Divorce Application - Chapter 24
Chapter 24: Poison
The dinner ended quickly, with barely any conversation. Even Wu Haoxue’s usually outgoing personality didn’t have much to say. Her face was so full of obvious frustration that even a blind person could see it.
Lan Qi tried to start a conversation a few times, but it was unclear if Wu Haoxue was also annoyed with her. She didn’t even look at her. After she finished eating, she dropped her chopsticks and said, “Xiao Nan and I have something to do. We’re leaving.”
Lan Qi and Lan Ling both got up and walked them out. As they reached the parking lot and were about to get into their own cars to go home, Lan Qi called out to Liu Sinan.
“I’m so sorry about this dinner,” Lan Qi said, with one arm around Lan Ling. It seemed she was using a bit of force, and Lan Ling, struggling to break free, was turning red in the face. “Lan Ling has always been like this since she was a child. She’s thoughtless. Please forgive any offense.”
Lan Ling seemed very resistant to Lan Qi’s touch, but Lan Qi appeared indifferent to her struggles. Her expression never changed, and her demeanor was quite firm.
Liu Sinan nodded to Lan Qi, put her hands in her pockets, and walked back a few steps, waving goodbye. “I understand. See you next time.”
After all, Lan Qi was Lan Ling’s sister, and they were intimately related by bl00d. An outsider shouldn’t meddle, so Liu Sinan wouldn’t say anything bad about Lan Ling in front of Lan Qi.
Lan Qi smiled and watched the two of them leave.
As soon as they got in the car, Wu Haoxue tossed a pack of wet wipes to Liu Sinan.
“Hurry and wipe your hands,” Wu Haoxue said, furiously scrubbing her palms and the backs of her hands with a wet wipe, as if someone had thrown sand all over her. Her disgust was so great she looked like she was about to leap out of her seat. “Today was absolutely disgusting.”
“Has Lan Ling always been like this?” Liu Sinan thought to herself that she had no idea Lan Qi even had a sister. “I never heard Lan Qi mention it before.”
Wu Haoxue started the car and backed out of the garage. “Who knows what she’s normally like? All I know is that when I found her, she was performing some kind of death-embracing performance art. She fainted on the road and then got mad at me for saving her.”
After she said this, Wu Haoxue frowned quickly. “Don’t take it the wrong way, but it might challenge your perception. The relationship between Lan Qi and her sister is really strange. Lan Qi seems to be willing to give up anything for her sister. Most of the money she earns goes toward her medical treatment. I think Lan Qi spoiled Lan Ling. This madness of hers might be manageable if she were disciplined. But the two sisters rarely contact each other. I was living abroad at the time, and I wanted to take Lan Ling to the hospital, notify her family, and leave. But there was no Lan Qi in Lan Ling’s contacts. It was only after the nanny who took care of her abroad arrived that Lan Qi was contacted.”
Liu Sinan was surprised. A sibling relationship that required a nanny to be in contact was indeed a bit strange.
“There might be some hidden reason,” Liu Sinan said, not wanting to pry into other people’s privacy. “No matter what, Lan Qi is Lan Qi, and Lan Ling is Lan Ling. We’ll deal with them as we see fit in the future.”
Remembering Wu Haoxue’s sour face during the meal, Liu Sinan couldn’t help but remind her, “Don’t take your anger out on others.”
Wu Haoxue scoffed in response. “Take my anger out? Lan Qi deserved it! I’m not done talking yet.”
“Do you know what she did the first thing after she was contacted? She threatened me, saying I had hurt her sister and that I had to stay at the hospital and wait for her to handle it, or else I would be considered a hit-and-run driver.”
At this point, Wu Haoxue’s “young lady” temperament was very obvious. She couldn’t be bothered and sneered. “Giving a dog a bone, I just said one thing: ‘Go ahead and call the police.'”
Based on Wu Haoxue’s account, the relationship between the three of them should have been very tense. But before this dinner, they had clearly acted like they knew each other quite well.
As if sensing Liu Sinan’s confusion, Wu Haoxue was silent for a few seconds, then said, “I don’t know why Lan Ling’s personality has changed so drastically! Back then, she fainted on the side of the road, looking so pitiful, clutching my clothes and telling me she’d overdosed on her medication and was dying and to save her. You know I can’t resist a pitiful look like that. Then Lan Qi came, and after figuring out what had happened, she apologized to me. The two sisters looked so alike, and they were so pathetic-looking. What could I say?”
Liu Sinan tried to suppress a laugh. She could almost guess what happened next. “So you just resigned yourself to the situation?”
Wu Haoxue briefly explained that when Lan Ling was normal, she was very cute, liking to follow Wu Haoxue around for food, drinks, and attention. But when she had an episode, she was hostile to everyone. Anyone within a five-meter radius was a target for her to attack and eliminate.
Lan Qi didn’t settle abroad. She used gentle persuasion to get Wu Haoxue to take care of Lan Ling for two years—not so much “take care of” as “just be together.” The two of them remained in contact throughout that time.
After telling her the whole story, they reached a traffic light intersection. Wu Haoxue stopped the car to wait for the light to turn green.
Liu Sinan had been listening quietly. She was very willing to learn about Wu Haoxue’s past. After all, due to their family circumstances, they had been separated for so many years. Hearing a few more stories could help fill in the gaps of their time apart.
“And then I found out you got married,” Wu Haoxue said, following the timeline. She paused for a few seconds here, glanced at Liu Sinan, and then continued. “Seven years ago, Lan Ling went missing that night. When I found her, she was holding a photo of you two, a picture from your wedding that had been exposed by the media.”
Liu Sinan blinked, turning her head to signal for her to continue.
A car behind them honked. Looking up, she saw the light had turned green. Wu Haoxue turned the wheel to make a turn, sighing as she drove. “She wouldn’t say anything. By then, I had already started preparing to move back home, busy with the paperwork. I came across her a few times after that, collecting photos of Li Jinping, and then we saw each other less and less.”
Wu Haoxue said apologetically, “I really didn’t expect her to say something like that today. I had completely forgotten about it.”
Liu Sinan smiled, opened a can of soda from the car, and took a sip. “It’s really fine.”
“If you really feel bad about it,” Liu Sinan said, rubbing her stomach. “Treat me to dinner. I didn’t get enough to eat earlier.”
Wu Haoxue was stunned for a moment, then nodded quickly. “Okay. What do you want to eat? I can even get you Australian carp.”
In the end, the two of them picked a restaurant on the side of the road and got a bunch of barbecue to take home for a second round.
When they got home, Aunt Sun was already asleep.
The two of them took the food into the bedroom, locked the door, and sat on the floor with their legs crossed to eat.
“I just checked,” Wu Haoxue said, looking down at her phone, pulling up the information she had just asked someone to investigate. “The watch Lan Ling was wearing was sold for a very low price. Li Jinping practically gave it to her.”
Liu Sinan had just finished a can of soda and wasn’t hungry at the moment. She was slowly chewing on a fruit and vegetable skewer and didn’t say anything.
“They’re definitely hiding something from you.” Wu Haoxue stared at Liu Sinan. “You really need to be careful.”
They? Li Jinping and Lan Ling? Hiding something?
Liu Sinan bit down on a cherry tomato, and the sour and sweet flavor instantly exploded in her taste buds, causing her to wince.
At the same time, Lan Ling’s words flashed in her mind: “She and I are fellow patients.”
Lan Ling had a mental illness, but Li Jinping wasn’t crazy.
Li Jinping had a strict self-discipline that surpassed most people, and she was absolutely rational and calm.
She never acted on emotion and never indulged herself. From her food, clothing, and housing to her words and actions, she was self-disciplined to a terrifying degree.
Liu Sinan had slept in the same bed as her for seven years and had never seen her get up after 7 a.m. or look disheveled.
Li Jinping definitely didn’t have a mental illness.
This was a fact Liu Sinan didn’t need anyone to tell her.
But what was the connection between Lan Ling and Li Jinping, and why was she dragging Li Jinping into this?
Wu Haoxue was even more troubled than Liu Sinan. Remembering something else, she patted Liu Sinan’s shoulder mournfully. Then, because the bones hurt her palm, she quickly pulled her hand back. “Sister, I have one more thing to tell you.”
“Just say it,” Liu Sinan said, choking a little from the pat. She immediately snatched the fruit and vegetable skewer from Wu Haoxue’s hand, plucked the cherry tomato from the top, and pointed the pointy end of the skewer at Wu Haoxue. “No touching.”
Wu Haoxue said, “Those roses really weren’t poisonous.”