Chapter 101: Lu Wenchuan, You Are Not Suitable

Both Sang Yijia’s unconscious state and Lan Qing’s feigned fainting due to low blood sugar became trending topics online. Jian Hong found herself unable to suppress the news, and in her fury, smashed two mugs in her office before calling Lan Qing to give her a scathing tongue-lashing, only then managing to calm down.

“What on earth were you thinking?” Jian Hong’s brow throbbed painfully, and no amount of pressing could ease it. “Didn’t you know Lan Qingshu works at that hotel?”

“And yet you fainted again and again? There are better ways to attract attention if that’s what you’re after!” Jian Hong had warned Lan Qing before that such incidents with low blood sugar must never happen again.

Yet Lan Qing had done it anyway.

“Hong, I didn’t want this either,” Lan Qing wailed, on the verge of tears. “I’ve been dieting for two days, haven’t eaten any carbs at all.”

“Did I tell you to lose weight?” Jian Hong let out a laugh of exasperation.

Lan Qing was instantly tongue-tied, unable to respond. She already looked thin: at 1.76 meters, her ideal weight was 57 kilograms, but she was down to 50. Any thinner and she’d be nothing but skin and bones.

“Hong, what do we do now?” Lan Qing’s mind was in turmoil. She hadn’t known Lan Qingshu was here, much less that she was working as a nurse.

If she’d known, she would never have fainted. Even if she felt unwell, she would have forced herself to endure.

“What else can we do?” Jian Hong’s smile was icy. “Now all we can do is apologize.”

“Still, it’s fortunate not many people offered you opportunities just because of your identity,” Jian Hong conceded. “And you didn’t do anything wrong. Your background is clearly stated online—how outsiders choose to interpret it isn’t your problem.”

“As for visiting the Lan family villa, that was because your mother works there. You were just picking her up after her shift—what’s there to criticize?” Jian Hong, with her years of experience as a manager, knew how to weigh pros and cons.

“I’ll send you an apology statement later. Copy it out and read it aloud as instructed.”

“As for everything else, just wait quietly.” Lan Qing realized the ordeal had passed—for now—and breathed a silent sigh of relief. Then she remembered something else. “Hong, what about Shen Jin? What should I do?”

Since he’d learned she wasn’t the Lan family heiress, he’d stopped messaging her and wouldn’t answer her calls.

Lan Qing was anxious and worried, afraid Shen Jin would distance himself from her.

“Leave it for now,” Jian Hong said, narrowing her eyes. “He publicly showed affection for you in that livestream; the whole internet saw it. At such a crucial moment, there’s no way for him to sever all ties with you.”

As if recalling something, Jian Hong added, “Lan Qing, you’ve said before that Shen Jin is the young master of the Shen family. If you can persuade him to step up and resolve this for you, I won’t say another word about what goes on between you two.”

“But if you can’t…” Jian Hong’s lips curled. “Then when the show is over, you’ll do whatever I arrange.”

Lan Qing felt a chill down her spine. “Alright, I’ll do as you say.”

When the call ended, Lan Qing collapsed weakly onto the floor, her phone clattering loudly on the wooden boards.

In that vast room, the sound echoed with emptiness and loneliness.

——

Members of the Sang family arrived at the hospital one after another.

When Sang Qiwen and Sang Qibo received the news, Sang Qibo immediately contacted the hospital for another examination, but all the results were the same.

Every indicator was normal, yet Sang Yijia simply would not wake.

Mother Sang was anxious. “I asked the attending physician. He said this coma has nothing to do with what happened before.”

“That’s right.” Sang Qibo pored over the test results again and again. Looking up, he saw Lu Wenchuan hadn’t left and exhaled slowly. “How has my sister been these past few days?”

“Any signs of illness?”

Lu Wenchuan realized Sang Qibo was addressing him. He furrowed his brow and replied, “She caught a cold a couple of days ago.”

“I checked, and the medicine from the pharmacy was fine,” Zhang Mingyang interjected. “I also examined Miss Sang the next day. Drinking more hot water seemed to help.”

“Alright.” Sang Qibo nodded. “We have a theory.”

Everyone’s attention was instantly piqued; they listened closely.

“What is it?” Sang Zheng asked nervously, fearing his daughter had some rare, incurable illness. “We’re prepared for anything.”

Sang Qibo adjusted his glasses. “Father, Mother, don’t worry. My sister’s condition is stable.”

“As for her not waking, we believe she may simply be exhausted—her body’s entered a period of fatigue.”

“She’s just sleeping.” This was the conclusion Sang Qibo and the doctor had settled on, though the truth was harder to explain.

Everything appeared so normal that they feared it was simply a symptom they’d never encountered before.

So they were conducting a full battery of tests, examining every indicator from start to finish.

“Really?” Mother Sang wanted to believe but remained uncertain.

Lu Wenchuan immediately recognized the answer was meant to comfort, and stepped outside.

“Smoke?” Sang Qiwen came out too, offering him a cigarette. “Want to go to the stairwell?”

“I don’t smoke.” Lu Wenchuan shook his head, glancing at Sang Qiwen and catching a whiff of tobacco on him. He frowned slightly. “You should cut back.”

“It’s bad for your health.”

The motion of lighting the cigarette paused. For a moment, Sang Qiwen could almost hear Sang Yijia’s voice scolding him, insisting smoking was harmful and bad for friends and family alike.

Second-hand smoke was even more dangerous.

“You think just like my little sister,” Sang Qiwen said, stowing away the cigarette and tossing both the pack and lighter into the hallway trash.

“She used to nag me about it.” But the pressure was always too great, and he hadn’t managed to quit. Now, with Lu Wenchuan’s words, Sang Qiwen thought of Sang Yijia. Would she be so happy she’d wake up if she knew he’d finally quit?

As they talked, Lu Wenchuan and Sang Qiwen made their way to the stairwell.

They stood beside the window, the wind howling in from outside, tinged with the faint scent of disinfectant.

Lu Wenchuan gazed out at the sky. “I’ve arranged for a doctor to come.”

“He’ll be here by early morning at the latest.”

“Thanks,” Sang Qiwen replied, though he still craved a cigarette—old habits die hard.

They fell into a long, companionable silence. No one knew how much time passed before Lu Wenchuan spoke again. “About the past—I’m truly sorry.”

“You’ve said that already,” Sang Qiwen responded. “Besides, it wasn’t your fault.”

Silence returned, broken only by the rushing wind.

“I watched the livestream,” Sang Qiwen said. “I know how you feel about Yijia.”

Lu Wenchuan’s heart skipped a beat, though his expression remained calm.

Sang Qiwen gave nothing away. “But I don’t approve.”

“The gap between the Lu and Sang families is too great,” Sang Qiwen continued. “My parents want a son-in-law who’ll join our family.”

“Lu Wenchuan, you’re not the right fit.”

Lu Wenchuan: Feeling wronged, wishing his wife would comfort him~

Sang Yijia: Still unconscious, please don’t call on me

[Please vote for me~~ It feels like it’s almost over! Not sure how many more chapters, but there’ll definitely be a return on the 16th~~ Probably finishing up this month~~~]

(End of chapter)