Chapter 102

Chapter 102

#Nanyuan Group Ambulance#

#Nan Anru ICU#

#Nan Anru's Death#

#Nan Shuyi Looks Grim#

Nan Anru was loaded into the ambulance shortly after 3 PM, with Nan Shuyi and Jiang Yicen accompanying him. This scene was captured by a gossipy self-media outlet that happened to be staking out Nan Shuyi at Nanyuan. Entertainment media thrive on timeliness—truth be damned, speculation is what sells.

The man was still in emergency care, yet online, a blurry video and a few ambiguous photos had already sparked countless theories, trending on the hot search list.

Jiang Yicen wasn't in the habit of staring at his phone, but if he were, he'd have muttered like the average netizen, "The media is such a nuisance."

Half an hour after Nan Anru was admitted to the hospital, the doctors told them the cause of his collapse: an acute episode of lumbar disc herniation, with severe nerve compression restricting blood flow to the brain.

After emergency treatment, Nan Anru's condition had stabilized.

Earlier, Nan Shuyi had called Yao Mengxun from the company. She rushed over from home, visibly panicked—flour still dusting her hair from making dinner, showing that even this usually immaculate, beauty-conscious woman had been caught off guard.

Yao Mengxun: "Shuyi, Yicen, how's your father?"

Jiang Yicen answered on Nan Shuyi's behalf: "The doctor said he's fine—it was an acute flare-up of his lumbar disc."

Nan Shuyi looked grim: "He usually keeps such a regular schedule. Why would it flare up all of a sudden?"

Yao Mengxun: "Could it be from sitting too long while fishing yesterday? He left at six in the morning and didn't get back until nine at night."

Nan Shuyi: "Knowing he has that condition, why would he still go fishing?"

Luckily, it was just a false alarm.

Yao Mengxun was just as regretful: "I couldn't talk him out of going. He said he was fine—who knew it would hit him today of all days."

Jiang Yicen pulled at Nan Shuyi's sleeve: "What matters is that he's okay."

·

Nan Anru woke up shortly after. The flare-up had been quite severe, but he'd still need two days of observation in the hospital.

He felt a bit guilty when he saw Nan Shuyi's cold expression.

Nan Anru: "Why are you all here?"

Yao Mengxun: "You suddenly fainting scared everyone half to death. Thank goodness someone was there—otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Nan Shuyi let out a cold snort: "No problem. Go ahead and fish more—I'll set up a fish tank for you right away. You can fish while you're in the hospital."

Nan Anru: "..."

Jiang Yicen smiled at Nan Anru's speechlessness: "Dad, how are you feeling?"

Nan Anru thought to himself, *At least my daughter-in-law is thoughtful*: "A little better."

Jiang Yicen: "You should be more careful going forward. Having hobbies is great, but you need to watch your health—know when to stop."

Nan Anru: "So you're all here to give me a lecture today. Fine, fine, I get it. I'm fine—I'll just lie in bed for two days and be as good as new."

Jiang Yicen: "As long as you're fine."

Nan Shuyi: "Don't you deserve to be lectured?"

Nan Anru: "..."

Yao Mengxun stayed quiet the whole time, barely holding back a laugh. She could never reason with Nan Anru, but his son could silence him in a few words, and his daughter-in-law, though soft-spoken, was just as relentless—every word hitting home.

Assistant An took care of the admission paperwork and, upon returning, gave Nan Shuyi and Jiang Yicen a subtle look.

That look meant something was going on.

He brought up the trending topic online.

Assistant An: "Master Nan, how do you want to handle this?"

Nan Shuyi asked: "No need to clarify right away. Do the other executives at the company know my father is hospitalized?"

Assistant An: "A few board members have asked, but I haven't said anything to them."

Nan Shuyi: "Since my father's staying in the hospital for two days anyway, don't let anyone visit for now. Let them sweat it out for a couple of days."

Assistant An: "And what about the Chairman's work?"

Nan Shuyi: "Ask him if he can still manage it."

Assistant An actually went in and asked Nan Anru, who quickly replied: "Just let Nan Shuyi take over for a few days. My old back can't even handle sitting right now."

Nan Shuyi instructed Nan Anru: "For these next few days, don't contact anyone."

Nan Anru knew exactly what he meant: "Fine, I understand."

Jiang Yicen understood too—this meant Nan Shuyi was about to become even busier.

·

Even though there was a caregiver, Nan Shuyi, as the son, chose to stay overnight at the hospital. He'd been genuinely shaken today—his face had turned pale.

Jiang Yicen didn't try to dissuade him. If his own father were in the hospital, no matter how many caregivers were hired, he'd stay too. As people age, each meeting could be their last.

He had already lost all his family, so he understood exactly how Nan Shuyi felt.

That night, he went to bed alone.

Lately, he and Nan Shuyi had truly become a married couple—going out and coming home together, sharing a bed, doing everything couples do.

Sleeping alone suddenly felt strange. He went to bed on time, but sleep just wouldn't come.

He got up and noticed his phone screen light up.

Nan Shuyi had sent him a photo—a super narrow folding bed.

"Nan Shuyi: This is what I'm sleeping on tonight."

"Jiang Yicen: That bed looks pretty narrow. Can you actually sleep on it?"

"Nan Shuyi: Can't sleep—I want to hold the Sixth Master and sleep with him."

Jiang Yicen could never quite get used to his blatant remarks, and his ears warmed slightly.

"Jiang Yicen: Sleep well, you still have to go back to the company tomorrow, and you'll have to play the actor again tomorrow."

But Nan Shuyi wasn't talking about work at all; he was still hungry for more.

"Nan Shuyi: I kinda wanna get inside."

Jiang Yicen stared at those four words, his eyes went wide. Did he mean what he thought he meant? How could a person even say that?!

He simply couldn't reply, burying his face in the pillow and muttering, "Nan Shuyi, you perv."

Meanwhile, on the other end, Nan Shuyi's lips curled up slightly. He was doing it on purpose—he knew Jiang Yicen was worried about him, and that mentioning his father might bring up thoughts of his own family. So instead, he found something to make him blush and distract him, so he wouldn't keep overthinking.

"Nan Shuyi: Why aren't you replying? Getting shy on me again?"

Jiang Yicen patted his face, thinking back to that night at the Jiang house. In bed, Nan Shuyi would say anything, saying all kinds of filthy stuff while they were being intimate, getting more worked up and shameless the more he talked—a total freak.

"Jiang Yicen: I'm going to sleep. You're still this horny even in the hospital—go get some rest!"

Nan Shuyi really thought he was funny. So put-together at work during the day, but the second the conversation went there, he turned into a little snail hiding in its shell.

"Nan Shuyi: Alright, I'll stop messing with you. Go to sleep—we've still got Jiangda's thing to deal with tomorrow."

After chatting with Nan Shuyi for a bit, Jiang Yicen actually started feeling sleepy, so he said goodnight.

Over at the hospital, Nan Shuyi put his phone away, ready to sleep.

He heard a tsk of annoyance.

Nan Anru's back was killing him, so he couldn't sleep, and he watched his son tossing and turning on that tiny cot.

Nan Anru tsked again: "If you're missing your wife, just go home. I don't need you hanging around here."

Nan Shuyi shot back: "Old man, you get more naggy with age. I rarely wanna stay at the hospital, so cherish it while you can."

Nan Anru: "What do I need you for? When you're not here, I can actually sleep without your phone screen blinding me."

Nan Shuyi: "Guess it's true that old folks sleep less. Don't blame my phone for being too bright when you're the one who can't sleep."

Nan Anru: "..." Fine, he wasn't gonna win this one.

·

Nan Anru's hospitalization was still making waves the next day, but this time the focus shifted to Jiang Yicen.

Since the Nan family had never publicly disclosed any of Jiang Yicen's identity information, including photos or videos, some online media started digging for a controversial angle.

"Didn't Master Nan get married? Yesterday, only Master Nan and their assistant went to the hospital, and even Nan Anru's current wife showed up. So why hasn't the Nan family's rumored 'daughter-in-law' shown up?"

Nanyuan had a whole department dedicated to public relations, and anything involving the Nan family got handled through the platforms.

Jiang Yicen had gotten on the ambulance yesterday, but in the videos and photos, you could only see him from behind, so people mistook him for a staff member.

The company's PR department was run directly by Assistant An. Everyone under him knew that Jiang Yicen, the company's newest rising star, was Master Nan's other half, but since he was so low-key, they could only stay in the background and do their best to protect this young, talented guy.

When they saw the comments about Master Nan's wife pass ten thousand, everyone couldn't help but snicker.

He was right there the whole time—you just couldn't see him.

There was also private chatter:

Public opinion employee A: "See, this is why intel matters. Their partner was literally right there in the car."

Public opinion employee B: "Master Nan and President Jiang really kept this under wraps. It's not just them—even the coworkers who ride with them every day barely know a thing."

Public opinion employee A: "I can't wait for the day Master Nan publicly announces President Jiang is his partner."

Public opinion employee B: "I'm looking forward to it too. It's gonna blow everyone's minds."

Assistant An walked in at that moment: "Blow whose minds?"

Employees A and B nearly jumped out of their skin when their boss appeared out of nowhere. Getting caught gossiping about Master Nan and the young madam was pretty terrifying.

Employee A: "Boss, there's new buzz, and it's about President Jiang."

Assistant An: "Let me see." After a glance, he said, "Leave it for now. President Jiang's face isn't even visible. If we delete it now, they'll just think there's something wrong with the photo."

Employee A: "Understood."

·

While everyone was talking about him, Jiang Yicen was already tweaking the new product's promo plan, totally absorbed in his work.

Nan Shuyi, the dutiful son, had been at the hospital ever since Nan Anru was admitted, going home every day to shower and change before coming back—putting on a whole performance.

The company's top executives didn't know Jiang Yicen, and if they did, Nan Shuyi and Nan Anru's whole act would fall apart.

Still, Jiang Yicen wasn't scared. He'd also been smiling a lot less these past couple of days.

He had to deal with Jiangda's attack.

On the third day of Nan Shuyi's hospital routine.

The little tea stand went live online at ten in the morning, and the offline stalls were fully rolled out.

Jiang Yicen didn't go anywhere—he stayed at the company to oversee everything. This was his first time seeing a full project through in this modern world, with everything driven by his own ideas.

He didn't know if this battle would go well, but he was gonna give it everything he had.

He kept an eye on the work group chats, with each team reporting their launch status.

Nanyuan had built up considerable popularity recently. Sales were slow at first, but gradually, both online and offline started needing restocks.

Jiangda wanted to go head-to-head with Nanyuan. Their promos were aggressive—they even partnered with convenience stores for deals like spend-this-get-that-off or buy-one-get-one-free.

But Jiang Yicen wasn't playing that game with Jiang Yiting. He stuck to his own rhythm.

At the same time, he'd picked up some PR tactics from Nan Shuyi. Nanyuan stuck with their own ads, but alongside the new product launch, they posted a lawyer's letter on Nanyuan's official account, suing the ad agency.

Jiang Yicen's social account remained unused—just registered, occasionally logged in to check entertainment news.

He had Nan Shuyi post a message on his social platform, and for that, he had to "give up ground and pay the price," agreeing to a bunch of weird demands from Nan Shuyi.

"Nan Shuyi: Our Nanyuan doesn't pick fights, but we're not afraid of them either."

Nan Shuyi's social account had a huge following. These past two days, the father-son duo had been thrust into the spotlight. He was already a hot topic, and this sudden statement made people even more curious.

Soon, media professionals tracking various companies figured out why he'd posted it. Combined with Nanyuan's official announcement and the Jiangda new product launched three days early, the two ads had strikingly similar taglines.

At that moment, a new trending topic was climbing up the hot search list.

#Nanyuan Ad Plagiarism#

A gossip account posted a video comparing the two companies' ads side by side, and numerous bot accounts that usually get barely any likes or comments were also commenting below, with even some brand official accounts that wave the banner of "justice" reposting the post.

But there were also neutral bloggers who laid out the two companies' ad copy for comparison.

【My take is, let's wait and see. Everyone, take a look—Jiangda's ad copy says, "Making the best five-fruit tea in the East; what you're drinking isn't a busy life, but a good mood every day," while Nanyuan's ad copy says, "Making the most heartwarming little tea stall; what you're drinking isn't poetic romance, but the flavor of life." Comparing the two, who do you think copied whom?】

Netizens also actively replied:

- The little tea stall corresponds to life, not romance—I don't see a problem with that. On the other hand, what does making good Eastern tea have to do with busyness and mood?

- Agree with the above.

- My family member bought two bottles of five-fruit tea two days ago because they were cheap, and it was so cloyingly sweet, ugh, I tell you. I had to chug a big glass of water afterward.

- At first glance, this is clearly one side copying the other. As for who copied whom, it's a matter of opinion.

- I'm Team Young Master Nan!

- I think Nanyuan copied Jiangda. Nanyuan is throwing its weight around!

·

No matter how messy it got online, netizens would make up their own minds. Since Nanyuan was the first to issue a statement, they naturally had the advantage. Even Nan Anru, stuck in the hospital, thought Jiang Yicen was sharp, quick to put what he learned into practice, and a rare find.

Nan Anru proudly said to Nan Shuyi, "Good thing your old man has a good eye and found you a capable partner."

Nan Shuyi rolled his eyes at him and said, "What partner? He's now President Jiang of Nanyuan. Once you're discharged, I'll give him a promotion and a raise."

Nan Anru: "..."

Jiang Yicen did deserve a promotion and raise, but why did it sound so strange coming out of his son's mouth? If he had to say what was weird about it, he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

On the third day of Nan Anru's hospitalization, Nan Shuyi still went to the hospital, but once it got dark, he ran back home, really not wanting to be around his dad.

At the same time, he was also a bit worried about Jiang Yicen, because tonight he would be attending a cocktail party hosted by Meng Zhangling.

This cocktail party was specially held by Meng Zhangling for his daughter—ostensibly to mingle with young people, but really to invite promising young talents so she could scope out potential matches for her daughter.

Jiang Yicen was, of course, invited just to hang out, but what worried Nan Shuyi was that Jiang Yiting had also been invited.

·

Just as Nan Shuyi was worrying, Jiang Yicen arrived at the Meng family villa and got out of the car at the entrance, running into Jiang Yiting, who was also just getting out of his car.

When Jiang Yiting saw Jiang Yicen, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, but he quickly put on a smile.

Jiang Yiting: "Long time no see, Yicen."

Jiang Yicen gave him a slight smile: "Long time no see."

Jiang Yiting sized up Jiang Yicen standing across from him. The other's gaze was blank, no longer as timid as before. Jiang Yicen used to be afraid of his big brother, but at some point, Jiang Yicen had stopped fearing him entirely. These past few days, he'd also noticed that Jiang Yicen had learned to push back.

His new project had fallen into trouble, with negative news coming one after another—and it was all Jiang Yicen's doing.

This time, Jiang Yiting couldn't hold back and said, "Nanyuan's little tea stall seems to be selling quite well."

Jiang Yicen naturally didn't back down: "Well, I have your help to thank for that." He deliberately emphasized the word "help."

Jiang Yiting clenched his fists. He really hated that smug look on Jiang Yicen's face right now!