Upon arriving at the First Municipal People's Hospital, Li Yundong inquired at the inpatient department about Zhou Qin’s room number.
“Hello, the patient you are visiting is in Ward 502 of the General Care Unit in Building One of the inpatient department. It is currently family visiting hours; you may proceed,” the nurse replied with a voice so sweet it completely astonished Li Yundong.
Why would Zhou Qin be in a general care ward? A sudden, unwelcome thought flashed through Li Yundong’s mind, and he hurried toward her room.
The heavy scent of disinfectant lining the corridors of the inpatient building made Li Yundong feel as if he were trapped in some open-air concentration camp. The only difference between this place and the brutal camps of World War II, he mused, was that this one was legally operated. The people inside couldn’t easily leave, and those outside were always forced to come in for various reasons.
It felt, somehow, like the final destination for humanity.
Reaching the fifth-floor corridor of Building One, he saw a constant stream of elderly people shuffling along with the aid of canes, accompanied by family members holding their IV stands.
Li Yundong felt submerged in a foreign world. He absolutely could not fathom why a woman like Zhou Qin would be in such a place.
Following the room numbers, he finally located 502. Although the room contained four beds, all four were empty. Only a long-haired woman sat in a wheelchair, her back turned to him.
Li Yundong stepped inside and managed, “Excuse me, may I ask…”
The moment his voice broke the silence, the woman in the wheelchair jolted, her hands gripping the armrests tightly, her body trembling faintly.
A shift occurred in Li Yundong’s heart. He rushed forward to look at the woman, only to see an exquisitely beautiful face, yet utterly pale, with vacant eyes—it was Zhou Qin!
This shock was monumental!
Li Yundong could scarcely believe his eyes! Where was the proud, confident, vibrant beauty he knew as Zhou Qin? Why had the formidable, matchless woman of the past been reduced to this state?
Li Yundong couldn't help but crouch down, reaching out to take her hands, but Zhou Qin recoiled as if struck by electricity.
He grasped empty air. Li Yundong felt as though a hammer blow had landed on his skull; his head buzzed. Anxiety and agitation churned within him: “How could you end up like this?”
Zhou Qin’s dark eyes fixed intently on Li Yundong. Inside her world, chaos raged like a tempest: He’s here, he finally came! When everyone else dared not approach me, he finally arrived!
Her lips moved slightly. The hand she had withdrawn tentatively shifted, as if about to reach out again, to touch the warmth of Li Yundong’s fingertips. But just as she prepared to extend it, a voice like a demon roared in her mind: Wake up, look at yourself now! You are useless, you have nothing left! Except for that pretty face, what else is there for him to love about you? You are a burden now, you will only drag him down!
The thought flashed, and the hand Zhou Qin had slightly extended curled back into a fist.
Her inner turmoil was immense, yet her expression remained unchanged, growing only colder.
This impassivity only intensified Li Yundong’s alarm. He became even more certain that something astonishing had happened to Zhou Qin, and very likely, it involved him.
“Zhou Qin, what happened? Say something, tell me! Maybe I can help you!” Li Yundong cried out in desperation.
But Zhou Qin remained silent. Her gaze turned increasingly icy, and her trembling grew more violent.
As Li Yundong pressed further, a deep, magnetic voice sounded from the doorway: “Stop asking. I will tell you.”
Li Yundong turned his head to see Zhou Keqiang standing at the threshold, dressed in a gray Zhongshan suit, holding a thermos in one hand and a freshly washed lunchbox in the other.
Li Yundong stared at him in astonishment, unable to reconcile the Zhou Keqiang he once knew—the one surrounded by entourage and attention when he visited the school—with the man before him, whose temples showed traces of gray, and whose eyes lacked their usual imposing authority. The former was a high-ranking official; the latter was merely an ordinary middle-aged man tending to the sick.
“You…” Li Yundong stammered, a devastating realization dawning in his mind, though he dared not confirm the conclusion.
Zhou Keqiang set down his belongings, glanced at Li Yundong with a complicated expression, and said, “Let’s talk outside.”
Li Yundong glanced at Zhou Qin, stood up, and followed Zhou Keqiang out of the ward.
Zhou Keqiang walked ahead without speaking until they reached the lawn downstairs. He gestured toward a bench beside the pebble-paved path. “Let’s sit here for a moment.”
After Li Yundong sat down, he asked impatiently, “Vice Governor Zhou, what exactly is going on…”
Zhou Keqiang waved a hand, cutting him off, and said calmly, “I am no longer a Vice Governor. I am just an ordinary citizen now.”
Li Yundong’s heart skipped a beat. He probed cautiously, “Uncle Zhou, what happened? Can you tell me?”
Zhou Keqiang did not answer immediately. He patted his pocket, took out a pack of cigarettes, and was about to light one when he paused, shaking the pack toward Li Yundong: “May I smoke?”
“Yes,” Li Yundong replied.
Zhou Keqiang smiled and reached for his lighter again, only for Li Yundong to interject: “…But Uncle Zhou, have you been experiencing frequent tinnitus lately? Does your vision sometimes blur? And does the air you breathe out through your nose feel warm?”
Zhou Keqiang froze, halting the act of lighting the cigarette. He looked at Li Yundong, puzzled and curious. “Yes, how did you know?”
Li Yundong explained, “Uncle Zhou, the ears correspond to the Kidneys, the eyes to the Liver, and the nose to the Lungs. Tinnitus indicates poor kidney function, and blurred vision suggests a failing Liver. If both Liver and Kidney are weak, one is already suffering from a severe deficiency ailment. If you smoke now, your Lungs will also suffer. When the Lungs are weak, the nose follows, leading to the symptom of warm breath upon exhalation!”
This was their first real exchange. Zhou Keqiang was astounded that this young man possessed such deep knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He chuckled and said, “I’ve smoked for decades; if it were going to break, it would have broken long ago!” Despite his words, he put the cigarette away.
Zhou Keqiang studied Li Yundong up and down. After a pause, he sighed. “You want to know what happened, don’t you?”
Li Yundong nodded.
Zhou Keqiang sighed again and proceeded to recount, blow by blow, everything that had befallen Zhou Qin after Li Yundong’s departure.
When he reached the point where negotiations with Zhou Qin finally broke down, Zhou Keqiang let out a long sigh. “I should have anticipated it!”
Li Yundong listened, his blood running cold. He never imagined that his invoking the Heavenly Thunder to strike down He Shao would trigger such violent upheaval, bringing such terrifying disaster upon Zhou Qin and the Zhou family! A family on the rise, destroyed because of him!
Li Yundong stood frozen, his mind a chaotic mess. Hearing Zhou Keqiang speak, he responded instinctively, “Anticipate what?”
A flicker of regret and pain crossed Zhou Keqiang’s eyes. He tilted his head back, gazing at the azure sky as if dredging up memories. “When Qinqin was just born, my younger brother found a master to name her. The master said Qinqin’s Five Elements belonged to Metal, and there was a hidden aura of slaughter in her brow, meaning her character would certainly be tough and unyielding, one who would rather break than bend. To temper this malign aura, he named her Zhou Qin (, musical instrument).”
Zhou Keqiang gave a bitter smile. “I was young and headstrong then, an atheist. I scoffed at all that. I thought Zhou Qin sounded too soft. My daughter, Zhou Keqiang’s daughter, deserved a more dominant name. So, I changed it to Zhou Qin (, the Qin Dynasty), invoking the expansive, world-dominating ambition of the Qin rulers!”
Li Yundong listened, captivated, and commented with feeling, “Hoping a daughter becomes a phoenix, hoping a son becomes a dragon—these are the parents’ deepest longings. Zhou Qin certainly carried the bearing of nobility.”
Zhou Keqiang let out a sorrowful cry. “Alas, it was my own longing that ultimately harmed her. For so many years, I constantly imposed my wishes and intentions onto her. I wanted her to follow my path, to take over my mantle, but I never once asked her what she wanted. Initially, she complied completely, but then… until…”
Zhou Keqiang turned his face to look at Li Yundong and slowly said, “…until she met you. That’s when she began to show increasingly strong signs of rebellion. No, I should say, her true self, buried deep inside, began to awaken! She craved freedom; she yearned to pursue her own love.”
“Love…” Zhou Keqiang shook his head, a bitter smile playing on his lips. “It truly is something that drives people mad. For the sake of this thing, she indeed did something the master predicted—she chose to break rather than bend!”
Li Yundong’s heart tightened. “What did she do?”
Zhou Keqiang looked directly into Li Yundong’s eyes and stated firmly, “Under the relentless pressure from the He family, the special investigation team focused all their stress onto Qinqin. They believed if they applied just a little more pressure, this girl would collapse, and they would get the answers they needed. Then, they could legitimately move against you!”
Li Yundong’s chest constricted. He pressed, “And then?”
Zhou Keqiang fell silent for a moment, then spoke slowly. “Then… Qinqin realized the situation could absolutely not be resolved peacefully. So, she decided to end everything with her own death! She told the special team she was ready to confess everything, requested paper and a pen, and demanded to be left alone.”
Zhou Keqiang gave a tragic laugh. “But as soon as the team members stepped out, Zhou Qin rapidly scrawled a few large characters on the paper, and then she jumped from the fourth-floor window!”
“What!” Li Yundong shot to his feet with a startled cry!
Though Li Yundong hadn't witnessed the scene, in that instant, he was profoundly shaken and shocked by the absolute resolve and fierce, unbending spirit of Zhou Qin’s leap.
Seeing Li Yundong’s reaction, Zhou Keqiang countered, “Do you know what few words Zhou Qin wrote before she jumped?”
Li Yundong asked in astonishment, “What words?”
Zhou Keqiang enunciated each word carefully: “It read: ‘The killer is Zhou Qin!’”
Although Li Yundong knew Zhou Qin well, he had still underestimated the power she could unleash. For his sake, she had taken the entirety of this catastrophic misfortune upon herself!
Watching the sheer shock on Li Yundong’s face, the resentment and anger that had filled Zhou Keqiang’s heart suddenly dissipated. Honestly, setting aside background and status, this young man before him was indeed worthy of Zhou Qin’s love; he was an exceptionally outstanding young man in contemporary society. But was such a high price worth paying for love?
Li Yundong was stunned into silence for a long time before coming to his senses. He turned to Zhou Keqiang, asking in disbelief, “I’ve implicated you all to this degree, and you don’t hate me?”
Zhou Keqiang glanced at him. “For the first few days, I wished I could shoot you dead! But once everything settled down, I suddenly accepted it. Hey, isn't that how life goes, with its ups and downs? All I want now is to take Qinqin abroad to seek treatment, hoping she can stand on her own feet again in the future.”
Li Yundong was surprised again. “She can’t stand up?”
Zhou Keqiang said heavily, “Her spine is damaged. The doctors say she’s lucky—no other part of her sustained serious injury. But she is also unlucky: there is a blood clot tumor between her tenth and eleventh vertebrae. Current medical methods cannot remove it; forcing removal risks permanent, full-body paralysis.”
Li Yundong’s face grew grave. He stood silently for a moment, then said in a deep voice, “I need to see Zhou Qin.”
Saying that, he hurried back to the ward. Upon entering, Li Yundong saw Zhou Qin slumped on the floor, her wheelchair tipped over nearby. The girl was struggling to crawl forward, her eyes fixed on a water cup sitting on a cabinet not far away.
Li Yundong’s heart lurched violently. He rushed forward, scooped Zhou Qin up, and placed her back in the wheelchair. Zhou Keqiang, who had hurried in behind him, couldn't help but sigh. “Why are you so stubborn? Why didn’t you call a nurse to fetch it for you? Why insist on proving you can do it yourself?”
Zhou Qin’s lips were tightly pressed. Her face was like frost, and although tears seemed to well up in her eyes, her stubborn resilience forced her to hold them back, leaving her eyes slightly red.
Zhou Qin didn't want Li Yundong to see her in this state, so she turned her face away.
However, in the moment Li Yundong had lifted her, he had suddenly felt a familiar energy subtly resonating within Zhou Qin.
Li Yundong couldn't resist reaching out and touching the pulse on her wrist. The instant he did, he discovered that the Qi of his own Human Origin Golden Core was present within Zhou Qin!
Li Yundong paused, then recalled that the first time he achieved Foundation Establishment, Zhou Qin had boldly separated him from Su Chan. It must have been at that moment that the Qi of his Human Origin Golden Core surged into her body.
A sudden thought sparked in Li Yundong’s mind: Although she suffered a devastating blow, her bones and internal organs are perfectly intact. Her body contains both her innate Primordial Yin Qi and my Golden Core True Qi! Her vital energy is so abundant—it should be impossible for her not to dissipate the spinal tumor and blood clot!
The moment this thought materialized, Li Yundong understood: I get it. She simply doesn’t know how to circulate the energy, sitting on a mountain of gold without realizing it! If I channel my energy to disperse her blood tumor, she should be able to stand again!