Chapter 328: Terrifying Upon Closer Thought

Chapter 328 A Bone-Chilling Realization

"What? The... the mayor? Are you sure he said the mayor?" Su Shiming's eyes bulged in disbelief.

That was the mayor—and he was actually sending people to protect his son-in-law?

"Yeah." Fu Tinghua nodded faintly.

"And the guards?" Su Shiming pressed.

"They’ll likely be stationed next door when they arrive. They probably won’t notify us either, to avoid disrupting our normal lives. I’m just giving you a heads-up so you’re not caught off guard," Fu Tinghua emphasized.

But how could they not worry? Everyone thought the same.

"What about us? Should we cook for them or something? Are we responsible for their meals?" Wen Qing asked again.

"Don’t bother. They won’t interfere with our daily lives. You don’t have to do anything for them," Fu Tinghua replied, somewhat wearily.

"Huh? But that doesn’t seem right..."

These were people sent by the mayor—how could they just ignore them?

"It’s fine. They’re undercover and can’t reveal their identities. When the job’s done, we can send them gifts or something."

Hearing Fu Tinghua’s explanation, everyone immediately understood.

This was covert protection—their identities couldn’t be exposed. If they interfered and accidentally revealed them, it would be bad.

"Mom, Dad, why don’t you stay here for now? Don’t go back to your place yet. Tomorrow at noon, I’ll drive you over to grab some clothes and other essentials," Fu Tinghua said to Wen Qing and Su Shiming.

"Alright, and I’ll bring Su He’s embroidery piece," Wen Qing agreed.

They had already planned to fetch the embroidery these past couple of days, and now with this situation, it worked out.

"Mhm, crashing here first is good. Saves us the back-and-forth," Su Shiming nodded in agreement.

Wen Qing also thought it was a great idea—she could help their daughter pitch in at the shop and kitchen.

After discussing everything, everyone went to wash up and rest in their rooms.

Zai Zai and Niu Niu were just as shaken today as Su He.

So when it was time to sleep, both children glued themselves to Mom and Dad, insisting on sleeping with them.

Fu Tinghua and Su He were quick to agree this time. The moment Niu Niu asked to sleep with them, they immediately said yes.

"Mommy, Daddy, Niu Niu is scared," Niu Niu pouted.

"Scared of what? Don’t be afraid, Mommy and Daddy are here," Su He scooped her daughter onto the bed, letting her sleep between herself and Fu Tinghua.

Zai Zai stood by the bed, unsure where he’d be sleeping.

"Zai Zai, how about you sleep between your sister and Daddy?" Su He asked for her son’s opinion.

"Mhm." Zai Zai gave a quick nod.

This meant the two adults would sleep on either side of the bed, with the two children in the middle.

Once they’d all tucked in, Niu Niu fussed again, wanting to sleep next to Daddy.

Su He had no choice but to switch Niu Niu and Zai Zai's spots again.

Niu Niu held onto Fu Tinghua's arm and asked sweetly, "Daddy, will you leave us again later?"

Fu Tinghua thought for a moment and answered his daughter very seriously.

"Daddy won't leave you anymore. From now on, wherever I go, I'll take you with me."

"Then Daddy can't scare us like today anymore, okay?" Niu Niu said in a small, hurt voice.

Zai Zai was indeed sensible, but Niu Niu, being over four years old, wasn't exactly a baby anymore.

Seeing Su He's upset state today, she couldn't imagine how her usually strong mother—someone who never shied away from a fight—could become like that.

So she could only hope that Daddy would stay safe from now on, so Mommy wouldn't get like that again.

Niu Niu held onto Fu Tinghua's arm, talking to him until she unknowingly fell asleep.

Zai Zai didn't say a word the whole time. Su He wasn't sure if he was asleep too, so she softly called out to him.

"Zai Zai?"

Zai Zai didn't respond—it seemed he was already asleep.

"The kids were really frightened today," Su He sighed, reflecting on her own behavior that day.

"Yes, it's all my fault," Fu Tinghua said, his heart aching, gently stroking Niu Niu's head before continuing.

"I'm more at fault. I really lost it today. I'll definitely be more rational in the future. I can't act like this in front of the kids."

Su He thought back to her own state today and realized how scary it must have been.

"These things happen. Don't blame yourself."

With the two kids sleeping in the middle, Fu Tinghua couldn't pull Su He close to comfort her.

"Yeah, hopefully when they wake up, they'll forget about what happened today."

After saying that, Su He seemed to remember something and asked, "By the way, you mentioned earlier that the mayor suspects someone is secretly behind what happened today?"

Su He thought the mayor's theory was something else.

What was clearly a crime of passion, an impulsive act of violence, but he's making it out to be a premeditated murder.

"Mhm. The mayor said that recently, not just in our city, but in several others, many talented young people—up-and-comers—have been running into trouble. He suspects someone is deliberately trying to hinder our country's development by targeting skilled professionals."

Fu Tinghua was completely open with Su He and spelled everything out.

"Is that really the case? Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit suspicious," Su He said, quite surprised.

No wonder the mayor wanted to send people to protect Fu Tinghua—it was all just a precaution.

"Yeah, so I think his analysis makes some sense."

Su He carefully recalled what's been happening lately, and indeed, they'd run into some roadblocks since opening their shop. They might have seemed like small things and were resolved, but any one of them could've led to unpredictable consequences if mishandled.

"You really can't deny it, no wonder he became mayor. This kind of thing really could happen. Speaking of the patient's previous doctor, I always found him suspicious. Why’d they single you out to do the surgery? Seems way too calculated."

Su He couldn't help but analyze the situation, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt it might have been premeditated.

The key point was—if Zai Zai’s dream was really a flash of their past life, then Fu Tinghua had already performed the surgery, yet he was still murdered.

So whether the surgery was done or not, the person who was treated would still come to harm him.

This meant it had nothing to do with the outcome of the surgery. No matter how well the surgery went, they’d always find an excuse to kill Fu Tinghua.

Does this mean someone doesn’t want him alive?

The more Su He thought about it, the creepier it got.