The Sickly Beauty Gives Up Struggling [Rebirth] Chapter 154

“Did Zheng Zhupan tell you this? Or was it Zhou Hong?” Li Rong asked calmly after listening to Zhai Ning.

Zhai Ning paused, looking at Li Rong in confusion.

The small room instantly became tense again.

Almost everyone in the room was close to accepting Zhai Ning’s explanation as a perpetrator. Her account was logical, and it was evident she wasn’t lying.

Li Rong smiled slightly. “If I were Zheng Zhupan and wanted to manipulate someone with a conscience and a strong sense of empathy to work for me and keep quiet, the most important thing would be to ease their guilt. Even if you’ve already aligned with the perpetrators, you’d need to believe that everyone was just forced, deceived, or that it happened coincidentally. As long as enough people share the blame, everyone’s sense of guilt becomes bearable.”

Zhai Ning opened her mouth to retort but found herself unable to counter Li Rong’s logic.

Jiang Xunwei frowned and said cautiously, “Are you saying Zheng Zhupan lied to Director Zhai?”

Li Rong turned to Zhai Ning with a question of his own: “Based on Zheng Zhupan’s typical character, do you think he’s capable of lying to you?”

Zhai Ning lowered her eyes and remained silent.

She had to admit it—Zheng Zhupan was indeed a person with no bottom line. If he dared to orchestrate the drug substitution, using public opinion to destroy Li Qingli and Guo Nong, why would he hesitate to lie to her?

Li Rong gently touched the teapot, noting its lukewarm exterior and the full contents within.

His finger brushed against the teapot’s engraved “仁” character, worn dark from use. With a sigh, he continued, “We already have evidence that Zheng Zhupan didn’t consider patient safety when producing the substandard Jiaketing. Moreover…”

He paused for a moment, then looked at Zhai Ning with interest and asked curiously, “Do you truly believe that Zhou Hong and Zheng Zhupan’s interest group are unaware of what you’ve done for Xiaochengxiang? Even you know that Zhou Hong resents Xiaochengxiang for destroying his family. He still hasn’t acknowledged Sui Wanjun to this day. Do you think he would care about the lives of a group of orphans who ‘stole’ Sui Wanjun from him? Or have you ever considered that, compared to those young orphans, Zhou Hong might despise you even more for directly competing with him for his mother’s love? Is there any better form of revenge than dragging someone who prides themselves on righteousness straight into h*ll? And don’t bother explaining that Zhou Hong doesn’t care about Sui Wanjun’s affection because he has a stepmother. No one resents having more people care for them. Do you really think Zhou Hong is blind to the closeness between you and Sui Wanjun?”

Zhai Ning timidly glanced at Sui Wanjun. But the moment her eyes met her mother’s, she quickly averted her gaze, guilt written all over her face.

Li Rong’s words struck like a sharp arrow, piercing directly into the carefully beautified and varnished truth Zhai Ning had built for herself.

When people have a hopeful goal, they often justify, conceal, and even fantasize to make their path seem more legitimate and superior, willfully ignoring certain truths.

But in reality, no one can withstand deep scrutiny.

Zhou Hong probably despises her for monopolizing Sui Wanjun’s maternal love—but had she never harbored similar feelings toward Zhou Hong?

This person had never shown filial piety to Sui Wanjun. He had always let her down, flaunting his harmonious relationship with his stepmother while ignoring Sui Wanjun. Why should he receive her concern?

Just because he’s biologically related, does that give him the right to take advantage of everything? To selfishly consume others’ love and assistance?

If not for Sui Wanjun, Zhai Ning wouldn’t have insisted on Zhou Hong becoming the director. By hospital tradition, seniority would have taken precedence. She was the one who introduced the voting system, a roundabout way to secure Zhou Hong’s position.

Why had she aligned herself with such a profit-driven, morally bankrupt individual? Why had she helped them cover up the truth and drive good people to their deaths?

A wave of indescribable anger surged in Zhai Ning’s heart.

Of course Zhou Hong had colluded with Zheng Zhupan to deceive her. Zhou Hong hated her.

And Zheng Zhupan? That heartless capitalist probably delighted in watching her foolishly be used, becoming a powerful tool in the downfall of Li Qingli and Gu Nong.

The heavy burden of guilt weighed solely on her. Zheng Zhupan and Zhou Hong likely felt no remorse at all.

The thought of their feigned panic and regret in front of her made Zhai Ning feel sick.

She and Zhou Hong were never on the same side. Zheng Zhupan used this secret to blackmail her, and Zhou Hong was undoubtedly complicit. Sooner or later, she and Zhou Hong would have to face a complete falling-out.

All illusions of familial harmony and mutual support would shatter. Even Sui Wanjun would have to choose between her biological son and her adopted daughter.

But her mother—she would surely choose her, just like she had all those years ago.

Sui Wanjun, however, was completely oblivious to the turmoil in Zhai Ning’s heart. She embraced Zhai Ning, her tears unstoppable, murmuring over and over, “How could this happen? How could this happen…”

Li Rong handed Zhai Ning a cup of tea that had gone cold. His expression betrayed no emotion, but his eyes were steady and certain. “They exploited your filial devotion to Sui Wanjun. They took advantage of your compassion for the sick orphans and used your years of righteous deeds to legitimize their schemes.”

Zhai Ning numbly reached out and took the cup from Li Rong.

Her hand accidentally brushed against his fingers. His hand was slightly cool, but his fingertips were soft—a pair of pale, elegant hands with neatly trimmed nails, each nail bed adorned with a small crescent of moon-white at its base.

The gesture of goodwill from the victim filled Zhai Ning with a sense of forgiveness, but it also deepened her guilt. That guilt, unable to be alleviated, naturally transformed into hatred for Zheng Zhupan and Zhou Hong.

She had never realized she could hate someone so deeply, to the point of wishing for their demise.

In a low voice, she said, “I have phone records with Zheng Zhupan and Zhou Hong. I’ve saved copies. They admitted to switching the drugs.”

Li Rong withdrew his hand, stood straight, and exchanged a glance with Cen Xiao.

Cen Xiao gripped Li Rong’s hand tightly.

By the time they had copied all the recordings and photographic evidence from Zhai Ning’s home, it was already 9 p.m.

Li Rong and Cen Xiao departed with their team, leaving Sui Wanjun and Hong Ru at Zhai Ning’s residence.

Zhai Ning and Sui Wanjun would need time to process the truth, but the arduous emotional journey was no longer Li Rong’s concern.

After driving Jiang Xunwei home, Li Rong humbly expressed his gratitude. Jiang Xunwei waved it off, saying, “I was only doing what was right.”

Once Jiang Xunwei left and only their group remained in the car, Li Rong finally relaxed, slumping against the seat in exhaustion and rubbing his eyes.

Since Wednesday, he had been operating under immense mental pressure. No matter how young the body, it couldn’t endure such strain indefinitely. He was utterly drained—mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Jian Fu, however, was still engrossed in the events, mulling over them. “How did you know Zheng Zhupan and Zhou Hong would deceive Zhai Ning? Did you have evidence you didn’t share with me?”

Li Rong, eyes sore, yawned and said wearily, “I didn’t know.”

“Ah?” Jian Fu turned back, shocked.

Li Rong looked at him, his fatigued eyes slightly swollen, the creases at the corners more prominent. “I simply provided Zhai Ning with another logical narrative—one she could accept and that worked to our advantage.”

Cen Xiao elaborated, “And our version aligned better with Zheng Zhupan and Zhou Hong’s character. Zhai Ning was never truly like them. The only reason she went along with them in the past was to avoid facing reality.”

Jian Fu suddenly understood. “Ah, so Zheng Zhupan exploited Zhai Ning’s fragile mental state after the deaths of those twenty children by giving her an explanation to ease her guilt. That’s why you had Shen Gui perform in front of her—to add psychological pressure and show her the irreversible consequences of her actions. Then, we capitalized on her emotions and broke her down when she saw Sui Wanjun, forcing her to surrender completely!”

Tears welled up in Li Rong’s eyes from fatigue. Blinking them away, he murmured, “Honestly, I don’t like Zhai Ning.”

Someone who, out of cowardice and weakness, couldn’t take responsibility or face disgrace had no right to seek forgiveness from victims.

The dead couldn’t be revived, and the harm was already done. To Li Rong, any excuse sounded hollow and ridiculous.

Yet to secure Zhai Ning’s cooperation, he had to set aside his personal feelings—a compromise he was obligated to make. He didn’t have the luxury of acting on personal grudges.

Cen Xiao said coldly, “Exactly. This situation laid bare everyone’s true nature. No one involved is entirely innocent, so we don’t need to feel sorry for anyone hurt in the process.”

The precision of their plan left no room for Zhai Ning to recover her mental equilibrium. Otherwise, with her indecisive and hesitant personality, she wouldn’t have handed over the evidence so readily.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly. Jiang Xunwei’s involvement was crucial; his presence quickly won over Sui Wanjun and Zhai Ning.

Before meeting Jiang Xunwei, Li Rong had struggled to come up with a foolproof plan. Even with someone like Zhai Ning, who still had a shred of conscience, convincing her to admit her mistakes and take responsibility was extraordinarily difficult.

One misstep could alert Zheng Zhupan, leading Zhai Ning to leak their plans.

Even when persuading Zhai Ning to turn against Zheng Zhupan, Li Rong dared not present the evidence He Dayong had given him. His confident demeanor was entirely an act. Thankfully, Zhai Ning, preoccupied with her inner turmoil, hadn’t questioned him further.

Jiang Xunwei’s unexpected involvement turned out to be a blessing. The moment Li Rong recognized his identity, the outline of the plan had formed in his mind.

Cen Xiao grasped Li Rong’s hand suddenly and said, “Do you remember the time we drove to the development zone and ran into that guy hauling durians after a fender bender?”

Jian Fu, who hadn’t been part of that experience, immediately perked up. “What guy with durians?”

Li Rong recalled the incident briefly, lowering his hand from his eyes and nodding.

The strongest memory he had of that episode was the intense heat of the sun and the unbearable stench of durians.

Cen Xiao spoke softly, “I told you then, someone will always be the first to lend a helping hand.”

He spoke while intertwining his fingers with Li Rong’s.

“Huh?” Jian Fu’s face was full of confusion, but unfortunately, his brother didn’t bother to explain.

Li Rong pressed his lips into a soft smile, slightly turning his head toward the car window, gazing at the colorful nightscape outside. He knew Cen Xiao was referring to Jiang Xunwei, the first person who harbored a sense of justice and unconditionally helped them.

However, just seconds later, Li Rong turned back, leaned in, and left a tender kiss on Cen Xiao’s lips. “In my heart, you were the first.”

“Whoa… what the—?” Jian Fu exclaimed, dropping his yogurt in shock.

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