We Weren’t Fated, I Just Played My Cards Right - Chapter 14
With everyone gone, Dong Yue asked worriedly, “Will Dad really be okay?”
This kind of plot—switching cars with his wife to confuse pursuers—was something she had only seen in movies before. Now that it was happening in her own home, it felt unsettling.
“Don’t worry, nothing will happen,” Liu Mumu replied confidently.
“What about Mom?”
“She’s just driving around for a bit. What could possibly happen?”
“But didn’t Mom say she was helping Dad mislead the bad guys? What if she gets targeted?”
Thinking back to Jiang Li’s declaration of self-sacrifice for love and her father’s moved expression before readily agreeing, Liu Mumu sincerely felt that being her father’s wife was truly a skilled job.
“That bad guy isn’t tracking him through surveillance.”
“Huh?”
“So…” Liu Mumu went to the kitchen to fetch her fruit platter before continuing, “Switching cars actually doesn’t make much difference.”
Dong Yue’s mouth fell open in surprise. “Then why didn’t you tell Dad earlier?”
Liu Mumu popped a strawberry into her mouth. Dong Yue’s eyes curved with delight—sweet!
“Oh, I just thought he was enjoying his little detective moment. No harm in playing along.”
Dong Yue felt a twinge of sympathy for her parents, then happily went back to eating fruit and watching TV with her sister.
As for Dong Qi, with one leg immobilized, he had already been forgotten by the whole family in his room.
By evening, Jiang Li finally returned in Dong Zhenghao’s car. The hours of tension had left her steps unsteady as she entered the house.
Inside, the two girls were huddled together on the sofa, laughing heartily at a variety show.
A surge of anger flared up in Jiang Li, making her forget about maintaining a safe distance from Liu Mumu. She marched into the living room and scolded, “Your father is in danger, and you two have the nerve to watch TV?”
Dong Yue’s cheerful expression faded the moment Jiang Li walked in. At the reprimand, she stayed silent.
“Why shouldn’t we? Honestly, Aunt Jiang, there’s no need to be so tense. If Dad really does kick the bucket one day, you’d become a single, wealthy woman. You could buy seven villas and rotate living in them, keeping a boyfriend in each one. Doesn’t that thought cheer you up a little?”
Jiang Li’s lips curved upward briefly before quickly straightening. “Enough of this nonsense. Remember to answer when your dad calls later.”
Then she briskly walked upstairs, likely heading to her room to sleep—after all, dreams have everything one could wish for.
“Mom seems to be in a better mood?” Dong Yue whispered.
Liu Mumu hummed in agreement. “You have to understand, marriage is the grave of love, and a husband is the guy who steals your sleeping space in that grave—and you can’t even kick him out.
Tell me, is it more comfortable to sleep alone in a grave or squeezed in with someone else?”
Dong Yue thought for a moment. “Alone.”
“Wrong.” Liu Mumu wagged her finger. “The important thing isn’t whether it’s one or two people—it’s that when you’re unhappy, you can kick him out of your space at any time. That’s the difference between a husband and a boyfriend.”
Dong Yue was starting to understand.
The difference was that one could be freeloaded off, while the other had to be taken responsibility for. No wonder her mom was so happy just hearing about it.
A little past ten in the evening, Dong Zhenghao’s call came through. Liu Mumu let it ring a few times before answering.
“Why did it take you so long to pick up?” Dong Zhenghao grumbled.
“Eating late-night snacks, watching TV, playing games—pick whichever excuse you like.”
None of them, of course, would be missing her foolish father, who had brought this exile upon himself.
“…” Dong Zhenghao decided not to press further. Instead, he said excitedly, “The marks on my body are fading, and the bleeding has stopped! This method actually works!”
Ever since the high-speed train left Qingcheng, the strange marks on his body had begun visibly receding. If he hadn’t seen it himself, he wouldn’t have believed it.
Now he was truly convinced—there really were unscientific things in this world, and his coin-tossing, fortune-teller daughter wasn’t a fraud after all.
“Oh.” Liu Mumu’s response was indifferent.
“When can I come home?” Dong Zhenghao asked hopefully.
“Home? You handed over your birth date and time to someone else—that’s like giving them the keys to your house. Did you really think hiding out for a couple of days would solve everything?” Liu Mumu almost laughed at his naivety.
Using supernatural means to harm someone usually requires certain elements—birth details being the most common, or things like bl00d, hair, or nails.
And as it happened, just days ago, Dong Zhenghao had openly given his birth details to someone. She couldn’t help but suspect foul play.
“Birth details?” Dong Zhenghao was startled, then realized. “That bastard Zhan Hongye is trying to harm me?”
“I can’t say for sure. He wasn’t the only one there that day.” Liu Mumu was also troubled. Dong Zhenghao being away for too long affected her too. She’d never dealt with something like this before, and her grandfather hadn’t taught her how to handle it.
Her first thought had been to call the police, but this probably wasn’t within their jurisdiction.
“So I just keep drifting around outside?” Dong Zhenghao felt wronged.
“Well, if you can get his birth details, maybe…”
“You could retaliate for me?”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Liu Mumu snapped. “At most, I could calculate when he’ll have bad luck—and when you can finally go home.”
“I’ll try to find out more, but since he’s using this method to harm people, he’s definitely taking precautions.” After hesitating for a moment, Dong Zhenghao added, “He knows your birth details too—could he use them against you?”
Recalling that day’s events, he was filled with overwhelming regret.
“No, my fate is too strong. If he dares use my birth details to harm me, the only outcome would be him being crushed by my fortune.” Liu Mumu yawned. “Alright, enough talk. Bye.”
She quickly hung up and went to sleep for her beauty rest.
The next morning, Liu Mumu saw a message Jenny had sent her late the previous night.
Jenny: I have a medical checkup tomorrow morning and I’m a bit scared to go alone. Could you come with me?
Liu Mumu: Sure, which hospital? How about we meet at the entrance at 9 am?
After five minutes, Jenny finally replied.
Jenny: Renyuan Private Hospital. See you then.
*
At 9 am, the sunlight outside was already glaring. Liu Mumu stood by the fountain at the hospital entrance, wearing a baseball cap as she waited for Jenny.
It wasn’t until 9:20 that Jenny finally arrived.
Rushing over from a taxi, Jenny apologized, “Sorry, it took forever to get a cab.”
“No worries,” Liu Mumu said casually.
They entered the hospital, with Jenny leading her straight to the vice president’s office on the seventh floor. The vice president called over a young female doctor to take Jenny for her checkup.
The first procedure was a bl00d draw. Jenny seemed somewhat squeamish about bl00d, clinging to Liu Mumu’s sleeve, so Liu Mumu had no choice but to stand by her side.
Seeing the nurse holding over a dozen bl00d collection tubes, Liu Mumu couldn’t help but ask, “How many tests are being done? Why so many tubes?”
The nurse barely glanced at her and didn’t respond.
Jenny quietly explained, “Dad wants me to get a thorough checkup, so they need more bl00d.”
That might be the case, but Liu Mumu noticed the nurse filled each tube almost to the brim before moving to the next.
She hadn’t been to hospitals often, but she recalled previous bl00d tests not requiring this much bl00d.
With little in common to talk about, Liu Mumu broke the silence first. “What made you suddenly decide to get a checkup?”
Jenny smiled. “Dad’s worried about me. He’s afraid I might inherit my mom’s illness, so he wants me to get a comprehensive exam.”
Before Dong Zhenghao’s incident, Liu Mumu hadn’t paid much attention to Aunt Zhang’s situation—she’d only felt somewhat sorry for her.
But now, she couldn’t help but have other thoughts.
“Uncle Zhan is really thoughtful.”
“Yes, he’s been really good to me. Afraid that my stepmother might bully me when he’s not around, he even bought me an apartment near the school.”
Due to family issues, Jenny’s college entrance exam results weren’t as good as Liu Mumu’s. But to reunite with her father, she eventually enrolled in a university in Qingcheng, not far from Liu Mumu’s school.
“Oh, that’s really nice,” Liu Mumu said flatly.
“Didn’t Uncle Dong give you anything?”
“No.”
Jenny looked at her with a hint of sympathy.
“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask—how long after Aunt Zhang got sick did you tell Uncle Zhan?”
“Why are you asking this?” Jenny recalled Zhan Huitian’s words and thought about how Liu Mumu had promised to help investigate but ultimately found nothing, so she wasn’t keen on continuing the topic.
Noticing her reluctance, Liu Mumu softened her tone: “I just feel it’s a bit of a pity. If Uncle Zhan had been told earlier, maybe they could have caught the symptoms while they were still mild and gotten her checked at a hospital in the capital.”
Jenny seemed displeased with Liu Mumu’s remark. “My mom had a full medical checkup not long before she got sick, and everything was fine then. That’s why we didn’t think much of it. Besides, my dad was always busy, and I didn’t want to bother him. After the hospital visit, she was fine—then suddenly, a month later, her condition worsened. Who could have known it would turn out like this?”
A month after the hospital visit?
Liu Mumu pondered this. Aunt Zhang had already shown symptoms before going to the hospital. Conservatively estimating, even if she delayed for a month before seeking medical help, that would mean two months had passed from the onset of illness until Jenny called Zhan Hongye over.
She couldn’t help but wonder—during those two months, had Zhan Hongye stayed quietly in Qingcheng, or had he been somewhere else? After all, some “illnesses” might not be illnesses at all. If someone wanted to make a person suddenly fall sick, they couldn’t very well do it from another province.