"Su Lu, if I don't nod, don't ever think about ending things cleanly."
Bo Jingshen's domineering personality was something Su Lu was well aware of. So she didn't bother to say anything more.
When Cheng Youran's call came through, they were already not far from the hospital.
Cheng Youran was her close friend, the kind who would take care of everything for her.
Cheng Youran's voice was cold, "Gu Xin's scandal, how come you're the one taking the fall for it?"
Hearing this, Su Lu knew that the photos of her injury had already been leaked.
In Bo Jingshen's car, Su Lu couldn't say much to Cheng Youran, so she just said, "I'm almost at the hospital, I'll talk to you there."
Before hanging up, Cheng Youran asked faintly, "The one wearing the black mask who escorted you away from the scene. Was it Bo Jingshen?"
During their university years, they were not in the same city, so Cheng Youran only knew she had a deeply loved man, had seen photos, but had never met him in person.
Su Lu knew she couldn't hide it, so she responded with a hum, "We'll talk face-to-face."
Muhe Private Hospital was also where Cheng Youran worked.
When they arrived, Cheng Youran was already waiting at the entrance.
"Don't be long-winded, I'll directly arrange a few days of hospitalization for you, just so you can lay low for a while."
Saying this, Cheng Youran leaned in to examine the wound.
"Might need a stitch, since you have a scar-prone skin, if we don't stitch it, the scar might be very noticeable. I'll call the plastic surgery department for cosmetic stitching, don't worry."
Su Lu obediently nodded.
After Su Lu got out of the car, Bo Jingshen drove off.
So Cheng Youran directly asked, "Did he go to park the car or has he already left? If he's parking, I'll wait with you, if he's gone, let's go in."
"Let's go in." Su Lu said.
Su Lu thought, he merely helped her because he'd slept with her, so delivering her to the hospital was already the most he could do. There was no reason for him to accompany her inside.
She assumed he had left, and didn't plan to wait, just went inside with Cheng Youran.
When Bo Jingshen walked over after parking the car, they were already gone.
He wasn't upset. Her wound needed immediate attention.
Jiang Li's call came through.
"Brother Shen, you skipped the wontons and went to play hero saving the beauty? Do you think that's fair when I lined up early to buy those wontons? Even if you wanted to watch the commotion, you should've taken me along, I also love watching drama."
Bo Jingshen said indifferently, "A convenience."
Jiang Li didn't doubt him, "Oh. Do you want me to get the news retracted? Though you didn't show your face, Brother Shen doing good deeds and still knows to stay hidden..."
"Retract it." Bo Jingshen paused, "Also retract Su Lu's news."
Jiang Li laughed, "Did you feel bad about making her drink those three glasses the other day?"
"Nonsense." Bo Jingshen looked at the hospital lobby but didn't intend to enter, "I'm heading back to the office now."
Cheng Youran quickly found the plastic surgery doctor and stitched the wound.
Su Lu looked into the mirror, "Tsk, I got disfigured."
Her tone didn't reveal any sadness.
"This is what they call imperfect beauty. You're already very beautiful, a small flaw gives others a chance to live."
Su Lu laughed, "Such a sweet talker?"
"Seeing you disfigured, I'm comforting you." Cheng Youran applied a small piece of sterile dressing on the stitched wound.
Su Lu managed work over the phone and held a video conference.
In the afternoon, Su Yukan came over.
Su Lu, dressed in a hospital gown, had removed her scarf, and although the kiss marks on her neck were faint, they were still visible.
Su Yukan got angry as soon as he saw them, "You just divorced Gu Xin and now you're fooling around? Don't you have any shame?"
Su Lu didn't bother to explain, calmly said, "I'll take responsibility for my personal life. Do you need anything?"
"I had a meeting with the Gu Family this morning." Su Yukan's face looked bad, clearly, the discussion didn't go well.
"You should go to Hai City to lay low for a while, and inspect the cooperation project there. The Gu Family said this incident was Gu Xin's fault, so they agreed to increase our profit margin a bit."
Talking about the profit concession, Su Yukan's expression softened a bit.
He thought for a moment, "Gu Xin is no good, next time with President Liu..."
Su Lu's smile was somewhat mocking, "You still think there'll be a next time? Last time, you threatened me with the safety and future of my ex-boyfriend, I admitted my weakness, I worked for five years, helped the Su Family earn billions, I did my duty. Next time, what collateral do you have?"
Su Yukan's face turned ugly, awkwardly changing the topic, "I'm only doing this for your own good, let's talk about it later. Next month, your brother returns, you should come stay a few days."
Though the father-daughter relationship wasn't good, Su Lu had a good relationship with her brothers. Su Yukan also knew what to say to defuse the tension.
Su Lu said coldly, "Got it. I need to rest now, take care."
Early the next morning, Gu Xin rushed to the hospital.
"Why are you here?" Su Lu was in the middle of a dressing change, so she smiled at him.
"Please don't smile, pulling the wound is bad for healing." the nurse said.
Five minutes later, the dressing change was complete.
Seeing the wound at the corner of Su Lu's eye, Gu Xin felt guilty, "Xiaolu, I..."
Apologies seemed too pale.
Su Lu said, "It was an accident."
Gu Xin took a deep breath, "I owe you. Your father came to my house yesterday."
Su Lu said, "I know, he told me."
But Gu Xin sneered, not at Su Lu, but at Su Yukan.
"He said it was my fault, so he hopes my parents will speak well of you in public occasions, to avoid affecting his plans for your remarriage."
No wonder someone as easygoing as Gu Xin couldn't help but sneer.
"You can say I've made mistakes a hundred times, I'll admit them a hundred times, but who does he think he is? If it wasn't for their coercion back then, would we have all these troublesome issues now?"
Su Lu took a deep breath, "Let's not talk about this. You needn't worry about me, I'll be inspecting the project in Hai City in a few days, and we'll deal with the media attention later..."
Gu Xin said, "Right, when I was about to suppress the news, I found out that Jiang Li had already retracted it."
"Jiang Li? The second master of Jianghe Media?" Su Lu was puzzled, "Why would he..."
Su Lu froze, thinking of yesterday's rescue by Bo Jingshen when she was besieged by reporters. He was seen in the pictures, and he had close ties with Jiang Li.
She realized she was probably benefiting from that connection.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Jiang Li walked into the hospital room with baskets of flowers and fruits, smiling.
"Oh, Mr. Gu is here." Jiang Li raised an eyebrow, then with a grin looked at Su Lu, "I came to check on your injury."
"Much better," Su Lu said, "I just found out, thank you for retracting the news."
Su Lu's eyes followed him to the man who walked in behind him.
Today Bo Jingshen didn't wear a suit, he wore a white thin cashmere sweater, a camel duffle coat, black slim jeans wrapping his long legs, and a pair of slightly worn sneakers.
Just looking once, it overlapped perfectly with the image of the young man in her memories.