CHAPTER 702: CHAPTER 697: XU HE’S MALICE

Moreover, the reason why Xu He did this was because she was certain that under normal circumstances, the police at the time wouldn’t scrutinize details closely as they would later. Most of the time, they would just let things slide. For any complicated case that didn’t seem to have much impact on society, they wouldn’t really put in too much effort and resources to investigate, often just giving it a cursory look. If they couldn’t solve it, they would just hastily close the case.

Furthermore, Xu He had long harbored intentions. If the investigation turned up something, she hadn’t touched the cookies at all this time. From purchasing to delivering, it was all done by Zhou Yunmei. It was unlikely that anyone would believe a mother would harm her own daughter, so in the end, it might be concluded as an unsolved case.

Xu He injected all of the rat poison from the syringe into the cookie packaging that Luo Cuilan was going to eat, then placed the cookies properly, creating an appearance that they hadn’t been tampered with, before she deliberately went to lie down on the bed.

When it was time for lunch, Luo Cuilan came over, and upon seeing the cookies on the table, she was a bit puzzled, "What’s going on? Didn’t we buy plenty just a few days ago? Why buy more today? Didn’t you say the cookies are expensive?"

"You all like eating them, so I bought more. Yesterday, Zhiming worked hard and earned more money than before, so he bought you a lot of stuff." After Xu He finished speaking, she secretly whispered to Luo Cuilan behind Zhou Yunmei’s back, "Big sister, you must remember our agreement. Please keep quiet about things you shouldn’t discuss with mom. I’m doing my best with the things you asked me to do, and I swear I’ll keep this secret in the future, raising this child as if Zhiming’s own. Please spare me."

The reason Xu He deliberately said these things at this time was actually to let down Luo Cuilan’s guard. Although she was certain Luo Cuilan wouldn’t suspect anything about the cookies, having a guilty conscience for her misdeeds made her feel insecure.

Seeing Xu He’s good attitude, Luo Cuilan truly had no suspicions at all, and instead felt guilty for almost revealing Xu He’s affairs the other day.

Therefore, she immediately smiled at Xu He, and also in a low voice, behind Zhou Yunmei’s back, said, "Seeing how you behave, if you really keep up this good act, I won’t make things difficult for you. After all, what you said is true, our family’s Zhiming can’t have kids anyway. Letting them think this child is their own isn’t a loss."

"Right, that’s exactly it. That’s how I see it too." Hearing Luo Cuilan fully believed her, Xu He breathed a sigh of relief and her expression softened considerably as she looked at Luo Cuilan. Then she pointed to the cookies on the table and said, "Big sister, mom bought these cookies today. You can take them back and eat them."

Xu He was so kind, that Luo Cuilan actually felt a little embarrassed. She reached out to take a few packs, and handed them over, "I took a lot the other day, just keep them for yourself, I’ll take half back with me."

Xu He shook her head, "No need, I don’t like eating these. You can take them all."

"Alright then." Luo Cuilan gathered up all the cookies, thinking of letting Zhuzhu eat them slowly. Little did she know that beneath Xu He’s kindly smile lurked such a sinister heart.

After she took the cookies back, she didn’t eat them immediately since she still hadn’t finished the ones bought earlier. She planned to finish the old batch before starting on the new ones.

But that was her plan, and the little Zhuzhu at home knew nothing about it.

A couple of days later, while Luo Cuilan was outside helping Zhou Yunmei with the stove, little Zhuzhu whined for some cookies. Luo Cuilan was too busy to attend to him and told him to take the usual cookies from the table by himself, as Zhuzhu would usually help himself to snacks.

However, Zhuzhu was still very young, barely over two years old, and he couldn’t tell the difference between the usual cookies and others. Seeing the ones closest to him, he opened a pack and lifted out a cookie to take with him.

In fact, if Luo Cuilan had been the one to open it, she might have noticed—since rat poison had been injected into it, there would be a distinct smell that revealed itself upon opening.

But Zhuzhu didn’t know, and after opening the package, the smell dissipated a little, making it not so strong anymore.

Zhuzhu went outside, ate a piece and a half of the biscuits by himself, and affectionately stuffed the half he had left over into Zhou Yunmei’s hand. He had always been looked after by Zhou Yunmei and was very close to her.

As Zhuzhu was still quite young and had weaker resistance, it took less than half an hour after eating the biscuits for a reaction to occur.

He was jumping around on the bed just moments ago, but suddenly he started to convulse, frothing at the mouth, and collapsed onto the bed, frightening Luo Cuilan who was in the room at the time almost into fainting.

She immediately went to pat Zhuzhu’s face, and upon seeing his face turning purple and his body continuously convulsing, she was so scared she didn’t know what to do. So, she picked up Zhuzhu with one hand and ran outside, shouting, "Mom, Xu He, come quickly, something’s wrong with Zhuzhu."

Zhou Yunmei and Xu He rushed over in response.

Actually, Xu He saw the opened package of biscuits on the table the moment she entered the room, and her heart skipped a beat. After seeing Zhuzhu’s symptoms, she was sure that Zhuzhu had been poisoned by rat poison.

To tell the truth, she felt somewhat remorseful at that time. After all, she was about to become a mother herself. Seeing the child like this, she panicked so much her heart trembled.

But she knew she couldn’t speak out. If she did, she would definitely not be able to escape the consequences.

So, at that moment, she also pretends to know nothing and runs over to Luo Cuilan and Zhuzhu’s side, pretending to be concerned, shouting, "What’s wrong, what’s wrong, wasn’t he fine just now?"

"What’s going on?" Zhou Yunmei entered and saw Zhuzhu like this, she too was so scared her legs almost gave out, and in her bewilderment, she stuttered, "Should I go find a doctor to have a look at Zhuzhu?"

"Why look for a doctor when I can take Zhuzhu to the hospital?" said Luo Cuilan. After picking up Zhuzhu, she turned to look at Xu He, "Xu He, how much money do you have? Help me gather some, I’m taking Zhuzhu to the hospital."

When Xu He heard they were going to see a doctor, her heart skipped a beat because seeing a doctor could very likely reveal what had actually happened to Zhuzhu.

However, if she protested, it would only make her look more suspicious, so she neither objected nor agreed, instead just taking out 20 yuan from her pocket and handing it to Luo Cuilan, "I only have these 20 yuan on me, all for you."

"You..." Luo Cuilan knew Xu He had more money than that and glared at her, teeth clenched.

But Xu He just spread her hands out, looking completely helpless, "Big sis, that’s really all I have."

At that moment, there was no time to argue with Xu He. In the end, Luo Cuilan took out all the tens of dollars she had left, and Zhou Yunmei also took out the money she had been saving for her own funeral expenses, and urged Luo Cuilan, "I have tens of dollars here too, which should be enough. Let’s hurry to the hospital."

It wasn’t close from their place to the hospital. By the time they arrived, Zhuzhu’s convulsions had worsened, and he was visibly exhaling more than inhaling, looking like he might not make it.