Chapter 337: Pricking the Finger to Draw Blood

Gu Zhiyan felt that the woman named Jiang Lai was simply like a ghost haunting their family, a lingering spirit.

Ruining people's futures.

Stealing people's marital ties.

Making people irritable.

In short, it's just not doing human things.

"Mom, why are you looking for her?" Gu Zhiyan asked impatiently, then glanced at his sister, "For Yin Xue's marriage? The engagement between the Nian and Gu families is a done deal; no matter how deep their feelings, they ultimately have to obey the elders."

"Since you know this, why won't you listen to us? Qu Mei is a ballet prima ballerina, she's thousands of times better than any Lin woman!" Song Shiwei glared at her son.

Gu Zhiyan was instantly speechless.

Knowing he couldn't win against his mother, he simply turned and called his father; as soon as he said 'Dad' from his mouth, his mother immediately snatched his phone and loudly demanded what he was doing!

Gu Zhiyan was on the verge of collapse, his eyes red as he retorted: "What are you doing now? You went to communicate with Jiang Lai about Yin Xue's matter, couldn't reach an agreement, and upset the old man—go find her! Why are you coming to make things difficult for your only son again?"

Song Shiwei's pupils flickered slightly; she opened her mouth but didn't know what to rebut.

The phone returned to Gu Zhiyan's hand, and he dialed his father again.

"Dad, you've cut off my funds and forbidden me from using the Gu family's connections, so you and Mom shouldn't interfere in my affairs." Gu Zhiyan glanced at his mother with the corner of his eye, "Mom is in A City, she wants to forcibly drag me back."

"I'm already on my way." Gu Sen's calm, steady voice came through the phone, "Give the phone to your mother."

Gu Zhiyan handed the phone over.

Song Shiwei took the phone, drew a deep breath, and tried to calm herself: "I disagree with you cutting off my son's funds and connections, and I also won't agree to his relationship with Lin Shutong; even if you come, it's useless."

Gu Sen: "It's not for the son's matter."

Song Shiwei: "That's for..."

Upon thinking of something, Song Shiwei's voice suddenly stopped, her momentum weakened, and she immediately changed her tone: "I won't drag my son back; you don't need to come; I'll take my daughter home now."

Gu Sen sighed: "I'm already on the road."

Song Shiwei raised her voice again: "I said you don't need to come; I won't make things difficult for my son!"

The phone hung up.

Regarding the father suddenly hanging up on the mother's phone call, both siblings were shocked.

For over twenty years, they had never seen the father give the mother a cold face.

Gu Zhiyan furrowed his brows, actually a little worried: could his parents be developing a conflict over his matter?

Regardless of outsiders' or family's eyes, his parents are a model couple.

Seemingly thinking of something, Gu Yinxue's heart began to race, faster and faster, already starting to feel short of breath.

The first person to notice something was wrong with her was Gu Zhiyan.

"Yin Xue? Yin Xue!"

Song Shiwei was also startled, shouting her daughter's name while rummaging for the medicine bottle on her.

"Here." Gu Zhiyan found it first, opened the bottle and poured out a nitroglycerin tablet, nervously looking at his sister, "Open your mouth."

Nitroglycerin works faster than quick-acting heart pills; taken sublingually, it takes effect in one to two minutes.

Gu Yinxue eased a little, her eyes red as she looked at her anxious mother and brother, one arm around each, hugging them and saying: "Mom, Bro, can you stop fighting? Can't we be a harmonious family?"

Song Shiwei and Gu Zhiyan instantly simmered down, no longer arguing red-faced as before; all their attention turned to Gu Yinxue, and they helped her sit in a chair.

The air in the hospital corridor smelled of disinfectant; Gu Zhiyan said, "Mom, take my sister back to the hotel first."

Song Shiwei realized she couldn't persuade her son, and was even more worried about her daughter's condition, so she had no choice but to take her daughter back to the hotel.

Gu Yinxue cautiously asked, "Mom, do we still have to go back today?"

Song Shiwei looked out the window, her expression complex: "Your dad is already on his way, and we've argued again."

"Again?" Yin Xue caught that word; in her impression, her parents had never truly argued—her father always yielded to her mother, and her mother, when occasionally heated, would say some harsh words but not too extreme, and after speaking she would realize her emotions were off and turn to apologize to her father.

Someone in the family had told her that her mother suffered from postpartum depression when giving birth to her, making her prone to emotional breakdowns, and each time her father would patiently stay by her side.

Song Shiwei came to her senses, nodded, and said, "When you were just born, we already had an argument."

Gu Yinxue's gaze instantly became dim and unclear: "Because, am I a girl?"

Song Shiwei's pupils contracted sharply, her lips slightly parted as if she wanted to speak but didn't immediately; after a moment she rebutted: "Impossible! What are you wildly imagining? Is it because Mom and Bro just argued in the hospital and said those things? Mom doesn't mean that, Yin Xue."

She sat down, pulled her daughter into her embrace, and comforted her: "Mom doesn't mean that, Bro doesn't mean that, don't overthink it; Mom only has you as her daughter, Mom loves you the most."

"I know." Yin Xue rubbed her head against her mother, her voice soft and obedient, yet her eyes held a deep gloom: "Mom, are you tired? Want to rest a bit?"

Song Shiwei was indeed tired.

Because of her son's matter, she was heartbroken and mentally drained.

"Mom, go rest a bit." Yin Xue got up, watched her mother return to the room; her mother told her to also rest well and not get agitated over anything, and she agreed.

Her chest still felt a faint dull ache, but compared to her parents' sudden quarrel, her father suddenly rushing to A City, and what she had to do next, this pain was no longer important.

Gu Yinxue dialed a friend in A City, reporting the hotel address and room number.

Song Shiwei lay in bed, eyes closed, yet couldn't sleep; her mind was filled with Jiang Lai's face, and the face of her husband when he was young, which resembled it.

Not long after, she heard the sound of a door opening and closing outside; it must have been her daughter calling the hotel staff.

After a while, her daughter stood at the room door and called out to her.

"Mom, are you asleep?"

Song Shiwei slowly opened her eyes, sighed: "No."

"I know Mom is over-worrying because of my brother." Yin Xue walked inward, holding a cup of water in one hand and a sachet of incense in the other, "Mom, drink some water and then sleep; I got sleep‑assisting incense from the hotel, hoping you'll sleep better."

The incense was lit, and a soothing, relaxing fragrance began to fill the air.

Song Shiwei finished the half‑cup of plain water in front of her, lay down again, and reminded her daughter: "When Dad arrives, remember to wake me."

Lying back in bed, drowsiness swept over her.

This incense's sleep‑assisting effect was also too good.

Just as she was thinking, she fell into a deep sleep; even being pricked by a tiny needle to draw blood from her finger didn't show the slightest sign of waking.