By the time she got back to Qingshui Bay, Su Wan thought about it and decided to take out her phone and send a message to Gu Nanzhou.
"I'm home now, thank you, Mr. Gu, for sending Azhang to pick me up."
Gu Nanzhou seemed to be really busy, as he replied to her message half an hour later. 'No worries.'
It was icy and brief, very businesslike.
Su Wan had long been used to this, she put down her phone, stretched languidly, and thought that she was too tired today, she might as well take a bath before sleeping.
Meanwhile, inside the old residence, in Gu En's bedroom.
After listening to Shen Lin's plan, the light in Gu En's eyes flickered, and he hesitated a bit, "Sister Lin, is this really okay?"
"It's fine, it's just a lesson for her. Besides," Shen Lin paused, let out a cold laugh, and her red lips slowly opened, "this thing is rare, I've checked, it won't cause any trouble."
Two days later, Su Wan went out early in the morning to the sanatorium.Last night, Su's mother's attending physician had made a call, saying that they were going to give Su's mother a comprehensive physical examination today to see how her health had been recently.Su's mother had asthma, an old ailment. When the Su family had not yet fallen from grace, she always received treatment on time, so it rarely flared up.Moreover, her asthma wasn't severe, as long as she didn't come into contact with allergens, there were generally no issues.Su Wan was concerned about her mother's heart.Su's mother's heart was weak. After the Su family incident and the death of Su's father, the continuous shocks broke him down physically, filled with worries and sorrow, her health deteriorated seriously.Neither of these conditions was extremely serious by themselves, with careful treatment and management, they could still be healed, but an asthma attack could trigger heart disease, when combined, it became serious.Su Wan still remembered the last time her mother had an asthma attack, which was the second year after she married Gu Nanzhou.That day, she was also visiting her mother at the sanatorium and encountered a caregiver coming in to tidy up.Su's mother's original private caregiver happened to have something to attend to and had taken a two-hour break, everyone else was busy, so a new young girl was assigned to help watch over.The young girl was new and didn't understand Su's mother's situation. Knowing that the people in this VIP ward were either rich or noble, she specially brought several bouquets of flowers, attempting to offer them in goodwill.Unfortunately, Su's mother was allergic to pollen, got stimulated, and then had an asthma attack, which led to her heart condition acting up.Su Wan always remembered how frightened she was that day, on the verge of collapsing, and Gu Nanzhou was away on a business trip. With the young girl left alone and unsupported, it was lucky that she had a close friend, He Miaomiao, by her side.Having already lost her father, she was indeed very scared of losing her mother again.Since then, everything around Su's mother would be specially checked to prevent such incidents.After coming out of the attending physician's office, Su Wan held the report and breathed a sigh of relief, thinking of the doctor saying that her mother's health was getting better, she couldn't help but smile broadly.In a good mood, she walked briskly, Su Wan ran all the way to her mother's room.Sitting beside the bed, Su Wan held her mother's arm and leaned on her shoulder, unable to hide the happiness in her tone, "Mom, the doctor said you are recovering very well, I will be able to take you home soon."As she spoke, her eyes couldn't help but turn red.Su's mother stroked her daughter's hair and teased her, "Such a big girl, still as teary as before.""I'm not crying." The young girl stubbornly retorted, she haphazardly wiped her face and continued to say cheerily, "I'm just too happy.""Silly girl."Su Wan chatted with her mother for a while, going over many of the doctor's instructions, and after eating lunch with her, she left.
She actually wanted to stay a little longer, but since Su's mother had been going through her medical examination for quite some time and looked a bit exhausted, she wanted to let her rest more and thus didn't linger.
At the entrance of the sanatorium, Su Wan was looking down at her phone, texting her friend Yan Shu to share the good news she wanted to tell Gu Nanzhou.
She was walking too quickly, and without paying attention, she accidentally collided with someone coming from the opposite direction.
The things that person was carrying clattered to the ground.
Su Wan's head was still lowered, and when her vision blurred, she covered her nose and apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it, are you okay...?"
The person she bumped into seemed to have been hit hard as well, as Su Wan heard her take a sharp intake of breath and say in a muffled voice, "How do you walk, huh?"
Both of them spoke at the same time and then paused, lifting their heads simultaneously.
Su Wan, still covering her nose, and Shen Lin, with her bag in hand, locked eyes in a staring match.
Since it was her fault for not watching where she was going, Su Wan felt it was necessary to help pick up the things scattered on the ground.
She had just bent halfway and reached out her hand when Shen Lin's movements proved faster; she carelessly stuffed the items back into her bag without a second thought for appearances.
Su Wan, with a keen eye, still caught sight of two characters on the box: "Peach Crisp."
It seemed to be some sort of pastry.
Retracting her hand, she wanted to apologize again, but Shen Lin's voice preempted hers.
Shen Lin stiffened her neck, and there was a trace of rigidity in her expression as she looked at Su Wan, "Forget it, I wasn't looking where I was going either, no need for you to apologize, go on, I'm fine."
Su Wan felt that Shen Lin was acting strangely today, but she didn't dwell on it; she would rather keep her distance.
Since Shen Lin had said as much, Su Wan didn't insist and politely smiled, "Then I'll be going now, Miss Shen, goodbye."
Shen Lin waved her hand dismissively at her, not even looking in her direction, held the bag to her chest, and walked off in haste as if something was chasing her.
Su Wan puzzled for a second, wondering what Shen Lin was doing at the sanatorium, and just as quickly, the thought vanished.
Throughout the afternoon, a vague unease lingered in Su Wan's heart. She didn't understand why, but she couldn't settle down in anything she did.
The young girl thought it might be because she had woken up too early and not rested enough, so she decided to take a nap.
Su Wan was woken up by the servant's knocking at her door.
She opened her eyes, her gaze bewildered for a few seconds before she became alert.
Just as she was about to go downstairs, her phone on the table suddenly rang. It was a call from her mother's attending doctor.
A chill went through Su Wan's heart, and the unease inside her began to grow, slowly engulfing her desires.
She answered the call, but before she could speak, she heard Dr. Mo's anxious voice from the other end, "Miss Su, your mother has fainted from a recurrence of her heart condition!"
The phone dropped to the floor with a clack.
Gu Nanzhou, who was usually invisible to others, had surprisingly left work early today.
He had just stepped inside, single-handedly loosening his tie, when he saw Su Wan dash down from the second floor like a gust of wind, crashing straight into him.
Su Wan was in such a hurry that she didn't even see the person in front of her. Gu Nanzhou frowned slightly, about to ask her why she was running so fast.
But the young girl in his arms suddenly looked up; those eyes that often smiled were brimming with tears, her nose was red, her complexion pale, and her lips trembled incessantly.