Chapter 82 Things have come to this point, there's nothing more to it...

The atmosphere was somewhat tense, but it was quickly broken by the sound of the door opening.

Tang Ran opened the door and the first thing she saw was Song Zhixu standing directly in front of it. "Mommy, she..."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Anna, stopped talking, glanced behind her, and walked out of the ward.

Tang Ran pulled Song Zhixu aside and continued the introduction that had been interrupted in the emergency room, "Auntie, this is my fiancée, Song Zhixu."

Upon hearing her introduction, Song Zhixu breathed a long sigh of relief, but was also somewhat surprised.

Aunt?

In her memory, Tang Wanru was an only child and had no brothers or sisters.

However, this is not the time to pry into the details.

Anna glanced at Song Zhixu and, seeing her composed expression, a barely perceptible hint of admiration appeared in her eyes.

She nodded, as direct as ever, "We've met. She contacted me, wanting to buy back the shops on Chaoxi Street."

Song Zhixu had mentioned this to her before she left, so Tang Ran wasn't surprised.

"Do you want to go in and take a look?" Tang Ran asked Anna uncertainly.

"No." Anna glanced at the door, her cool voice growing increasingly indifferent.

Before turning to leave, she deliberately added, "No need to tell her that you ran into me today."

Tang Ran nodded, her expression complex as she watched Anna's departing figure.

After Anna walked away, Tang Ran turned to Song Zhixu and said, "Mommy has gone to sleep. I'll stay and keep her company tonight."

Tang Ran was worried about Tang Wanru, and could only feel at ease by staying with her.

She tugged at Song Zhixu's hand. "There's nothing else going on here. You should go home early and text me when you get home."

Song Zhixu drove herself here, and Tang Ran didn't want her to go back too late.

"Let's sit over there for a bit." Song Zhixu pulled her along, leading her to a nearby chair.

"What's wrong?" Tang Ran asked, puzzled.

Song Zhixu glanced at her feet: "Don't your feet hurt?"

Only after being reminded by her did Tang Ran realize that she had twisted her ankle when she got off the sofa.

Her ankle was a little uncomfortable when she walked, but it wasn't serious. She was worried about her mother's health and didn't pay attention to this minor problem. She didn't expect Song Zhixu to notice it.

Song Zhixu helped her right leg onto his own lap and took off Tang Ran's shoes and socks.

The area around my ankle was red.

She frowned and tore open the plaster she was holding.

"Where did this come from?" Tang Ran asked in surprise.

Song Zhixu tore open the packaging bag and carefully applied the plaster to Tang Ran's ankle, "I had Assistant Jiang call for Flash Delivery."

The gel patch was cool to the touch, and Tang Ran took a deep breath the moment it was applied.

"Does it hurt that much?" Song Zhixu stopped what she was doing. "Let's go see a doctor first."

"No, no," Tang Ran quickly shook her head and explained, "My foot doesn't hurt much, it's just that the plaster is a bit cold."

Song Zhixu rubbed his palms together and placed them on the plaster. "Is this any better?"

She turned her head to ask Tang Ran, but was unexpectedly embraced tightly by her.

Tang Ran hugged her neck and nuzzled against her, sighing sincerely, "You're so good to me~"

Song Zhixu smiled, patted Tang Ran on the back, helped her put on her socks and shoes, and got up to throw away the trash.

Tang Ran pulled her back down and made her sit down again.

"Well," she said after a moment's thought, "my aunt is a distant cousin. After her parents passed away, she was adopted by my grandfather. Then some things happened, and she stopped having contact with my mom."

Having met everyone, Tang Ran had nothing left to hide, but she still selectively started by focusing on Anna's identity.

She briefly explained Anna's situation. There were some things she knew, but she didn't tell Song Zhixu anything that involved the privacy of the elders.

Song Zhixu nodded.

Based on what Tang Ran said, and her conversation with Anna earlier, Song Zhixu roughly guessed that there must be some 'disagreement' between Tang Wanru and Anna.

She wasn't a gossipy person and had no interest in digging into their entanglements; she was more concerned with another issue.

"Because she and your mother don't get along, Tang's has run into problems. Didn't you ask her for help?" Song Zhixu asked.

She had never connected Tang Ran with Anna, mainly because she thought that if Tang Ran was familiar with Anna, why didn't she ask Anna for help in the first place, but instead agreed to give it a try with her?

If the problem lies with Tang Wanru, then it makes sense.

Song Zhixu's topic shifted so quickly that Tang Ran took a moment to react before nodding.

The story of my aunt and my mother is too complicated to explain in a few words. However, in my previous life, my mother never asked my aunt for help until the Tang family went bankrupt. So when the Tang family had financial difficulties, she really didn't think of asking Anna for help.

"Aunt Tang probably didn't know that Anna bought the shop on Chaoxi Street and then returned it to you, right?"

Song Zhixu guessed that since Tang Wanru would not directly accept Anna's help, Anna indirectly helped the Tang family by buying the shop and giving it to Tang Ran.

This is why Anna signed a contract with Tang Wanru through an agency.

"How did you know?" Tang Ran asked in surprise.

She had a feeling that, although she hadn't said anything, Song Zhixu had already figured everything out.

"I guessed." Song Zhixu felt relieved, but didn't show it on his face.

At the moment she finally sorted things out, she was both amused and exasperated.

She had been overthinking things for the past few days, and it turned out to be a huge misunderstanding.

Mentioning the shop reminded Tang Ran of what Song Zhixu had said before she left. Looking at Song Zhixu's indifferent expression, which made Tang Ran feel inexplicably guilty.

While she was preoccupied with figuring out how to hide it from Song Zhixu, Song Zhixu was thinking of helping her buy the shop back.

“Um,” Tang Ran hooked Song Zhixu’s finger, “I didn’t know you wanted to buy back the shops on Chaoxi Street, otherwise I would have told you sooner.”

Knowing how much Song Zhixu loved her, she wasn't so afraid of her past being exposed.

After all, no matter how great the loss from failing to acquire Daning was, it was not as valuable as these shops on Chaoxi Street.

"Is there anything else you want to say to me now?" Song Zhixu raised an eyebrow slightly.

"That." Tang Ran grasped her fingertips and exhaled, "Back then, I asked my aunt for help with the acquisition of Da Ning."

Now that things have come to this point, there's nothing left to hide.

After she finished speaking, she immediately raised two fingers as if making a vow, and explained, "But that was all to get revenge on Song Wuqi. I didn't expect that I would get engaged to you later. If I had known earlier, I would never have done that."

Song Zhixu looked at her for two seconds, but didn't say anything.

She had already thought of this, but it was still the same problem.

If it were just Song Wuqi cheating, and Tang Ran wanted to retaliate, she could simply expose Song Wuqi. Why use such a complicated and ruthless method?

Therefore, her feelings in Jingting that day were not wrong; Tang Ran hated Song Wuqi.

But why?

Seeing that she was just looking at her without saying anything, Tang Ran thought she was going to get angry, so she quickly added, "And to make up for the mistake I made, I told my aunt about the Xin+ thing, and my aunt said that we could cooperate with the Song family."

As she spoke, she gently shook Song Zhixu's arm, pleading softly, "Please don't be angry, okay?"

"Was it you who proposed the collaboration between Blue Whale and the Song family?" Song Zhixu asked knowingly.

Once you know the relationship between Anna and Tang Ran, the situation with Blue Whale becomes much easier to guess.

Song Zhixu wasn't angry with her at all, so she took the opportunity Tang Ran offered to back down.

As for Song Wuqi's matter, she felt that even if she asked, Tang Ran might not tell her.

"Have the people from Blue Whale contacted you yet?" Tang Ran asked in surprise, thinking that her aunt was quite efficient.

By getting Blue Whale to cooperate with the Song family, not only can Song Zhixu be helped, but Song Wuqi's plans can also be thwarted.

It would kill two birds with one stone, so Tang Ran was naturally happy to help.

"Yes," Song Zhixu responded, then asked, "You and your aunt have a good relationship?"

Tang Ran said Anna was the Tang family's adopted daughter, but Song Zhixu had never heard of her before, so Anna must have stopped having contact with the Tang family a long time ago.

"Yes, I only found out about her after I went to high school. It was when my grandfather was seriously ill that she came back to visit him, and we've kept in touch ever since."

When Tang Ran was in high school, her grandfather suffered a heart attack and was even given a critical condition notice, but fortunately he was rescued.

During that time, Tang Ran would go to the hospital to accompany her grandfather whenever she didn't have classes.

When Tang Ran arrived that day, the door to the ward was open. As soon as she walked in, she saw a strange woman with short hair.

The man, dressed in a dark suit, stood at the foot of the bed, exuding an aura of indifference and coldness.

Upon seeing Tang Ran walk in, he glanced at her coldly, and even frowned slightly when he saw her clearly.

Tang Ran had a gut feeling that this person didn't like her.

"What happened back then wasn't Wanru's fault, it was all my fault..."

The bathroom was located near the entrance to the ward. When Tang Ran walked in, Old Master Tang's view was blocked, and he did not see her.

Perhaps it was seeing the short-haired woman's actions that made him realize someone was coming, and he stopped talking.

Tang Ran ignored the man, quickened her pace, and cheerfully called out, "Grandpa, I'm here!"

"Ta-da! Look what good stuff I brought you!"

She proudly pulled the bag from behind her back and handed it to Grandpa Tang, "The butterfly pastries from Jiangcheng Hotel, aren't you happy?"

"happy."

The old man smiled and took the bag from Tang Ran's hand, affectionately patting her head.

Then she looked at the short-haired woman standing at the foot of the bed, "Xiao Jie, this is Wanru's daughter, Tang Ran."

Tang Ran wondered if it was just her imagination, but when her grandfather said her name, the person opposite her seemed to pause for a moment.

When I looked at her again, my eyes weren't so cold anymore.

Tang Ran didn't know why at the time, but later she felt very sad when she found out.

The door to the ward was opened again, the sound interrupting Tang Ran's thoughts.

Aunt Liu came out from inside.

"Has the car arrived?" Tang Ran asked her.

Before leaving, she called a car for Aunt Liu.

"The driver is downstairs." Aunt Liu nodded, glancing at Tang Ran as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Seeing that she had something to say to her, Tang Ran turned around and said to Song Zhixu, "I'll take Aunt Liu downstairs first."

I got up and followed Aunt Liu outside.

As she walked past the nurses' station, Aunt Liu didn't see anyone. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Did Ranran call President Lin?"

"I tried calling, but the call didn't go through."

When Tang Ran left the ward, she called Lin Jixin, but probably because of a bad signal, she couldn't get through. She originally planned to call again later.

Aunt Liu wasn't a talkative person, but now that she had specifically asked about it, Tang Ran sensed that something was amiss.

She asked, "Did Mom come home tonight?"

"President Lin came home tonight and had dinner at home."

Aunt Liu nodded and continued, "After dinner, Madam watched TV in the living room for a while and then went upstairs. Around eight o'clock, I heard some arguing."

"After about ten minutes, the sound stopped, and my wife called me downstairs, saying she was feeling unwell. I rushed upstairs, but I didn't see Mr. Lin upstairs."

Tang Ran's heart sank.

So the reason Mommy fainted today is because she had a fight with Mommy?

And now, we don't know where Mom has gone; we can't even get through to her on the phone.

Tang Wanru is in poor health and usually tries to control herself and avoid getting too emotional.

Aside from her dissatisfaction with her engagement to Song Wuqi last time, Tang Ran had never seen her angry.

But what exactly happened that made Mommy so angry that she fainted?

After Aunt Liu left, Tang Ran frowned and dialed Lin Jixin's number again. The same cold female voice came through the receiver: "Sorry, the number you dialed is not in service area."