Chapter 209: The Dust Settles

The long-distance running competition at Xinghua High School began with great fanfare and ended just as boisterously.

Although they encountered a sudden change in weather during the event, fortunately, the gale-force winds only lasted for a few brief minutes.

Students who placed in the rankings received corresponding rewards from the school, but the siblings Su Yan, Su Mo, and Ma Chulong had withdrawn from the race midway.

Su Yao came to the school in person to explain the situation.

The siblings Su Yan and Ma Chulong had withdrawn to go to the hospital after receiving urgent news that Su Jianguo had fallen ill.

As for Su Mo, she had been involved in a violent conflict with the mother and daughter, Li Qiuhua, resulting in both parties dying together in a mutual destruction.

Li Weimin found the news almost impossible to believe when he heard it.

He had heard of mother-daughter discord before, but a mutual death was utterly inconceivable.

However, Su Yao did not offer much explanation, citing that the details of the case were not suitable to be disclosed to the public.

Li Weimin could only sigh in lamentation; after all, the school had held great expectations for Su Mo, and no one expected her to meet such a tragic end.

Su Yao took the opportunity to request leave on Su Yan's behalf. Li Weimin had long since grown accustomed to this, and moreover, the words Wang Wenming had spoken still rang in his ears; naturally, he could not refuse.

Su Yao was exceptionally busy over the next few days. Aside from visiting the hospital, he had to handle the case involving Su Mo and Li Qiuhua, as well as their funeral arrangements.

Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, he had personally witnessed the moment Li Qiuhua killed Su Mo and Su Mo stabbed Li Qiuhua.

After discussing it with Su Yan, he chose to conceal the fact that they had encountered evil spirits along with Ma Chulan, as well as the true reason for Su Jianguo's injury. He directly attributed the deaths of the mother and daughter to an argument that escalated into a mutual killing in a fit of emotional instability.

Though there were still some lingering doubts, with Su Yao's testimony and the forensic autopsy report, the case of the mother and daughter was quickly settled.

By the time everything had calmed down, five days had passed.

"Yan Yan, something this big happened, why didn't you tell Uncle Gu and us?"

Upon hearing the news, Gu Qingfeng and Song Sining rushed to the hospital immediately.

Seeing Su Jianguo lying unconscious in the hospital bed, Gu Qingfeng's eyes instantly reddened.

They had clearly been laughing and talking just a few days ago when they last met.

"Alright, Yan Yan must have been terrified as well." Gu Qingfeng proactively explained for Su Yan, though his eyes never once left Su Jianguo. "What did the doctor say? Do we need to transfer him to a better hospital?"

Su Yan's face was still covered with a black cloth, a measure taken to avoid many unnecessary explanations.

"There's no need for now. The doctor said my father's current condition requires proper rest."

She knew very well that Su Jianguo's state was not something that could be treated by a hospital alone.

Gu Qingfeng let out a long sigh and began murmuring to Su Jianguo as if to himself.

"To end up in such a state when everything was fine... how can you not know how to take care of yourself..."

Su Yan stood quietly by the side.

Song Sining proactively took her hand. "Yan Yan, let Uncle Gu stay here to help you look after your father during these days."

Since her eyes could not see, she was still a young girl, and it was always inconvenient to care for a patient.

Su Yan politely declined. "Thank you, Uncle Gu and Auntie. I don't know when my father will wake up; it won't be a matter of a day or two. I have already contacted a professional caregiver through the hospital."

She had many things to attend to afterward and could not stay at the hospital twenty-four hours a day; hiring a caregiver was the best option.

Seeing that Su Yan had made up her mind, the couple did not interfere further.

After staying for about half an hour, they departed.

Before leaving, Song Sining tucked a sum of money into Su Yan's hand.

In the hearts of these two elders, Su Yan had long since been treated as family.

In the following days, Wu Qi and his wife, along with many of Su Jianguo's old friends, came to visit. Sometimes Su Yan was in the ward, and sometimes it was Su Yao.

Another week passed, and all matters had settled.

On this day, Su Yao came directly to the hospital after work, only to find that besides Su Yan, the Ma siblings were also there.

"Yan Yan, I've already received several calls from Gu Yang. He is truly worried about you. I beg you, can you find just a little bit of time to call him back?"

Thinking of Gu Yang's anxious tone on the phone, Su Yao feared that if Su Yan didn't contact him again, he might actually rush back from the capital.

Seeing his exaggerated expression, Su Yan found it difficult to keep declining; it just so happened that she also had things to say to Gu Yang.

"Alright, I'll contact him right now."

She walked straight out of the ward.

Only then did Su Yao breathe a long sigh of relief.

The matter his friend had entrusted him with was finally handled.

"Police Brother, is this Gu Yang you mentioned Su Yan's fiancé?" Ma Chulan, having gone through life and death with Su Yao, had become quite familiar with him and asked directly out of curiosity.

Before answering, Su Yao specifically shot a glance at Ma Chulong, then cleared his throat and said very firmly, "Yes, the two of them have had an arranged marriage since childhood. My second uncle and the others are extremely satisfied with it; they are just waiting for Yan Yan to graduate to hold the wedding."

"An arranged marriage? Su Yan is willing?" Ma Chulan's reaction was even stronger than Ma Chulong's; her first thought was that Su Yan was not the type of girl who would let her parents dictate her marriage.

"Of course she is. You wouldn't believe it, but Yan Yan has especially liked Gu Yang since she was three years old. She's been yearning to become Gu Yang's bride." Su Yao lied through his teeth without even blushing.

Ma Chulong didn't think so. "If it's truly as Brother Su says, why is Su Yan so unwilling to even give him a phone call?"

That single sentence left Su Yao speechless.

"Ahem, then you just don't understand Yan Yan's personality. She's just shy. Besides, haven't they already gone to get married?" After forcing an explanation, Su Yao curled his lip at Ma Chulong in his mind.

As expected, this kid had ulterior motives regarding his cousin.

Ma Chulan glanced at the unconscious Su Jianguo lying in the hospital bed and shook her head repeatedly.

Su Yao noticed her movement. "What are you shaking your head for? Don't you believe what I said?"

"Police Brother, I didn't mean it that way. I just feel that if Su Yan's fiancé is just an ordinary person, has he made the psychological preparation to be with her?" Ma Chulan's voice was somewhat heavy, as she also thought of herself and her older brother.

During this trip to gain experience, she seemed to understand why their family did not allow them to date or marry outsiders.

Even if there were no Feng family members, they had to be on constant guard against the attacks and retaliation of evil spirits. How could an ordinary person possibly do that?

Su Yao sensed there was more to her words, but he didn't quite understand.

"Speak clearly. What kind of psychological preparation does he need to make?"

He had long suspected that the siblings were not ordinary people, and since Su Yan had been hanging around them all this time, perhaps he had truly underestimated his cousin in the past.

(End of Chapter)