Chapter 29: We did our best
Unless it was an emergency, no one would call at this late hour.
Jiang Su sat up straight and picked up his phone.
The phone screen showed the words “Big Brother.”
Big Brother?
Jiang Su’s heart sank.
Jiang Zhaoyu wouldn’t call him unless something big happened.
Jiang Su’s voice was tinged with nervousness: “Big Brother?”
Jiang Zhaoyu on the other end of the phone spoke with unusual seriousness: “Come to the hospital, Grandma…”
His words stopped abruptly.
Jiang Su brought the phone closer and realized he had no signal.
He jumped out of bed, neglecting to put on his shoes, and searched the room and outside for a signal, but the phone remained unresponsive.
Big Brother had only managed to say five words, but those five words were enough information for Jiang Su.
—Grandma was in the hospital.
Something must have happened to Grandma.
Otherwise, Big Brother wouldn’t have called him so seriously.
He had to go down the mountain to the hospital.
Jiang Su put on his clothes and shoes, grabbed his phone, and went out.
The power was out at the hot spring resort, so he used his phone’s flashlight to make his way to the entrance.
It was still snowing; the world was a hazy white, like daytime. He didn’t need the flashlight anymore.
Jiang Su put his phone in his pocket and stepped outside.
The snow on the ground was much deeper than he expected. When he stepped down, half his leg sank into the snow.
The chill rose, a bone-deep cold.
Jiang Su took a deep breath and walked down the mountain as quickly as possible, sinking into the snow with each step.
…
At the hospital…
Jiang Lichuan, who was guarding the emergency room door, saw Jiang Zhaoyu hang up and asked, “Did Xiao Qi come?”
Jiang Zhaoyu looked tired: “The call dropped before he could finish a sentence. When I called back, it said he was out of service area.”
“Xiao Qi is in an area without signal? It’s impossible to have no signal normally. Where did he go?” Jiang Lichuan paced anxiously: “What should we do…”
An hour ago, Jiang Su’s grandmother had suddenly fallen ill.
Aunt Zhao immediately notified Jiang Zhaoyu.
Jiang Zhaoyu happened to be at Jiang Lichuan’s newly opened club for a business gathering. He had been drinking and couldn’t drive, so Jiang Lichuan drove him to the hospital.
As soon as they arrived at the hospital, the doctor asked Jiang Zhaoyu to sign a critical illness notice.
Jiang Zhaoyu, a man who had seen the world, immediately understood that Grandma might not make it, and immediately called Jiang Su.
A thought struck Jiang Lichuan: “Should I call Huo Qingyan?”
Jiang Zhaoyu fell silent.
Jiang Lichuan belatedly realized that Huo Qingyan was always cold towards Jiang Su and might not know where he was.
Jiang Lichuan scratched his head in frustration: “I shouldn’t have spoken harshly to Xiao Qi before. He used to tell me everything. In the past two years, he’s kept everything to himself, so we don’t know where he is now…”
As he finished speaking, he saw Jiang Zhaoyu take out his phone to make a call.
He knew Jiang Zhaoyu was going to call Huo Qingyan and quickly said, “Big Brother, let me call Huo Qingyan.”
Of all the Jiang family, the one who disliked Huo Qingyan the most was Jiang Zhaoyu, Jiang Su’s older brother. Jiang Lichuan felt sorry for him having to humbly ask Huo Qingyan about Jiang Su’s whereabouts.
Ignoring Jiang Lichuan, Jiang Zhaoyu directly dialed the number.
…
At that time, Huo Qingyan was still at Lin Siyue’s house.
When he rushed back from the hot spring resort, it was already evening.
Huo Zhenheng’s men were still searching for Lin Siyue, and Huo Qingyan had also sent people out to find him.
Fortunately, he found Lin Siyue before Huo Zhenheng.
To avoid Huo Zhenheng’s men, Lin Siyue had been hiding all night and sustained several injuries.
He called a private doctor to bandage Lin Siyue’s wounds. Lin Siyue had just fallen asleep after taking painkillers.
Huo Qingyan closed the door, left Lin Siyue’s room, and went to the balcony in the living room.
He had just taken a cigarette out of his pocket, before he could light it, his phone rang.
After looking at the caller ID, Huo Qingyan sneered.
Before he married Jiang Su, he had met Jiang Zhaoyu at a dinner party and exchanged contact information.
He knew Jiang Zhaoyu disliked him.
Jiang Su had truly surprised him, not only by secretly seeking help from Huo Zhenheng, but also by persuading Jiang Zhaoyu to act as an intermediary.
If it were something else, Huo Qingyan might not care.
But secretly teaming up with Huo Zhenheng was something he absolutely couldn’t tolerate.
Huo Qingyan ruthlessly hung up Jiang Zhaoyu’s call.
On the other side…
Jiang Zhaoyu put down his phone with a livid face: “Huo Qingyan didn’t answer my call.”
“This…” Jiang Lichuan forced himself to change the “bastard” he had been about to say to: “trash.”
Jiang Su and Huo Qingyan were still married, and calling Huo Qingyan a bastard would mean insulting Jiang Su as well.
“How is the old lady?” Aunt Zhao, who had gone out shopping, rushed back at that moment.
Jiang Zhaoyu said, “Still in surgery.”
Aunt Zhao sighed, “Can Young Master Jiang make it back?”
Jiang Zhaoyu caught a crucial piece of information in Aunt Zhao’s words: “Make it back? Aunt Zhao, do you know where Xiao Qi is?”
Aunt Zhao recalled, “Young Master Jiang came back to see Grandma yesterday and said he was going to a hot spring resort with Mr. Huo.”
Jiang Lichuan’s eyes lit up: “I remember, Xiao Qi said he wanted to go to the Huo family’s hot spring resort…”
“The Huo family’s hot spring resort is on Jian’an Mountain.” Jiang Zhaoyu also knew about the Huo family’s hot spring resort.
“Since it’s with Huo Qingyan…” Jiang Lichuan again swallowed the words “bastard”: “…together, why can Huo Qingyan’s phone be reached, but Xiao Qi’s has no signal?”
Jiang Zhaoyu had quickly searched for information about Jian’an Mountain online.
“There’s a heavy snowstorm and the mountain is closed off. The signal towers for the lines have also malfunctioned.”
With that, everyone understood that Huo Qingyan had left Jiang Su alone at the hot spring resort.
Jiang Lichuan couldn’t help but curse: “Damn it!”
Jiang Zhaoyu also had suppressed anger between his brows: “Xiao Qi is very attentive. He should have guessed that something happened to Grandma and might be walking down the mountain now.”
With the mountain closed off by heavy snow, the snow obscures everything, making it easy to mistake paths for cliffs. If he accidentally loses his footing, he could easily fall off a cliff.
Jiang Lichuan’s face changed. He zipped up his jacket and took his keys out of his pocket: “Big Brother, I’ll go get Xiao Qi.”
“Be careful on the road, take two people with you.” Jiang Zhaoyu had to stay and wait for Grandma to come out, so he could only let Jiang Lichuan go get Jiang Su.
Jiang Lichuan nodded and hurried away.
As soon as Jiang Lichuan left, the emergency room door opened.
“Doctor!” Jiang Zhaoyu asked urgently, “How is my grandmother?”
The doctor’s expression was grave: “I’m sorry, Mr. Jiang, we did our best. Go in and say a few words to her.”