CHAPTER 155: CHAPTER 147: LU QIANWEN’S TRAP

Gu Qimiao originally planned to find Shen Yanchen in the afternoon to pick photos, but now she could only delay it.

After hearing this, Shen Yanchen also dared to go to the hospital, not because he was worried about Gu Moming, but because he didn’t want to see Gu Qimiao face these things alone. These matters shouldn’t be her concern.

For the unfamiliar hospital, Gu Qimiao felt a bit lost. After he came, it seemed like many things were easily resolved.

At two in the afternoon, when Gu Moming entered the operating room, Shen Yanchen had been accompanying her outside. Meanwhile, they had also finalized the photo selection matter.

Picking photos was just an excuse for him to find her.

Watching her occasionally glance at the operating room, he couldn’t help but wonder, in Italy, did she often sit like this, worried?

She hadn’t been back for long, and Gu Moming had already been hospitalized several times. It was imaginable that in Italy, such incidents surely were not rare either.

Thinking about how hard it was for her to stay by Gu Moming’s side, he couldn’t wait to take her away.

"Buzz buzz——" His phone rang in his pocket. Gu Qimiao turned her head to look at him and said, "Brother Yan Chen, if you have something to do, you can go first. But tomorrow, I might need to take half a day off, I should be able to come by in the afternoon."

Shen Yanchen nodded, took out his phone and saw a somewhat familiar number. He didn’t answer it immediately, but looked at Gu Qimiao, then walked a bit away before picking up the call.

As expected, it was Lu Qianwen calling. If he remembered correctly, this was her company’s number.

"Yanchen, Miaomiao said she gave you my commissioned painting?" Lu Qianwen didn’t express her longing for him as she used to, but directly stated the purpose of the call.

Shen Yanchen didn’t answer, wondering in his heart, when did she contact Gu Qimiao again?

"Are you free now? Where are you? I’ll come to get it."

After a two-second silence, Shen Yanchen reported a location, then turned around to tell Gu Qimiao that he had something to take care of and would leave for a while.

Gu Qimiao also knew he had a lot of work and felt a bit guilty letting him sit here accompanying her doing nothing.

Shen Yanchen drove to a square behind the hospital and took out the painting Gu Qimiao had previously given him from the trunk.

After waiting for a few minutes, Lu Qianwen arrived.

This was their first meeting since they last met at the police station.

Lu Qianwen seemed to have dressed up deliberately, looking mature and charming, walking towards Shen Yanchen in high heels with her red lips pouted.

"I didn’t expect you to come in person, it feels like a long time since we last met."

Shen Yanchen didn’t exchange pleasantries, directly handed the stuff to her, and then asked, "Did you contact her?"

Both of them knew who "her" referred to.

Lu Qianwen nodded, then smiled at him and said, "She and I are good friends."

Shen Yanchen’s face looked stern and warned, "Don’t use your tricks on her. You might handle her, but you can’t handle me."

Lu Qianwen smiled, "In your heart, am I such a bad woman?"

"I hope not."

"You’re so protective of her? She’s not as simple as she looks."

Shen Yanchen smiled, "Then you’d better be careful. If she schemes and makes me deal with you, I’ll only listen to her."

Lu Qianwen laughed at herself, "Protecting her so blindly? Even if it’s her fault, you still help her without reason?"

"Even if she’s wrong, only I can discipline her. But before that, I’ll deal with whoever she wants to confront first."

The threat in his words was evident. Lu Qianwen smiled and turned away, "Don’t worry, she and I are good sisters."

Shen Yanchen naturally wouldn’t believe such words. He hoped Gu Qimiao had some wits so he wouldn’t worry about her being bullied, but she never had harmful intentions.

He had a social event arranged for the evening, so he couldn’t go back to the hospital to accompany her. He planned to visit the hospital after the event to check on her. She was likely to stay in the hospital to take care of Gu Moming.

Gu Moming had woken up in the afternoon, but maybe because the anesthesia hadn’t completely worn off, he fell asleep again after the doctor finished the check-up and set up the IV drip.

Gu Qimiao stayed by the bedside all the time. She had a simple dinner in the hospital, then played games on her phone while watching the IV drip, helping him change the drip.

Seeing that the last bottle of drip was about to finish, Gu Qimiao thought she could finally rest for a while, but a phone number suddenly popped up on the game interface.

It was again Lu Qianwen calling.

After yesterday’s interaction, she wasn’t as nervous today and directly answered the call, "Sister Qianwen."

"Have you had dinner?" she asked familiarly.

"Yes, I have."

"Do you have time now?" After a pause, she stated her purpose, "The painting you did for me is beautiful, several of my friends also want to commission you. They’re all at my place now. If it’s convenient for you, could you come over?"

Gu Qimiao was silent for a moment, looking at Gu Moming on the bed, then thinking about it being late at night, and Shen Yanchen’s advice to be cautious, so she declined politely, "Can we do it another day? Tonight, I..."

Before she could finish, Lu Qianwen said, "My friends are going abroad tomorrow. Just come over tonight to finalize the commission and you can take your time with the painting later."

"Going abroad?"

She looked at the sleeping Gu Moming on the bed and then at the almost finished drip. The commission would probably take about an hour, and it seemed like Gu Moming wouldn’t wake up soon, so she said, "All right, I’ll be there in about half an hour."

"Do you need me to come pick you up?"

"No, no, I’ll go by myself."

Lu Qianwen added a caring remark, "Okay, be careful and stay safe."

"Okay."

Gu Qimiao simply thought that Lu Qianwen had recommended her art drafts to a friend and that it was just a simple commission.

After Gu Moming’s IV drip was done, she called the doctor to remove the needle and also asked the doctor to watch over Gu Moming for a while, saying she would be back soon.

The doctor had seen Shen Yanchen that morning and knew they were connected to him, so naturally, he agreed.

It was not yet eight o’clock. There was a bus stop right outside the hospital.

But there wasn’t a direct bus to Lu Qianwen’s villa; she had to walk a bit after getting off the bus to reach the Lu residence.

It seemed Lu Qianwen had informed the guards, as the butler came out directly to take her inside.

Although she had been there once before, she was still not familiar with the paths because the place was too large.

After winding through the courtyard, she finally reached the front of the villa. From downstairs, she could hear the laughter of several girls, as if coming from the upstairs balcony.

At this moment, Lu Qianwen popped her head out from the second-floor open balcony and waved at her, "Miaomiao, come up quickly."

Gu Qimiao smiled and quickened her pace up the stairs.

On the second floor, as she approached the balcony door, she saw quite a number of women gathered there. Some were familiar faces from Lu Qianwen’s birthday when there had been some unpleasantness, and some she had never seen before — presumably all friends of Lu Qianwen.

As Gu Qimiao walked in, Lu Qianwen warmly welcomed her and sat her down on the sofa beside her.

"You’re Miaomiao, right? Qianwen’s paintings are your work? Impressive! You look so young yet are so capable."

This woman was unfamiliar, but since she was complimenting her, Gu Qimiao smiled humbly.

Then the women started chatting one after another. Suddenly, Lu Qianwen got up and asked everyone, "What would you like to drink? And eat? I’ll go down and get someone to make it."

The other women excitedly told her what they wanted to eat. Finally, Lu Qianwen asked Gu Qimiao, "Miaomiao, how about you?"

Gu Qimiao laughed awkwardly, "Just juice will be fine..."

She just wanted to finish things quickly and return to the hospital. If Gu Moming woke up and didn’t see her, he would probably scold her again.

"Wenwen, I’ll go with you."

As the two women went downstairs, Lu Qianwen asked, "Where’s the drug?"

"With me, let’s go, I’ll go down with you."

"Is it strong?"

The woman smirked, "Want to try it?"

Lu Qianwen rolled her eyes at her.

"Have you contacted your brother? We need to time it right."

"Yes, he’ll be back after his meeting, and the drug will start working by then."

...

The two women walked into the kitchen and poured a white powder into the orange juice glass, then exchanged complicit smiles.

"But won’t this harm your brother?"

Lu Qianwen smiled and shook her head, "No, he likes her."

"Why is your brother so taken by this woman?"

"Because Gu Qimiao looks like my brother’s first love. His first love disappeared, and he’s been searching for her ever since. Gu Qimiao looks just like her, so he couldn’t let go."

The other woman laughed after hearing that, "Then we’re actually helping your brother."

The more they spoke, the more they hit it off, and then they carried the tray upstairs.

The glass of orange juice was placed by Gu Qimiao’s side without incident.

Gu Qimiao reached out and took it, but feeling the coldness of the glass, she didn’t drink it immediately. Shen Yanchen had once told her that girls should avoid cold drinks.

Lu Qianwen kept watching her, and then naturally steered the conversation toward the paintings.

Gu Qimiao earnestly gave her suggestions, and two of the girls even made an order.

Lu Qianwen calculated the time and then raised her glass, "Nannan is leaving, and we don’t know when our sisters will be able to gather again. Let’s have a toast."

Seeing everyone else raising their glasses, Gu Qimiao naturally followed suit. The clinking of the glasses made a crisp sound.

Gu Qimiao, like the others, brought her glass to her lips and took a sip.

They continued chatting, but she couldn’t join in. After sitting for a while, seeing that it was nine o’clock, she said to Lu Qianwen, "Sister Wen, it’s getting late, I have to go back. I’ll finish the painting as soon as possible for you."

Lu Qianwen noticed her face and smiled slightly, "Miaomiao, why is your face so red?"

Gu Qimiao raised her hand to touch her face, feeling a strange heat suddenly spreading.

A wave of heat slowly engulfed her whole body, rendering her weak, her vision starting to blur, and she heard Lu Qianwen’s indistinct voice, "I’ll take you to a room to rest..."

She felt someone supporting her and leading her away, and soon she felt herself being laid on a soft bed, her consciousness becoming increasingly fuzzy, trying to grasp something...

She writhed on the bed, unable to shake off that strange feeling...

Lu Qianwen returned to the balcony, where she saw car lights approaching from afar, smiled, and said, "He’s back."