From Nun to Real Heiress: Expert at Turning the Tables - Chapter 596
Chapter 596: 303 Quiet Month (Second Watch of the Night)
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On November 22, Minor Snow – the twenty-second solar term – arrives.
Snow spells cold, precipitation increases, the weather gradually becomes desolate, and people hurrying by on the street are all wrapped in cotton-padded clothes.
Listening to the weather forecast on television, Li Juan’s hand watering the flowers pauses involuntarily.
It’s today, thirteen years ago.
The sky is gloomy, like an overturned pot.
There’s a storm coming in the mountains.
Madam Zhou steps out of the kitchen, “Juan, go and call Mr. Li. Why hasn’t the delivery arrived today?”
The staple foods and daily needs of the Zhu family were usually delivered by Mr. Li. Although the prices might be high, everything was fresh because the produce came directly from the farmers.
“This Mr. Li, he’s late half the time of every month. He’s truly unreliable. After this month, we won’t cooperate with him anymore…”
Madam Zhou grumbled, but then noticed that Li Juan had been standing still the whole time, showing no reaction.
She walked over and gave her a nudge: “I’m talking to you, what are you dazing off for? When everyone in the family wakes up, you will be held responsible if they can’t have breakfast.”
Li Juan puts down the watering can, and goes into the kitchen to find Mr. Li’s phone number on the notebook hanging on the wall, and calls him.
“There’s been a car accident on Qingshui Road, Mr. Li’s car is stuck there, and he can’t get here.”
Madam Zhou was taken aback for a moment, muttering “what a pity”, and put her hands together in a praying gesture towards the sky.
She turned to Li Juan, “Can you drive?”
Li Juan nodded, “Of course I can.”
Madam Zhou’s face brightened, “Then you go to the garage and take that black Santana to pick up the goods. Let Mr. Li wait there.”
Madam Zhou solemnly handed her the car keys, and bid her emphatically: “Be sure to drive carefully and mind your safety.”
Impatient, Li Juan turned and walked away.
She didn’t tell Madam Zhou that she hadn’t touched a car for over a dozen years.
But once she was in, the familiarity quickly returned. On the way down the mountain, the incident from thirteen years ago kept replaying in Li Juan’s mind. Suddenly, a wild cat darted out onto the road, startling her greatly. She stomped on the break, her hands gripping the steering wheel as she took deep breaths.
Fragments of past memories began surfacing in her mind.
——”Juan, can you help your sister this time? I really have no other choice, otherwise I wouldn’t trouble you. As long as she gives birth safely, we’ll leave right away.”
——”No way, who knows where she comes from? You two look so secretive, did you get into some big trouble? What if I get dragged into it? Get out, leave now, don’t force me to get physical.”
—— “You…how could you be so heartless? We’re sister’s born from the same mother.”
——”So what? Even sisters settle accounts separately. Aren’t you working as a nanny in some rich family’s house in Jingzhou? Guiltily sneaking out like this, did you steal something from your employer? Or is the child in this woman’s womb an illegitimate child of your employer’s, which has made you pursued by the wife? You’ve really grown bold after some misadventure.”
——”You’re alone without encumbrance. I have a husband and a child, an entire family to take care of, I can’t afford such a trouble. As your sister, I remind you, if you’re not capable enough, don’t get trouble on yourself.”
A bolt of lightning suddenly split the night sky. Accompanied by a gust of wind, the woman’s hat was blown off.
In a flash of blinding silver light, she saw the woman’s face and was stunned. That momentary surprise was enough for her to remember for a lifetime.
——
In the northwest corner of Jiangzhou, there is a mental hospital, colloquially known as the madhouse.
By nightfall, the place is filled with eerie howls, so much so that there isn’t a single household for miles, and even wild cats and dogs stay away.
As the sun sets and nighttime descends, the madhouse reaches its peak of activity.
This mental hospital stands deteriorating in the wilderness, looking like a haunted house from a horror film in the darkness.
A car suddenly pulls in, its headlights appearing like flickering ghost fires against the pitch-black night.
The rusty iron gate creaks open, and the car moves inside.
The director, together with a nurse, hurriedly comes to greet the visitors with respect.
The car door opens, and a high-heeled foot steps out first.
Then a graceful figure with an enchanting body slowly emerges from the car.
The woman is wearing a deep-blue business suit which accentuates her slender waist and long legs. Her body is sexy and voluptuous. The shirt is buttoned up meticulously, exuding a sense of self-restraint. Under her arm, she carries a fashionable black alligator leather handbag.The collar of her coat was pinned with a delicate and fashionable brooch adorned with the letter ‘W’.
“Madam Zhou, you finally came,” the dean bowed respectfully.
“Where is the person I requested?”
“Follow me.” The dean guided her further in while speaking, “This patient is one of the quietest in our institute. She doesn’t make noise, eats and sleeps as she should; minus her tendency of clawing at the walls from time to time, we would think she was perfectly sane.”
They arrived at a so-called ‘sickroom’, which looked more like a prison cell.
A room of around 5 square meters, containing a bed, a table, and a toilet; nothing else.
The outward-facing door was a floor-to-ceiling iron rail, every action of the person inside was visible.
The woman gently took out a clean white handkerchief from her crocodile skin bag and covered her nose and mouth.
The dean chuckled awkwardly, “Our hospital’s cleaners do clean regularly, but to restrict any escape attempts, there are no ventilation outlets, so the smell isn’t exactly pleasant.”
The woman frowned, her eyes on the person behind the bars.
The person was huddled in a corner, back to the crowd, occasionally leaving behind faint whispers. The frail-looking shoulders were pitiful.
The woman narrowed her eyes: “What is she doing?”
“Scratching the walls. She does it daily, we had to switch her room multiple times because she ruined all the walls. She must be crazy, doesn’t use any tools, just her fingernails. Scratches until her hands are bloody and raw but pays no mind.”
“Open the door,” ordered the woman.
The dean immediately took out his keys and unlocked the iron grating, “She is a madwoman, you should be careful.”
But a glance at the two black-clothed bodyguards behind the woman and the dean thought he might have overthought it.
The woman waved her hand, the dean exited, leaving behind a nurse who was promptly escorted out too by an arm pull from the dean.
Zhou Xue signaled, a black-clad man from behind her stepped forward, and lifted the woman from the bed as if lifting a chicken, there was no weight at all.
The woman fell silently, not struggling at all, laying there as a pile of torn cotton.
Those two hands were bloody and mangled, not resembling hands at all anymore.
Zhou Xue, with the handkerchief still covering her mouth and nose, frowned and said, “Li Chan, I know you’re not insane. If you confess truthfully about the events from thirteen years ago, you can end this hellish life. Otherwise, you will only suffer more. You’re familiar with Madam’s methods.”
The woman had no reaction.
Zhou Xue sneered, “You tricked my people to go to Siji Town. Yet after months of investigation, there was no baby of the appropriate age. So, where did you hide the baby?”
The woman remained indifferent, looking like she had died.
“No matter if you speak or not, as I recall, you have a twin sister. It’s unfortunate that she wasn’t burned in that fire, leaving behind trouble for now.”
At the sound of her words, the woman’s chest expanded slightly.
The sound of high heels tapping against the cold damp floor echoed, like the drum beats of fate, making people powerless.
The woman’s mangled hands clenched into a fist, “You…dare?”
A simple two-worded sentence seemed to have exhausted all of the woman’s energy. The hoarse growl was mixed with endless anger and humiliation.
Zhou Xue bent down, gently wrapped the woman’s hand with her clean handkerchief in a tender, careful manner.
“You, for the sake of a stranger, have done too much. I really admire you for being so compassionate and right. However, you should also consider your sister. Once upon a time, because of you, her entire family perished in the fire, and only she survived by pure luck. Do you still want to push her into the abyss again? Maybe you can make it up to that woman, but can you be fair to your own sister?”
“It’s all because of you…because of you all…” The woman roared with the last of her strength. Her eyes were blood-red, full of endless hatred.
Zhou Xue sighed, “You are so silly. Everyone has their destiny. Her existence itself is a humiliation to the Madam. How could Madam let her live… but, after all these years, Madam regrets it too. After all, they share the same blood. The child is innocent; the Madam simply wants to find the child now and compensate her properly.”
The sound of the woman’s voice was as soft as a dreamy whisper.
For such a long time, she was mentally and physically exhausted; maybe she couldn’t hold on any longer. Regardless of whether the woman was lying or telling the truth, she didn’t have any other option left.
“My sister…”
“Rest assured, she is fine now, but I can’t say the same about her future.”
The woman closed her eyes. After a long, long while, three whispered words echoed in the room.
—”Baitou Mountain.”
