Fu Heng submitted a file on Shu Qing to Fu Chengyan on the third day. There was not a lot in it, mostly a compendium of articles revolving around Shu Qing’s stint in the entertainment circle – Filmography, various activities and other mundane things. Nothing of substance, but sufficient to provide a rough idea of what kind of person that she was.
Fu Chengyan skimmed the information and noticed that there was not much pertaining to her interpersonal relations within the industry either. Apart from interactions with her cast and crew members on set, she did not seem to be much for socializing outside of work.
Other superfluous information was also very limited, as though they had been deliberately erased. The report, however, did hit upon an important discovery in the form of a photograph that featured a meeting between Shu Qing and a woman who appeared to be Jiang Yu, the daughter of Jiang Shizheng.
This photograph seemed to be dated as both women still looked very young in it. In her youth, Shu Qing uncannily resembled Shi Nuan and Shen Qianan.
The two women were covertly snapped convening inside a coffee shop, possibly by the paparazzi. The quality of the photograph was poor but there were a number of them with accompanying write-ups regarding Shu Qing. Some of which speculated the meeting to be a showdown between a rich man’s wife and her husband’s mistress.
Fu Chengyan curled his lips as he tossed the file onto the table. He then raised his head to regard Zhou Zheng. “Is there anything else?”
“Yes.” Zhou Zheng nodded. “This is Shu Qing’s schedule over these few days. She basically hasn’t been anywhere outside of the hotel, but was spotted visiting the Roving Villa before that.” Zhou Zheng produced a photograph which he passed along to Fu Chengyan.
Fu Chen squinted his eyes at the courtyard in the picture. “Emerald Garden?”
“That’s right, Mr. Fu.” Zhou Zheng nodded again. “This stretch used to be owned by the Li Group. You own another villa close by.” After he took a moment to think, Zhou Zheng continued, “I’ve looked into the identity of the registered occupant for Emerald Garden and found that it was no one special, so there’s not much to go on. But in order to own property in the area, one has to meet several criteria, so it’s not something that could be achieved by any ordinary person!”
“Get Liang Lin on it. We have to find out who the proprietor of Emerald Garden is!”
“Understood!” Zhou Zheng then paused momentarily. “But there’s one more thing!”
“Speak!”
“On the day you and Mrs. Fu called on Old Master Jiang at his home, Shu Qing was in the vicinity!”
Fu Chengyan blinked. “What?”
“Shu Qing was nearby. This is footage captured by a security camera in the area.” Zhou Zheng then presented Fu Chengyan with another photograph. “Shu Qing bumped into Mrs. Fu on the way out before she left in a hurry. This was captured on Huaihai Road. Shu Qing got into a vehicle there and subsequently went to Emerald Garden!”
Fu Chengyan looked at the second photograph in his hand and the scene was as Zhou Zheng described. As it was dark, the image from the security footage was not the best. But Fu Chengyan could tell from Shu Qing’s expression that she was distressed.
The corner of Fu Chengyan’s lips curled upwards. “Intriguing!”
“Shall we continue to investigate, Mr. Fu?”
“Definitely yes. It’s best if we get to the bottom of this matter.” Fu Chengyan was interested to know what was it about Shu Qing that led Shen Feng to abandon his family and remain head over heels for her for so many years.
“Oh yeah, while you are at it, have Shaoqing check on Shi Wei at the hospital.”
“Shi Wei? What about her?” Zhou Zheng looked tentatively at Fu Chengyan. When his eyes met Fu Chengyan’s meaningful gaze, Zhou Zheng laughed awkwardly, “Mr. Fu, as I’ve been busy with Shengyuan and the investigation work recently so I wasn’t paying too much attention to what was going on at Xinhuang. Has something happened there?”
“Is it a common practice for artistes under contract with Xinhuang to take on side gigs?” Fu Chengyan asked an unrelated question in response.
Zhou Zheng paused for a while before he replied, “Actually, the artistes are forbidden from doing so as a general rule. But since there are so many of them on the books, resources aren’t always evenly distributed. So the practice of them doing work in a private capacity is sort of an open secret. The company will close one eye so long as the other terms of their contract remain fulfilled. Why? Has there been an issue with Shi Wei?”
Pertaining to Shi Wei, Zhou Zheng had not received any calls from Xinhuang recently so he was quite out of the loop. But inferring from Fu Chengyan’s tone, Zhou Zheng felt like he might soon be out of a job.
“Mr. Fu, please give me some time. I’ll settle it right away!”
“That won’t be necessary.” Fu Chengyan waved him off. “It’s no big deal. See to what I have asked of you first. I’ll put someone else on it!”
“Understood!”
After Zhou Zheng left, Fu Chengyan spent the better part of the day on the couch in deep contemplation before he rang up Su Shaoqing. “Is Shi Wei at your hospital?”
“Shi Wei?” Su Shaoqing had just changed up after leaving the operation theater. He was preparing to do his rounds in the wards and did not expect to get a call from Fu Chengyan. Su Shaoqing was dumbfounded. “How am I supposed to know that? It’s a large hospital with many patients coming and going. Surely you don’t expect me to keep track of everyone?”
He held his cellphone in one hand while he pulled on his coat with the other. When he saw a silhouette pass by outside, Su Shaoqing immediately ran after her. “Ling!”
Fu Ling turned around and regarded him frostily, “What?”
“Are you going to visit Bai? I’ll come with you!” Su Shaoqing said as he came close.
Fu Ling wore a slight frown as she looked sideways at him. “What’s that got to do with you?”
“What’s that got to do with me?” Su Shaoqing smiled cheerily as he clutched his phone. He picked up his pace in order to move up alongside her. “Bai is your son, which means he’s also mine!”
“That’s enough, Su Shaoqing!” Fu Ling stared him down fiercely. “Are you mental? Arbitrarily claiming someone else’s son as your own? Bai has only one father and he is Qin Yanzhi!” She gritted her teeth. “Now stop following me!”
When Su Shaoqing heard what she said, his face dimmed. But he quickly reverted to his jovial demeanor as he trailed behind her. “But Qin Yanzhi isn’t your husband!”
“And you are?” Fu Ling looked at him coldly.
“If you like, I could be. Perhaps we should make a trip down to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get registered right now? It’s still within office hours for them anyway!” As Su Shaoqing spoke, he reached out to hold Fu Ling’s hand but was rebuffed by her. She then eyeballed him with revulsion. “I think you need to get your head checked! Even if I’m open to it, your family might not be willing to accept an illegitimate daughter like me, wouldn’t you agree?”
With that, the smile was completely wiped off Su Shaoqing’s face. “It’s me you would be marrying, not my family!”
“Ha ha!” Fu Ling felt it laughable. “That wasn’t what you told me when you rejected me!”
“I made a mistake, Ling!” Su Shaoqing protested gloomily.
Fu Ling turned her head away from him. “If that’s a mistake, it’s exclusively your own. Nothing to do with me whatsoever.”
“Ling!”
“What’s past is past. There’s no going back to where we came from, so kindly do not ever bring this up in front of me again. You know that I’m not interested so why do you insist on pushing my buttons?” When Fu Ling saw that Su Shaoqing was not responding to her, she furrowed her brows. “I’m leaving!”
Su Shaoqing was rooted to the spot as he watched Fu Ling disappear down the end of the corridor. Though he stood up tall, he cut a disconsolate figure.
The sight of him became the subject of quiet chatter between the occasional passing nurses. “Who was that woman? I wonder why she would always speak to the director this way?”
“Who knows! Did you see how he puts up with her verbal abuse?”
“Sure did. Do you think she is the one he had been waiting for all this time?”
Su Shaoqing only started to loosen his shoulders after the voices of the nurses faded out of earshot. When his head bowed, he noticed that his phone was still engaged.
Su Shaoqing wriggled his lips. “What else do you want?”
Fu Chengyan too, held a prolonged silence before he responded, “We must all live and die by our own decisions. As you sow, you shall taste the bitter fruits of your own sins.”
Su Shaoqing pulled his lips, “Aren’t you enjoying this a little too much?”
“Ling is not a heartless person.”
“Don’t you think I know that!” Su Shaoqing forced open his eyelids as he felt a wave of weariness overwhelm him. “But I’ve hurt her too deeply. I understand now how much courage it took for her to contend with the constant rejection and humiliation that I’ve dealt her. She had put up with it for years when I’ve only held up for days!”
Not only was Su Shaoqing’s tone bereft of his usual frivolity, but there was also a hint of shame to it as well. “Is this the rule of karmic return?”
“Thinking about throwing in the towel?”
“No. But I’m afraid I won’t be able to persevere until she changes her mind!” There was a certain forlornness to Su Shaoqing’s demeanor.
He leaned with his back to the wall as he spaced out towards the ceiling, and stayed that way for a while before he spoke again. “What were you saying about Shi Wei just now?”
“Nuan saw Shi Wei at the obstetrics and gynecology department two days ago!” Fu Chengyan said with emphasis.
Su Shaoqing raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean she’s pregnant?” He then smirked, “Since when have you become so concerned for this namesake sister-in-law of yours?” Su Shaoqing thought this out of character for Fu Chengyan.
“It’s time to shake up the Shi family!” Fu Chengyan tapped upon the table with his slender fingers. “She has been sponging off me for so long. Time to have a little fun!”
“Scratching an itch?” Su Shaoqing got onto his feet. “Will do. I’ll go over to Yu Qing’s to see what’s up.”
After Su Shaoqing hung up, he straightened out his coat before heading to the ob-gyn department.
“Director!”
“Director!”
Su Shaoqing knocked at the door. “Dr. Yu!”
“Please come in!”
Yu Qing raised her head to greet the visitor and was surprised to see that it was Su Shaoqing. “What can I do for you, Director?”
She then got to her feet. “Please have a seat!”
Su Shaoqing nodded. He surveyed the surroundings as he made himself comfortable. “You too, Dr. Yu!”
Yu Qing and Su Shaoqing’s relationship was largely professional, but they were both alumni of the same medical school. Su Shaoqing left a great legacy when he was a student there.
He managed to complete a few years’ worth of the syllabus within half a year and went on to conduct clinical trials alongside his professor. His outstanding academic record then led to his selection as the school’s representative in an international exchange program.
Although Su Shaoqing did not spend a lot of time in school, tales of his exploits continued to circulate so he had a formidable reputation at the medical school. Su Shaoqing had not actually graduated when Yu Qing enrolled, but he was rarely seen on campus. Later on, he decidedly started a private hospital and quickly made a name for himself. This too became the stuff of legends.
Yu Qing was full of admiration for Su Shaoqing. That is of course because she hardly knew the man himself.
When Su Shaoqing saw how reserved Yu Qing was, he smirked, “You seem to be afraid of me, Dr. Yu?”
