Meng Jingwei leaned back in her chair, her hand resting on the armrest, her fingers tapping a rhythm against it. Her eyes dared not meet Lan Shu's. "You've changed quite a bit; you've become much more composed."
She looked away, trying to deflect.
Lan Shu picked up a piece of grilled fish with her chopsticks, chewed it slowly, and already had an answer in mind.
Her amnesia from the fall was probably not just a simple 'fall'.
"You said I had a child with Qing Sihuai. Where is the child? And who are my biological parents?" Her questions suddenly multiplied.
Meng Jingwei didn't know how to answer. She helplessly ran a hand through her long hair. "Your child... died. As for your parents, they've been missing since you disappeared."
After much deliberation, she decided to conceal the truth from Lan Shu.
If she told Lan Shu the truth now, Lan Shu might investigate further, and the more she investigated, the closer she would get to the truth.
At that point, she would once again be consumed by past pain, unable to extricate herself.
"Missing..." Lan Shu drew out the words. "Can that be understood as dead?"
Meng Jingwei raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
Lan Shu continued, "Is it related to Qing Sihuai?"
"I can only say that the enemy who 'killed' your biological parents is dead. However, Qing Sihuai played a significant role. So, stay away from her; you're no match for him."
...
That night, Lan Shu and Meng Jingwei talked extensively, and it seemed their distance closed in a single evening.
Yet, even so, Meng Jingwei still felt that Lan Shu's demeanor had become much colder, increasingly aloof.
Late at night, they each returned home.
Meanwhile, in another city.
After washing up, Shi Ran washed her clothes again. Just as she hung them to dry, she suddenly felt a pain in her abdomen.
"Mmm... hiss..."
She leaned on the balcony railing, clutching her stomach with one hand, bent over in pain.
At that moment, she felt a warm gush between her legs.
An immediate sense of foreboding washed over her.
Shi Ran looked down and saw bright red blood flowing down her legs.
Her heart tightened, and she started to panic.
Just then, Yuan Wei heard her and walked in from the living room. "Ranran, what's wrong..."
As he asked, his gaze fell on her legs and saw the bloodstains. He immediately rushed to her. "I'll take you to the hospital."
Yuan Wei was extremely anxious. He scooped Shi Ran into his arms, ran downstairs steadily, placed her in the back seat of the car, and drove directly to the central hospital.
Time rewound to over ten hours earlier.
Lan Cheng.
Tang family villa.
Tang Si grew increasingly despondent, the pain in his internal organs worsening, his complexion becoming paler.
Although Tang's mother was overjoyed about Zhao Wuyan's pregnancy, seeing Tang Si's worsening condition, she, as a mother, naturally felt concerned.
She carried the medicine to Tang Si's room and watched him take it.
Tang Si lay in bed, growing weaker. He didn't want to take the medicine, but seeing his mother's determined stance not to leave if he didn't, he could only force himself up and drink the bowl of dark herbal medicine.
"It's good that you drank it; your body will slowly get better." Tang's mother's worried heart settled.
She took the bowl and was about to take out some tissues to hand to Tang Si when he suddenly leaned forward. "Mmm... ugh..."
The medicine he had just swallowed came all back up.
After vomiting into the trash can, Tang Si sat up and immediately lost consciousness.
Tang's mother was terrified, her heart pounding. She screamed, "Xiao Si? Xiao Si? What's wrong? Someone, quickly, someone!" Her cry brought several maids and his elder brother, Tang Ziwei, rushing in.