Chapter 2 Asking for help
"Mom!! What did you do to Tianle?!"
Huo Qibang's eyes were bloodshot, his reason consumed by fear and anger. He rushed into the bathroom and snatched his son from Fang Lan's arms!
Fang Lanxin was suddenly pushed by her son, staggered back two steps, and bumped into the door frame, her arm throbbing with pain.
But she was more concerned about her grandson at that moment: "Qibang! Be careful! Tianle just..."
Before he could finish speaking, Huo Fu led in a middle-aged doctor with a refined appearance, wearing a white coat and carrying a medical kit.
"Madam! Dr. Zhang has arrived!"
"Dr. Zhang! Quick! Please save my son!" Huo Qibang, as if grasping at the last straw, hurriedly handed the child in his arms to Dr. Zhang.
Dr. Zhang Shijie remained calm under pressure, immediately took the child, and quickly began an examination.
He took out his stethoscope and listened carefully to the heart and lungs, then opened the eyelids to look at the pupils, and then took out a thermometer to measure the body temperature... The series of actions were smooth, professional and quick.
Huo Qibang and Lin Meiling held their breath in tension, and even Fang Lanxin clenched her fists, her heart hanging in the air.
A moment later, Dr. Zhang frowned slightly, but still gave the child an injection of sedative and fever-reducing medication, and then used a small oxygen mask he carried with him to give him a few breaths of oxygen.
Just then, Tianle, who had been quiet, suddenly frowned and made a clearer "humming" sound than before, and her little mouth moved.
"It's working! It's working!" Lin Meiling cried tears of joy, covering her mouth.
Kenneth Fok was so excited that he trembled all over, and his eyes instantly reddened.
He gripped Dr. Zhang's hand tightly, his voice choked with emotion: "Thank you so much! Dr. Zhang! Thank you so much for saving my son's life! The entire Huo family is eternally grateful! Uncle Fu! Write a check for ten thousand yuan for Dr. Zhang!"
In the 1980s, ten thousand dollars was enough to buy a decent house in the city center of Hong Kong, which shows Huo Qibang's gratitude and fear at this moment.
Dr. Zhang gently pushed his hand away and shook her head. "Young Master Huo, Young Madam Huo, please don't thank me yet. I was instructed by Master Guan that I had received a personal letter from Madam Huo, and it was extremely urgent, so I rushed over immediately."
Huo Qibang was shocked. His mother would actually lower herself to beg the Guan family for the sake of her grandson whom she didn't even love?!
Dr. Zhang paused, glanced at Fang Lanxin, whose face was pale, and continued, "I just examined the young master carefully. His condition is extremely critical. Someone gave him a very potent drug, which kept him alive. Otherwise, I'm afraid it would have been too late by the time I arrived."
Dr. Zhang Shijie's words made Huo Qibang's tall body tremble. He looked at his mother, who was still standing at the bathroom door, her face blurred by the steam, with a complicated expression.
Others might not know, but he did—the Huo family had passed down a life-saving "Life-Sustaining Pill" for generations. It was a secret medicine passed down from their ancestors, extremely precious, and should never be used unless absolutely necessary.
Did the mother actually use that medicine to save Tianle?
"Mom... thank you."
Huo Qibang finally managed to squeeze out a few words, but his voice was incredibly dry.
Fang Lanxin didn't speak, but simply nodded gently, her heart filled with complex emotions.
On this day in his previous life, Huo Qibang rushed over only after Huo Tianle had passed away.
Standing before Huo Tianle's small, lifeless body, he roared at her with heart-wrenching agony, "Why wasn't it you who died!"
After that incident, she never heard her son call her "Mom" again.
"Mother!"
Lin Meiling's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she suddenly knelt down with a thud, crawling to her side.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... It was me... I misunderstood you... I..."
She choked up and could barely speak, reaching out to help Fang Lanxin's soaked sleeves.
"Let me help you change your clothes."
"No need." Fang Lanxin interrupted Lin Shuyi, avoiding her hand, her voice as cold as ice, "I saved A Yuan because his surname is Huo, and he is my bloodline."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over her son and daughter-in-law.
"I don't care what you think of me."
"Now that Tianle is alright, from now on... we should keep a close eye on him. You parents can't even protect your own child! He had a high fever in the middle of the night and ended up having seizures! When something happened, instead of thinking about how to save him, all you did was cry and whine, and in the end, I, this old woman, have to take the blame for your own grandson's death?!"
Every word and phrase was like an icicle, piercing deeply into the hearts of Fok Kai-pong and Lam Mei-ling.
The two men blushed deeply, overwhelmed with shame, their heads almost drooping to their chests. Huo Qibang, in particular, felt utterly humiliated, recalling his earlier outburst of questioning and shouting.
She sighed inwardly and turned to leave, but the repeated shocks, anger, and sadness, coupled with her body that she had not yet fully adapted to after her rebirth, made Fang Lanxin feel dizzy and weak.
Huo Qibang rushed forward to help her, but as soon as his hand touched her arm, Fang Lanxin reflexively pulled away.
These were the same hands that, in her past life, personally poured her that cup of poisoned wine at her sixtieth birthday banquet.
He smiled as he handed her the glass of wine, then said to her in a cold tone, "Mother, you've controlled the Huo family for twenty-one years; it's time for you to rest."
A look of hurt flashed across Huo Qibang's eyes as he slowly withdrew his hand.
Fang Lanxin stopped looking at them and turned to the maid, A Ping, saying, "Help me back to the study! Have Uncle Fu come find me later."
"Mother..."
Behind her, Huo Qibang's hoarse voice came, but Fang Lanxin did not stop. She stood up straight, as if she were still the Huo Madam who had once dominated the business world.
Hanging on the wall of the study was an oil portrait of her late husband, full of vigor and spirit, but Fang Lanxin's eyes were glazed over.
When her husband was alive, she was the gentle, kind-hearted, and tender-hearted young mistress of the Huo family, someone who only needed to nestle in his arms. However, her husband's sudden death thrust her into the eye of the storm.
To preserve the family business left by her husband, to fight against those ruthless uncles and cousins, and to ensure her young children could grow up safely, she had to suppress all her weaknesses and, step by step, tread through blood and tears, overcome all obstacles, forcing herself to become the ruthless and absolute head of the Huo family she is today.
Once she reached a high position, she seemed to forget her original intentions, with only interests and power in her eyes. She became autocratic and increasingly controlling, forgetting what she had fought for in the first place.
Ultimately, this led to estrangement from his children, and he died because of the schemes of his own children.
Having died once, she finally understood.
Power, status, and kinship are all fleeting.
Now all she wants is to live peacefully and enjoy life.
In the span of her life, she seemed to have forgotten what freedom and happiness tasted like.
But before that, she must first find the real culprit who stirred up trouble behind the scenes and caused her tragic death in her previous life.
"Uncle Fu".
"Investigate, find out who's behind this, why Dr. Zhou took leave today, who's in charge of A-Yuan's meals in the kitchen, who prepared A-Yuan's clothes, and... what other things are in this house that shouldn't be here."
"Especially... keep a close eye on the second and fourth wives! Report any suspicious activity to me!"
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