Volume 1 Chapter 48 Discovered

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Su Wan was deeply startled. A trace of panic flashed across her gentle, tranquil dark eyes; clearly, she had never expected something like this to happen.

She had thought the matter had ended the moment she left the officers’ club.

Yet she knew Su Xiaohui’s spiteful, twisted, and underhanded nature all too well. Su Xiaohui could not possibly have come merely out of kindness to tell her this. She clearly had another motive.

Besides, the truth of what she had said remained open to question.

But one thing was certain: since Huo Xiaohan was going to be hospitalized for surgery, all he had to do was make a few inquiries, if he wished, and he would learn that Ruan Tingting had fallen ill yesterday and that someone else had gone in her place under her name.

So Su Wan remained perfectly unruffled. The corners of her lips even curled into a cold smile.

“Shouldn’t you be the one feeling vindicated? Teacher Fang looked down on you so much when she was at the Huo residence. Now that she’s been angered into the hospital, you must be happier than anyone else. It must have been quite a long journey for you to come all this way just to share your joy with me.”

“Sis, could you not be like this?” Su Xiaohui pouted, her face full of grievance.

“Have you never suspected that Teacher Fang and the others might have had something to do with your grades being published in the newspaper? Think about it. Teacher Fang’s parents both work for the education bureau, and she herself teaches at the Inspiring High School. She must have had access to your transfer records.”

“You and she also had that conflict at the department store. Then Big Brother Huo rejected Teacher Fang. She must have thought you told him about what happened at the store, which was why he no longer wanted her. So, to get revenge on you, she deliberately had your grades printed in the newspaper and made everyone curse you.”

“Really? Did you hear Teacher Fang say that at the hospital just now? If so, come back with me to Uncle Huo’s place. We’ll tell him everything.”

Su Wan blinked, her eyes filled with anticipation, and even reached out as though to take Su Xiaohui’s hand and lead her to the Huo residence.

Of course, she knew that Fang Yu and the others were responsible.

But Su Xiaohui’s behavior was far too strange. Fang Yu no longer posed any threat to her, yet Su Xiaohui was still trying to provoke a conflict between them.

It seemed she must have heard something else from Fang Yu—something that had made her suspect Su Wan resembled the woman who had taken Ruan Tingting’s place yesterday.

She wanted to incite Su Wan to go to the hospital and confront Fang Yu, hoping Fang Yu would identify her as the person who had impersonated Ruan Tingting.

“Sis, I was only guessing. I’m doing this for your sake, trying to help you find the person who wanted to harm you.” Su Xiaohui had not expected Su Wan to fall for it at all. She hurriedly let go of Su Wan’s hand and refused to move.

“After all, apart from Teacher Fang, I really can’t think of anyone else.”

But Su Wan had no desire to continue wasting time with her. She had to get to the military district hospital as soon as possible and make absolutely sure Secretary Jiang did not reveal her identity.

She could not afford to have her disguise exposed.

“If you have no evidence, what use is there in telling me all this? You needn’t concern yourself with my affairs. You’d better worry about yourself instead. Teacher Fang is gone, and now there’s another nurse named Tingting—and apparently she’s the one Regiment Commander Huo has taken a liking to. If the two of them get together, he’ll surely bring her home to meet his elders. What will you do then?”

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Su Wan curved her lips slightly and looked Su Xiaohui up and down.

After the previous nitrite-poisoning incident, Su Xiaohui’s position in the Huo household had become rather awkward.

She was living there under the identity of someone who had once been considered a potential marriage match for Huo Xiaohan.

If Huo Xiaohan truly brought a woman home, then, to avoid any suspicion, the Huo family would either send Su Xiaohui back to her hometown or arrange for her to move into the school dormitory ahead of time.

Su Xiaohui’s face instantly stiffened. She looked worse than if she had swallowed excrement.

She clearly understood that if Big Brother Huo became involved with that nurse Tingting, not only would she lose the chance to care for him at the hospital and win his favor, she would certainly no longer be allowed to live at the Huo residence either.

Damn it. She had sent Auntie Wang a letter so many days ago. Why had Auntie Wang still not returned?

Then Su Wan would also be without a job, just like her, and could only live at the Huo residence. If they were sent away, the two of them would undoubtedly be sent back to their hometown together.

Su Xiaohui clenched her fingers tightly in secret.

Su Wan, however, paid her no further attention and simply closed the door.

It was nine o’clock. Secretary Yang would not finish work for another two hours, while Principal Song was still downstairs in the little grove, playing chess with the residents of the family compound.

She had to take advantage of this gap and hurry to the hospital. Through the window, she saw that Su Xiaohui had already lowered her head and gone downstairs.

But she had no idea whether Su Xiaohui had gone far, and she was afraid that the woman might see her when she went downstairs and encounter other residents of the compound.

So Su Wan changed into a blue cloth dress with large buttons. It opened all the way down the front and was fastened with oversized buttons. She also braided her two long plaits into a single coil and pinned it at the back of her head, then put on a straw hat.

The transformation made her look fresh, fashionable, and strikingly beautiful—a bright, charming young college student from the city.

It was a stark contrast to her usual patched, beggar-like clothes and plain rural appearance.

That contrast was precisely what Su Wan wanted. Su Xiaohui had grown up beside her and knew her too well. She could recognize Su Wan from nothing more than her silhouette or the way she walked.

Once everything was ready, Su Wan opened the door and looked around. Just as she was about to take the key and lock the door, she found a gauze mask and put it on as an extra precaution.

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The moment Su Wan left, the telephone in the sitting room began to ring.

Secretary Jiang had obtained the Song family’s telephone number from Song Wenbo and called them.

He tried several times, but no one answered.

“Doctor Song, could Su Wan not be at home? Or perhaps she went out for some reason? No one has answered the phone.” Secretary Jiang went to Song Wenbo’s office to ask.

“I’m not sure. It isn’t mealtime yet, but she’s an excellent cook. Perhaps someone in the family compound asked her to come over and give them some advice.” Song Wenbo had just finished seeing a patient and looked up at Secretary Jiang.

The residents of the family compound knew how well Su Wan cooked. Whenever they had guests, if they saw her free, they would ask her to come over and teach them how to prepare a dish or write out a recipe.

It was rather strange. The family had once tried to bring Regiment Commander Huo and Su Wan together, but both of them had felt that they were unsuitable for each other.

How, then, had Regiment Commander Huo suddenly taken a liking to Su Wan?

But Song Wenbo was not the sort to gossip. Whatever happened between them, they could decide for themselves.

After thinking for a moment, Secretary Jiang said, “Then I’ll call again closer to lunchtime.”

After getting off the bus, Su Wan headed straight for the military district hospital.

Once she had asked a nurse where Secretary Jiang’s office was and learned that it was on the first floor of the administrative building at the back, she immediately ran there without stopping.

Suddenly, she caught sight of a figure in a khaki military uniform walking toward her through the crowd. She turned around in fright, her heart pounding wildly.

The summer heat was unbearable. After leaving the family compound and making sure Su Xiaohui had not seen her, she had removed the mask and was carrying it in her hand.

Damn it. He had seen her.