Chapter 71: The Unanswered Call

Chapter 71: The Unanswered Call

Staring at the unanswered call, Fu Qingyan couldn’t help but reminisce about what happened six years ago.

After he recovered and left the hospital, Su Xingyao had searched for him numerous times.

But back then, he thought Su Xingyao was just trying to make excuses for his mistake, and he didn’t want to listen to a single word.

Each time, he left without a second thought.

He blocked the phone number, deleted WeChat contacts...

But now that he had finally come to his senses and wanted to ask Su Xingyao what had really happened back then, he was shocked to realize he had lost the right to question him.

Somehow, Su Xingyao had completely vanished from his life.

...

Sleepless, Fu Qingyan headed to the Shen family.

Once one domino falls, the rest follow in a chain reaction.

The "truths" Fu Qingyan had clung to for so long began to crack, starting with Ban Yang.

From there, everything unraveled, full of holes.

A lot of details just didn’t add up.

Take, for example, what Fu Qingyan had been told about Shen Huaixi saving him.

Ban Yang, who had sworn he saw it himself, had only heard it from others.

He then questioned several others who were there, and even though they all claimed Shen Huaixi was his savior, none had actually seen it happen. They had only heard about it.

Shen Huaixi himself had never directly spoken about it.

But he had quietly taken the credit for it.

When Shen Huaixi heard Fu Qingyan had come to see him, he was overjoyed.

"Qingyan, you went out of your way to connect me with the right people. I still owe you a meal."

He then pulled out a gift he’d brought back from abroad and handed it to him affectionately, just like he always used to.

But Fu Qingyan didn’t bother to reach for it.

"What’s wrong with you? Didn’t sleep well?"

Shen Huaixi’s smile gradually became strained, his heart filled with panic and his eyes full of confusion.

Looking at Shen Huaixi, who was innocently unaware of the situation, Fu Qingyan felt an overwhelming mix of emotions and distress.

He had once disregarded their friendship and trust, refusing to listen to or ask Su Xingyao anything.

This time, he didn’t want to make the same mistake and jump to conclusions so hastily.

So, he hopes to learn the truth about what happened six years ago directly from Huai Xi.

"Huai Xi, I came today, to ask you something."

When Fu Qingyan spoke, his throat was a bit dry.

"Six years ago, after the fire, where did Su Xingyao disappear to?"

Hearing this name, Shen Huaixi looked startled, his tone somewhat displeased. "Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?"

Fu Qingyan closed his eyes to steady his emotions before saying,

"Why did he get you to help him hide?"

Shen Huaixi's eyes widened slightly, pretending to be surprised.

"Hide... The phone call he made to me, you heard it?"

Fu Qingyan nodded. "Yeah, I was awake."

Shen Huaixi glanced at Fu Qingyan, unsure why he was asking, and defended Su Xingyao.

"Xingyao... The fire started in his room, you know? Because the fire was so bad, he was scared you'd blame him, so he hid."

Fu Qingyan said nothing, merely looking at Shen Huaixi.

Shen Huaixi seemed completely self-righteous in response to the suspicion.

"Do you really think I'm lying to you? Could I have foreseen a fire?"

No, Shen Huaixi couldn't predict the future.

And that was exactly what Fu Qingyan couldn't understand.

If he was lying, how could he be sure the lie wouldn't be found out?

There were things Fu Qingyan just couldn't understand.

But he was sure something had gone wrong somewhere.

So, he asked the question about the rescue again.

Looking into Shen Huaixi's eyes, Fu Qingyan asked him seriously, his voice low.

"Huai Xi, tell me the truth. Were you really the one who pulled me out of the villa six years ago?"

Fu Qingyan's words hit like a sudden snowstorm in summer, sending a chill down Shen Huaixi's spine.

He gripped the gift he was holding tightly, staring at Fu Qingyan with a searching look.

He couldn't understand why Fu Qingyan would suddenly bring up something that had been buried for so many years.

And so directly?

Shen Huaixi, who had stayed calm until now, felt his heartbeat speed up.

Fu Qingyan had trusted him unconditionally for all these years.

And because of that, he had never expected that one day Fu Qingyan would suddenly doubt this. Not having prepared for such a situation, he could only try to act as if he were deeply disappointed in Fu Qingyan, and asked in return.

"Qingyan, what are you talking about? Hasn't everyone already told you the truth?"

Fu Qingyan's gaze never left Shen Huaixi for a moment.

He was a professional actor, and Shen Huaixi's acting skills were nowhere near good enough to deceive him.

The obvious guilt in the other party's eyes was crystal clear to him.

It seemed like there was no need to ask any more questions.

But Fu Qingyan was especially persistent this time and asked Shen Huaixi again seriously, "I want to hear you tell me the truth."

He needed to clarify, to give an explanation to both his confused self and the person who truly saved him.

Shen Huaixi clearly panicked even more under Fu Qingyan's persistent questioning.

Suppressing his inner panic, Shen Huaixi stepped back and shook his head repeatedly, "Qingyan, by asking that, aren't you suspecting me?"

Fu Qingyan reiterated, "I just want to know the truth."

His eyes, sharp like a hawk's, were firmly fixed on Shen Huaixi.

Shen Huaixi felt shaky under that gaze and immediately shifted his eyes away.

The truth wasn't something he dared to tell, so he could only continue to defend himself.

"So many years have passed, and now you're asking these questions all of a sudden? Actually, so many people saw what happened. Do you really think I would lie to you?"

He let out a helpless chuckle, "Is our friendship and trust really that worthless?"

"Or... have you been listening to rumors again?"

"Before you passed out, you clearly saw it yourself. Who else could it be in that room besides me?"

Listening to Shen Huaixi's weak defense without any explanation of how he was actually saved, Fu Qingyan didn't press further.

His heart sank like it had fallen into an icy sea at that moment.

He realized that his pursuit of the truth from Shen Huaixi had been a joke all along.

Bitterly suppressing the urge to turn and leave, he asked Shen Huaixi one last time.

"Where was Xing Yao then?"

He was desperate to know. If Su Xingyao had really saved him back then, why had he disappeared for so long afterward...

Shen Huaixi, realizing that Fu Qingyan had started to suspect him, became irritated and raised his voice.

"I already said he was hiding!"

As soon as Shen Huaixi finished speaking, a gentle female voice rang out.

"Hiding?"

Wen Ningshu smiled as she walked down the stairs, slowly making her way to Shen Huaixi's side.

Her sudden appearance startled Shen Huaixi, and he almost lost his balance.

He hurriedly looked at Wen Ningshu, his mouth opening in a tense attempt to explain.

"Mom..."

Wen Ningshu acted as if she hadn’t heard and slightly raised her voice, eyebrow raised, as she asked the housekeeper Liu who had followed her down the stairs,

"Auntie Liu, I remember it was you who went to the hospital to visit Xing Yao, right?"

Startled, Auntie Liu halted her steps and quickly glanced at Shen Huaixi.

She fidgeted with the edge of her apron, gave a small smile, and said, "I forgot, madam."

Wen Ningshu spared her a quick look and let out a soft "Oh."

Fu Qingyan immediately picked up on the key detail and quickly moved to Wen Ningshu’s side. "Aunt Wen, what was wrong with Xing Yao?"

Wen Ningshu’s delicate brows furrowed, as though she was racking her brain to remember.

A few seconds later, she turned her gaze to Auntie Liu. "Auntie Liu, was it altitude sickness?"

Auntie Liu let out a soft sigh and kept shaking her head. "I can’t quite remember, probably."

Fu Qingyan scoffed, "Altitude sickness, my foot."

Shen Huaixi’s heart sank.