Chapter 156: Cannot Afford to Lose
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Yan Ningsi glanced over and looked at him in confusion. “So what if other people are progressing quickly?”
“People get married at the civil affairs bureau the first time they meet nowadays. Why don’t you say they’re moving too fast?”
After being rebuffed, Bian He gave an awkward “Oh,” then muttered, “Then why don’t you go to the civil affairs bureau with me?”
“What did you say?”
The wind and waves by the sea were loud, and Bian He’s voice was soft. Yan Ningsi had not heard him clearly. Narrowing her eyes, she looked at him. “Say that again?”
“…” Bian He shook his head repeatedly. “Nothing.”
“You must have heard me wrong.”
With Yan Ningsi wearing that expression, Bian He had no intention of repeating himself.
Meanwhile, Sang Yijia and Lu Wenchuan dove beneath the surface.
The seawater was crystal clear. The coral, sand, and small fish below were all plainly visible.
During university, Sang Yijia had seen a classmate post pictures on social media during the summer vacation of going snorkeling by the sea. At the time, Sang Yijia had felt nothing but envy. She had never imagined that one day she would be able to visit the seaside, much less try snorkeling herself.
“Can you record a video?” Sang Yijia asked.
Lu Wenchuan shook the device in his hand. “Of course.”
“It’s recording already.”
Sang Yijia was delighted. Everything fascinated her, and she wanted to look at everything.
Lu Wenchuan had gone snorkeling several times before and was not particularly curious about the underwater world. What concerned him more was Sang Yijia. “Do you want to go somewhere farther out?”
“Can we?” A hint of excitement colored Sang Yijia’s voice.
Lu Wenchuan heard it clearly. “Come on. I’ll take you around.”
Snorkeling required a professional to record underwater. The group director had no way to film beneath the surface and could only wait for them onshore, taking the opportunity to rest properly.
The dating reality show had resumed filming. The production team had posted another update on social media the previous night, and the comments were now flooding in.
“Are Brother and Qingqing still paired together?”
“I really hope Brother and Qingqing end up together.”
“Why is there another couple now?”
“What is going on with the new male guest?”
“Their names are so similar. Could he be Brother’s brother?”
Comments of this sort made up the overwhelming majority. There were very few comments about anyone else, and not a single one mentioned Sang Yijia and Lu Wenchuan.
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The group director touched the tip of his nose, thinking that the Sang family must have done something to prevent the viewers from commenting.
In truth, when Sang Qiwu was scrolling through social media, he was also wondering why his younger sister’s popularity was so low.
Unable to figure it out, Sang Qiwu immediately called Sang Qiwen to demand an explanation.
“Big Brother, why are the influencers from your company more popular than our own little sister?” Sang Qiwu asked indignantly. “In what way is our little sister inferior to the influencers at your company?”
In Sang Qiwu’s eyes, Sang Yijia was the most beautiful woman in the world. Xu Wei could not compare to her at all, yet Xu Wei still had plenty of popularity.
Sang Qiwu was not pleased.
“Influencers?” Sang Qiwen massaged the points between his brows. It took him a while to remember what his brother was talking about. “That’s just the company’s publicity work. It has nothing to do with me.”
“How can it have nothing to do with you when it’s your company?” Sang Qiwu retorted stubbornly. “How do we make this happen?”
“Our little sister has to be more popular than everyone else.” Sang Qiwu’s creed was simple: either do not do something at all, or do it better than anyone else. Since they had decided to make Sang Yijia famous, they had to take it to the extreme.
Sang Qiwen fell silent for a moment, rubbing his temples as he turned his office chair toward the floor-to-ceiling windows. Skyscrapers stood directly before him, with the Lu Group occupying the very center of the view. The moment he thought of Lu Wenchuan, another wave of headache struck him.
“I’ll have someone handle it. Just don’t make a mess of things yourself,” Sang Qiwen replied.
Sang Qiwu gave an unwilling “Oh,” then added, “It seems Third Brother has been latched onto by that girl from the Lan family.”
“She quit her job and went to Third Brother’s hospital to work as a nurse.”
Sang Qiwu had grown up without ever being pursued by a girl. He had never received even a single love letter, though he had accepted plenty on behalf of his older brothers, younger brother, and sister.
Touching the tip of his nose, he suppressed his envy. “Big Brother, are we really going to marry into the Lan family?”
Sang Qiwu had already looked into it. The Lan family intended to recruit a son-in-law. If Third Brother truly got together with Lan Qingshu, would that mean he had to go live with the Lan family as their son-in-law?
“Big Brother, are we going to gain a live-in son-in-law from the Lu family and then give the Lan family one in return?”
Sang Qiwen fell silent.
Sang Qiwu did the calculations. One in, one out—it seemed they would not lose anything.
“Stop thinking about nonsense and focus on your work.” Sang Qiwen had no desire to discuss the matter with his foolish second brother. He hurriedly ended the call, then dialed the internal line to ask his secretary to investigate the influencer situation.
—
Beach volleyball was played in teams of two, with the opponents determined by drawing lots.
Whether by fate or coincidence, Sang Yijia drew Lan Qing as her opponent.
Lan Qing narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked across the net. The Sang Yijia before her was completely different from the woman in her dream. Yet before joining the dating reality show, Sang Yijia had still been declaring her love for Shen Jin online.
And yet, in just a few short days, Sang Yijia had changed.
Lan Qing suspected that she had remembered something—perhaps memories from her previous life.
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“Sang Yijia.” Standing across the net, Lan Qing looked at her with her brows faintly furrowed. “Why did you get together with Lu Wenchuan so quickly?”
Was it because she had recovered the memories of her previous life ahead of time and therefore felt she owed Lu Wenchuan an apology?
If that was not the reason, Lan Qing could think of no better explanation.
Sang Yijia drew her brows together. “There’s no particular reason. I simply felt we were compatible, so I decided to give it a try.”
As for what had happened before, Sang Yijia had no need to explain herself in such detail.
Seeing that she was unwilling to say more, Lan Qing pressed her lips together and first explained why she had asked. “I was just curious.”
“Because you joined the dating show for Shen Jin before.”
“Yes. Do you think I’m going to compete with you for Shen Jin?” Sang Yijia countered. “You don’t need to worry.”
“Him?” Lan Qing’s lips curved slightly, a trace of disdain showing in her smile. “Forget it.”
Had the relationship between the male and female leads already fallen apart?
Sang Yijia gazed thoughtfully at the sky. The sun was as scorching as ever, dazzlingly bright.
“Begin!”
The whistle blew.
Shen Jin leaped into the air and served. The ball shot past Sang Yijia’s ear, and Lu Wenchuan caught it.
He sent it fiercely back over the net.
Sang Yijia gathered her thoughts. Shen Jin had done that deliberately. Narrowing her eyes, she also blamed herself for not paying attention.
“Are you all right?” Lu Wenchuan called.
Sang Yijia shook her head. “I’m fine.”
The volleyball came back quickly.
Sang Yijia narrowed her eyes, jumped up, and struck the ball back.
“There’s wind.” And it was strong.
The wind had blown Sang Yijia’s shot off course, reducing its force as well.
“Again.” Lu Wenchuan focused intently. With Shen Jin on the other side, losing was absolutely not an option.
Shen Jin watched Lu Wenchuan standing ready and ground his back teeth together. He could not afford to lose either.
[End of Chapter]