Chapter 14: Night Investigation

  After breakfast, Cong Ye accompanied Yan Qingcheng to the Orthopedic Hospital. Following the instructions of Director Li's office from yesterday's phone call, they went directly to Deputy Director Yu's office. After knocking on the door, Deputy Director Yu received them very politely and immediately called over the person in charge of the personnel department to handle the relevant formalities for Yan Qingcheng.

  "Director Yan, currently all departments in the hospital are fully staffed, except for the Medical Department which is short of one administrative personnel. For now, we'll have to temporarily assign you to work in the Medical Department, and when there's a personnel adjustment in other departments, we'll make another arrangement. Is that okay with you?"

  "Thank you, Dean Yu, I can do whatever work."

  "With your educational background and work experience, it's a bit of a waste in the medical department, but it's only temporary, please forgive me, Mr. Yan."

  In the face of the deputy director's politeness, Yan Qingcheng was somewhat unaccustomed to it, feeling as if she wasn't there to work, but rather to inspect the work. A hospital's deputy director, how could he be so courteous? Did that mysterious developer have such great power?

  With doubts in her mind, she thanked Deputy Director Yu again and again before he made a phone call to summon Lin Yunxia, the head of the Medical Department. He personally took Yan Qingcheng there. Cong Ye also followed them to the Medical Department. It wasn't until they arrived that she learned the Medical Department was actually in charge of all the hospital's medications as well as procurement of medical equipment. She had to say, this should be the best department in the hospital.

  "Yan, yesterday afternoon the director has given instructions, you just arrived, so we won't arrange specific work for you yet, first get familiar with things for a while, and after understanding the nature of our department's work, we'll talk about it later."

  "Thank you, Director Lin. Everything will be arranged according to your instructions."

  Cong Ye saw that Yan Qingcheng's work had come to an end and bid farewell. Yan Qingcheng sent Cong Ye to the hospital gate.

  "Congye, I just arrived and will need some time to get familiar with things, so I won't be going back home for lunch. You take care of things at home for now."

  "Sister-in-law, don't worry, I've got everything under control."

  Congye left the orthopedic hospital and didn't return to Rizhao Lane, knowing that no one would make trouble in broad daylight. Congye wandered alone to the Municipal Square, observing from a distance the "Far East Real Estate Development Company" and the mysterious three-story building next to it. In stark contrast to the busy scene of people entering and exiting the development company, the three-story building was eerily quiet, with not a single person seen entering or leaving until lunchtime.

  Found a small restaurant, Congye simply had lunch and continued to observe in the morning. The inherent stubborn personality made Congye feel uncomfortable, like a fishbone stuck in his throat, until he figured out what was going on.

  When the sun was setting behind the western hills and colorful clouds were scattered across the sky, Cong Ye still didn't see anyone entering or leaving the small building. After waiting for a while longer, Cong Ye even skipped dinner. Before long, night fell, and none of the rooms in the small building had any lights on. Cong Ye was almost certain that there was no one inside the building today. A thought arose in his mind, planning to sneak into the building when it was late at night and quiet to investigate.

  With a plan in mind, Congye bought some bread and mineral water from a nearby small shop to fill his hunger, still hiding in the distance, continuing to observe.

  As the night grew deeper, the pedestrians on the street became fewer and farther between. Cong Ye crept along the edge of the road, his black shadow merging with the darkness, as he quietly approached the small building. He didn't enter through the front door, because Cong Ye had already spotted two security cameras, one on either side of the entrance. Instead, he made his way to the back alley behind the building. After checking that no one was around, he grasped the downspout that stretched from the rooftop to the ground and agilely climbed up to the second-floor window. He pushed against the window frame, but found it had been locked from the inside. Cong Ye continued to climb upwards until he reached the window where the woman who looked like Yan Qingcheng had stood yesterday. He pushed against the window, and it swung open easily. Because of the layer of curtains, Cong Ye couldn't see what was inside. He stretched out a hand, slightly parting the gap, and although the room was very dark, he could still make out that there was no one inside.

  With a gentle leap, Cong Ye entered the room. The floor felt very soft underfoot, and upon squatting down to touch it, he found that it was covered with a thick carpet. Cong Ye quickly took off his shoes so as not to leave too many traces. Afterwards, he tiptoed around the room, only finding women's clothes and some women's accessories, nothing else.

  Along the stairs, Congye came to the second floor, where there were two opposite doors. Choosing the south-facing door, Congye slightly exerted himself and pushed it open. Quickly slipping inside, he closed the door behind him with a swift motion. This room was even darker, with the street-side window completely blocked by thick curtains, making it impossible to see anything. Congye felt his way around, lifting up one corner of the curtain, and began to observe using the faint light from outside.

  A small bed, beside the bed was a dresser, and on the dresser there was almost nothing. Only on the wall near the dresser, several photos were vaguely visible, Cong Ye only took a glance, just about to shift his gaze, thinking of looking around the room for other things, when he suddenly stopped still. Because the figure in the photo looked very much like the woman who resembled Yan Qingcheng on the third floor. When Cong Ye leaned forward and took a closer look, he discovered the difference. The woman in the photo was very young, and her clothes were beyond Cong Ye's expectations, she was actually wearing a white coat.

  "Sister-in-law."

  This time, Cong Ye didn't suspect that he had mistaken the person again, because in Rong Zhai's house on Ri Guang Alley, Cong Ye also saw a similar photo in a small frame on the table in the room. It was a photo taken by Yan Qingcheng when she worked at the First Hospital. That should have been taken not long after Yan Qingcheng started working, and she looked very young, with some greenness on her face, completely without the mature feeling she gave people now.

  "Why is there a photo of sister-in-law here?"

  Cong Ye carefully counted and found that there were four photos in total. These four photos all had a common characteristic, which was that they were all secretly taken. Because the Yan Qingcheng in the photos was either examining patients or lowering her head to read books, or gazing out of the window, the photos only captured her profile.

  Just as Cong Ye was at a loss for what to do, he suddenly heard the sound of the door opening on the first floor, and immediately afterwards, he heard the voices of a man and a woman talking.

  "I'm finally back, but I'm exhausted."

  "Having more fun than anyone else, how can you say you're tired?"

  "It's because I had so much fun that I'm tired. Anyway, you're leaving soon, what's the harm in staying a few more days? Look at your face today, it looks like someone owes you money."

  "There are many things to deal with in the company, but you insist on dragging me out to sea to have fun."

  "Hmph, I knew it, you don't have me in your heart, you're just using me as a plaything, as a substitute."

  Next was a brief silence, followed by the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. Cong Ye didn't dare to tarry and quickly ran to the third floor, back into that room, and again climbed out of the window, closing the curtains and windows after him. He hugged the downspout and slid down to the ground, hiding in the shadows on one side of the street, just in time to put on the two shoes that had been tied around his waist.

  However, Congye didn't notice that he had made a mistake due to his busy schedule. When he left the second-floor room, he forgot to put down one corner of the curtains that he had lifted up.

  Hiding in the dark, after seeing the light on the third floor room turn on, Cong Ye quietly left, thinking about why there was a photo of Yan Qingcheng working at the hospital in the small building's second floor room.

  Suddenly, an idea appeared in Congye's mind.

  "Sister-in-law said that in those years, there was a young master who always went to the hospital to harass her. Is the owner of the small building not that young master?"

  Thinking of this, many problems have become clear.

  Firstly, those photos were taken secretly. Because Yan Qingcheng didn't want to meet that young master, the other party could only choose to take secret photos if they wanted to take pictures of Yan Qingcheng. Secondly, the woman who looked exactly like Yan Qingcheng was not the wife of that wealthy and noble young man, as can be known from the conversation between the two people just now. What "plaything", what "substitute", it's clear that the young master had been unable to let go of Yan Qingcheng in his heart, so he found a woman who looked 70-80% like Yan Qingcheng to satisfy his longing for Yan Qingcheng over the years.

  Thirdly, from the observation of these two days, it can be found that the young man with a rich and noble air in the small building is likely to be the behind-the-scenes boss of Far East Real Estate Development (Group) Co., Ltd. In this way, helping Yan Qingcheng find a job can also be explained clearly. Similarly, preventing oneself from finding a job can also be explained.

  Because the young boss still had a glimmer of hope in his heart for Yan Qingcheng, he didn't want Cong Ye to appear by Yan Qingcheng's side. Not letting Cong Ye find work in Guan Haicheng was a way to force him to leave Yan Qingcheng's side.

  But why did he still send someone to make trouble at Qingcheng Medical Hall?

  Now there is only this one question left which cannot be explained.

  "Thicket of leaves."

  "Ah, sister-in-law, what brings you here?"

  "What do you think?"

  Cong Ye unknowingly returned to the entrance of Jing Cheng Medical Hall in Ri Zhuo Lane, and suddenly saw Yan Qingcheng standing at the door, startling him so much that he thought something had happened.

  "Sister-in-law, have they come to make trouble again?"

  "Where did you go? Why didn't you come back all day?"

  "Whole day? Did sister-in-law come back this afternoon?"

  Two people walked towards the small courtyard at the back while talking. After entering the room, standing in the bright space, Yan Qingcheng continued to ask:

  "Where on earth have you been? I've been waiting for you since I got back from work this afternoon."

  Cong Ye saw the dishes on Ming Jian's table and said apologetically:

  "Sorry, made you worry. You haven't eaten yet either, have you? I'll go heat it up."

  Yan Qingcheng didn't say anything else, quietly waiting in the house until Cong Ye finished heating up the meal. The two of them were obviously hungry and quickly finished eating. Yan Qingcheng just looked at Cong Ye without saying a word.

  "Sister-in-law, I went to that real estate company."

  Yan Qingcheng still didn't speak, which made Cong Ye almost sweat with anxiety.

  "Sister-in-law, it's like this..."

  "I don't want to hear it now."

  Yan Qingcheng stood up and turned back to the east room. Even the lights in the room were not turned on, Cong Ye stood there for a while, hearing the silence inside, so he could only pick up the bowls and chopsticks on the table, wash his face with a nervous heart, without even taking off his clothes, and lie down on the bed.