forward.
Shi Huaiyi felt guilty, his gaze flickering, unable to meet hers. Jiang Xue, who was closest to Li Bihan, stepped forward to steady her, afraid she might fall, but Li Bihan pulled away and shook her off.
She walked very slowly toward the door, seemingly intending to go to Shi Meng’s ward, but stopped when she reached the entrance.
As if every step forward was leading to an abyss that would destroy the past, she pressed her hand to her chest again, her breathing ragged and fast. She repeated “I don’t believe it” several times with her mouth agape, until finally, she couldn’t catch her breath and collapsed limply.
The mistress of the house, Li Bihan, was also admitted to the hospital, throwing the entire Shi family into chaos.
After helping settle her hospitalization, Fu Xuanliao returned to the ward. Li Bihan had just woken up from her brief faint and was grabbing Shi Huaiyi, demanding to know where Shi Meng was. Her hair was disheveled, and her expression was fierce, completely lacking the elegance of the former Mrs. Shi.
“I don’t know either. Didn’t the police go look for him?” Shi Huaiyi was held by his collar, afraid to move, lest he anger her into fainting again. “Calm down. He’s injured; he can’t have gone far. As soon as he comes back, I’ll immediately have him come see you.”
Some word must have triggered Li Bihan again. She suddenly released her grip and turned her head away, saying, “I won’t see him. I won’t see him.”
Seeing him would be equivalent to acknowledging him as her son. What about her Mu Mu then?
Her Mu Mu was already dead. Should she let him rest uneasily in the grave?
Li Bihan covered her head and face with the blanket, isolating herself from the outside world in an act of avoidance.
The nurse doing rounds worried she might suffocate herself and gently but forcefully pulled the blanket back.
When her gaze fell on Shi Huaiyi again, Li Bihan suddenly realized something. She sat up in bed. “Who switched them? Who? Bring them out! Make them come see me!”
She was stimulated and couldn’t process the information, desperately searching for flaws in the story, attempting to overturn this terrifying conclusion.
How could Shi Huaiyi let her have her way? “It was just… the hospital made a mistake. There’s no point in pursuing it now…”
This time, Li Bihan saw through his lie. “Impossible. They both had name tags on them when they were born. How could they easily make a mistake?”
She looked toward the door, her feet hitting the floor as she prepared to get out of bed. “Where are the police? Where are the police? I want to report a crime! I want to report a crime!”
They were forced to use a sedative. After finally settling the nearly hysterical Li Bihan back into bed, she kept her eyes wide open, her unfocused gaze fixed on a point in the air. Tears involuntarily spilled from the corners of her eyes, tracing paths down her cheeks.
Li Bihan was in a state of confused contradiction, sometimes firmly muttering, “I don’t believe it,” and sometimes questioning Shi Huaiyi, “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Witnessing this scene, Fu Xuanliao’s heart, which hadn’t yet recovered from the shock, felt like a waterlogged sponge, so heavy that he found it hard to breathe.
As an observer of everything that had transpired, “Why didn’t you say it sooner?” was naturally Fu Xuanliao’s most pressing question as well.
Stepping out of the ward, Shi Huaiyi took a long time to gather his thoughts before addressing the question. “It’s not that I didn’t want to say it, it’s that by the time I knew, it was already too late.”
The reasons were nothing new—face, dignity, family harmony, and the principle of letting sleeping dogs lie.
“Five years ago, when I got the Paternity Test results confirming that Mengmeng was my and your Aunt Li’s son, Mu Mu was struggling between life and death. In that situation, how could I open my mouth and tell her there was a mistake? That would undoubtedly push Mu Mu toward death even faster.”
Fu Xuanliao still found it unbelievable. He pondered for a moment. “So Shi Mu… was the child of you and that Ms. Yang?”
Shi Huaiyi nodded. “I only found out five years ago. That crazy woman deliberately chose to give birth in the same hospital and even angered your Aunt Li into having a Premature Baby. I should have noticed something was wrong then, but I never imagined she would be so audacious as to commit such a heinous act.”
Fu Xuanliao had only met Ms. Yang once and realized why she had come to see Shi Mu back then but ignored Shi Meng. And she hadn’t visited Shi Meng during his hospitalization, presumably because Shi Huaiyi had arranged things to prevent her from disturbing the Shi family’s life.
This idea was confirmed in the subsequent conversation.
“Then why didn’t you reveal this five years ago?” Fu Xuanliao asked.
Although Shi Huaiyi was in the wrong on this point, he still felt his actions were justified. “Initially, Mu Mu was still alive, and I couldn’t bring myself to say it. Later, as you saw, your Aunt Li was emotionally unstable. She loved Mu Mu so much, I was afraid she couldn’t handle it if I told her… Besides, Mengmeng had already returned to the Shi family. He is related to your Aunt Li by blood. I thought that affection could be cultivated slowly, and eventually, she would transfer the love she had for Mu Mu onto Mengmeng…”
Shi Huaiyi had achieved great success in the business world, his methods considered decisive and vigorous. However, when it came to family matters, he became weak and hesitant, his mind focused on deception and concealment. His choice to seek peace and avoid trouble was entirely consistent with his character.
But clearly, he had chosen the wrong path.
Furthermore, Shi Huaiyi’s actions were largely self-serving. If the truth had exploded, and Li Bihan pursued Ms. Yang’s responsibility, it wouldn’t have been as simple as domestic unrest. It could have led to court battles, or even threats to life and property. Driven by a desire to avoid disaster and maintain stability, Shi Huaiyi’s actions were, in a way, understandable.
Fu Xuanliao’s mind was a mess, but he seized on one key phrase: “This is unfair to Shi Meng.”
Yes, unfair.
What had Shi Meng done wrong to be treated this way by the Shi family and pointed at by outsiders? He should have had a mother’s love, friends, and everything he desired.
To this, Shi Huaiyi responded self-righteously, “It’s already been wrong for twenty years. Is switching identities back really that important? Isn’t it enough that I treat him well?”
Fu Xuanliao suddenly understood. No wonder five years ago, Shi Huaiyi had unexpectedly started showing Shi Meng concern and even transferred shares to him. The previously guessed guilt indeed played a part. And Ms. Yang’s baffling attitude toward Shi Meng was now fully explained.
As for Shi Meng, whose life and destiny had been completely altered by the switch at birth, in the eyes of a pragmatic businessman like Shi Huaiyi, he was less important than the intangible things like the Shi family’s status and reputation.
But compared to Shi Huaiyi’s composure, Fu Xuanliao found it hard not to feel a sense of dread.
After all, if he hadn’t been provoked by words this time, hitting Shi Huaiyi’s sore spot, this matter might have been concealed by him and Ms. Yang for a lifetime, taken to their graves, and never known by anyone else.
Understanding was one thing; acceptance was another.
Reviewing the events spanning twenty-five years, the sponge pressing on his heart was squeezed dry of water, leaving behind countless tiny pores. Light, empty air filled them, making Fu Xuanliao feel even more lost.
Jiang Xue saw the police off and returned upstairs, asking Fu Xuanliao, “Did Mengmeng… know about this?”
This was what Fu Xuanliao wanted to ask too. “He never mentioned it to me. Did he say anything to you?”
Jiang Xue’s eyes were still red, not having recovered from the shock. She seemed slightly dazed. After thinking for a moment, she said, “No, he didn’t say anything. He always keeps everything bottled up. Even if he knew, he wouldn’t tell anyone.”
Gao Lecheng came to the hospital and said he had mobilized everyone to search for Shi Meng. All available media outlets were being used. Now, missing person notices for Shi Meng were everywhere on major social media sites, offering high rewards for reliable information.
“Don’t worry too much. We’ll find him quickly,” Gao Lecheng patted Fu Xuanliao’s shoulder. “Look at you, you’re exhausted. How many days have you been awake? Go home and get some sleep. I’ll stay here and keep watch. I’ll be the first to notify you if Young Master Shi returns.”
The continuous lack of sleep had nearly drained Fu Xuanliao’s energy. After everything was arranged, fatigue washed over him like a tide. Fu Xuanliao’s steps felt like he was walking on cotton. He went to the restroom, splashed cold water on his face, and then slowly raised his head, staring blankly at the pale-faced person in the mirror.
The moment was too quiet, allowing a subtle feeling, a blend of absurdity and confusion, to seep into the unfilled pores.
This person, Fu Xuanliao thought, the person in the mirror, was the one Shi Meng had desperately schemed to steal, using every means necessary to keep by his side.
But did Shi Meng know about the mistake? Did he know that everything should have originally belonged to him?
Shi Meng was the one who should have been the center of attention. He could have lived a carefree, happy life, yet he went mad and desperate for a moment of exclusive possession, for scattered moments of ownership, discarding his self-respect and sinking into the dust.
When he learned the truth, would he feel it wasn’t worth it?
Fu Xuanliao gave up on resting and decided to drive around and search himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the police or Gao Lecheng’s efforts; it was just that a person had vanished, and he simply couldn’t sleep or sit still.
Taking the elevator downstairs, Fu Xuanliao kept his head down as he pushed through the crowd. Suddenly, his shoulder was tapped. He frowned impatiently, turning his head just as he was about to see who was so thoughtless, when a somewhat familiar voice pierced his ear: “What a coincidence, Senior, you’re here too!”