Chapter 223: Tang Meiqin’s Sinister Plot

Xinjing Town Health Center!

At 2:00 p.m., two sidecar motorcycles pulled into the Xinjing Town Health Center, drawing a crowd of onlookers.

Although it was already the 1980s and sedans could be seen on the streets, motorcycles were still a luxury item, and they definitely turned heads.

Moreover, Xinjing Town wasn’t exactly a wealthy town to begin with, so seeing two sidecar motorcycles at the health center was truly quite a shock.

Li Yi helped Tang Xue step down from the sidecar. As soon as they got off, he saw Tang Xue frown and say, “I feel like I’ve been here before!”

“When?”

“When I was around ten or so. I think a relative of mine worked here. I remember my dad told me to call her ‘Aunt,’ but I don’t know exactly what our relationship was!” Tang Xue replied.

“Do you know that distant relative’s name?”

Li Yi asked instinctively; he had a vague feeling that Tang Xue’s background might be connected to this distant relative.

“I don’t know, but I know her last name is also Tang!”

“Okay, got it. Let’s go inside and find the director here!”

“Okay!”

The health center in Xinjing Town was considerably larger than the one they’d visited that morning in Fengye Town, consisting of no fewer than three rows of buildings.

There were also more doctors and nurses inside, and quite a few patients.

After entering, Li Yi asked the nurse on duty at the entrance where the director’s office was.

But just then, a middle-aged woman in a white nurse’s uniform walked over.

Since she was holding a stack of sheets and pillowcases that obscured half her face, Li Yi and Tang Xue didn’t notice her.

However, the woman got a clear, unobstructed view of Tang Xue’s face.

The moment she recognized Tang Xue’s face, she seemed to be struck by a sudden shock. She stumbled backward several steps, leaned against the wall, and took a long moment to compose herself.

By then, Li Yi had already led Tang Xue away.

The woman hesitated briefly, then immediately walked over to the nurse on duty at the entrance.

The nurse on duty was new. Upon seeing the middle-aged woman, she immediately greeted her: “Sister Tang, why are you washing these sheets and pillowcases yourself? You could have just handed them over to Meizi and the others!”

“Hehe, Meizi is on leave, and Xiao Wang went back to go on a blind date, so I had to do it myself!”

“Can I help you?”

“No, thanks. By the way, Xiaoya, were those two young men earlier here for a medical appointment? They were really handsome!”

“They were here to see the director. They said they wanted to ask about something. I didn’t ask any further!”

Hearing this, the middle-aged woman felt even more uneasy. She hurriedly placed the soiled sheets and pillowcases she was holding on the front desk and said, “Xiaoya, my stomach is hurting a bit. Could you keep an eye on these for me? I’ll be right back!”

“Sure, Sister Tang, go ahead!”

“Okay!”

With that, the middle-aged woman hurried off down the right-hand corridor.

Meanwhile, Xiaoya at the front desk stood there, a bit bewildered, staring in the direction where “Sister Tang” had disappeared. Aren’t the restrooms down the left hallway?

But she figured she might have gone back to grab some toilet paper or something, so she didn’t think much of it!

As for Li Yi and Tang Xue, when they arrived at the dean’s office and explained their purpose,

The director’s attitude was actually quite friendly; he said he was willing to help them, but unfortunately, the staff member in charge of the archives was on leave and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.

Although other staff members had keys to the archives room, they weren’t very familiar with where the documents were stored, so he asked them to come back tomorrow.

Although they wouldn’t be able to view the files today, Li Yi was quite pleased to have received a firm commitment from the dean.

After expressing their gratitude repeatedly, the two left the dean’s office.

Since they still had to rush back to the county hospital, Li Yi helped Tang Xue onto the sidecar of his motorcycle and was just about to leave.

But, being naturally alert, he sensed someone watching him from the shadows. He spun around abruptly and saw a middle-aged nurse at the clinic’s front desk staring intently at them.

Noticing Li Yi’s gaze, she immediately turned away, avoiding his eyes.

Seeing that it was just an unfamiliar nurse, Li Yi didn’t think much of it and rode away on his motorcycle.

…….

After returning to the county seat, guided by Long Zhanjun, the group made their way to the Yong County Hospital.

Compared to the township health centers in the surrounding areas, Long Zhanjun was quite familiar with many of the doctors at the county hospital; after all, he often brought his sister here and had long since become close with them.

With their help, Li Yi easily secured the assistance of the hospital’s deputy director, who arranged for someone to escort them to the archives to investigate the matter.

However, to everyone’s disappointment, even after combing through all the 1961 inpatient records, they found no leads whatsoever.

Not only was there no trace of Tang Xue’s biological mother, but there was no record of Li Hongmei’s hospitalization either.

After four or five hours of searching with nothing to show for it, everyone couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.

Fortunately, Li Yi had anticipated this outcome and was able to accept it.

Since they had been at it all afternoon, Li Yi sensed that Tang Xue seemed a bit tired, so he took everyone out for a quick bite to eat. After setting a time to meet the next morning, he took Tang Xue back to the guesthouse.

However, what Li Yi and Tang Xue didn’t know was that just as they returned to the guesthouse, a middle-aged woman hurriedly arrived at the Tang residence.

When Tang Jizhong and Li Hongmei returned from work and saw the woman, they hurriedly invited her inside.

“Qin, how come you have time to visit today? You absolutely must stay for dinner before you leave!” Li Hongmei said warmly.

But Tang Meiqin replied somewhat anxiously, “Brother, Sister-in-law, let’s not worry about dinner for now. I came over today because I have something to ask you!”

“Xiao Qin, you look like something’s wrong,” Tang Jizhong asked immediately.

“I want to ask you—has Xiao Xue come back? Does she know the truth about her origins?” Tang Meiqin asked in a subdued voice.

Tang Jizhong was taken aback for a moment, then asked, “Xiaoqin, have you seen her?”

“So Xiao Xue really has come back from the North?” Tang Meiqin said, sounding a bit alarmed.

“Yes, she came back a couple of days ago. Where did you run into her?”

“At our health clinic!”

“The… clinic? What was she doing at the clinic?” Li Hongmei asked, puzzled.

Standing nearby, Tang Jizhong was clearly more astute than Li Hongmei. Connecting the dots from his cousin Tang Meiqin’s words, his face turned pale as he said, “Xiaoqin, are you saying that wayward daughter has tracked down your clinic?”

“Yeah, I just happened to see her there today with a man. She said she needed to speak with our director…”

Before she could finish, Li Hongmei immediately interjected, “Qin, you must have mistaken her for someone else. After all, you and Xiaoxue haven’t seen each other in years—you probably don’t even know what she looks like anymore!”

No sooner had she spoken than Tang Meiqin exclaimed, “I may not know what Xiao Xue looks like, but I remember what Ye Xiaoying looked like back then—and Xiao Xue is practically the spitting image of her when she was young!”

“This… this… She’s tracked down your clinic. Does that mean she might track us down too?”

Li Hongmei also realized the gravity of the situation. Thinking back to what they’d done all those years ago, her whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Tang Meiqin took a deep breath and said, “It’s not that bad yet. Since Old Xu, who’s in charge of the archives, is on leave, the director told them to go tomorrow, so we still have a chance!”

“What chance?”

“If we set the archives on fire, as long as we don’t say a word, no one will ever be able to uncover what happened back then!” Tang Meiqin said through gritted teeth.

“S-set a fire?” Li Hongmei asked, her voice trembling.

“Yes, it’s the only way!” Tang Meiqin said.

“Then who’s going to do it?”

Tang Meiqin glanced at Li Hongmei, then turned to Tang Jizhong and said, “Brother, I did what I did back then for your wife’s sake. And if the truth ever comes out, we’re all finished. I’m sure you understand what’s at stake!”

Tang Jizhong clenched his teeth and said, “I’ll start the fire, but I don’t know where the archives room is. You’ll have to help me!”

“No problem! Besides, security at our clinic is very lax at night, and there’s no one on duty. As long as we’re careful, no one will notice!” Tang Meiqin said.

“Alright!”

…….