After checking, the police officer asked Mengyao, "Has this hospital room always had someone in it, or did everyone just happen to be out today?"
Mengyao recalled and said, "There's basically always someone on watch, though occasionally there are very short periods when no one is around. But I would never leave him alone for a long time. After my sister and I left today, I also informed the nurse. However, the nurse in charge of this room was busy today, so he ended up being alone for a bit longer."
"Alright, thank you both for your cooperation." The two officers had gathered enough information and headed to the hospital's surveillance room.
One officer felt that just watching the surveillance footage from the time of the incident wasn't enough. If the perpetrator was premeditated, they should have visited this room more than once.
They needed to retrieve all the surveillance footage since Song Jiaping was admitted to the hospital, hoping to find traces of the perpetrator.
After the officers left the hospital room, Mengqi advised Mengyao, "Eat something. I'll stay with you tonight."
"Sister, but I can't eat anything when I think about how Jiaping was almost harmed."
"Whether you have an appetite or not, you should still eat something. Otherwise, your body won't be able to hold up."
Mengyao hummed in agreement, sat to the side, and opened the bento box Mengqi brought, finally willing to eat something.
Mengqi looked at Song Jiaping lying in the hospital bed and couldn't help but wonder if Hong Jiaxi was behind it.
He and Mengyao were already divorced, and the woman outside even had a child. Why couldn't he let Mengyao go?
If it was really him, he was truly terrifying!
...
Susu planned for a week and chose a seaside resort. The family, along with Lan Yu and her child, departed by private jet.
This was a small island in the Pacific Ocean. Due to the expensive transportation costs to reach the island, not many people came here for seaside vacations; it was exclusively for the wealthy.
There was only one high-end hotel on the island, which had everything, even special counters for top luxury brands.
On the plane, everyone was already amazed by the scenery of the island and looked forward to the seaside views. Upon arriving at the hotel, they collected their room keys.
Susu and Tianyi shared a room, Xiaomei took three children in one room, and Lan Yu shared a room with her child, Ningyu.
Susu told everyone to settle in and then head to the beach. The children were already impatient.
On the way to the room, Tiantian was telling Xiaomei that she was going to take out all her sandcastle-building tools.
Susu and Tianyi entered the luxurious sea-view room, and a service staff brought in their luggage.
Tianyi gave a tip, closed the door, and then embraced her, expressing his satisfaction with her arrangements, "Mrs. Qin, you're finally not always thinking about saving money."
"You've corrupted me," Susu said with a smile, trying to break free. "Actually, I've also come to realize that if our family is going out to play, we want to find a place with fewer people where we can have a lot of fun, so we don't want to save money."
Tianyi pinched her nose and said, "That's right."
Susu stopped joking with him and said seriously, "Hurry up and open the luggage, we need to get ready for the beach."
Tianyi didn't open the luggage. Instead, he opened the floor-to-ceiling window of the room and glanced at the balcony, saying, "What's the hurry? After sitting on the plane for so long, can't you rest first?"
Seeing his spoiled rich boy habits resurface, Susu ignored him and went to put down her suitcase. Just as she was about to open it, Tianyi embraced her waist from behind and pulled her onto the spacious balcony.
"Look."
Susu stood on the balcony and looked at the white, fine sand and the azure sea not far away. The salty sea breeze blew across her face, making her feel relaxed.
Tianyi came beside her, cupped her face, and made a move to kiss her.
Susu quickly pushed him away, saying, "Stop messing around. Let's get ready to go to the beach. The children are waiting to play."
"Ah, if it weren't for those little guys, you wouldn't have arranged this trip at all," Tianyi said sourly. "In your heart, I'm not as important as they are."
Susu found it amusing, "Do you really have to be like this, getting jealous of children?"
Tianyi was still holding her, not wanting her to leave.
At that moment, there was a hurried and chaotic knocking at the door, followed by Tiantian's voice, "Daddy, Mommy, we're all ready, hurry out!"
Susu looked at Tianyi reproachfully and said, "See? The children are looking for us."
Tianyi had no choice but to let her go and said to Tiantian outside the door, "Let Aunt Xiaomei take you out to play first. We'll join you in a moment."
Tiantian said in a childish voice from outside the door, "You two hurry up, don't forget the time when you start kissing."
This child was incredible; she even knew about this. Susu's face instantly turned red, and she glared at Tianyi with blame.
Tianyi suppressed a smile and said to Tiantian outside the door, "Children aren't allowed to talk nonsense. Go play quickly."
Then, they heard the sound of footsteps running away from inside the door, and they knew the little ones had left.
Susu had already knelt on the ground and opened the suitcase, saying, "Mr. Qin, it's all your fault. Now Lan Yu and Xiaomei will laugh at us."
Tianyi still stubbornly stopped her from unpacking, asking, "Who is more important in your heart, the children or me?"
"You're so boring."
"Answer me. If you don't answer me, you're not allowed to go to the beach with them," Tianyi said, being domineering and unreasonable again.
Susu quickly replied, "You're all important, okay?"
"No," Tianyi said. "You have to say who is more important."
"If you keep this up, I'll get angry," Susu said, frowning.
Seeing that she was genuinely about to get angry, Tianyi quickly went behind her, massaged her shoulders, and said, "The children have gone to play, why don't we..."
Before he could finish, Susu took out her swimsuit, swimming trunks, beach towel, and sunscreen, and threw the swimming trunks to him, saying, "Don't even think about it. We'll talk about it tonight."
"Then you wait for me tonight," Tianyi leaned in, kissed her on the cheek, and took the swimming trunks into the bathroom.
Lan Yu and Xiaomei took the children to the private beach belonging to the hotel, facing the boundless sea, feeling an indescribable sense of ease.
The four children had already broken free from their hands, each holding their sand-playing tools, and began to play excitedly.
Lan Yu and Xiaomei watched them from the side, not disturbing them.
Tangtang used a small shovel to pile the sand higher and higher, with Hengheng helping beside her.
Tiantian was digging away all the sand towards the direction of the waves, and it was unclear what she was trying to do.
Ningyu ran back and forth between them, not yet decided whether to join Tangtang in piling sand or help Tiantian dig.
She stood between Tangtang and Hengheng and asked, "What are you building?"
"I want to build a castle," Tangtang turned to look at her and said.
She hummed, then ran to Tiantian and asked, "Why are you constantly digging holes?"
Tiantian glanced at the sea and said, "I want to dig a canal to bring the seawater over. Then all the little fish will swim here."
"I want to see the little fish in the sea too. I'll help you." Ningyu found Tiantian's idea more interesting and started playing with her.