Chapter 5: Substitution (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“When the accident happened, I was driving my car with my sister, Qiao Jiuyin.”

‘Qiao Jiusheng’ pointed at herself and told the female traffic police officer, “My sister and I are twins. We look alike. She’s wearing a pair of black jeans and a light blue short jacket. Officer, you must find my sister…”

As she said that, tears once again welled up in the eyes of ‘Qiao Jiusheng,’ and her voice was filled with sobs. This scene was very moving.

Fang Mu glanced at the girl beside her and frowned when she saw the raindrops falling on her coat. “Xiao Sheng, I’ll stay here and watch. Go, take a shower and change your clothes before heading to the hospital for a checkup.”

‘Qiao Jiusheng’ naturally refused, but Fang Mu forced her into the car.

He pressed on ‘Qiao Jiusheng’s’ shoulder and turned to Lin Miao, who had arrived a step behind her. “Secretary Lin, look after her. Don’t let her stay alone.”

Secretary Lin nodded.

Seeing that ‘Qiao Jiusheng’ still wanted to speak, Fang Mu shot a look at the chauffeur, who hurriedly stepped on the accelerator and took away the sobbing ‘Qiao Jiusheng.’

Fang Mu turned around and walked to the side of the highway. He looked at the surging river water on the cliff and felt that something was wrong.

Qiao Jiuyin is probably dead.

***

“Cough cough!”

“Cough cough!”

As Qiao Jiusheng opened her eyes, a rough-looking man’s face appeared in her vision. The man was wearing a traffic police uniform, but he looked a little fierce. Qiao Jiusheng recognized this face. In her previous life, this man had disguised himself as a traffic police officer to fish her up from the river. He had then personally sent her to the prison Qiao Jiuyin had already prepared for her.

His real identity was actually a criminal that Qiao Jiuyin had arranged to execute her plan.

Seeing that Qiao Jiusheng was awake, the middle-aged man heaved a sigh of relief.

As Qiao Jiusheng spat out the water in her lungs, she heard the man ask, “Miss Qiao, are you alright?”

Qiao Jiusheng did not speak, but she heard the man continue, “Let me send you to the hospital. Your sister and the rest are very happy to know that you’re still alive.”

Qiao Jiusheng nodded.

The man dressed as a traffic policeman helped her up and used the force to stand up. It was only then that Qiao Jiusheng realized she was in pain. She did not know how many of her ribs were broken. Her condition was so serious that even breathing had become painful for her. On top of that, her right thigh was injured; there was a twenty-centimeter-long gash on it. The blood had dried up, and the wound had become infected.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps. Qiao Jiusheng looked up and saw a few men clad in white coats approaching her with a stretcher. They carried her onto the stretcher and sent her into the ambulance. As her gaze fell on the roof of the car, despair filled Qiao Jiusheng’s eyes.

She still remembered that in her previous life, these people had brought her to a hospital. After the emergency surgery, Qiao Jiuyin’s people had taken her away and imprisoned her before she even woke up. In the meantime, Qiao Jiuyin had arranged a female corpse with a completely ruined appearance, waiting for the police to discover it.

At this point, ‘Qiao Jiuyin’ had completely disappeared from this world.

However, she would live again. This time, Qiao Jiusheng would not allow herself to become Qiao Jiuyin’s caged bird.

When the ambulance reached the hospital, Qiao Jiusheng was sent to the emergency room. She could only watch as the anesthetist injected anesthesia into her body. There was only one thing she could do to keep herself awake, hypnotize herself over and over again.

A person’s willpower could be frightful. Throughout the entire operation, Qiao Jiusheng maintained some clarity. The pain of a knife cutting their skin was not something an ordinary person could endure. However, Qiao Jiusheng, who was pretending to be unconscious, did not even frown.

In her previous life, Qiao Jiuyin had cut her tongue off live. The pain of that time was a hundred or even a thousand times worse than that now.

***

“How long will it take her to wake up?”

“About four hours.”

The man nodded when he heard the doctor’s answer. After the nurse sent Qiao Jiusheng into the ward, the man picked up his phone and called his employer.

“The surgery is done. It was a success. She will wake up in about four hours.

“Where should I send her?”

“Don’t worry, nothing will go wrong. However, what you promised me…”

Hearing the woman’s affirmative answer, the man became satisfied. He hung up the phone and went to the car to take off his traffic police uniform. Then, he changed into a normal black jacket and returned to the ward.

When he pushed open the door, the sight of the empty bed stunned him. His expression fell.

***

Fang Mu left the scene of the accident and rushed to the hospital. Qiao Jiuyin’s examination had already finished.

She lay on the hospital bed with many minor injuries on her body. The doctors had given her medications. When Fang Mu arrived in the room, Qiao Jiuyin was looking out of the window with an odd expression. No one knew what she was thinking.

Seeing Fang Mu, Lin Miao rushed forward and told him about Qiao Jiuyin’s checkup. “No internal injuries, just some superficial wounds. She’ll be fine after resting for a while.”

Fang Mu nodded and waited for Lin Miao to leave. He then turned his gaze to Qiao Jiuyin.

When he looked at Qiao Jiuyin gazing out the window in a daze, his heart sank. “Xiao Sheng.”

Fang Mu walked to stand between the bed and the window, blocking Qiao Jiuyin’s line of sight.

The annoyed Qiao Jiuyin could only look up at Fang Mu. She moved her lips and asked, “Brother Mu, have you found my sister?”

Fang Mu stared at Qiao Jiuyin with a deep gaze. After hesitating for two seconds, he told her the truth. “No. They searched for two kilometers along the river, yet couldn’t find your sister.” When he saw that Qiao Jiuyin’s face turned even paler, Fang Mu fell silent.

Qiao Jiuyin did not speak for a long time. Fang Mu wanted to comfort her, but he was a man of few words, and he did not know how to comfort others either. After thinking about it, he finally took a step forward and sat down on the stool. Holding Qiao Jiuyin’s hand, he patted her back as usual.

Qiao Jiuyin stared at their hands, which were pressed together, and a complicated expression appeared in her eyes.

Just then, the phone on the bedside table rang.

Qiao Jiuyin had just raised her hand when Fang Mu picked up the phone first. He took a look at it and frowned. “I don’t know the number. Do you want to pick it up?” he asked Qiao Jiuyin.

Qiao Jiuyin was still thinking about something, so she said, “Give me the phone. Perhaps, something happened over there with the traffic police.”

Without saying anything else, Fang Mu handed her the phone.

Qiao Jiuyin pressed the phone to her ear and spoke first, “Is this the traffic police? Do you have any news of my sister?” She spoke in an urgent tone as if she were afraid that the other party would say something wrong.

The other end of the phone seemed to be silent. Fang Mu did not know what the content of the phone call was, but he saw a flash of fear appear on Qiao Jiuyin’s face. On closer look, it didn’t seem like fear, but like despair and desolation. Fang Mu did not think much of it. He just considered that he had seen wrong.

“What is it?”

After hearing Fang Mu’s question, Qiao Jiuyin tightly gripped her phone and her lips trembled. “The traffic police told me to prepare for the worst.”

Fang Mu did not speak. This situation was completely within his expectations. However, he saw that Qiao Jiuyin’s face held an ugly expression, so he suddenly stood up and said, “Don’t be anxious. I’ll send some people to look for her again.”

Qiao Jiuyin gratefully looked at him. “Thank you, Brother Mu.”

Fang Mu looked at her again before walking out of the ward.

As soon as Fang Mu left, the sorrow and despair on Qiao Jiuyin’s face disappeared, only to be replaced by fright.

Qiao Jiusheng had disappeared from the hospital!

Qiao Jiuyin’s heart was in turmoil, and she was extremely nervous. How did Qiao Jiusheng disappear? If she appears again and tears off my disguise in front of Fang Mu, then…

Just thinking about the situation made Qiao Jiuyin feel afraid.

All these years, Qiao Jiusheng had been whispering good things about Fang Mu to her every day. As time passed, Qiao Jiuyin had developed feelings for Fang Mu. She had been standing by the side and watching Fang Mu treat Qiao Jiusheng wholeheartedly all this time. She was so jealous that she went crazy, but she could only watch helplessly.

Who wouldn’t want a slice of good cake as well?

Real delicacies were addictive after one bite. Who would bear to let go of a man like Fang Mu?

She could still feel Fang Mu’s warmth on the back of her hand. Qiao Jiuyin gritted her teeth and thought, I can’t let Xiao Sheng appear again! I love Fang Mu more than Xiao Sheng. We look exactly the same. Why can’t Fang Mu look at me?