The Substitute Bride and the Cripple

Xie Qingqing trembled in rage at He Lei’s tone. She had to bite back several curses.

“Qiu said you were very smart. I told her she was too simpleminded–with your low salary, how brainy can you be? You should be happy Qiu chose your young master at all, in that condition of his. She was worried about her husband and asked someone where he was. I haven’t been able to contact her since she boarded that plane. I’m still worried about her–she flew to such a remote place just to surprise Jiang Shaocheng, without caring about the price of the air ticket. I don’t understand. When did either of us lie to you? Does your question mean something happened to Qiu? Listen up: if she’s hurt, I don’t care how badly she’s pining for that husband of hers–I’ll make sure she leaves him!”

After being reprimanded by Xie Qingqing, He Lei unconsciously rubbed his ears and asked, “Do either of you know if Ning Mufan is in N Country?”

“How would we know? He isn’t important enough for the school to announce his whereabouts. Where’s Qiu? Why are you suddenly bringing up Ning Mufan?” Xie Qingqing though that there must be something wrong with He Lei’s brain.

“This is bad.” He Lei quickly hung up.

Huh? Xie Qingqing longed to reach through the phone and throttle He Lei. Hanging up before she was done talking? She wanted to know where Tang Qiu was!

But He Lei couldn’t care less about Xie Qingqing now. He turned around and pushed open the door. “Young Master, the young mistress came to N Country not for Ning Mufan, but to find you!”

Jiang Shaocheng turned to look at him. “Looking for me?” He laughed coldly and threw his unfinished cigarette into the ashtray. “I wasn’t even in N Country. Why would she be looking for me here?”

He Lei had also found the notion ridiculous at first, but Xie Qingqing’s words had made him realize that someone had told Tang Qiu her husband was in N Country. Something wasn’t right, regardless of who that person was. “I’ll call Ning Mufan and verify it with him.” He dug up Ning Mufan’s contact information and called him.

“Ning Mufan, did my young mistress come to N Country N with you?”

Ning Mufan was so angry that he almost burst out laughing. “Wasn’t humiliating me enough? Did you call me just to mock me? You’re too much!”

He Lei was anxious. “How did you come to meet my young mistress?” he pressed.

“I bumped into her at the hospital this morning. She had been searching for her husband in various hospitals since last night, but found no traces of him. Why? Is it because Jiang Shaocheng is about to die of his illness, but is too much of a coward to let everyone know?” Ning Mufan retorted.

......

Jiang Shaocheng’s expression changed. He stood up and walked over to He Lei.

He Lei quickly asked, “Are you saying that the young mistress came to look for my young master, and that meeting you was a coincidence?”

“What else?” Ning Mufan sneered. “If she had come for me, why would she be searching for that cripple? She was robbed last night. Her identification and money were stolen, and her arm was injured. I don’t know how she survived the night. Her wound has already been infected. When I saw her, she couldn’t even stand upright, but she was still looking for Jiang Shaocheng in the hospital!” He exhaled deeply. “Take her to the hospital. Don’t dismiss her injury. It isn’t serious, but she might get tetanus after ignoring her wound for a whole night!” His concern for Tang Qiu eclipsed his hatred for Jiang Shaocheng.

Jiang Shaocheng recalled that when he grabbed Tang Qiu’s wrist, she kept crying out in pain. So she had been injured. He felt guilty and rushed out. freℯ𝓌e𝚋𝐧𝘰vℯl.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Before He Lei could hang up, he heard a bang. His young master, who was pretending to be a cripple, had run out.

It was enough to give him a headache. The young master was about to expose himself. He Lei made to chase after him, only to see Jiang Shaocheng running back. “Where is she?” he demanded.

“I… I helped her book a flight back home. I… I’ll check if she’s received the tickets yet.” He Lei’s head was throbbing with fear.

Jiang Shaocheng gritted his teeth. “You booked a ticket for her? Do you want to die?”

He Lei didn’t dare to speak.

Jiang Shaocheng took out his phone to check her location. The necklace he had given her had a GPS built into it.

“Young Master, if you’re not pretending to be a cripple, you should at least wear a mask.” He Lei chased after him.

Jiang Shaocheng hadn’t driven far when he saw Tang Qiu sitting on a bench by the street, her complexion pallid. His heart ached. He had been so angry that he had wrongly accused her before getting his facts right. For a moment, he didn’t know how to face her.

He saw her cough and turn pale. Then she swayed and fell sideways onto the bench.