She was fired after she refused to be the CEO's dog licker.

It was a message from Zeng Zhi.

There were two messages, both with simple contents. The first one was a photo of Zhou Hanzhi eating breakfast on the bed, and the other one was a text message: "Sister-in-law, Brother Zhou asked me to tell you that everything is fine, you can rest assured."

The moment I saw that text message, my restless and worried heart calmed down a little.

Everything was normal, which not only meant that Zhou Hanzhi was safe and sound, but also that the play we had acted out together had successfully fooled everyone and nothing had been exposed.

I quickly clicked on the photo again, enlarged it, and examined it carefully inch by inch.

Zhou Hanzhi lowered his eyebrows, holding the porridge bowl with his slender fingers and holding a spoon with his other hand. It was obvious that the bowl was filled with golden millet porridge, but Zhou Hanzhi's face was as pale as yesterday, and even the color of his lips was so light that it was almost invisible.

On the back of his hand holding the spoon, there was still tape from the IV drip. Maybe it was because the needle slipped, but there was a large purple area on the back of his hand, which was shocking.

If you don't look closely, the small picture shows that Zhou Hanzhi is in good condition. After all, he has woken up and is able to eat. But if you open it and take a closer look, these details show that he is not that well.

He took this photo just to reassure me.

Moreover, since he could think of sending the photos to reassure me, he would send the photos to me as soon as he felt at ease, not last night, but at this moment, which means that Zhou Hanzhi woke up today, no, just now.

It seems that what Jiang Yin said was right. Zhou Hanzhi was severely punished by Old Madam Zhou and was in a coma in the hospital until now.

My mood changed from worry and tension to a mixture of feelings, feeling relieved yet uneasy. My fingertips tapped on the screen again and again, back and forth, but only one word came out: "OK."

Zeng Zhi's message came soon: "You should also be extra careful these days and don't come to the hospital. Brother Zhou will contact you later."

As expected, he didn't let me go to the hospital, and he didn't let me contact him on my own initiative.

On the way to meet You He, the unconscious Zhou Hanzhi was finally no longer in my mind, but he was still pale and fragile.

So much so that when You He saw me, he was shocked by my expression: "Xu Xu, are you crying?"

Did I cry? I opened the makeup mirror and saw that my eyes were red and my expression was sad. It looked like I was crying.

I was going to see my daughter soon, and I couldn't look like this, as it would make my aunt and uncle worry. So I immediately took out a wet wipe to wipe my face, adjusted my mood, and put on some lipstick to make myself look more energetic and cheerful.

"Xuxu, are you crying because you're worried about Zhou Hanzhi?" You He looked at me and asked softly, "I also got the news that the eldest son of the Zhou family fainted and was rushed to the hospital. The whole Zhou family is very worried. Is he feeling better now?"

I immediately lowered my head and avoided his gaze: "No, I'm not worried about Zhou Hanzhi, but he should be feeling better now."

It's better, but still very bad.

Youhe was still looking at me, hesitant to speak.

I immediately put away the makeup mirror and started the car. "It's getting late. Nannan must be waiting anxiously. We have to hurry. By the way, Youhe, you said yesterday that there has been some progress in Lin Youde's case?"

"Yes." As expected, You He frowned and looked serious after being diverted by me. "I found out that Lin Youde's original registered residence was in Bengcheng."

"Bengcheng?" This answer surprised me, but it was also within my expectations.

Lin Youde followed my aunt for several days. They were old acquaintances. He also knew our family's ancestral recipe of twice-cooked pork, so he must have a special relationship with my aunt. My aunt has a calm personality and rarely traveled far when she was young. She should have come into contact with people from our Bengcheng local area. Lin Youde's hometown is Bengcheng, so it is indeed normal.

However, Yuhe's next words were beyond my expectations.

"Yes, Lin Youde is from Bengcheng, and he is from the same village as you."

"From the same village?" This news surprised me. I frowned and thought carefully. "Our village is very small, and there are only two major surnames, Meng and Qin. I have never heard of anyone with the surname Lin. Even if there is a man with a different surname marrying into the family, his descendants will take the mother's surname. Could it be that Lin Youde has changed his own surname?"

It is normal for a person to change his or her name, but according to the traditional Chinese thinking, people will not easily change their surnames.

It would be fine if Lin Youde just changed his name, but why did he even change his surname?

"That's just like what you said just now, Xuxu. It's possible that Lin Youde's father was a son-in-law, so he may have taken his mother's surname before. Later, when he grew up, he moved his household registration and changed his surname to his father's." Youhe made a guess.

This explanation is reasonable, and such situations do occur around us.

"Anyway, it's basically confirmed that Lin Youde does know my aunt. I'll show her the photo today, and she will definitely be able to recognize him." I nodded.

The car arrived at the sanatorium very quickly. As soon as we walked in, a clear childish voice rang out from a distance: "Xu Xu!"

A small figure rushed towards me from a distance, followed by my aunt and uncle. My uncle said anxiously, "Slow down, slow down!"

"Nannan, be careful where you step." I also quickly rushed towards the direction of the little figure.

Nannan threw herself into my arms, and I felt relieved. But the little girl hugged my waist tightly, refusing to look up, and said in a muffled voice: "Xuxu, I miss you so much."

The voice was muffled and a little choked. I knew it was the little girl crying, so I held her and let her bury her head in my arms. I gently stroked her back with my palms: "I miss Nannan too, so I rushed to see Nannan. Next time, Xuxu, try to come more often and see Nannan more often, okay?"

"No." The little one raised her head from my arms, her eyes were watery, her thick and long eyelashes were still wet, but she shook her head firmly, "Old Jiao said that Xuxu is very busy, and we can't delay her work. It's okay for Nannan to wait a few more days."

He is so well-behaved that it makes people feel distressed.

I hugged her tightly and kissed her hard on her soft cheek, but when I looked at her again, I was dumbfounded and quickly went to my bag to find wet wipes.

I forgot to put lipstick on myself and it got all over the little one's face.

Nannan hid from me and refused to let me wipe it. She pointed at her little face and said, "This is proof that Xuxu loves Nannan. I want to keep it."

This little girl is really clever. I held her down by force, followed my aunt back to the room, and wiped off the lipstick marks on Nannan's face.

Then, while my uncle and Yu He were talking outside, I took out my phone, pulled up a photo and showed it to my aunt, and whispered, "Aunt, do you know this person?"

My aunt is a little nearsighted, and as she's gotten older, she's got a little presbyopia. She moved closer, squinted her eyes and looked closely, and after a while, her face suddenly changed drastically.