Chapter 173: Chapter 173

After a night passed, the rain in Jiang City had stopped, the weather cleared up, and the golden sunshine bathed the earth. It was a scene full of vitality, making one mistakenly believe that the tragedy last night was just a dream.

The rain in Beicheng was still falling intermittently.

At eight in the morning, in the villa of Yunding Palace, Cheng Jin turned on the TV, listening to the sound as she carried out her daily cleaning tasks, while the rain poured outside, making the interior feel even more empty and cold.

She turned up the TV volume a bit, just about to put down the remote control when she heard the news broadcast: "At around twelve midnight, a major car accident occurred on the Cross River Bridge in Jiang City. A heavy-duty freight truck crashed into a taxi. According to surveillance footage, the taxi was instantly smashed and overturned, falling into the Songli River. Firefighters arrived on the scene fifteen minutes later to carry out emergency rescue. It has been confirmed that a female passenger in her twenties died on the spot, with her identity unknown. The taxi driver was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment but died this morning at seven after rescue efforts were ineffective. The truck driver is not in life-threatening condition and is currently under police investigation. The case is under further investigation, and news will continue to be updated for everyone..."

Holding the mop handle, Cheng Jin watched the news, glanced again at the relentless rain and gloomy weather outside, and suddenly felt a heaviness in her heart, sighing at the unpredictability of life.

She simply turned off the TV, silently finished tidying up the living room, and realizing it was getting late, went upstairs to wake Shen Jianian for breakfast.

She had gone to bed early last night, woke up at five today, and cooked a pot of shredded chicken porridge. Jianian liked it, with a vegetarian steamed bun and two dishes of appetizers to go with it.

Standing outside the bedroom door on the third floor, Cheng Jin raised her hand and knocked twice, "Jianian, are you up yet?"

After waiting for a while, Cheng Jin leaned her ear against the door but heard no movement inside.

Could she still be asleep?

Cheng Jin was afraid that Jianian hadn’t rested well and didn’t want to rudely wake her up, so she didn’t linger outside the door and tiptoed away.

She ate breakfast first, sat idly in the living room, deconstructing an old sweater to re-knit it into a vest.

Two hours passed quickly, and Shen Jianian still hadn’t come down. The porridge was kept warm in the casserole. Cheng Jin, feeling uneasy, removed the ramen-like yarn from her knees, put it on the sofa, and went upstairs.

She knocked on the door first, waited a few seconds, and hearing no response from the room, she pushed the door open while saying, "Jianian, I’m coming in."

Cheng Jin saw the neatly made bed and was stunned. She went to the walk-in closet, and seeing no one there, also checked the bathroom, but it was empty too.

"Jianian? Jianian?" Cheng Jin called out twice, getting no answer, she muttered, "Where did she go?"

She closed the room door, glanced into the master bedroom next door, thinking Jianian might have slept there last night, but still found no sign of her.

Cheng Jin guessed that Jianian might have gone out early, but on second thought, it seemed unlikely.

She had been in both the living room and kitchen, and if Jianian had left, she would have noticed.

Cheng Jin took out her phone from her pocket and dialed her number.

The line gave a cold prompt: "The number you are calling is temporarily unavailable, please try again later."

Cheng Jin frowned, hung up, pursed her lips in thought for a moment, and called the driver, Xiao Zheng. The call connected quickly, and before Cheng Jin could ask, Xiao Zheng said, "Does Miss Shen need a car? I’ll come over right away."

Xiao Zheng’s words dispelled Cheng Jin’s doubts, indicating that Shen Jianian hadn’t gone out today.

Despite this, Cheng Jin asked, "Jianian didn’t go out this morning?"

Xiao Zheng was taken aback, then truthfully replied, "No. I also found it strange that she didn’t go to see Yan Qiusheng today." He thought it might be due to the weather that Miss Shen took leave from going to Yan Qiusheng’s place.

Suddenly, he realized something was wrong and asked, "Isn’t Miss Shen at home?"

Cheng Jin had a bad feeling; Jianian had never disappeared without reason.

Xiao Zheng was someone left by the mister, young and strong, with a sharper mind and quicker reactions than most. Cheng Jin dared not hide anything and told him everything straightforwardly: "I went upstairs to wake her up after eight in the morning, the room was silent, I thought she was sleeping so I didn’t disturb her. Now it’s past ten, I went up again and found no one in the room. I’ve looked everywhere and called her, but no one answers."

Xiao Zheng reassured her, "Don’t worry, I’ll come over immediately. You can first check with the security guards, if Miss Shen left, they should know."

Cheng Jin thought that young people’s minds were nimble; she completely forgot to ask the security guards.

She promptly took the elevator downstairs; it was still raining, and she took a black umbrella from under the shoe cabinet in the hallway, opened it, and walked across the front yard to the security booth at the gate.

"Aunt Cheng, what’s the matter?" Seeing her from a distance, the security guard opened the door in advance.

Cheng Jin didn’t enter, feeling anxious and speaking incoherently, "Did Jianian go out this morning? Did you see her?"

"Are you referring to Miss Shen?" The security guard said, glancing at his colleague behind him.

There are usually two security guards in the booth, taking turns on shifts. The colleague shook his head and said, "I was the first to come on shift this morning, I didn’t see Miss Shen go out."

Seeing Cheng Jin’s expression change, seemingly worried, the colleague offered to make some calls to ask other colleagues. After making a few calls, he finally got some information, finding out that the last time Miss Shen was seen was around six or seven last night, and she hadn’t been seen since.

"My colleague said he saw Miss Shen with a bag last night, saying she was going to meet a friend nearby, then he handed over his shift."

Cheng Jin’s face immediately looked troubled.

The security guard wasn’t aware, but she had been taking care of Shen Jianian for several months and was very familiar with her social circle; Jianian had no friends nearby. She did hear Jianian mention a lady with the surname "Bai" who, as far as she knew, lived in another district.

Cheng Jin panicked, hoping she was overthinking it. Since Jianian left on her own and wasn’t taken, there shouldn’t be any problem.

But she couldn’t convince herself to stay calm; she recalled that Mister once said Jianian was nearly harmed in Yicheng, so her safety was always the top priority.

Cheng Jin returned with the umbrella, dialing Mister’s phone in a panic like seeking help from anyone available. Receiving the message that "The subscriber you dialed is switched off," she remembered Mister was still on a plane.

She didn’t know the phone number of Jianian’s friend and couldn’t contact anyone, feeling anxious with no recourse.

At Jiangcheng First Hospital, at two in the afternoon, Pei Che was allowed to visit the patient.

Under the nurse’s guidance, he completed the disinfection procedures, wore a cap, mask, donned isolation gowns, shoe covers, and stepped into the Intensive Care Unit.

The curtain around Shen Jianian’s hospital bed was drawn, the chief surgeon stood by, accompanied by the supervising doctor, both examining the various data displayed on the test sheet.

Seeing Pei Che, the chief surgeon took the initiative to say, "Relax, she just woke up for a while and can understand instructions, indicating she’s out of danger. Next is to continue monitoring, recuperate well, and slowly restore physical functions."

It’s also fortunate; given her pregnancy and severe injuries from the car accident, she could still survive. Luckily, she was brought to the hospital in time, avoiding excessive blood loss.

After all, the head injury she sustained at the time was very serious.

Pei Che slowly turned his head, his gaze settling on the hospital bed, feeling a "homecoming apprehension" of sorts, instinctively holding his breath, not daring to get too close, just watching her like that.

Little Nian’s head and face were wrapped in thick bandages, leaving only her eyes and lips exposed. A tracheal tube was inserted into her nose, multiple splints held her body in place, electrodes were affixed to her chest and connected to several monitors beside her.

Just one glance, and Pei Che couldn’t help but redden his eyes, his lips beneath the mask forming a tense, trembling line.

The chief surgeon left first, leaving the supervising doctor to stay here.

For a long while, Pei Che slowly moved to the bedside, lacking the courage to reach out and touch her, feeling as if she was a shattered porcelain doll, painstakingly glued back together, fearing a single touch would cause her to shatter once more.

He couldn’t endure any more adversity.

Pei Che quietly kept her company until the PA system in the ICU broadcasted a reminder that visiting hours were over and families were asked to leave promptly, only then did he walk out.

Removing his mask, Pei Che bent over in a state akin to exhaustion, supporting himself with his hands on his knees to avoid collapsing on the ground.

His condition was even worse than when he had brought Shen Jianian here last night.

People are never satisfied; initially, he thought that as long as she could be saved, he could accept any outcome. However, watching her lying lifelessly on the hospital bed, her body covered in wounds, was more excruciating than a dull blade cutting into his heart.