Chapter 385 Death in a Foreign Land

"I understand." Li Tingshen said, "Do you want me to go and persuade Jun Lin?"

Gu Mian shook his head gently. "My brother is angry right now and may not listen to me. Let's let them calm down for a few days before talking."

"That's fine." Li Tingshen changed the subject, "You were busy with their affairs all day and didn't even have time to talk to me."

Gu Mian couldn't help laughing, "Am I not talking to you now?"

"That's different." Li Ting asked, "How's Granny Song doing?"

"It went very smoothly."

"That's good. Once she raises some maggots and studies them carefully, maybe she can find a way to deal with it."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

As soon as she finished speaking, Grandma Song called.

"Speak of the devil, I'll take Granny Song's call first."

"good."

Gu Mian hung up the video and picked up the phone, "Grandma Song, you're looking for me?"

"Mrs. Li, are you busy?"

"I'm not busy. Just say whatever you want to say."

"Nothing, I just wanted to chat with you."

Gu Mian always felt that Grandma Song’s tone was strange, but he didn’t ask directly.

"Okay, every time I talk to you, I benefit a lot. I really like chatting with you."

Grandma Song laughed, "You are a very studious child, which is rare. Madam Li, I have already taught you how to raise crickets. Have you learned it all?"

"I learned the theory, but I never had the chance to try this kind of thing."

"Yes, you are a noblewoman, and you are not suitable to deal with these poisonous creatures, but I still want to pass on the tradition of raising pigs. After all, if it is used well, it may benefit society."

"You're right." Gu Mian agreed. "Grandma Song, I've thought about it. It's inevitable that there will be risks when you come into contact with poisons like you do. I plan to set up a laboratory so that you can study worms in a safer and more efficient way, and use it in medicine to benefit society."

"Mrs. Li is really kind-hearted." Granny Song was deeply moved. "It is such an honor for me to know you."

"I am also very lucky to meet Grandma Song." Gu Mian said with a smile, "The laboratory is located in the imperial capital. As the core person, I will provide you with whatever you need."

"The environment in the imperial capital is not bad. You can stay in the imperial capital in the future and bring your son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren to live with you. I will ensure the quality of life for your whole family."

"The medical and educational conditions in the capital are better than those in your hometown, and your grandchildren will also be able to get better educational resources."

"Mrs. Li, you are such a good person..." Granny Song choked up, "How could I deserve you to be so kind to me..."

"Don't say that. It's a great fate that we know each other, not to mention that we get along so well."

Gu Mian was not very reassured, "Grandma Song, are you okay?"

"What can happen to me?" Grandma Song quickly calmed down, "I'm just very touched, Madam Li, thank you..."

"Grandma Song, don't worry. Even if you can't find a way to save me, you are still my benefactor. My husband and I will be grateful to you forever."

Grandma Song choked up again, "Okay, you are all good kids... You must be well..."

"We'll all be fine..."

......

In the quiet night, the sleeper woke up from a nightmare.

She suddenly opened her eyes and realized she was dreaming.

The dream just now was so horrible that she didn't care that it was four o'clock in the morning. She picked up the phone on the bedside table and called Li Tingshen.

Not long after the call was connected, Li Tingshen picked up the phone. His low, hoarse voice was filled with nervousness. "Gu Mian, what's wrong?"

"Ting Shen, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, what happened?"

"I just had a nightmare." Gu Mian closed his eyes, "I dreamed that you were killed by Gu Xingzhi and fell in a pool of blood..."

"Wife, you are too nervous." Li Ting comforted her, "Dreams are always the opposite of what they actually are. I'm fine."

"That's good..." Gu Ming calmed his tense nerves, "I may have had such a nightmare because of too much psychological pressure..."

"Don't think about it, okay?" Li Tingshen said softly, "It's still early, go drink some water and go back to sleep."

"I'm not thirsty."

"Then lie down, I'll stay with you."

Gu Mian lay down again and said softly, "Ting Shen, why don't you just control Gu Xingzhi and stop him from doing evil."

"I'm really scared that he's going to hurt you, hurt someone I care about..."

The man on the other end of the phone was silent for a long time before he responded in a deep voice, "I can't touch him now because your life depends on him."

"I won't risk him until I can successfully remove the worms from your body."

"I understand your concern, but I'm really afraid..."

"Honey, don't be afraid." Li Ting said, "You have to believe me, believe us."

Gu Mian closed his eyes and said nothing more.

Even though Li Tingshen was not by her side, at this moment she seemed to be able to hear the breathing coming from the other end of the phone, which could also make her heart gradually calm down...

......

Gu Mian didn't know when he fell asleep, he only knew that he was woken up by the ringing of his cell phone while he was half asleep.

She opened her eyes and glanced at the screen. It was a call from the bodyguard who was protecting Grandma Song.

It was six o'clock in the morning. It was impossible for the bodyguard to call at this time.

Gushen felt slightly uneasy, and his sleepiness was driven away for a few minutes. He quickly picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Madam, something happened!" The bodyguard's anxious voice came from the other end of the phone, "Grandma Song...she's dead!"

"What did you say..." Gu Mian's face turned pale, "How is it possible... is it... is it Gu Xingzhi who found her?"

"No." The bodyguard reported, "Grandma Song's face was black, and there were traces of snake bites on the back of her hands. She must have been killed by a venomous snake."

"That's even more impossible!" Gu Mian couldn't believe it. "She was prepared for all the poisons she was about to touch. She carried antidote pills and serum with her. How could she be bitten to death by a poisonous snake?"

"Madam, I'm sorry, we failed to protect her..."

"Now is not the time to say sorry!" Gu Mian felt dizzy, "I will go over there right now!"

Gu Mian hung up the phone and immediately got out of bed to change clothes, then Li Tingshen called.

When he answered the phone, Gu Mian's voice was trembling, "Ting Shen..."

"Gu Mian, Grandma Song's death was suspicious. I'm worried that you might be in danger if you rush over."

"Who cares about these now?"

"Calm down for a moment," Li Ting said soothingly. "It would be a waste of time if you rush over now. In order to find out the cause of death of Grandma Song as soon as possible, I have asked someone to send her body back to the city for a professional forensic autopsy to determine the cause of death."

Gu Mian closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face, "You are right, we can't waste time, we must find out what is going on as soon as possible..."

"Wife, I know you can't stay at home. Go wash your face and eat something. I'll have Jun Lin take you to the autopsy room of the police station later and you can wait for the results on site. Okay?"

"Um......"

......

When Ye Junlin came to find Gu Mian, he ran into Xu Yihan who was coming downstairs with a bottle of milk.

When their eyes met, Xu Yihan could feel the coldness in Ye Junlin's eyes.

Xu Yihan's fingertips trembled and he felt a chill on his back.

Ye Junlin ignored her, turned his gaze away coldly, passed her by and went upstairs.

In the master bedroom, Gu Mian was leaning on the sofa, hugging a pillow, absent-minded.

Ye Junlin looked at the tear marks on her face, his eyes full of heartache, "Ting Shen can't come to accompany you, let me take you there."

"Thank you, brother..." Gu Mian pulled his mind back with great difficulty, stood up and said, "Let's go..."

"Mianmian," Ye Junlin held her arm, "You look very bad. Why don't you not go? I'm worried that you won't be able to bear seeing Grandma Song."

"Don't worry, I can bear it." Gu Mian said softly, "I must go there and accompany her for the last time..."

Ye Junlin suppressed his heartache and said, "Okay then."

......

When the two arrived at the police station, the bodyguard was already waiting at the door, "Mr. Ye, Madam."

"How is it?"

"According to President Li's instructions, an autopsy is already underway."

Gu Mian walked inside and said, "I'll go take a look."

"Madam!" The bodyguard hurriedly stopped her, "Boss Li has ordered that you are not allowed to go in... Don't worry, after the autopsy is over and you have prepared your appearance, you will be allowed to see Granny Song for the last time."

Gu Mian suppressed his grief and followed the bodyguard to the lounge to wait.

More than an hour passed before the forensic doctor knocked on the door and came in.

"Mrs. Li, the autopsy report is out. The deceased was bitten by a venomous snake on the hand and died of poisoning."

Gu Mian couldn't accept it. "This is impossible. Grandma Song has been dealing with poisonous creatures all her life. It's impossible for her to be bitten easily. Even if she was bitten, she has countermeasures. I even have a doctor with her. How could something go wrong so easily?"

The forensic doctor said, "Mrs. Li, in order to prevent any mistakes, Mr. Li specially found two other professional forensic doctors to come and perform the autopsy together, so there will be no mistakes in the autopsy report."

Gu Mian turned to look at the bodyguards, "Didn't I tell you to take good care of Granny Song? Where were you when the accident happened?"

"Madam, I'm sorry." The bodyguard said with a guilty look on his face, "We were originally following your instructions and have been looking after Granny Song, but last night she said she wanted to concentrate on brewing the worms and couldn't be disturbed, so she asked us to go back to our rooms and rest without making any noise."

"This was a serious matter and we did not dare to disobey her wishes, so we did not stay by her side. We were only responsible for the security of the perimeter and did not allow strangers to approach our house."

"Granny Song didn't make any noise the whole night, so we thought she had gone to bed after finishing her work."

"She would get up at around five o'clock every morning, but she didn't come out of her room this morning. We knocked on the door, but no one answered. We immediately broke in and saw her lying on the ground. She had already passed out and her body was cold..."

Gu Mian shook his head, "We just talked on the phone last night, she was obviously fine..."

The next second, Gu Mian seemed to have thought of something and stood up suddenly. "No, her tone on the phone last night was a little strange. Something must have happened!"

"Madam, you are right." The bodyguard analyzed, "Just in case, the detoxification pills and serum are not only with the doctor, but also in Grandma Song's room. Even if she was bitten by a snake, she would not die immediately from the poison. She definitely has time to call for help or detoxify herself!"

Gu Mian asked, "Is there really no movement last night?"

"Madam, in order to ensure the safety of Grandma Song, we have installed surveillance cameras around the house we live in. We have checked the surveillance and no one approached her last night. It is impossible that Grandma Song was murdered."

"She was bitten by a poisonous snake, why didn't she call for help? Why didn't she save herself?" Gu Mian felt a splitting headache and hugged his head in pain.

"Mianmian!"

Ye Junlin hurriedly supported her, "Mianmian, are you okay?"

"It's okay." Gu Mian managed to stand still. "There must be something wrong here. Is there anyone here now? Ask them to check if there is anything wrong with Grandma Song's room!"

"Also, where are her belongings? Where is her cell phone? Check them all carefully!"

"Don't worry, Madam. President Li has already instructed us to conduct a thorough inspection, not missing any details. We even sent someone to the sales office to investigate Granny Song's cell phone calls."

Gu Mian closed his eyes painfully, "I want to go see her..."

Ye Junlin glanced at the forensic doctor.

The medical examiner said, "The body has been restored to its original state. Mrs. Li can go and have a look."

......

Gu Mian came to the autopsy room and saw Granny Song lying on the autopsy table.

As the bodyguard said, her skin turned black, a typical symptom of poisoning.

Gu Mian stretched out his trembling hand, wanting to touch her old face, but Ye Junlin grabbed his wrist.

"Mianmian, the forensic doctor just said that we can't touch her directly!"

Gu Mian burst into tears, "Even if it was an accident, she died for me... She was clearly living the most peaceful and stable life in that Miao village, but because of me she came to the imperial capital and now dies in a foreign land..."

"Brother, I killed her. I killed an innocent old lady..."

"Mianmian, this was an accident. You can't be blamed for it." Ye Junlin held her shoulders and comforted her, "No one wants something like this to happen. Don't take all the responsibility on yourself."

"This is not an accusation, this is a fact."

Ye Junlin said, "If Granny Song saw you so sad, she would definitely feel bad."

Gu Mian shook his head, "Brother, no matter what, she died because of me. How can I just let it go and act like nothing happened..."

"No more talking." Ye Junlin hugged her and patted her trembling back gently. "I will prepare a funeral for her and treat her family well so that she can die in peace."

......

Gu Mian was sent home by Ye Junlin. After drinking the calming soup prepared by Lu Yueming, he fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up, it was already dark.

Gu Mian turned his head and looked at the night outside the floor-to-ceiling window in a daze. It took him a long time to come back to his senses, get up, get dressed and wash up.

She didn't rush downstairs, thinking of going to the next room to check on Nian Nian first.

As soon as I reached the door, I heard Ye Junlin's voice through the half-open door.

"So it was really Gu Xingzhi?...How is this possible? In order to protect Grandma Song, you even sent her son, daughter-in-law and grandson to a private island abroad to ensure their safety. How could you find someone to threaten Grandma Song..."

"......So what you mean is that Grandma Song's long-missing daughter was tricked into going to northern Myanmar, right in Gu Xingzhi's garden, and Gu Xingzhi used his daughter to force Grandma Song to commit suicide to prevent her from developing a method to remove the worm?"

Ye Junlin gritted his teeth, "How could it be such a coincidence! How come everything is going to go in Gu Xingzhi's favor!"

Outside the door, Gu Mian's feet went weak and he almost fell to the ground!

It turned out that her intuition was correct, Grandma Song’s death was not an accident!

Grandma Song committed suicide!

It was Gu Xingzhi who forced her to die!

In other words, she indirectly killed Grandma Song!