Chapter 18: Accident
Translator: Vicky_ Editor: Vicky_
Although Lin Li and Anran had a hearty lunch, Lin Li did not manage to bleed Anran’s wallet dry. This was because both of them did not know that Su Yicheng’s younger sister was the owner of Youran Cuisine, and she ended up waiving their bill completely for the meal. Su Yijiao even told the staff of Youran Cuisine that, when Anran visited the restaurant again in the future, all of her meals would be on the house. Anran tried to decline her generosity, stating that she would feel guilty if she accepted. Su Yijiao guffawed, before saying that she would not charge family for eating at her own restaurant. Anran responded to her with a hollow laugh. She thought to herself that she would never visit this restaurant again in the future.
Lin Li and Anran originally planned to do some shopping after their lunch. However, the delicacies at Youran Cuisine were so delicious that Lin Li overate past her limit. In the end, she called Cheng Xiang directly to fetch them.
After the two of them got into Cheng Xiang’s car and closed the car door, Lin Li held Anran’s hand and spoke earnestly, “An Zi, you married into money!”
Anran gave her a look, before reclining into the seat and tilting her head upward. She muttered, “I have the same feeling too…” She knew that Su Yicheng was quite desirable in every aspect as a man, but it had never occurred to her that he would be so wealthy. Just a few minutes ago, Su Yijiao had told her that Youran Cuisine was partly owned by Su Yicheng. At that time, Su Yicheng provided some of the capital needed to start the business. Anran did not probe further to find out more about Su Yicheng. She did not know why he would agree to marry her. Perhaps, it was just as he said: he needed a wife, and she just happened to be a suitable candidate at that very moment.
Cheng Xiang sent Anran home first, before doubling back to his house. When Anran arrived home, the only person who was in the house was Lin Xiaofen, who was sitting on the sofa alone. Gu Hengwen was a teacher at a senior high school. He was currently in charge of students that would sit for their college entrance exams and graduate that year. Although it was a Saturday, he still needed to conduct classes.
Anran placed her handbag on top of a cabinet and greeted her mother. However, Lin Xiaofen did not respond to her at all. Anran called out to her mother again, but there was still no reaction from her. Anran furrowed her brows slightly and walked toward Lin Xiaofen. Anran saw that her mother was staring into space with glazed eyes while holding a photograph in her hand.
“Mom?” Anran called her mother again. This time, Lin Xiaofen heard her. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Anran with slight unease. She shoved the photograph behind herself hastily, afraid that Anran would catch a glimpse of it.
“R-Ranran, y-you’re home!” Lin Xiaofen said as she looked at Anran, attempting to hide her abnormal behavior.
“Yeah.” Anran nodded as she looked at her mother worriedly. Concerned, she asked her, “Mom, are you all right?”
“I’m-I’m fine. Why would there be anything wrong with me?” Lin Xiaofen laughed, trying to use her laugh to conceal her emotions. She was afraid that Anran would try to get more information out of her, so she stood up hurriedly and said, “Ranran, you must not have eaten yet. I will cook something for you now.”
Anran glanced at her watch. It was almost 2 pm now. She pulled her mother’s hand to hold her back and said, “Mom, I had lunch already. When I was about to head out this morning, I told you that I was eating lunch with Lin Li this afternoon. Have you forgotten?”
Lin Xiaofen was stunned for a moment, before chortling at herself. She shook her head. “Oh yeah. Before you went out this morning, you told me that you would eat lunch with Lin Li. Goodness gracious, I have gotten older. My brain is failing me.”
......
Anran hugged her mother and said, “Nonsense, you are as beautiful and young as you were twenty years ago. You did not age, not in the slightest.”
Lin Xiaofen patted her daughter before saying with a smile, “You know how to make me happy.”
Anran grinned and embraced her mother for a long while, before releasing her from her arms. She said, “Mom, let me cook some food for you.”
Lin Xiaofen nodded as her eyes followed her daughter to the kitchen, before lowering her head to look at the photograph in her hand. It was an old, yellowing photograph, depicting a dapper man wearing a white dress shirt and a pair of glasses.
Anran kept her mother company as she ate. In the middle of Lin Xiaofen’s meal, a call came from the construction site. The caller told her that there was a situation. A lump of hardening concrete fell and injured a construction worker at the construction site. They already sent him to the hospital by now.
Anran grabbed her handbag and rushed out of the door. She was so rattled that her thoughts were all over the place. She went to the garage to get her car, only to recall that she parked her car at the office, so she did not drive home. Therefore, she hurried outside to the street and hailed a cab to go to the construction site directly. When she arrived at the scene where the accident occurred, she saw that Director Huang Dexing was present. He came over from the company when he found out about the incident. He was a balding, middle-aged man with a beer belly. Anran thought of him as her mentor. After Anran graduated, she did her internship under his tutelage for six years. During these six years, he taught her quite a lot of things.
Anran wore a safety helmet before she walked over to the director. She greeted him, “Director.”
Huang Dexing turned to look at her, before spinning around, “They told me that the lump of hardening concrete dropped from one of the higher floors all of a sudden. At that time, that construction worker was passing by the area and crossed path with its trajectory.”
Anran looked up and saw a large gap in the middle of the balcony ten meters above her, before tilting her head down to look at the ground beneath her feet. Broken pieces of concrete were scattered everywhere. She could still see traces of fresh blood on the ground.
“How is he doing?” Anran asked. There was so much blood on the ground that it gave her chills.
Huang Dexing shook his head and sighed. “He did not make it. The hospital called us moments ago and told us that they did not manage to save him. He passed away before they could bring him into the operating room.”
Anran was dazed by his revelations. She felt an inexplicable sense of pain in her chest.
“Was there a problem with the architectural plan?” Anran asked. She designed the architectural plan of this residential area with a garden personally. She calculated every figure on every section and every page meticulously. Logically, there should be no issues with the architectural plan.
“We will investigate and find out about the cause of the accident,” Huang Dexing said as he turned to look at Anran. “Let’s go. All construction work will be suspended until we get to the bottom of what went wrong.” After he finished speaking, he turned his gaze away from Anran and left immediately.
Anran lingered around the construction site alone for a long time. When the sun began to set and the sky gradually darkened, she finally turned around and left the construction site.
She walked aimlessly on the street, while the scene that she saw earlier kept appearing on her mind. The hole in the balcony of the apartment building and broken pieces of concrete scattered on the completely blood-stained ground.
Anran eventually stopped walking. She stood on the pavement, motionless. It did not cross her mind that her architectural plan would cause a person to lose his life.
In her handbag, her phone rang furiously. Anran ignored it. However, the caller seemed to be extremely patient. They kept calling again and again. When her phone rang for the third time, Anran finally answered the call.
“Where are you?” A familiar voice from someone who was still a stranger to her came from her phone. It was just that this time, she could feel slight agitation in his tone.
“Outside,” Anran replied in a mumble.
“What’s the matter?” Su Yicheng asked perceptively.
Anran gazed at the view in front of her dumbly, captivated by the twinkling streetlights. Jiang City was even more beautiful during the night than the day.
When Su Yicheng did not hear a response from her, he spoke again. “Give me directions to your current location.”
Anran continued to stare at the street. After some time, she finally provided him with an address.
When Su Yicheng’s car appeared in front of her, half an hour had passed. At this time, he seemed slightly unkempt. His usually immaculately coiffed hair was rather disheveled, while his face looked worn. However, there was a certain light in the depth of his black eyes.
“Anran?” Su Yicheng called her name softly.
Anran snapped out of her thoughts. She looked at him and stood up before replying, “Hey, you’re here.”
Su Yicheng nodded. He held her hand to guide her to his car, before thoughtfully helping her to fasten her seat belt.
Anran stared out of the window with unfocused eyes.
“What happened?” Su Yicheng asked worriedly. It seemed to him that she was acting strangely.
They sat in silence for some time. Just as Su Yicheng thought Anran was unwilling to open up to him, she spoke. “During this afternoon, a piece of hardening concrete suddenly fell from a third-floor balcony and killed someone at the construction site.”
“Was it because there was a problem with the architectural plan?” Su Yicheng asked.
Anran shook her head and said, “I don’t know.”
Su Yicheng did not ask her any more questions. He started the car and drove off. He did not tell her where he was heading, and Anran did not ask him.