Mother Fang looked up at Yan Xia.
"What do you think, Xiaoxi?"
Yan Xia exchanged a look with Fang Jiangyi. The top priority was to deceive his mother away first; otherwise, it would be difficult to carry out the subsequent work.
"I'll follow whatever Jiangyi says. He's more decisive than me. I believe he can handle all these things well." Her words were full of trust in him.
Seeing that Yan Xia chose to follow Fang Jiangyi's words, Mother Fang sighed and finally relented, saying, "Then I'll trust you this one more time. I'll go back today. Xiaoxi, finish the chicken soup I stewed for you. If you like it, I'll have someone stew it for you and send it here every day."
Yan Xia immediately refused, "No need to go to so much trouble, Auntie. I usually eat with Jiangyi."
She had roughly figured out what the old lady liked to hear, so she catered to her preferences, which worked better.
After finally coaxing the old lady well, Fang Jiangyi didn't go downstairs to see her off in person. In his opinion, explaining things clearly to Yan Xia and preventing her from misunderstanding was more important than going downstairs to see his mother off.
He liked her now, but he would never use his mother as a threat. Although it seemed that his mother was indeed his greatest helper at present, he didn't want Yan Xia to misunderstand him.
Fang Jiangyi said, "I wasn't aware that my mother would come to find you."
"I know. I just didn't expect Auntie to be so ill. She not only can't recognize people but also can't remember the time."
Yan Xia always had an inexplicable pity for such elders. Her relationship with Fang Jiangyi was rather awkward now, but since they came back from New Zealand, he had never mentioned feelings again. Maybe he didn't want to embarrass her.
"She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease some time ago. It's still in the early stage. I'm afraid she won't even recognize me in the future." Fang Jiangyi sighed faintly. "She suddenly urged me to get married. I guess she wants to see me get married with her own eyes while she can still remember."
The two looked at each other in silence.
Yan Xia couldn't help thinking that it would be great if her sister was still around at this moment. Maybe their relationship wouldn't be so awkward. Unfortunately, there were no ifs.
Fang Jiangyi lingered in Yan Xia's office and was reluctant to leave. He wanted to ask her what her current relationship with Lu Qianzhou was and where the ambiguous marks on her neck came from.
But before he could ask, his phone rang again.
He had received a lot of calls in the past two days. Besides work, most of them were from Peng Shiyi. Knowing that Fang Jiangyi wouldn't answer her calls, she had called from many unfamiliar numbers. This time, it was another unfamiliar number.
"Brother Jiangyi, I'm dying soon..."
Fang Jiangyi didn't want to answer this call at first, but since it was an unfamiliar number, he was afraid of missing something important. As soon as he answered the call, he heard Peng Shiyi's hoarse voice, as if on the verge of death.
"Find your family. If you're sick, go to the doctor."
"I'm really dying soon. I've lost a lot of blood. The blood has dyed my white dress red. I remember you like to see me in a white dress the most, Brother Jiangyi. I don't want anything anymore. I won't force you to be with me either. I just want you to come and see me one last time. Then I'll die without regret..."
As an onlooker, Yan Xia had a thorough understanding of Peng Shiyi's state of mind. She had long guessed that Peng Shiyi would use the trick of suicide later. She probably wouldn't really kill herself. After all, playing the victim and really committing suicide were different.
Fang Jiangyi's eyebrows twitched. He instinctively remembered the question Yan Xia had asked him: If Peng Shiyi threatened to kill herself, what would he do?
"Where are you?" Fang Jiangyi asked.
"I'm at home... I seem to see the past you, the Fang Jiangyi who suffered a lot of grievances but still refused to give up and never admitted defeat. At that time, I was still qualified to be by your side..." Peng Shiyi suddenly reminisced about the past. "I wish I could see you when I wake up, but I'm afraid I won't wake up."
Fang Jiangyi didn't say a word and hung up the phone.
"Are you going to see her?" Yan Xia looked up at him.
Fang Jiangyi lowered his head and scrolled through his phone, sending a message to Peng Shiyi's parents, asking them to go and save her.
"No. There's no need to meet anymore."
Yan Xia couldn't help but think of Peng Shiyi when she appeared as Lu Sheng before. She was arrogant and spoiled, but she was absolutely sincere to Fang Jiangyi. Most of her time in these years had revolved around Fang Jiangyi.
The seven emotions and six desires were really disturbing. No one could be spared.
Peng Shiyi cut her wrist and lay in the room waiting for Fang Jiangyi to come. The landline receiver in her hand also slipped out. The blood spread from her wrist, dyeing her white dress red and meandering along the wooden floor into a small path.
The glaring blood showed that she had been really cruel to herself this time. The wound was quite deep. Due to excessive blood loss, her face was as pale as paper, but she still remained conscious. She must see Fang Jiangyi running towards her with her own eyes.
Finally, when the door opened, it was Mother Peng who rushed towards her, screaming.
After receiving Fang Jiangyi's message, she had rushed upstairs without stopping. In the morning, she had noticed that Peng Shiyi was in a strange state, but she hadn't thought much about it. She had just coaxed her a few words and left. If she had known that she would try to kill herself, she would definitely have tied her up immediately.
"Shiyi, why did you do such a stupid thing? It's just Fang Jiangyi. If he doesn't like you, Mom can find you a better one. With your conditions, it's more than enough for you to find someone better than him. Why be so stupid!"
Mother Peng scolded her in a panic and trembled as she took out her phone and dialed the 120 emergency number.
Peng Shiyi grabbed her mother's corner of the clothes weakly and asked, "Where's Brother Jiangyi? Has he come?"
Mother Peng's face turned even uglier. "How could such a heartless and ungrateful man come to save you? It was him who sent me the message to come and save you. Mom is begging you. Don't think about him anymore. He has hurt you so much. As long as you promise Mom that you'll be good and stop doing stupid things, I swear I'll make him pay."
Peng Shiyi's face immediately fell. Scalding tears welled up from the corners of her eyes. She rolled her eyes and fainted completely.
After being sent to the hospital, the doctor said that fortunately, she hadn't cut a fatal part. Otherwise, with the depth of this wound, she might not have been able to save her life.
She slept in the hospital for a whole night. Mother Peng also stayed with her uneasily for a whole night. The next day, she couldn't hold on anymore. She hired a nurse to watch over Peng Shiyi and went back to rest herself.
However, this was only the beginning. When she woke up and found herself lying in the hospital bed, there was not a single familiar person around, let alone Fang Jiangyi's figure.
Regardless of the wound on her wrist, she desperately grabbed her own hair. In her crazy state, the wound immediately split open. The gauze wrapped around her wrist was immediately dyed red with fresh blood, but she seemed not to feel the pain. The nurse who rushed back held down her arm to prevent her from exerting force.
"Miss Peng, calm down." The nurse quickly pressed the call bell and called the nurse over.
Peng Shiyi grabbed the nurse's clothes frantically and asked, "Where's Brother Jiangyi? Has he come? Why isn't he here..."