159. Let’s just get along
Long Jia rocked Ling Ling's hospital bed, fed her two sips of water, and then said, "You fainted in your company yesterday, and your colleagues called an ambulance to send you here. I am your emergency contact, and I rushed over after they contacted me. During this period, your boss came to see you once, but left with a sad face. I don't know if he was worried about your condition or worried that no one would take over the work you left behind. As for your illness, the doctor said that you were overworked, so I took the opportunity to do a full body check on you and found a hemangioma on your liver. The electronic file said that it was discovered during your physical examination last year, and now it is showing a trend of growth. Surgery has been scheduled this week, and I have completed the procedures for you the day after tomorrow morning." Long Jia narrated everything that had happened in the past two days in one breath, answering all the questions in Ling Ling's heart, saving her the trouble of asking again. "It seems choosing you as my emergency contact was a wise decision." Ling Ling forced a self-deprecating smile across her pale face. "So I don't have to change my emergency contact every time I change my boyfriend." Long Jia, however, sat beside her, unconvinced, and asked, "How do you know I wouldn't be your boyfriend?" Ling Ling glared at him, hearing his reckless talk. Long Jia, however, enthusiastically continued the conversation he had started. "I've been so worried about you these past two days. Honestly, I really think we should just get by together. Look, you broke up with Yu Chuanbei, and your relationship with Zhong Mingtong has faded. Now I'm the only one left by your side. I really like you, and you don't mind me. We've seen the world's prosperity in the first half of our lives, so let's spend the rest of our lives together in peace and quiet, okay?" Having known each other for so long, Ling Ling naturally knew the true and false parts of Long Jia's playful tone. "Do you think making do doesn't take effort? Making do is the most draining thing. If we truly want to support each other long-term, this is the best situation, don't you think?" Ling Ling forced herself to speak with more strength. Long Jia pursed his lips and nodded in approval, but said with a hint of sourness, "I see you're still thinking about Yu Chuanbei. In all these years, he's the only one who's truly entered your heart." Seeing Ling Ling's gloomy face, Long Jia had to feign generosity and said, "Okay, okay, let's move on!" He paused, then said, "Want something to eat? Eat well today, because tomorrow you won't be allowed to eat again for the pre-operative preparations." Ling Ling shook her head weakly, "No, I don't want to eat anything. I'm just tired. Let me clear my mind completely." She closed her eyes, as if opening them...
Long Jia rocked Ling Ling's bed, gave her two sips of water, and then said, "You fainted at your company yesterday, and your colleagues called an ambulance to bring you here. I'm your emergency contact, so I rushed over right after they contacted me. Your boss came to see you once during that time, but he left with a worried look on his face. I don't know if he was worried about your condition or about no one taking over the work you'd left. As for your illness, the doctor said you've been overworked. He took this opportunity to give you a full-body checkup and discovered a hemangioma on your liver. Your electronic file shows that it was discovered during your physical last year, and it's growing larger. Surgery has been scheduled for this week, and I've already completed the paperwork for you the day after tomorrow morning."
Long Jia told Ling Ling everything that had happened in the past two days in one breath, answering all the questions in her heart and saving her the effort of asking more questions.
"It seems that choosing you as my emergency contact was a wise decision." Ling Ling forced a self-deprecating smile on her pale face, "So that I don't have to change my emergency contact every time I change my boyfriend."
Long Jia, however, sat next to her unconvinced and said, "How do you know I won't be your boyfriend?"
Ling Ling heard him say this without knowing the consequences and glared at him fiercely.
Long Jia continued the topic he had started with great interest, saying, "I've been so worried about you these past two days. Honestly, I really think we should just get along. Look, you broke up with Yu Chuanbei, and your relationship with Zhong Mingtong has ended. Now I'm the only one left by your side. I like you very much, and you don't dislike me. We've seen the world's prosperity in the first half of our lives, so let's spend the rest of our lives together in peace and quiet, okay?"
Having known each other for so long, Ling Ling certainly knew how much truth and falsehood there was in Long Jia's joking tone.
"Do you think making do doesn't require any effort? Making do is the most exhausting thing. If we really want to support each other for a long time, this is the best situation now, don't you think?" Ling Ling forced herself to be energetic and spoke with more strength.
Long Jia pursed his lips tightly and nodded in approval, but said sourly, "I see, you're still thinking about Yu Chuanbei. Over the years, he's the only one who's truly entered your heart."
Seeing Ling Ling's gloomy face, Long Jia had to pretend to be magnanimous and said, "Okay, okay, let's move on!" He paused and said, "Do you want to eat anything? Eat well today, because you won't be allowed to eat tomorrow because you have to prepare for the surgery."
Ling Ling shook her head weakly and said, "I don't want to eat anything, I just feel so tired. Let me clear my mind completely." She closed her eyes, as if keeping her eyes open was too much physical effort for her now.
Seeing her like this, Long Jia felt very distressed. "Don't do that crappy job anymore. I've been in contact with your boss, and I think he's a PUA expert."
Ling Ling smiled and said, "Yes, some time ago she wanted me to be a stepmother to her daughter who is in her twenties!"
"You agreed?" Longjia jumped up and asked.
"Do I need to work so hard since I've already agreed?" Ling Ling rolled her eyes at him.
"Then you have to work even harder! You've gone from being a wage earner to a child bride. The elders are responsible for their retirement, the younger ones are responsible for food, drink and entertainment, and you're the only one left to support the family business. Otherwise, why do you think a rich old man would marry another woman halfway through his life? A man who has experienced countless scams and has been calculating carefully in his career for years, is he marrying you just to chat, go to the sea and watch the moon? Or maybe he just values your fertility to make up for the lack of a son in this life. In short, if an old man with a successful career and all the tricks in the book still wants to get married at this age, it must be to make up for some shortcomings in his life, and it can't be to take advantage of you for free."
"As a mature professional woman, what I need from my spouse is not just chatting or watching the moon at the beach, okay? I don't care what you think of Fang Tuowu, but you can't look down on Ling Ling!" Ling Ling didn't know where the energy came from, and she was fighting for this worthless breath with her weak body.
Seeing her like this, Long Jia was actually quite happy for her. "If we can't live together, how about we start a business together? From my life experience, there is no such thing as pure friendship between men and women. If you want to live together harmoniously for a long time, you must be bound by something. If you can't use the family bond brought by marriage, then you can only use the benefits brought by money."
"Everyone knows this. The threshold for acquiring life experience is too low!" Ling Ling couldn't help but disparage him, but after thinking carefully about his suggestion, she was actually tempted. "I've been thinking about quitting lately. I feel that after working in the advertising industry for so long, the only thing I'm truly interested in and willing to devote my life to is writing copy. As for everything else, I'm increasingly tired of it. I don't want to maintain relationships I don't care about, nor do I want to try my best to be a hypocritical manager within the absurd rules of the workplace. I just want to record every flash of inspiration I have, to express my value, to let more people know about good products, and to let more people's lives be touched by good products."
"So we can set up a studio. I've researched your industry a while ago. Independent studios are very popular right now and can attract small advertisers. At the same time, as large advertisers expand their in-house brand planning and public relations capabilities, they're no longer relying on large advertising agencies. But sometimes they still want to simply source creative ideas, so they turn to independent studios. So our future client base has great potential!"
"You're talking so lively, just take it as your opening remarks when looking for angel investment. Good brothers don't care about money. If we really start a business together, we might end up parting ways at any time. There are only a few people left in my life that I can cherish, and I don't want to lose you as a friend again." Ling Ling said with some sadness.
Long Jia said shamelessly: "If you think so, we are a man and a woman, and if we don't do anything, we will eventually part ways on bad terms, so why not do something? It is better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. A sick child can often prolong his life."
Ling Ling sneered and asked him, "Then what do you think our company should be called?"
"Spiritual Armor. I've thought about it a long time ago."
"Did you plan to instigate me to resign for a long time?"
"I should say I went to great lengths to save you from this sea of suffering!"
Ling Ling and Long Jia imagined what their future company would look like, as if they were holding their first shareholders' meeting.
Ling Ling forced herself to be more sober. "I'm warning you, I want to run a clean and refreshing studio. You can't turn this into a business selling billboards on the road. Also, copywriting and art are almost becoming end-of-life professions due to the impact of AI. Our company could be swept away by the tide of the times at any time. You must be mentally prepared to withstand the impact."
"Don't worry, I never make promises to women lightly. Once I do, I'll be responsible until the end—" Long Jia hadn't had time to finish his bold words when the phone rang. After he answered it, his face instantly became solemn and he stood up suddenly. "Zhenzhen, don't worry! There's nitroglycerin in Mom's bedside drawer. Give it to her first!"
After hearing this, Ling Ling immediately sat up straight, her heart aching.
Long Jia hung up the phone, pacing unsteadily in a state of panic. "My mom had a heart attack and isn't doing well. Luckily, Zhen Zhen was home."
"Why are you still standing there? Go home!" Ling Ling wanted to yell at him to wake him up.
"But, what should you do here? You have to have surgery tomorrow... Also, what are you going to eat tonight..." Long Jia was obviously panicked.
Ling Ling was so anxious that she disconnected the IV drip. She got down to the ground, grabbed his coat, and stuffed it into his arms. She then picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. She informed him word by word, "Zhenzhen should have called an ambulance. The closest hospital to your house is the People's Hospital, but ask about your mother's condition and see if they can extend the ambulance's drive to Fuwai Hospital by five more minutes. Go straight to the hospital and contact medical resources in advance on the way. See how well your family's old connections or the companies that pay for those huge insurance can connect them. Take good care of your mother, and don't worry about me. I'll hire a nurse and a doctor to accompany her. I'll message you when the operation is successful."
Long Jia tried hard to digest her instructions, ran to the door, and then stopped abruptly. "The hemangioma on your liver... the doctor said that the indicators look okay, but the final judgment of whether it is benign depends on the pathological results. So don't ignore it. Be obedient and treat it well. When you and my mother are discharged from the hospital, we will go to Lingjia Company to cut the ribbon!"
"Of course!" Ling Ling smiled with full of energy and waved her hands vigorously, asking Long Jia to leave quickly.
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