Chapter 412: Chapter 412 Drowning and Coma
After Lan Yan went downstairs, she asked a servant for directions and walked toward the backyard of the stage.
“Sister-in-law, isn’t that Yanyan?” Madam Xiao patted Liang Yun on the shoulder beside her.
Liang Yun turned her head and followed the direction indicated.
But she could only see a figure from behind.
Lan Yan arrived at the pavilion that Hu Yunqin had mentioned.
Hu Yunqin was sitting on the stone chair inside.
When Hu Yunqin saw her, she immediately put on a smile.
“Yanyan, come here quickly.”
Hu Yunqin beckoned to her.
Lan Yan walked over expressionlessly.
When she was still three steps away, she stopped.
Lan Yan gave her a cold glance and said, “Just say whatever you have to say.”
“Yanyan, you…” Hu Yunqin looked at her indifferent face, hesitating as if she didn’t know how to begin.
But in the next second, Lan Yan directly finished her sentence for her.
“You want to ask if I can let Dong Xiaoxiao go, if I can leave that five percent of Dong Family’s shares alone, right?”
“Yanyan, your mother is also…”
“Are you going to say it’s for my own good?”
Lan Yan interrupted her.
Then, she let out a cold laugh.
“Ms. Hu, I want you to honestly tell me, where exactly is the ‘good’ you’re doing for me?”
“Dong Xiaoxiao threw sulfuric acid on me. Did it even cross your mind what would happen if I hadn’t dodged that day? What consequences I would have to face?”
Facing Lan Yan’s questioning, Hu Yunqin’s response was: “But Yanyan, Xiaoxiao already knows she was wrong, and besides, she didn’t actually hit you with it. As her older sister, can’t you forgive her this once, please?”
Hearing Hu Yunqin’s words, Lan Yan felt deeply disappointed.
Besides disappointment, she seemed to feel nothing else.
She felt fortunate that she never developed any familial feelings for Hu Yunqin, nor had any expectations of her.
Otherwise, she would be the one who got hurt.
After all, the greater the expectations, the bigger the disappointments!
At this moment, she thought of everyone in the Xiao Family.
To them, she was just an outsider.
And yet, the elders of the Xiao Family gave her a warmth and care she hadn’t dared to hope for.
Compared to this so-called birth mother, it was like night and day.
After her cold laugh, Lan Yan asked another question: “So, Ms. Hu, if I were the one to harm Dong Xiaoxiao, do you think she would forgive me? Would you, Ms. Hu, plead with her on my behalf?”
Hu Yunqin hesitated for a few seconds after hearing that.
“Yanyan, I know you’re not that kind of person. You’re more mature than Xiaoxiao and wouldn’t do such a thing. But if that day ever came, Mom would also stand by your side.”
But to Lan Yan, her words carried no credibility whatsoever.
She knew the answer herself but still asked a naive and stupid question.
“Is that so?”
“Yanyan, it was Mom’s carelessness that caused you to get lost back then. It was my fault, and I want to make it up to you in this lifetime.”
“Carelessness, or was it intentional?”
Hearing that, Hu Yunqin’s pupils shrank, and a chill ran down her spine.
“Yanyan, what… what are you saying?”
“Nothing.”
Lan Yan knew she had heard it. At this point, there was no need to keep acting along with her.
Lan Yan wasn’t interested in listening any longer.
“If there’s nothing important, I’ll be leaving now.”
With that, she turned and was about to leave.
“Wait.”
Seeing this, Hu Yunqin immediately grabbed her hand.
Lan Yan turned back, her gaze icy and piercing.
Hu Yunqin let go of her hand immediately upon meeting her gaze.
She inexplicably felt afraid of Lan Yan.
This fear likely stemmed from the guilty void deeply buried in her heart.
“Yanyan, please, just this once. Won’t you agree?”
Lan Yan said flatly, “I won’t repeat the same answer twice.”
She had already made it clear back at the police station that day.
“And don’t even try to guilt-trip me with morality. I have nothing to do with you people. All this talk about siblings is just revolting to me. You don’t find it nauseating, but I do—Dong Xiaoxiao, my so-called sister? If you’re so willing to be her mother, fine, but I have no interest in being her sister. I can’t accept it.”
Lan Yan’s repeated cold remarks finally triggered some temper in Hu Yunqin.
“Lan Yan, I’m still your biological mother. Without me, do you think you’d even have what you do today?”
Lan Yan furrowed her beautiful brows before laughing mockingly. “Oh, what’s this? Dropping the act of the caring mother now?”
“You think what I have today is thanks to you?”
Lan Yan’s eyes were filled with mocking laughter.
“If I could, I’d rather you had just ended my life back then!”
Hu Yunqin’s face turned ashen.
But she couldn’t say a word.
Lan Yan turned to her, her gaze icy and distant, and said, “Yes, you’re right—I owe you thanks because if it weren’t for your supposed mercy in sparing my life back then, I wouldn’t have achieved what I have today. But everything I have now—it wasn’t given to me by you, wasn’t created by you. It’s all from my hard work, my blood, sweat, and tears. It has nothing to do with you, Ms. Hu Yunqin!”
With every word she said, Lan Yan walked a step closer.
Hu Yunqin was so intimidated by her oppressive aura that she staggered backward step after step.
Until she stumbled into the stone chair and suddenly sat down.
“You… what are you trying to do?”
Lan Yan’s presence was utterly daunting.
Hu Yunqin reminded her, “Don’t forget, this is the Xiao Family.”
Lan Yan said, “Of course, I haven’t forgotten. And I won’t do anything to you, because you’re not worth it.”
Hu Yunqin’s expression froze instantly.
“Yanyan?”
Suddenly, Xiao’s mother’s voice came from behind Lan Yan.
Lan Yan paused for a moment.
She turned around to see Mrs. Xiao walking toward her.
“Aunt Yun, why are you here?” Lan Yan asked.
Liang Yun looked at her, smiled, and said, “I saw you heading this way, so I came to check in case you got lost.”
After speaking, Liang Yun glanced toward Hu Yunqin.
Hu Yunqin’s face didn’t look great, and Liang Yun noticed.
“Did you finish your talk?” Liang Yun asked again.
Lan Yan hummed in response.
Then, Liang Yun stepped forward, took her hand, and said warmly, “If you’re done talking, let’s go back with Mom. Your Grandma was just mentioning you earlier.”
Lan Yan was momentarily stunned because Mrs. Xiao had directly called herself her mom.
Liang Yun saw her surprised expression and couldn’t help laughing. “You’ll have to call me Mom sooner or later. It’s no different now or later. You might as well get used to it early. Don’t worry, as long as I’m here, no one will bully you, and you won’t ever suffer any grievances.”
Lan Yan felt a warmth in her heart, but at the same time, her emotions were a mixed bag.
Clearly, Hu Yunqin was her biological mother, but everything she did left her cold. In contrast, Mrs. Xiao always gave her warmth.
Although Liang Yun’s words were directed at Lan Yan, they were implicitly meant for Hu Yunqin to hear.
Hu Yunqin wasn’t stupid and could naturally understand the underlying meaning.
After speaking, Mrs. Xiao led Lan Yan away.
From beginning to end, she hadn’t spoken a single word to Hu Yunqin.
Hu Yunqin just sat there, watching the backs of the two leaving.
Looking at them like this, they seemed more like mother and daughter, while she herself was more like an outsider.
Halfway back, Mrs. Xiao suddenly said, “Oh dear, Yanyan, I almost forgot I need to return to the main building to grab something. How about you go back on your own first?”
Lan Yan replied, “I’ll accompany you; I don’t have anything to do anyway.”
Mrs. Xiao said, “No need, no need. Go chat with Grandma; I’ll be back quickly.”
Seeing this, Lan Yan had no choice but to return on her own first.
Upon returning to the stage, she went directly to sit by Old Madam Xiao.
When the Old Madam saw her, she smiled kindly and said, “Yanyan, you’re here. Come, sit by Grandma.”
“Okay, Grandma.”
Even though Lan Yan had met the Xiao Family elders for the first time that day, their affection for her made her feel an instant closeness.
In contrast, with Hu Yunqin, no matter what she did, she could never feel at ease in her presence.
She always worried that, if she lowered her guard even slightly, she wouldn’t know how she might meet her end.
Seated on the other side of the Old Madam, Xiao Lanxin suddenly turned to Lan Yan and said, “Yanyan, this girl is so beautiful—completely in line with my aesthetic tastes. She has a lovely personality too. That rascal Xiao Si has really good eyes for people—it’s like he saved the Milky Way in his past life to deserve finding this treasure in this one.”
The Old Madam chimed in, “Absolutely, these two seem perfectly matched. This old woman can die happy now.”
The two elders never favored any one child in the Xiao Family and treated everyone equally.
However, because Xiao Si was raised by them, their affection for him ran a bit deeper. As such, the Old Madam always paid extra attention to Xiao Si’s marital status. With Xiao Si already thirty and still unmarried, she’d been worried daily.
Now, there was no longer a need to worry.
Moreover, from the very first moment she saw Lan Yan, she was deeply fond of her. Most importantly, she trusted her own grandson’s judgement.
“Grandma, Aunt, please don’t say that. Meeting Xiao Si is the greatest fortune of my life,” Lan Yan said.
She spoke from the heart. If it weren’t for Xiao Si, she might never have experienced the warmth of family in this lifetime.
The Old Madam patted her hand, saying, “Good child, Grandma doesn’t ask for much; I only hope you two will live a peaceful, joyful, and happy life together.”
Lan Yan replied, “Thank you, Grandma.”
Soon after, a servant hurriedly ran over to the Old Madam’s table, exclaiming, “Old Madam, something’s wrong—someone fell into the pool by the pavilion!”
Lan Yan frowned slightly and told the Old Madam, “Grandma, I’ll go take a look.”
With that, she stood up and left.
She walked quickly, and soon started running.
When she arrived at the pavilion, the housekeeper had just brought people over.
As Lan Yan approached the pool’s edge, she heard Mrs. Xiao’s voice.
Without hesitation, she took off her coat and dived into the water.
The housekeeper wanted to speak to her, but before he could, she had already jumped in.
He was startled and quickly instructed the others, “Hurry and go down to rescue them!”
Due to the lighting, Lan Yan couldn’t see clearly after entering the water but noticed a struggling figure ahead.
She swam toward it quickly.
When she reached the person and lifted them up, she thought it was Liang Yun.
“Aunt Yun, are you okay?”
But after speaking, she realized it wasn’t Mrs. Xiao, but Hu Yunqin.
Lan Yan frowned slightly. “Why is it you?”
“Yanyan, save me. Mom can’t swim…”
Seeing her, Hu Yunqin clung to her like a drowning person clutching at straws.
Lan Yan’s expression darkened; she let go of her and pried her hand away.
Then, she turned around and swam off to find Mrs. Xiao.
Earlier, she distinctly heard Mrs. Xiao’s voice, but now she couldn’t hear it anymore.
A sudden sense of foreboding rose in her heart.
When Xiao Si and the others arrived, they saw the servants bringing up Hu Yunqin.
Xiao Si scanned the scene but didn’t see Lan Yan.
He turned to the housekeeper and asked, “Uncle, where’s Lan Yan?”
The housekeeper pointed to the pool, saying, “Miss Lan is still below.”
“There’s someone else down there?” asked Gu Beiyan.
The housekeeper nodded, “It seems so.”
Because it was getting darker and the pool was pitch black, they couldn’t tell who was down there.
“When we arrived, Miss Lan had also just arrived. Without saying a word, she jumped in,” the housekeeper explained.
Xiao Si’s brows furrowed at his words.
Just as he was about to remove his jacket and jump in, there was movement in the water.
Suddenly, a maid shouted, “Someone’s over there!”
Everyone followed the direction she pointed and saw a figure in the water, one hand gripping the railing above while dragging another person with the other.
The pool was surrounded by railings with no place to climb out, so they had to be helped up.
Xiao Si and the others hurried over.
When they reached her, they saw that the person Lan Yan was rescuing was none other than his own mother.
They quickly pulled them up.
Mrs. Xiao had swallowed a lot of water and passed out.
“Aunt Yun’s choked on water; help her to vomit it out quickly!”
Lan Yan shouted as they pulled her up.
Once Mrs. Xiao was laid flat on the ground, Xiao Si immediately performed emergency first aid.
After checking her breathing and pulse, he began pressing down on her chest.
After a few compressions, Mrs. Xiao coughed and expelled the water from her mouth.
Upon seeing this, Gu Beiyan and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.
That was terrifying!
“Xiao, take Aunt Yun to the hospital immediately,” Gu Beiyan urged.
Xiao Si carried her and left.
Lan Yan was pulled out of the water by Jiang Yan.
By the time she was out, Xiao Si had already left, carrying Mrs. Xiao.
Su He draped a coat over her shoulders.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Yun will be fine. You shouldn’t catch a cold—go change your clothes first.”
Lan Yan’s face looked unwell at this moment.
Her brows were tightly knit together.
Meanwhile, Xiao Lanxin arrived with Old Madam Xiao, supporting her as they came over. They immediately saw Lan Yan, dripping wet.
The Old Madam said at once, “Lanxin, take Yanyan to change her clothes so she won’t catch a cold.”
Xiao Lanxin hurried over and led Lan Yan away to change clothes.
When passing by Hu Yunqin, Lan Yan paused.
Although Hu Yunqin had choked on water, she hadn’t lost consciousness; she was awake when they pulled her out.
Lan Yan gave her a dark, icy stare.
Not daring to meet her gaze, Hu Yunqin lowered her head, but she could feel the burning, freezing intensity in Lan Yan’s eyes.
Yet, Lan Yan said nothing more and left with Xiao Lanxin.
Lan Yan just hoped that what she suspected wasn’t true.