Chapter 75

It was ten o’clock in the morning. The weekly meeting for J’appelle was in progress.

After the CEO and CFO had spoken, the advertising department announced some good news, “ We have already got 15 seconds of prime time in the TV station” , the head of the department said as his assistant circulated the relevant documents.

This was the first time that J’appelle was able to break Li’s attempts at blocking a favourable advertising slot for J’appelle

But this was also the fourth time that Yan Liang’s mind seemed to be somewhere else during the meeting.

The assistant again reminded her, “ Ms Yan.” Yan Liang suddenly recovered, looked around and realised it was her turn to say something now.

After the meeting, Yan Liang was back at her office. Computer , files on desk.. all were waiting for her attention.

The Ya Yan project that was shelved two years ago was also restarting, and would keep her very busy for a while.

The thought of visiting the R&D centre in the afternoon and then have dinner with Lu Zheng so she could socialise with the industry big wigs gave her a headache.

She had not slept at all at night. As she forced herself to stay awake, her brain wondered and she unconsciously doodled on the document in front of her. When she looked down to see what she had written , she was startled…

You can’t do this now..

Don’t..

Don’t do this …

Wrong

This is retribution..

Retribution..

Scrunching the paper , she threw it in the dustbin. She widened her eyes to keep the sleep away. While opening the document she dialled the intercom and asked her secretary to get her some coffee.

Soon someone knocked on the door. She thought this was her secretary, she could smell the mellow aroma of the coffee. Yan Liang took the coffee while looking at the document.

But the secretary did not leave. Puzzled, Yan Liang put the one down and looked up.

Lu Zheng was standing at the table, his arms folded as he looked down at her . She was surprised by his appearance and faintly smiled,

“ Why are you here ?”

“ I was just passing by. Thought I’d come up and see you.”

She smiled in response. Then she picked up the phone to instruct her Secretary again,” Please get Mr Lu some coffee.”

She hung up the phone and gave Lu Zheng an apologetic smile,” I’m very busy today, I have no time to chat with you.”

Lu Zheng did not react. He looked at the table full of documents and looked at her with worry, “ I heard your assistant say

that you are working very hard for a long time. You are not getting enough rest.”

“ There is..” lu Zheng suddenly leaned close, he bent his head near her neck. Her neck had always been her most sensitive place, Yan Liang immediately sat back, but Lu Zheng moved back as well.” How some you smell of hospital disinfectants ?”

“……” “…”

“ Are you sick ?”

How could she tell him that she had been going to the hospital every night, not because she was ill, but to just sit there

night after night ?

She couldn’t

So she only smiled

She knew he was gentleman enough not to ask again.

**** ****

In the evening dinner, although there were enough senior officers of J’appelle including the marketing manager and so on, as host , Yan Liang had to drink a glass or two of wine and felt slightly fuzzy.

There were some large scale distributors. Many of the second and third tier cities that J’appelle could not touch earlier were in the hands of these people. They were old friends of the Ming Ting Group and had no direct interest with Li Group. Hence Yan Liang was asking them for their co operation .

Many of them agreed , “ Ok! No problem. Tomorrow we can sign the contract. If Lu Zheng is here, how can we say no ?”

After a while , the dealers were helped by their assistants out of the hotel. A follow up event was arranged in a nightclub . People scattered in all directions and Yan Liang got into her car.

As she got into the car, she told the driver the name of the nightclub. Unexpectedly, Lu ZHeng came to her car. With half of his body leaning down, he told the driver, “Please take Ms Yan home.”

Yan Liang turned around to see him.

“ I asked him to take you home, I will continue to accompany them to drink in the next event.”

“……” “…”

“Before going to bed, remember to drink a cup of honey and

water. “ Lu Zheng finished speaking and stood up again

The driver, seeing that Yan Liang had no other orders, silently started the car.

Yan Liang’s hand rested on the window , her forehead rested on her arm. The driver thought she was asleep. Suddenly, she spoke in a faint voice, “ Go to the city hospital.”

The driver thought he had heard it wrong. He looked back and saw Yan Liang sitting up straight , squinting at him with a pair of drunk eyes and reiterate, “ City hospital.”

Then she lowered the window, and the darkness of the night flowed in the car like water.

As soon as the car entered the hospital, Yan Liang was out of the door.

She looked up and saw that the sky had brightened.

She came here every night. And like all days, she came to the intensive care unit and sat down in the bench opposite.

She still did not have the courage to open the door of the ICU. Every night she would just sit outside the door. As long as she didn’t see the doctor rushing to see the patient, in the morning, she would return back to the office.

This was a good time to come and go, she never bumped into Secretary Lee

But she couldn’t stop the nurses from approaching her ,”Which patient are you related to?”

She didn’t answer and went out to the smoking room to smoke a cigarette. By the time she came back , the nurse had already left.

Today there were nurses keeping an eye on her. Maybe because she was drunk, they looked at her suspiciously. Yan Liang did not look at them directly. She just went out for a smoke occasionally.

Unexpectedly , this time when she came back she heard the nurses chatting “… he was being treated in a private hospital earlier. He was sent here because of a sudden worsening ..”

“ It’s no wonder he has his own medical team. He does not need to use public hospital facilities”

“ I asked Director Lin. He says that if we transfer him now, he may lose his life.

I think they will wait for his condition to stabilise before they move him back to a private hospital.”

“Oh.. don’t know if he will live long enough to move into a stable condition.”

The strength in her whole body suddenly drained out. She leaned against the door for a moment before she slid to the ground

He may lose his life if we transfer him now ….

He may not live long enough to move to a stable condition ….

The words continued to echo in her ear as darkness gradually covered her eyes

It seemed as if the dizziness had only claimed her for a few minutes, but it also felt as if she had been sleeping for several years. When she woke up, Yan Liang saw a face in front of her and was momentarily confused

The specific hospital disinfectant smell was still all over her. She tried to move her fingers and found she was able to do so. She was no longer sitting on the cold ground but on a soft bed

When she moved her fingers , she realised someone was holding her hand. She looked down. She saw a man sitting by the bed. He was the one holding her hand

The hand being held was numb. She tried to withdraw her hand. This was what had woken her up

As her sleepy eyes adapted to the light , he stood up suddenly and hugged her. In a relieved voice said, “Finally you have woken up!”

His embrace made Yan Liang a bit dizzy ,”You …”

“ I called you to find out if you had reached home safely. A nurse answered the phone and told me you had fainted in the corridor of the hospital.”

Yan Liang tried to push him.Lu Zheng reacted, let go of her and carefully helped her lean against the headboard.

“You have been sleeping for two days.” His voice now had a trace of concern

Yan Liang did not speak, she was still feeling dizzy.

“Doctor diagnosed that you are suffering from an extreme lack of sleep, neurasthenia. How did you get it this time? And how did you faint in the hospital? “

*neurasthenia – an ill-defined medical condition characterized by lassitude, fatigue, headache, and irritability, associated chiefly with emotional disturbance.

There was so much doubt, so much worry, so much concern that the normally clear thinking Lu Zheng sounded incoherent. Finally , looking at her pale face, he stopped questioning her.

After a pause , lu Zheng caressed her forehead ,” You rest now. I will get the nurse to check on you.”

His anxious footsteps echoed in the hall, leaving her alone, muttering to herself “..two days?”

..Two days …

Was he still alive ?