Chapter 37 - The Sick

Feng Xuan was leaning against the doorframe after breakfast. "What time are you coming home tonight?" she asked Qing Chen.

Qing Chen's beautiful features were clouded by the crease in between his brows. "I am not really sure," he said, taking a look at his phone. "I don't have my itinerary yet."

"Will you be home for dinner?"

"Definitely," he answered with a smile.

"Okay, then. I'll see you later." Feng Xuan stood on her tiptoes and gave Qing Chen a quick kiss on his cheek. She was already practicing all these wife things.

A few people were coming over for the day to help her redecorate their house a little bit. They would be coming a little after lunch and Feng Xuan already readied the materials in each bedroom so their work would be seamless.

She wasn't much of a fan with strangers at the house, that was why she had asked her father to come over to help oversee everything that the people were doing. He arrived just after Feng Xuan finished cooking fish and tofu soup.

"How are you, father?" she asked as she took a spoonful to her mouth. "You weren't at the auction."

"Hmm," his father said taking in the food. "This is really good. I was out with Qing Zihao. We were looking at properties up north."

Feng Xuan swallowed. "Have you heard of what happened?"

She watched as her father painfully closed his eyes as if he didn't want to have that conversation. Still, he answered, "Yes, I have heard of your Aunt Chunhua."

"She said some stuff," she quietly said. Her Aunt Chunhua's voice haunted her while she was in bed. She couldn't get enough rest lately and would count Qing Chen's breaths to sleep.

Her father nodded at her. "She shouldn't have been out of the institution. I know it might have upset you, Xuanxuan. But your Aunt Chunhua is sick in the head. She was probably just rambling words."

A heavy weight settled in her chest. Aunt Chunhua seemed pretty normal when she approached. But then again, it was her aunt who brought up the topic about her mother. But why? If she was sick in the head why did she come to Feng Xuan like that? What did Aunt Chunhua know that she didn't?

"Don't think too much about it," her father added in her silence. "I think you just reminded Aunt Chunhua of your mother, so much that she… I really don't know, daughter. Maybe she saw your mother in you and she just missed your mom that she said those things."

Feng Xuan swallowed the lump in her throat. She didn't know why she felt disappointed. What was she expecting? That her father would feed her illusion that somehow, somewhere, in some other dimension perhaps, her mother had survived that car accident? But that was impossible.

Feng Xuan had been there, she had opened her eyes and felt something thick was running down the side of her head. When she turned, she saw her mother still strapped to the driver's seat, her long hair strands mapped her face like cracks.

She had touched her mother's shoulders, calling out to her, tears streaming down her face, telling her mom to wake up. But she didn't.

It was not long when Feng Xuan lost consciousness with the amount of blood she lost in the crash. Her head had connected with the broken window and when she woke up, her forehead was wrapped in thick layers of white.

She had asked about her mother, but her father only shook his head at her and told her that her mother passed away.

Of course, she was dead, Feng Xuan told herself now. There was no way on earth she had lived after what had happened. If she were alive, surely she wouldn't have left Feng Xuan, right? She let her Aunt Chunhua got under her skin, to which she sighed, scolding herself for being naïve.

"We all miss her," her father said. "I know you do, too. But, child, let us drop this. There was no point talking about what your Aunt Chunhua said."

Feng Xuan nodded, her stomach was grumbling. She hadn't been able to eat properly with her thoughts bothering her. She had always lost appetite in the middle of meals. "Okay, father," she said.

"Don't go back to those days of pain, Xuanxuan," her father looked into her eyes, pleading. "There's nothing else there."

She sipped on her soup, thinking, if she had lost one more wink of sleep about that, she would make her own research about what happened that day. There was no way she would be able to make peace with herself not until she would uncover the truth.

"Of course, father," she answered with a smile. "Nowhere else to look but to the future."

While Feng Xuan was having lunch with her father and was having the house done, Qing Chen was like bursting in flames in his office. Not because it was hot, but because he couldn't find his secretary.

He had been trying all morning to reach her but it seemed like her phone had already shut down. It was highly unlikely for Li Zongying to do this that was why he couldn't help but worry.

He dialed Qing Lok's number and pressed the phone to his ear as his other hand flipped the different papers in Li Zongying's clipboard to look for his schedule of the day. He knew that his secretary kept a planner of his appointments.

He sat down on her seat and pulled out drawers.

"Hello?" Qing Lok answered, sounding like Qing Chen had just woken him up.

"Get up," he said. "I need you to go visit Li Zongying's apartment."

"What's going on?"

"She didn't come to work today. She didn't give a notice too. Just check if she's alright."

"Okay," Qing Lok yawned. "I'll head over there."

"Okay, let me know immediately. Thanks."

Finally, he saw a brown leather planner in the drawer under the desk. He flipped to the current page and breathed in relief when he saw it was the right one.

He took the planner with him in the office and sent the noted emails from Li Zongying's handwriting. He was on his way to his first meeting of the day when his phone rang.

"What's the news?" he asked Qing Lok.

"She's alive."

Qing Chen took a breath. "Okay. Is she alright?"

"I'm not really sure. She looked sick but she didn't want to go to the hospital. She said she wanted to talk to you, though."

Qing Chen palmed his forehead. "Tell her to call me."

"Exactly what I said. But she wanted you to come over."

Qing Chen's eyebrows raised. "She said that?"

"Yes."

He fought the urge to scratch his perfectly arranged hair. "I have to go there? In her apartment?" he asked in disbelief.

"She said she would be waiting for you."

Another urge he fought was kicking the elevator door open. "Okay, Lok. Thank you."

Inside the elevator his reflection saw that he was agitated. Li Zongying had never pulled a stunt like this. Maybe she was really sick. Why else would she miss work? But she could've told him.

Qing Chen tilted his head upwards, closing his eyes. "What on earth does she want now?"