Chapter 176: To Disappoint You, I Am Not Gu Yang

Xu An'an hurried anxiously toward the Xu family residence, asking people everywhere along the way, but no one had seen Mrs. Xu, which made her grow increasingly panicked.

If Xu Fengnian or Shen Ying were to spot her mother, things would be disastrous!

In her panic, Xu An'an failed to notice Xu Wanwan approaching from the front.

Xu Wanwan instinctively hid herself, but then she realized why she should act so cowardly. Just as she was about to step out, she saw Xu An'an stopping a passerby.

She hid back again, wanting to see what on earth Xu An'an was up to.

However, standing at a distance, Xu Wanwan couldn't hear very well, only vaguely gathering that Xu An'an was looking for someone.

"This bitch, what is she up to again?"

Once Xu An'an had walked far away, Xu Wanwan received a urging phone call from her close friend, so she cast the matter to the back of her mind and went off happily to have fun.

After wandering around the vicinity of the Xu family home for a while, Xu An'an still didn't catch sight of Mrs. Xu.

Having run continuously for over an hour, she was utterly exhausted. The midday sun was also blazing hot, leaving her dizzy and with a parched throat.

Yet she dared not stop, fearing that if she rested even for a brief moment, something terrible might happen to her mother.

Ring, ring, ring!

Thinking it was a call from the police station, Xu An'an had just pulled out her phone when she was bumped by someone walking toward her, causing the phone to slip from her grip and fly out.

Crack!

The phone hit the ground, its screen immediately going black.

Xu An'an tried to grab the person responsible, but the culprit had already sprinted away.

"You—come back!"

With just that shout, Xu An'an felt her vision go dark. She staggered forward to pick up her phone and then collapsed unconscious onto the ground.

When Xu An'an woke up again, she found Gu Yang sitting beside her.

"An'an!"

Xu An'an took a moment to recover, then struggled to sit up. "My mom, I have to go find my mom."

"Don't worry, auntie has been found. She was just a bit startled and is still sleeping after taking some medicine," Gu Yang quickly said.

Upon learning that her mother had been found, the heart Xu An'an had been hanging in suspense could finally settle.

"My mom was frightened? What on earth happened?"

"I don't know the specifics myself. You can ask Second Master when he arrives." Gu Yang had seen Jiang Li carrying the unconscious Xu An'an into the hospital entrance and had followed along, but before he could ask for details, Jiang Li had assigned him to keep watch here.

Seeing that Xu An'an wanted to go look for Jiang Li, Gu Yang had no choice but to dissuade her: "You've suffered heatstroke and need to lie down and rest properly right now. Otherwise, if you faint again, you'll be the one suffering."

Xu An'an only wanted to go check on her mother's condition; unless she saw it with her own eyes, she wouldn't feel at ease.

However, she was truly powerless at the moment.

"Thank you."

"Get some sleep." Seeing Aunt Zhang approaching, Gu Yang asked her to help tuck the quilt around Xu An'an. "I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving first."

Hearing no response, Gu Yang turned back and discovered that Xu An'an had already fallen asleep.

Aunt Zhang looked at Gu Yang and then at Xu An'an, lost in thought, and didn't even notice when Gu Yang left.

Xu An'an slept all the way until evening, waking up from hunger.

She drifted back to consciousness. The room was dim, with only moonlight filtering in. A man was leaning back and sleeping in the sofa area; judging by his silhouette, it was Jiang Li.

Yet her brain blanked out, and she blurted out: "Gu Yang?"

Jiang Li, who was a light sleeper, woke up, his handsome face looking rather unpleasant.

"Sorry to disappoint you, I'm not Gu Yang."

Realizing she had called out the wrong name, Xu An'an hurriedly apologized, offering a flustered explanation: "I actually recognized you, but Gu Yang had just been here, so my mind was in a bit of a mess for a moment, and I mistakenly called out the wrong name without thinking."

Jiang Li remained brimming with jealousy: "Do you really think he would stay here and keep you company this late?"

Indeed, only someone with a close relationship would be willing to stay and watch over her at such a late hour.

Xu An'an was slightly stunned. Could her relationship with Jiang Li be measured in such a way?

Yet Jiang Li was indeed right here, accompanying her.

"You..."

"Hungry, aren't you? I'll have someone bring some food over." Figuring that if he continued talking with Xu An'an, he would lose his temper, Jiang Li found an excuse and walked out.

Xu An'an opened her mouth slightly and regretfully slapped her forehead.

After a while, Assistant Wang delivered a midnight snack—a very light and smooth fish congee.

Not seeing Jiang Li, Xu An'an couldn't help asking: "Assistant Wang, where is the Second Master? Has he already gone back?"

Assistant Wang shook his head: "The Second Master only instructed me to bring you the congee. I don't know anything else, and I didn't see the Second Master outside either."

Xu An'an forced a strained smile at the corners of her mouth.

It was her fault for calling out the wrong person.

Yet she hadn't done it on purpose, and he wouldn't even listen to her explanation—why was this jerk of a man so petty?

Assistant Wang didn't leave immediately, but first told Xu An'an about Mrs. Xu being frightened: "Our people found Mrs. Xu in a small park. She was unconscious at the time, and people living nearby seemed to have seen her arguing with someone, looking very angry."

"According to Dr. Wen, Mrs. Xu fainted because anger and grief attacked her heart."

"As for who the person was, nobody saw them because that area is filled with trees."

Realizing that the Xu family home was nearby, Xu An'an felt immensely annoyed, and the fragrant bowl of fish congee before her suddenly lost all its appeal.

Yet she remembered Jiang Li's words: even if the sky falls, you must still eat properly.

Xu An'an still forced herself to finish the congee.

Assistant Wang packed everything up neatly and left.

Xu An'an had slept almost the entire night, so she had no sleepiness left at all. She put on a jacket and headed over to Mrs. Xu's ward.

Aunt Zhang was sleeping soundly on the accompanying bed next to it. Xu An'an didn't want to wake her and made her movements as light as possible.

Seeing that even in her sleep her mother's brows were tightly knitted, Xu An'an couldn't help her eyes turning red.

Just imagining it, she could guess how much grievance her mother had suffered; otherwise, she wouldn't have been frightened into fainting.

She decided to come over tomorrow to ask again and make sure the matter was thoroughly investigated.

...

Xu Family Residence.

Xu Fengnian returned from a business dinner reeking of alcohol. As soon as he entered the door, he told Shen Ying, who was sitting on the sofa, to go brew him a hangover soup, while muttering curses under his breath.

"Those bastards are truly heartless. They kept pushing me to drink, without mentioning a single word about cooperation!"

"Treating me like a dog to be played with!"

Shen Ying cast a cool glance at Xu Fengnian. Recently, she had wanted to transfer assets, but she had encountered numerous problems and could only pause for the time being.

She instructed the domestic helper to go brew the hangover soup.

"You can no longer control Xu An'an now. Since she is unwilling to marry Jiang Yu, we've lost the Jiang family as a major backing, so naturally others won't give you a pleasant look either."

"You are her biological father after all; why won't she think more about you?"

Xu Fengnian's expression suddenly darkened.

Shen Ying sighed: "She's harboring resentment toward us."

"If she really manages to secure her hold on Second Master's thigh, she's bound to take revenge on us in the future."

If a disaster truly struck, she would definitely take Xu Wanwan and leave, but she had to lay the groundwork now to prevent Xu Fengnian from overthinking.

Xu Fengnian also wanted to teach Xu An'an a lesson, but he had to take Jiang Li into consideration.

Shen Ying also knew where the crux of the problem lay.

"Second Master hasn't made his relationship with Xu An'an public yet, which proves he doesn't value Xu An'an all that much. If we ruin her, won't she just be like before, completely at our mercy?"