Volume 1, Chapter 55: Could It Be That They Conspired to Fake a Pregnancy?

Once the dishes were fully served, Wen Ying casually snapped a photo and tossed it into the "Hope of Five Villages" group chat.

[Hope of Firefly Village]: Five people dining, two are missing. Let's have a virtual gathering instead.

Before long, feedback popped up in the chat.

[Hope of Pear Village]: What? I just finished eating and you show me this! What do you mean by this? You go eating without calling me, baby is angry!

[Hope of Deer Village]: Even if we called you, you couldn't make it in time.

[Hope of Willow Village]: Who says so? I can catch a private jet and fly right over. No, none of you are allowed to leave after eating! I am booking my ticket right now! The party continues tonight! Hope of Flute Village, join us. Waiting for you in Qingcheng!

[Hope of Flute Village]: Your humble servant cannot manage it! A humble corporate slave is currently working overtime on a business trip!

She sent a photo of herself eating a boxed meal.

[Hope of Pear Village]: Hilarious! What kind of job requires you to work overtime in person? How much does Old Huo pay you a month that you are working your fingers to the bone for him?

[Hope of Flute Village]: Alas, if I don't grind hard today, my position will be shaky tomorrow.

[Hope of Meow Village]: You've worked hard, fairy worker. We can all gather again once the Spring Festival holiday starts.

An hour later, the three of them finished their meal.

Lu Shenasheng wiped her mouth, pulled out a lipstick and a cushion compact from her bag to touch up her makeup, and said, "Let's go. We still have to go to the airport to welcome Lady Li in a bit!"

Chatting and laughing, the three of them walked out of the private dining room.

Right at that moment, the door to the opposite private room also opened.

A young man wearing a black retro jacquard sweatshirt stepped out. He was wearing stylish black-rimmed glasses, and a designer down jacket was draped over his arm. He was talking casually and fluently to someone behind him.

Because Jiang Yunmiao was walking at the very front, the man spotted her instantly.

Jiang Yunmiao's footsteps halted, her entire body freezing up.

Earlier, for the sake of convenience, she had removed the silicone pregnancy belly, so her abdomen was completely flat at the moment.

Furthermore, her physical posture had already returned to a state very similar to her pre-pregnancy condition. Anyone with a discerning eye could spot the anomaly immediately, let alone Duan Mingrui, who was a doctor.

"You..." Duan Mingrui was utterly stunned, his bright gaze locked onto Jiang Yunmiao's lower abdomen area, which was completely flat!

Fearing his eyes were playing tricks on him, he pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, blinked hard, closed his eyes, and opened them again...

"You..."

Seeing this, Wen Ying took a step forward, shielding Jiang Yunmiao and blocking Duan Mingrui's line of sight.

Her tall figure was dressed in retro jeans, paired with brown short boots and a beige faux fur coat. Combined with a dab of sunrise-bright lipstick, her skin appeared as fair as snow.

It was as if a brilliant flash of light had instantly rushed into his field of vision.

Duan Mingrui was stunned on the spot, his free-spirited expression instantly turning stiff and cautious. "You... are you Best Actress Wen?"

As a top celebrity with tens of millions of fans, Wen Ying was long accustomed to such scenes. She nodded with graceful poise.

Duan Mingrui excitedly nudged the companion behind him with his elbow. "God Lu, look... it's Best Actress Wen! Wen Ying!"

Because Wen Ying often played down-and-out or even intentionally ugly characters in film and television dramas, whenever her fashion shoots or candid photos were leaked, they always produced a striking contrast of ultimate beauty. Seeing her in the flesh now made her look even more like a fairy descending to the mortal realm.

Compared to his excitement, her companion behind him appeared exceptionally calm. "Mm, I know."

"You know and you're this calm?" Duan Mingrui truly admired his composure. "Do you know that other female celebrities love to pick glamorous roles to showcase their beauty? But Best Actress Wen is different. She loves challenging down-to-earth roles, and she can portray all kinds of impoverished characters vividly and to perfection."

Lu Congzhi: "Oh."

Duan Mingrui was obviously dissatisfied with his reaction. "Is 'oh' all you have to say? Well, I suppose that apart from diagnosing patients, you are indifferent to everyone and everything else."

While admiring him, Duan Mingrui couldn't help but find him a bit dull. Who would have guessed that a doctor even younger than him would be more rigid and old-fashioned than an elderly professor?

Still, it was understandable. Someone worthy of being called a "God" naturally could not be judged by the standards of ordinary people.

"This is the renowned pediatric surgeon Lu Congzhi, whom we all call God Lu. He can be a bit aloof and arrogant, so please don't take offense, Best Actress Wen." Fearing that Lu Congzhi's attitude might offend Wen Ying, Duan Mingrui fully exerted his social butterfly attributes to smooth things over.

Yet just as his voice trailed off, he heard a lazy and arrogant voice sound from behind him: "Sister."

The expression on Duan Mingrui's face froze mid-transit. He turned his head to look at Lu Congzhi in disbelief, his eyes filled with absolute astonishment.

What happened to the aloof and cold male god?

Meeting a beauty and immediately calling her sister—quite the smooth operator.

"What a coincidence? You're here to eat as well." Wen Ying wore a warm smile, her crisp and clear voice exceptionally pleasing to the ears.

Lu Congzhi gave a faint "mm" in response, his gaze casually sweeping a circle around Wen Ying.

Duan Mingrui finally registered the situation after the fact. "You... you two know each other?" He looked at Lu Congzhi, then turned back to look at Wen Ying, unable to guess their relationship for a moment.

"My cousin," Lu Congzhi explained casually.

Duan Mingrui's mouth formed an "O" shape. Although Lu Congzhi kept a low profile, Duan Mingrui knew a thing or two about his background.

The cousin of the third young master of the Lu family, and her surname is Wen—could she be from the medical dynasty of the Wen family!

It was common knowledge that Lu Congzhi's mastery of Traditional Chinese Medicine was cultivated since childhood under the subtle and constant influence of Elder Wen. Put that way, Elder Wen must be Wen Ying's grandfather?!

Good grief! There were rumors in the entertainment industry that Wen Ying came from some remote mountain village! The woman was clearly a golden phoenix born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

Not long ago, someone even slandered Wen Ying, claiming she was entangled with the second young master of the Lu family, asserting with absolute certainty that the second young master had gifted her a limited-edition sports car.

That was utterly preposterous! Was there any problem with a cousin gifting his cousin a sports car? Was there any problem with a cousin arranging career resources for his cousin?

There was zero problem at all!

No wonder people used to say Wen Ying put on big airs. As a daughter of a wealthy family, pampered and living in luxury since childhood, what was wrong with having a bit of a pampered temper?

Even more ridiculously, Duan Yihao had actually believed those rumors, pulling off a series of brainless stunts that added insult to injury for Wen Ying, and even replacing her as the spokesperson for [Qianfan]. He had practically picked up a sesame seed while losing a watermelon.

Thinking of Duan Yihao, Duan Mingrui's attention drifted back to Jiang Yunmiao.

"What's going on with you?" His expression turned somewhat serious, carrying a hint of probing scrutiny. If he remembered correctly, Jiang Yunmiao should have been close to full term; on the day of the Laba Festival, she was still sporting a huge baby bump. How could her belly shrink back down flat overnight? Was she performing some new kind of magic trick?

The only possibility he could think of was—could Jiang Yunmiao and Duan Yihao have colluded to fake a pregnancy?

Yet, what could they possibly hope to gain from it? Their family didn't exactly have a throne that needed an heir.