In fact, he had just asked Tang Shi the same thing, but Tang Shi had hung up on him without responding to his question.
"It's because…" Su Nianhua paused as he recalled his earlier conversation with Tang Shi. Then he thought fast and cooked up an excuse that sounded aptly arrogant, saying, "Bro lost interest in the deal."
Qingcheng realized that that was entirely possible, thinking, "Well, he did have the luxury of being able to drop such a big deal simply because he'd lost interest in it. In comparison, the Gu family would have done everything in their power to close a deal that, to Tang Shi, was worth less than 1 percent of his family's wealth.
"And that, essentially, delineated the differences between the Gu family and the Tangs."
These thoughts made Gu Qingcheng suddenly feel sad. Turning away from Su Nianhua, she looked out of the window and didn't say another word.
Looking at her in the rearview mirror, Su Nianhua could see how dejected Gu Qingcheng looked. He felt like saying something, but he eventually decided to keep quiet and focus on driving her to the nearest hospital.
...
Gu Qingcheng's injury wasn't serious. Since there had been no damage to the bone, the doctor had simply prescribed some anti-inflammatory cream and cautioned her not to put pressure on the injured ankle for the next two days.
After situating Gu Qingcheng on a bench in the hospital corridor and telling her to rest there and wait for him, Su Nianhua went to join the line at the pharmacy for her medicine.
Due to the large number of people seeking treatment at the hospital, Su Nianhua had to stand in line for about ten minutes before it was his turn to pick up the prescription. Once he'd gotten it, he was about to head back to Gu Qingcheng when his phone rang.
It was Tang Shi.
Su Nianhua answered, saying, "Bro."
"Where are you?" With no greeting, Tang Shi's question was crisp and abrupt.
"At the pharmacy for Chinese medicine picking up Gu Qingcheng's prescription... I'm about to head back." Pausing, Su Nianhua tried to earn brownie points by adding, "The doctor said that Qingcheng's ankle injury is not critical. There was no damage to the bone or nerves. She just needs to not put pressure on her ankle for the next two days, and it should heal successfully…"
On the other end of the phone conversation, Tang Shi, who'd just a while ago been listening attentively to Su Nianhua, hung up abruptly the second after he'd confirmed that Gu Qingcheng wasn't in any further danger. Su Nianhua's effort to earn some brownie points was completely ignored.
Su Nianhua walked toward Gu Qingcheng with the medicine. He reached out and helped Gu Qingcheng to her feet, asking gently, "Do you think you can walk?"
"Yes." During the consultation earlier, the doctor had applied pressure to Gu Qingcheng's ankle, causing her to break out in tears because of the pain. However, after that first bout of pain, her ankle felt much better now.
Due to Gu Qingcheng's sprained ankle, she and Su Nianhua had to walk slowly. Just as they were almost at the entrance to the pharmacy for western medicine, Tang Shi and Lu Ran walked in.
Being the first to spot Su Nianhua and Gu Qingcheng, the eagle-eyed Lu Ran called out, "Nianhua, we were just looking for you."
As he spoke, Lu Ran walked swiftly ahead toward Su Nianhua and Gu Qingcheng. He looked at Gu Qingcheng and smiled, "Qingcheng, you're back?"