Su Tang returned to City S and resumed her career as a coder, while Ren Qingzhou was filming at the movie studio.
The filming at the movie studio was expected to wrap up by mid - June, and Ren Qingzhou would have a short vacation.
Although they spent little time together, their relationship remained relatively stable. However, no one expected that new problems would arise after just a few peaceful days.
The trouble started with the three girls who visited the set. After the visit, one of them was so excited that she wrote a short post on Weibo about her experience.
The post itself was unproblematic, as it was all praise for Ren Qingzhou.
The problem lay in the pictures she attached. The photos she took not only captured Ren Qingzhou but also Su Tang.
It was time for the fans to play Sherlock Holmes again.
"Hey, there's a new girl next to Qingzhou!"
"Is she a crew member?"
"Maybe she's a new assistant from the studio."
There were all sorts of speculations about this new face.
Some fans waiting outside the filming site said they had seen this girl on the set again, so she should be a crew member.
Hearing that it was just a short - term collaboration, for some reason, Su Tang felt that the fans seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
Did she look that threatening?
This matter should have been over, until a fan said, "I saw Qingzhou in Ling County. This girl was probably with him at that time. She should be his assistant."
Since she had been seen outside the set, she couldn't be a crew member.
When did the studio recruit such a beautiful girl?
Why would they hire a young girl as Ren Qingzhou's assistant?
All of a sudden, there were numerous speculations. The official Weibo account of the studio was flooded with private messages.
Li Momo had a headache. She took her phone to Ren Qingzhou and showed him, "Look at your fans. They even care about you hiring a good - looking assistant. If you had a good - looking girlfriend, they'd probably go crazy."
Ren Qingzhou also had a headache. "But people have to face reality. I can't be a bachelor for the rest of my life, right?"
"I don't know if you can be a bachelor for life, but I do know that if you make your relationship public now, the investors of the drama *A Picturesque River and Mountain* will definitely want to strangle you."
"I don't want to make it public now either. Even if I did, you wouldn't let me!"
"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. It's completely impossible. Can you talk to your girlfriend and ask her to act as your assistant for now?"
"Okay, fine."
"Can she appear in my public events from now on?"
"No. As long as she doesn't show up, people will gradually forget. The Internet has a short memory."
Su Tang felt that she had caused trouble. Her relationship with Ren Qingzhou was like fire wrapped in paper. It was impossible to cover it up completely. After all, once you did something, it would eventually come to light.
But it was different from directly lying to the fans that she was Ren Qingzhou's assistant.
Public deception was unforgivable, at least in Su Tang's opinion. Since she was still at work, she could only send a message to Ren Qingzhou.
"I think it's better not to claim the identity of an assistant. It's not a good idea."
She had a lot of work this week, and there had been overtime every day. Since Monday, Su Tang had felt a bit unwell, but she didn't take it seriously.
Who would have thought that the discomfort would get worse. She felt listless all over, and her throat hurt so much that she could hardly speak. So she had to ask for leave in advance and go to the hospital.
She was in such a bad state today that she didn't dare to drive. She took the subway to the hospital.
On the way, she felt like she was constantly breaking out in cold sweat. An old lady sitting next to her noticed her pale face and asked with concern, "Girl, are you okay?"
Su Tang was in so much pain that she could hardly catch her breath. She just shook her head. "I'm okay."
Looking at her reflection in the subway, she saw that her face was as white as a ghost.
These days, the hospital was always crowded. Su Tang had only been to the hospital a few times. She followed the signs and registered for emergency treatment. The waiting time was short, and it was her turn soon.
The doctor's examination was also very quick. It wasn't a serious illness. "It's just tonsillitis. It's already suppurated. You need an intravenous drip."
The doctor explained the condition and wrote out a prescription at the same time. "Go to the payment counter to pay."
The whole process took less than ten minutes. Su Tang went out, paid the fee, and came back to wait for the drip.
Just as the needle was inserted, she received a call from Fang Ting. "Hey, Tangtang, are you busy?"
"Not busy. What's up?"
Maybe it was too noisy on her end, with all the call - out voices. Fang Ting also sensed something was wrong. She asked, "Where are you?"
"It's okay. Just a small thing." Since Fang Ting was far away in Beijing, Su Tang didn't want her to worry.
"Your voice sounds strange. Are you sick?"
"Yeah. It's not a big deal. The doctor said it's suppurated tonsillitis."
"You're in the hospital now. What did the doctor say?"
"The doctor said I need to have the drip for a few days."
"Are you alone?"
"Yeah. It's not a serious illness."
Fang Ting didn't mention what she had originally called for. Hearing that Su Tang could hardly speak, she just gave her a few words of advice to take care of herself and then hung up.
Su Tang didn't think she was that pitiful before. But after Fang Ting's call, she felt a bit sad about being alone in City S.
She wasn't the only one getting the drip alone. Although it was inconvenient without someone to accompany, most people were just passing through this city and it was hard to finally settle down here.
Thinking of this, Su Tang quickly called Fang Ting back.
"Fang Ting, remember not to tell Jiang Bai to inform Ren Qingzhou."
It had to be said that Su Tang knew Fang Ting well. Fang Ting was just about to do that.
It also had to be said that Fang Ting knew Su Tang well. She really didn't tell Ren Qingzhou about this.
Truly good friends.
Fang Ting really wanted to pry open Su Tang's head to see what was going on in her mind. "As your boyfriend, shouldn't he know about this? Shouldn't he take care of you? Don't you feel like an orphan, alone in the hospital?"
Su Tang looked at a couple in the distance who were showing concern for each other and silently shed tears for herself.
She had chosen her boyfriend herself. You win some, you lose some.
"He can't come either. If he came, the hospital would kick him out. Do you really think he can accompany me getting the drip in the busy emergency department?"
And then be photographed by a bunch of people. Oh, just thinking about it felt so exciting.
"So you're just going to bear it alone?" Fang Ting rolled her eyes so hard that they almost went to the sky. "How many days do you need to have the drip?"
"A week."
"Wait for me to save you. I'll finish my work right away."
After hanging up the phone, Su Tang suddenly wanted to go to the toilet.
This was a problem. The hardest part of getting the drip alone was going to the toilet.
Su Tang held up her drip bottle and slowly shuffled towards the toilet.
Fang Haoran was temporarily transferred to the emergency department today. There were a lot of things to do in the emergency department, and he had been busy all morning. Looking at the time, it was already after one o'clock and he hadn't had lunch yet. He didn't know if there was still food in the cafeteria. He was going to find a place to grab a bite.
As soon as he walked out, he saw a girl holding a drip bottle and shuffling in the corridor.
Thinking that he should help if he could, Fang Haoran walked over and took the drip bottle from her. "Where are you going?"
Su Tang turned around and saw a young doctor in a white coat. "To the toilet..."
Fang Haoran followed her and walked slowly with her.
Su Tang felt a bit embarrassed and quickly said, "You can go back to work. I can manage by myself."
There was a treatment slip attached to the drip bottle. Fang Haoran took a quick look and knew that this girl was his patient. "It's okay. I'm going this way."
"Your name is Su Tang, right?" He saw her name on the treatment slip.
"Yes."
"My name is Fang Haoran. I'm the doctor who examined you this morning." Only then did Su Tang notice his name tag. She was surprised that such a young doctor was already an attending physician.
"Sorry. You were wearing a mask before. I didn't recognize you." Her voice was hoarse because of her sore throat.
As they were talking, they arrived at the toilet. Fang Haoran, of course, was not convenient to go in. He pointed to the door of the toilet. "There are hooks on the wall of the toilet."
"Okay. Thank you so much." Fang Haoran's enthusiasm made Su Tang a bit flustered.
Unexpectedly, Fang Haoran was still waiting at the door when she came out of the toilet.
"Let's go. I'll take you back."
"You should drink more water and eat a lighter diet."
Fang Haoran gave her a few words of advice and then left after taking her back.
Su Tang looked at her phone and saw a message from Ren Qingzhou.
"What did you have for lunch?"
Only then did she remember that she hadn't had lunch yet. She didn't have much of an appetite in the hospital. "Just something simple."
"I have to keep filming later. I'll probably stay up all night tonight."
His job was really busy. Su Tang didn't chat with him for long before he went silent again. She looked up at the medicine in the drip bottle and estimated that she still had to sit there for another two hours.
Sitting there, she didn't feel hungry, but she felt very sleepy.
She tried to stay awake, but the words on her phone gradually became blurry. Eventually, she fell asleep.
When she woke up, the needle had already been removed.
A nurse who was busy nearby saw that she was finally awake and smiled. "Next time, don't fall asleep when you come alone. There are so many people here. Sometimes we can't keep an eye on everyone."
Su Tang smiled sheepishly. "Okay, I know."
Then she heard the nurse say, "We were really lucky that Dr. Fang came by today and noticed that your drip was almost finished."
Su Tang remembered that the doctor who had helped her at noon was indeed surnamed Fang.
After thanking the nurse, she thought for a while and then asked, "Do you know where Dr. Fang is now?"
It was obvious that she wanted to thank him in person. Hearing her question, the nurse also smiled and replied, "He's in surgery now. But he'll be back in the emergency department tomorrow. You'll be able to see him."
Su Tang thanked her again and then left.