Chapter 16: “I Have Kidney Deficiency”

Sister Zhang responded promptly, but before she could enter, a voice came from inside: “Crap, crap, crap! Don’t come in!”

Sister Zhang sighed helplessly. “Young master, what did I ever do to you?”

“Switch people! Hurry up, hurry up!” Xi Xingye barked.

Sister Zhang tried sending in several people, but each one was kicked out within seconds.

Finally, the door opened, and Xi Xingye cautiously poked his head out.

After confirming that the hallway was empty, he grabbed the bedsheet and ran toward the laundry room.

Shen Qingci walked toward him and, glancing at the sheet in his arms, raised an eyebrow.

Xi Xingye hugged it tighter, chest out, walking past her silently.

“Bedwetting?” Shen Qingci asked.

“Are you crazy?!” Xi Xingye lost it instantly, unable to keep up the act for even two seconds. “I’m an adult, I don’t wet the bed!”

“Then why are you holding the sheet?”

“I…” His anger was instantly replaced by guilt, and finally, in a mix of shame and frustration, he shot back, “Why do you care what I’m doing?”

Shen Qingci found it absurd. “By logic, this kind of behavior is caused by liver heat affecting the brainstem. You should drink some Chinese medicine.”

Chinese medicine…

A light bulb went off in Xi Xingye’s head.

He immediately returned to his bedroom to pack, ignoring Sister Zhang yelling behind him to have breakfast.

Ignoring Xi Xingye, Shen Qingci sat down to eat.

Her phone rang—it was her assistant.

“The Shen family has already backed down.”

“Let us out!” Shen Lan shouted into the phone. “Shen Qingci, how dare you tie us up! Wait until Dad returns from abroad, and you’re done for!”

Shen Qingci put down her spoon, wincing as her back wound was pulled.

She glanced at the bloodstains, recalling last night.

After leaving the wedding, she had tied up the third branch of the Shen family at an abandoned factory in the suburbs.

This wedding was also a setup to gather them together, especially the third branch.

The third branch was usually cunning and uninvolved in her affairs, but since her mother had passed, every branch was a potential suspect.

She needed the shortest time and highest efficiency to extract information.

So, she had left them with just one instruction: “Once you’ve figured it out, tell me everything about my mother’s death before she passed. That’s when you’ll be released.”

Snapping back to reality, Shen Qingci smirked. “Looks like that wasn’t persuasive enough.”

“Stop talking, Lan,” Shen Shirou’s voice came through, followed by, “I want to speak directly with my sister.”

She took the phone, paused for a moment, and said, “You have to promise, once I finish speaking, you’ll let us go.”

“Don’t talk nonsense, spill it or the call ends.”

“No, I’ll tell!” Shen Shirou grit her teeth. “Our mother’s death has nothing to do with us. She was diagnosed with depression. The family arranged for a psychologist, but she still committed suicide when no one was paying attention.”

Shen Qingci narrowed her eyes. “Why depression?”

“You went abroad for life-or-death matters; isn’t it normal for Mom to be depressed?”

Shen Qingci paused for a few seconds, saying nothing. On the other end, her assistant’s voice asked how to handle the situation.

“Release them.”

The call ended.

The Shen family finally stepped out of the abandoned factory, squinting at the glaring sun, eyes stinging.

“Qingci looks terrifying. Even her own brother Shen Lan isn’t spared. We definitely can’t win against her,” said a fragile female voice.

It was Shen Shiting, the daughter of the third branch.

The third branch had three children in total; she was the eldest.

Shen Shirou snorted. “There’s nothing to fear. You third-branch kids are scared of her; we’re not.”

“But Qingci is different now. She’s still Xi’s daughter-in-law. In the future, the Shen family will certainly belong to her,” someone said.

“Dream on!” Bai Xiaoli scowled. “As long as I’m alive, she’ll never get a cent of the Shen family’s money!”

Shen Shirou bit her lip in humiliation, her eyes brimming with hatred ready to burst.

She would never let Shen Qingci off!

Even if Xi’s family is backing her, she would make Qingci pay!

Soon, the second and third branches formed an alliance, swearing revenge together.

Only Shen Lan kept his head down, silent—a rare moment of quiet.

The flashy pink phantom car was too conspicuous, so Xi Xingye parked far away, weaving through alleys, twisting and turning until he finally found the famous veteran Chinese medicine doctor.

The line was long; he covered himself from head to toe, afraid of being recognized.

But the more he tried, the more curious people became.

Elderly neighbors started chatting with him, and Xi Xingye pretended to be aloof, responding occasionally.

Finally, when it was his turn, Xi Xingye strode into the clinic, immediately locking the door and sneakily closing the windows before removing his mask.

The doctor pushed up his glasses. “A male issue?”

“Not at all!” Xi Xingye gritted his teeth.

“Not a male issue, yet you’re sneaky like this…?”

The doctor smiled knowingly. “I see… in love?”

Xi Xingye nearly choked, flaring up. “You’re the one in love!”

“So, your girlfriend isn’t satisfied?”

“Who says she isn’t satisfied!” Xi Xingye stiffened his neck.

“Then yes, it’s love,” the doctor nodded wisely.

Xi Xingye gritted his teeth. “Stop trying to trick me. Can you just tell me if it’s treatable?”

“It’s not really a disease; it can be treated.”

“I’m not sick!”

Ten minutes later, Xi Xingye, holding a black bag, checked the surroundings again before sprinting to his car.

Opening the bag, he saw it was full of kidney-tonifying medicine.

The doctor’s last words rang in his head: “Your pulse is healthy; just strengthen your kidneys.”

He went pale.

Then he dialed Xu Zijie.

“Brother Xi, I’m traveling with my grandma and really can’t hang out. Please let me live a few more days,” Xu Zijie wailed.

“Shut up, I’m calling about serious business.”

“What business?” Xi Xingye tapped the steering wheel with his index finger, bracing himself. “I went to see a Chinese doctor. He gave me a bunch of medicine.”

“Chinese doctor?! Did sister-in-law really go that far?”

“Xu Zijie, are you itching back there?” Xi Xingye snarled.

Xu Zijie immediately cowered. “Then why did you see a Chinese doctor? What did he say?”

Xi Xingye was silent for a full minute; Xu Zijie didn’t dare rush him, just waited.

Finally, a sigh came from the other end.

“What he meant was…” Xi Xingye said, “…I have kidney deficiency.”