The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 404 - 403: The Fate of Chu Yuqing

Chapter 404: Chapter 403: The Fate of Chu Yuqing

Zhong Jiping, although restricted in speech and movement, had not suffered significant impact to his intelligence.

After waking up the second time, he had conveyed his suspicions to Chu Yuqing by painfully spelling out each word letter by letter.

He himself was medically trained and the head of a pharmaceutical company, extremely sensitive to drug reactions.

He remembered feeling unwell after taking a shower, hence he suspected Zhong Qing had tampered with the bathwater.

However, the police had not found any drugs or poisons in the Zhong Family home, nor had they detected any toxins in Zhong Jiping’s bathtub.

But Chu Yuqing was blindly devoted to Zhong Jiping and romantically obsessed, so if Zhong Jiping suspected his eldest daughter, then there must be something wrong with her.

It was just like when her husband had unclean thoughts, even though she was almost driven mad by jealousy, she still delivered the woman to her husband’s bed.

...

Three days later, the results of Zhong Jiping’s blood tests came out.

"Mrs. Chu, we’ve conducted both toxicology and drug tests on your husband’s blood, and the results show no signs of drug overdose or poisoning."

Chu Yuqing stared at the inspection report as if she could burn a hole through it.

Zhong Qing thanked the police, "I’m sorry for the trouble."

The police sympathized with her.

After all, it must be hard to be suspected by one’s own parents.

They also interviewed the medical staff from that night.

During the rescue of Zhong Jiping, they had not found any toxicological reactions on him.

Normally, when someone ingests a toxic substance, there would be very apparent signs, such as vomiting, discoloration of lips and nails, internal bleeding, etc.

Zhong Jiping had none of these symptoms.

Shan Yi also testified, stating that it was Zhong Qing who had actively taken Zhong Jiping to the hospital; if she had been five minutes later, his life couldn’t have been saved.

According to all the investigation results combined, Zhong Jiping suffered a sudden illness unrelated to anyone else.

"Speak, what poison did you give to your father, huh? Just say it!"

Chu Yuqing still wouldn’t give in, or rather, her heart couldn’t accept the calamity that had befallen her husband and was looking for an outlet.

However, the words Zhong Qing spoke struck her like lightning, "Mom, have you ever considered, if you had been home that night, perhaps dad wouldn’t have ended up like this."

Indeed, if she had been home at that time, if the nanny and children were also there, her husband would surely have been discovered and taken to the hospital in time.

If she hadn’t set her sights on Shan Yi to please her husband, perhaps he never would have gotten sick.

So, was it she who harmed her husband?

No, it wasn’t her fault.

How could she accept that she had indirectly harmed her husband?

"It’s all your fault, if you hadn’t insisted on protecting Shen Mingzhu, I wouldn’t have..."

Smack.

Zhong Qing raised her hand and slapped her.

"You dare hit me?" Chu Yuqing glared at her.

Zhong Qing said coldly, "I just want to wake you up, stop talking nonsense. By the way, Yan Yi knows a doctor from M Country who specializes in brain cell repair and regeneration. He has made significant achievements in the research on repairing necrotic brain stems."

Hearing there might be hope for her husband, Chu Yuqing didn’t care about the slap she had just received.

"You mean, he can save your dad?"

"The message from there is, if we want treatment, it must be done quickly, before the brainstem cells completely die. The sooner the treatment, the greater the hope of recovery."

Upon hearing this, Chu Yuqing immediately set to work arranging for her husband to go to M Country, not even bothering to investigate whether such a person existed.

That night, Chu Yuqing left with her husband for the airport, planning first to go to the Capital, then from there to take an international flight to M Country.

The time was too rushed; she didn’t even have time to say goodbye to friends and relatives, only managing to inform them by phone.

...

An hour had passed since departure.

"What’s going on? Why haven’t we reached the airport?"

Looking out of the car window at the night as dark as thick ink, Chu Yuqing asked impatiently.

"Don’t worry, we’re almost there."

Perhaps sensing the unusual atmosphere, Chu Yuqing looked around suspiciously. The road signs flashing by outside the window left her stunned.

"Why are we on the national highway?"

Seeing that Zhong Qing remained silent, Chu Yuqing quickly grabbed her, "Speak up, what are you trying to do? Where are you taking us?"

Zhong Qing turned her head, her face bearing a strange smile Chu Yuqing had never seen before.

"It’s a nice place; you’ll know soon."

Chu Yuqing wanted to say something, but her mouth and nose were suddenly covered with a pungent handkerchief, and she fainted into the seat.

Zhong Qing folded the handkerchief neatly and put it in her pocket, then looked up at the driver through the rearview mirror and smiled.

"She was too noisy."

The driver spoke in a deep voice: "There’s still a two-hour drive."

"Hmm."

After that, quietness returned to the car.

...

When Chu Yuqing regained consciousness, she found herself in an unfamiliar and extremely dilapidated room.

The floor and walls were made of stone, the window was built high with bars as thick as fingers, and a dim light bulb hung from the ceiling.

Besides that, there was only an iron bed in the room.

"Awake?"

Hearing the voice, Chu Yuqing finally saw Zhong Qing standing outside the barred door.

She rolled over, rushed forward, and shook the iron bars dividing them fiercely, "What on earth is going on? Where’s your dad?"

Zhong Qing smiled, "Don’t worry, he’s right next to you in the neighboring room. I won’t separate you two."

"What do you want?"

"I’m helping you. Don’t you love Zhong Jiping to the point of recklessness? From this moment until death, he belongs only to you, you should be happy."

Chu Yuqing looked around uneasily, "What place is this? What are you really trying to do?!"

Zhong Qing strolled back and forth outside the door with her hands behind her back, her tone light and breezy: "This is the peaceful retreat I’ve found for you and Zhong Jiping, away from the hustle and bustle. As long as you follow the rules, you can have two hours of fresh air each day, you could push Dad outside to see the flowers, enjoy the sunshine."

"What do you mean? You’re going to lock us up here? You dare! Zhong Qing, let us out, or neither your dad nor I will let you off!"

Zhong Qing laughed as though she’d heard a funny joke, "When have you ever let me be? Have you ever let me be?

"These years, you and Zhong Jiping, the disgraceful pair, have brought disaster upon me, upon my friends."

"I couldn’t tell anyone because it was too humiliating to speak of it, too ashamed to admit I had such beasts for parents! If Yinyin and Xiaomin knew what you’d done, they couldn’t hold their heads up either."

"You’ve ruined my life, but I won’t let you destroy Yinyin’s and Xiaomin’s lives."

"You’ve grasped my weakness and tortured me, humiliated me. I could bear it, but you should have never laid hands on Shen Mingzhu. She was my only friend and you certainly should not have targeted Yinyin!"

In Chu Yuqing’s bewildered gaze, Zhong Qing suddenly burst into an especially cheerful laugh.

"Ah, I should thank you. You gave all the servants at home a holiday, and took Yinyin and Xiaomin back to the countryside, which gave me the opportunity to act."

Furious, Chu Yuqing wished she could leap up and strangle her, "It was you! Tell me, what kind of drug did you give your dad? Why couldn’t the police find out?"