Chapter 16 – Dozens of Cassette Tapes

Zhao Yu completely ignored the frantic Lu Jing and ran straight toward the hospital with Ning Songyi.

When they arrived, Father Ning was pacing anxiously in the ward.

“Dad! How’s sister?”

“The nurse said it’s not time to enter the delivery room yet.”

Father Ning hurriedly picked up his coat and put it on as he spoke, already heading for the door.

“Your mother is on her way back too. I didn’t dare leave while you weren’t here, but now that you’ve come, stay with your sister. I’ll go pick up your mom.”

Zhao Yu and Ning Songyun sat beside Ning Songxu, constantly trying to calm her emotions.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ning Songyi noticed Father Ning’s aide quietly slip past the door and leave without a sound.

It was about five minutes later when Ning Songyi returned, leaning close to Zhao Yu to whisper:

“They’re about to enter the operating room too. The doctor said the family insisted the baby had to be delivered today, so they arranged a C-section.”

“Then you’d better head to Sister Ning’s house right now.”

Zhao Yu pulled Ning Songyi toward the door. “Songyun and I can stay here. Nothing will happen. What matters is afterward—if that old woman gets caught red-handed and still refuses to admit it, we’ll need evidence.”

Watching Ning Songyi leave, Zhao Yu turned back into the ward to keep Ning Songxu company.

By the time He Fang rushed to the hospital, Ning Songxu was already being wheeled into the operating room.

The emotions Ning Songxu had been suppressing for so long finally burst out.

“Mom! You finally came back!”

He Fang hugged her daughter, tears pouring down.

“Mom’s here! Don’t be afraid! As long as I’m here, no one can bully you.”

Ning Songxu answered with a trembling “Mm,” but her shaking voice betrayed her fear.

Once she had gone into the delivery room, He Fang wiped away her tears, her expression hardening into fury.

“Where are those Liang people?!”

“They went upstairs first, preparing for a C-section too.”

“I’ll go find them!”

He Fang was about to charge off when she was stopped by Ning Songyi, who had just come back lugging a huge plastic bag.

“Mom! Don’t worry, we’ve taken care of everything. The nurse they bribed to switch the babies is already under our control. Nothing will happen to Sister or the baby girl.”

“I never should’ve gone to that meeting! I should’ve stayed by Songxu’s side. This is all my fault!”

Covering her face, He Fang broke down in sobs.

Seeing her lose control, Zhao Yu gave Ning Songyi a light push on the back and exchanged a meaningful glance with him.

“Mom, sit down first. Sister will be fine.”

With Ning Songyi’s support, He Fang sat on a bench in the corridor, Ning Songyun beside her to comfort her. From time to time, mother and daughter would meet each other’s eyes, only to collapse into weeping again.

When He Fang finally calmed down a little, Zhao Yu tilted her head toward the bag in Ning Songyi’s hands.

“All that inside…?”

“All of it.”

Ning Songyi untied the knotted bag, revealing more than a dozen cassette tapes and two tape recorders.

“So many?” Zhao Yu was stunned.

“My brother figured if we were going to record, we might as well capture every detail. He calculated the time every day, secretly swapped tapes for Sister, and kept the recorder running nonstop, twenty-four hours a day.”

Ning Songyun’s voice was hoarse as she explained.

“Well, that means we’ve got something to do while we wait.”

Zhao Yu casually pulled out a tape. “We have to find the part where they plotted to switch the babies.”

“I’ll do it.”

Ning Songyun grabbed the recorder and tapes, sat cross-legged on the floor, listening while constantly hitting fast-forward.

Two minutes later, even the exhausted He Fang joined her on the floor to listen.

Ning Songxu’s labor was difficult—she spent nearly eight hours in the operating room. By the time she came out, the others had already finished listening through all the tapes.

The nurse carrying the baby saw everyone crowd around Ning Songxu. Without a word, she quietly backed away and slipped upstairs.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry!”

The Liang family, seeing the nurse enter the ward, didn’t even look at the child in her arms. They just pointed casually at a hard hospital cot.

“Put him there.”

The moment the nurse laid the baby down, the infant let out a piercing wail.

But the Liang family ignored it, focused only on swapping their son/grandson so that the wealthy Ning Songxu would raise him.

The nurse handed over the child and was just about to take the other baby when suddenly, a squad of soldiers burst into the room, pinning everyone down.

The baby in the nurse’s arms was immediately snatched back.

“What are you doing?! Give me my baby back!” the Liang family’s younger son shouted in rage.

“What are we doing?” Ning Songyi stepped out of the corner, expression cold.

“I should be asking you—why sneakily carry my sister’s child upstairs? What were you planning?”

He walked over to the two babies, first touching his niece’s tiny hand, then lifting the Liang family’s baby into his arms.

“Don’t touch him! Take your filthy hands off!”

Seeing his son held, the Liang family’s younger son went berserk, struggling so hard he nearly threw off the two soldiers restraining him.

“You don’t want to raise this child, right? Then let me help you.”

Once the soldiers forced him down again, Ning Songyi suddenly lifted the baby high into the air.

The sight terrified the Liang family. The younger daughter-in-law almost fainted on the spot.

“Help! Murder! He’s going to kill the baby!” Liang Songxu’s mother-in-law screamed hysterically.

“Now you’re afraid?” Zhao Yu entered with the tape recorder in hand. “But when you were plotting to switch the babies, were you afraid then?”

“Wh-what baby switching? And you, an outsider, dare meddle in my family’s affairs? Pah!”

The old woman spat toward Zhao Yu, denying everything flat-out.

“We never had such thoughts. What? My granddaughter is born, and I can’t ask the nurse to show her to me?”

“Of course you can—you’re the grandmother after all.”

Zhao Yu lifted the recorder, plugging it into a hallway outlet. “Today’s a great day—your Liang family has gained a new son. And wouldn’t you know it, we stumbled upon something rather amusing. Why don’t you listen too?”

“What nonsense! Just a tape recorder. Who doesn’t have one? What’s so great about a stupid cassette tape?”

A glint of jealousy flashed in the younger son’s eyes as he eyed the recorder Zhao Yu was holding. If things had gone smoothly, all these tapes would’ve belonged to his son in the future. All of this was ruined by Ning Songxu’s eavesdropping and refusal to obey, emboldened by her family background.

“Tsk, don’t be so quick to refuse.” Zhao Yu wagged her finger and pressed play.

“Just listen. Once you do, you’ll find it very interesting.”

As Zhao Yu’s hand darted over the fast-forward button, the recorder filled the room with static before finally playing the Liang family’s voices.