Chapter 229: Chapter 229

Fu Jichen returned from a business trip in Yicheng, with a pile of matters waiting for him at the company. As soon as he turned on his phone, dozens of unread emails flooded his inbox. He didn’t have time to read them, so he briefly explained things to Song Fang and booked the latest flight to Jiang City that day.

Before boarding, he called Qu Mo, talking for ten minutes, arranging for him to investigate Shen Jianian’s experiences in Jiang City over the years. He wanted to know everything, down to the smallest detail, as quickly as possible.

Qu Mo had experience and connections for these kinds of things.

On the morning of the 18th, Qu Mo had already gathered some information and booked two tickets from Beicheng to Jiang City. Zheng Yi was accompanying him.

As soon as Zheng Yi heard there was news about Shen Jianian, he agreed to come help without a second thought. Back then, he was appointed by Mr. Fu as Shen Jianian’s driver and bodyguard. After Shen Jianian’s accident, he continued working for Mr. Fu, and he always felt partly responsible for what happened three years ago.

Around noon, the two arrived in Jiang City, with a heat wave rolling in.

Instead of heading to the hotel to meet Fu Jichen immediately, they took a cab to Jiangcheng First Hospital.

The information Qu Mo had at the moment was that after Shen Jianian’s car accident, she was sent to Jiangcheng First Hospital for treatment, but the specifics needed to be figured out at the hospital.

Zheng Yi, who had stayed up all night, was still energetic, "Is Miss Shen really still alive?"

He couldn’t count how many times he’d followed Qu Mo to investigate leads about Shen Jianian, always to no avail, making it hard not to doubt this time would be any different.

Qu Mo had his own guesses, but kept a lid on his words, "Eighty percent sure, can’t go wrong."

Over the past three years, the inability to find information about Shen Jianian was likely due to being manipulated behind the scenes by the Pei Family’s young master. Outwardly, Pei Che’s uncle was the one in power now, but behind the scenes, it was likely Pei Che himself pulling the strings. With the Pei Family’s wealth and connections, hiding someone would be effortless.

Jiangcheng First Hospital always had medical collaborations with the Pei Family, so trying to get Shen Jianian’s medical records this time probably wouldn’t be easy.

The cab stopped at the entrance of Jiangcheng First Hospital, and the two got out from either side.

Qu Mo, with a black backpack slung over one shoulder, stood in the bustling lobby, making a call to the dean’s secretary to explain his purpose—representing the Junshan Group to discuss cooperation with the hospital.

The secretary asked him to wait a moment; the dean would be over shortly.

Today was Sunday, and it was lunch hour, so Qu Mo wasn’t in a hurry.

After waiting about half an hour, the dean hurried over. The Junshan Group was well-known, and with them voluntarily proposing cooperation, no matter what kind, the opportunity couldn’t be missed or neglected.

The dean had instructed the secretary over the phone to bring them to the reception room, saying he’d be there shortly.

Opening the door to the reception room, the dean adjusted his glasses that were sliding down his nose, actually seeing two imposing men in suits inside, exuding an unwelcoming aura. They didn’t seem like they were there to discuss cooperation but rather to find fault.

The dean took a deep breath, smiled, and inquired, "Forgive my lack of sight, but what positions do you two hold at Junshan?"

Seeing the person in charge, Qu Mo didn’t bother pretending and went straight to the point, without any preamble: "Three years ago, a major car accident occurred on the Cross River Bridge. A heavy truck collided with a taxi, resulting in two deaths, one injury, and one missing person. Dean, you should know who I’m talking about."

These words left the dean shocked, though his expression remained fairly calm, "What are you trying to say?"

"To my knowledge, Shen Jianian was brought to your hospital for treatment the night of the accident. Our Mr. Chen is very grateful to the doctors at your hospital for saving Miss Shen. Now, Mr. Chen needs to know all of Miss Shen’s medical records since her admission. We hope for a bit of help from the dean, so things don’t get ugly." Qu Mo considered his words polite enough.

After all, they needed something from the hospital, and he didn’t want to trigger a conflict.

The dean steadied himself and cited the well-known regulations, "I’m not sure how to address you, but you must understand that without the patient’s authorization, we have no right to disclose the patient’s privacy to anyone."

Who would have thought that Qu Mo’s expression would loosen, "So you’re saying, Shen Jianian really received treatment at your hospital."

The dean swallowed hard, realizing belatedly he had been led into a trap.

Patient confidentiality actually prohibits disclosing information to others, but the hospital had an agreement with Mr. Pei, which included not revealing Shen Jianian had ever been treated there. At the time, all the medical personnel involved in Shen Jianian’s surgery were repeatedly instructed never to mention it to outsiders.

"I want to ask the dean, on what grounds does your hospital conspire with an outsider to hide a patient’s condition from their family?" Qu Mo calmly asked.

The dean’s complexion changed suddenly, "This..."

Legally, Mr. Pei indeed had no relationship with Shen Jianian. For her surgery, the patient’s family should have been notified to sign, but Mr. Pei claimed Shen Jianian had no living relatives, and considering her critical condition, they had to adapt accordingly.

"It seems the young master of the Pei Family has offered quite a bit to your hospital."

Qu Mo slowly voiced his guess, his eyes coldly locking onto the dean, who was sweating profusely.

After leaving the First Hospital, it was already past two. Qu Mo gestured for a taxi to head to the hotel.

Passing by the Jade Heaven villa district, Qu Mo took a glance outside. The grand stone gate had the four large characters "Jade Heaven" engraved on it. Through the gaps in the fence, lush greenery could be seen.

Information from last night indicated that Shen Jianian currently lived here with Pei Che and Pei Che’s mother.

Qu Mo looked away, hearing the frustrated Zheng Yi beside him, "Now what? That Dean Li is frightened but stubborn as hell, absolutely refusing to budge."

They hadn’t been able to obtain Shen Jianian’s medical records.

Fraught with fear, the dean remained firm, insisting that unless it was the patient or their authorized agent, nobody had the right to view the medical records. If the patient’s family wanted to see them, they needed to provide pertinent proof of relationship.

"Let’s head back to the hotel." Qu Mo rubbed his face.

The boss wanted him to investigate Shen Jianian, and he hadn’t returned empty-handed. Knowing Shen Jianian’s address made everything much easier.

At around two, the sun was at its peak, with the sunlight reflecting off the hotel fountain, creating countless dazzling spots of light.

"Here we are." The taxi driver reminded him.

As Qu Mo got out of the car, he told Zheng Yi, "You go rest, I’ll go report to the boss."

Zheng Yi nodded, went to the front desk, and booked a room with his ID card.

Fu Jichen was staying in the presidential suite, having arrived last night. Qu Mo took the elevator up and stood outside the suite, exhaling a long breath before knocking on the door.

Hearing a response from inside, he turned the handle and entered. Newest update provided by novel fire.net

The suite’s living room was spacious and bright. Fu Jichen stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, a lit cigarette between his slender fingers, his silhouette solitary yet upright, much like when he’d first learned of Shen Jianian’s accident.

Qu Mo recalled it was in this very hotel, looking out at the rushing waters of the Songli River, where Fu Jichen silently smoked one cigarette after another, tormented as he awaited news of Shen Jianian.

Often it is said, "things have changed," but upon reflection, some things had not.

Qu Mo took off his backpack, pulled out a few pages of information, and handed them to Fu Jichen. "This is all the information about Miss Shen that I could find overnight."

Fu Jichen, holding the cigarette between his thumb and middle finger, tapped the cigarette with his index finger, causing a bit of ash to fall at his feet. He reached out to take the thin stack of papers, usually able to read ten lines at a glance, but now reading letter by letter, afraid of missing anything.

Qu Mo summarized a few important points and explained them to him, "Back then, Miss Shen was taken by Pei Che to Jiangcheng First Hospital for treatment and likely made some agreement with the hospital to keep the news sealed. Except for the doctors who operated on her, no other staff ever even heard her name. After landing, Xiao Zheng and I went to the First Hospital; the hospital firmly refused to disclose Miss Shen’s medical records. Pei Che once took Miss Shen to the United States for nearly eight months. She currently resides in Villa No. 12 at Jade Heaven, living with the Pei Family. Five months ago, Miss Shen joined the Shixin Orchestra as the principal cellist. Last month, she was invited to perform in the movie ’命中旋律’ as a supporting actor. Also..."

At this point, Qu Mo paused, hesitating.

Fu Jichen turned to the last page, the words there overlapping with Qu Mo’s hesitant voice, "Pei Che has reserved a KAIWEN brand wedding dress and will take Miss Shen to try it on tomorrow morning."

A sharp pain shot through Fu Jichen’s fingertip, only then realizing he was burnt by the cigarette’s ember.