(ch.102)

Lai was still sick after 2 days but luckily he has a week off work so he would just stay in bed while looking at apartments, he would only get out of bed to use the bathroom and to eat congee. He texts his best friend that is on a business trip somewhere, they haven't texted for months so he was super excited when his friend texted him. They have been texting for the past few days, he texted his friend "When are you coming back, I can't wait to hang out with you!"

"I'll be back in a few weeks, I can't wait to see you too but we might not since I still have to work when I come back." they answered back.

Lai texted "Dang, that sucks, text or call me when you come back."

They message back "Ok ok, you told me this many times but I have to go now. Have a good day and I hope you'll get better." with a smiley emoji. Lai grabs his bowl of congee and sat at the dining table while watching Thai videos with a VPN, he loves to watch a lot of Thai dramas. After that he did a little cleaning, then he went to check if he has received his payment, on his WeChat, he saw that there was a little over $3000, then he went looking at apartments.

At 5 pm, Chin shouted, "I'm home!" Lai went to greet her but to his surprise, he saw her friend and two other girls, that he's assuming are her other friends, he said "Um, hi, you guys," in a quiet tone as he waves to them.

Da-Chung had a big smiled and slightly shouted "Brother Lai," in an excited tone as she was going to hug him.

He steps back and commented "It's not the best to hug me right now, I'm currently sick because of someone," in a cautious tone but towards the end, it changed to a petty tone as he looks at Chin. Lai added "But anyway, who are these two girls," in a curious tone as he looked at them.

Chin answered "First of all, I already apologize to you for making you worried," in a little upset tone, then she continues "And second of all, these two are my friends, Wenben Mei Zhen and Gei Jia Li," in a celebratory tone as she points at one after another, Lai was shock.

Mei Zhen said "Hi, I'm Wenben Mei Zhen," in a cheerful tone as she bows slightly to him as he just nods. "Um~ hi, I'm Gei Jai Li, by the way, how should we address you," in a nervous tone as she bows slightly too, he nods at her too.

Chin asked "What's with your face? Is something wrong with my friends," with a confused tone as she looked at him. Lai shook his head and said "No, no, it's not that. It's just that I rarely hear people with those last names, so far I have met only one person with one of those last names," in an amazed tone with a smile.

He said "You guys should come seat down," in a nice tone as they sat on the couch as he went to get them juice. He added "You guys can address me by one of these, Brother Lai, Qing Lai, Chin's oldest brother, or you guys can give me a nickname as long as you add, brother, older, or Mr.," in a calm tone.

They were quiet when he sat on a cube, passing the cups of juice to them, then Mei Zhen smiled and asked "Can I call you, Mr. Nan Shen," in a curious, but excited, tone with a smile.

Lai giggled and answered "That's so flattering, sure," in a cheerful tone, then he asked "Jai Li, what do you want to address me as," in a curious tone as he looks at her.

She hesitantly said "I think I'll just address you as Qing Lai for now but I might address you something else," in a shy tone as she plays with her fingers, Lai just hummed.

Lai asked "So why did you bring your friends here," in a curious tone as he crosses his arms, looking at Chin. She smiled and asked "I was wondering if I can go to a cafe with them," in a nervous tone, he looked hesitant, she added "Don't worry, I'll be back in 2 or 3 hours," in a cautious tone.

He frowned as he looks at her as she was looking at him with puppy eyes, he sighed and said "Fine but you better come home, even if it raining, you still have school tomorrow. Do you need some money," in a calm tone.

Chin shook her head while saying "No, I still have some left," in a calm tone, "Ok, I'm going to get change," as she went to her room.

Lai asked "Da-Chang, why are you wearing a different uniform from the rest of the girls? Did you change school," in a curious tone.

She nodded and said "Yeah, I moved to a different school a few months ago since my family moved to a new house," in a straightforward tone.

"Really!? How do you like the new school? How far is it from here," he asked in an interested tone.

"The school is okay but some of the students are stupidly annoying," in an annoyed tone, then she took a breath in and continues "and it's a little over 2 hours from here," calm tone.

Lai replied "Ah, but why are some students stupidly annoying," in a curious tone as Jai Li and Mei Zhen started to giggle, looking at each other while he was so confused about why they were laughing.

Da-Chang's face begins to boil as Jai Li was telling her to calm down, Lai starts to get worried, Mei Zhen explains "Don't worry much, it's just that there's a group of the best look boys from each grade, keep in mind they're all pretty rich. She has never seen them except the one in a her grade, she thinks the one from her grade isn't even good looking but yet girls go crazy for him," in a comic tone as Jai Li and she try to contain their laughs but couldn't.

Lai smiled and said "It seems like she is kinda jealous, does my Da-Chang have a crush on him," with a teasing tone as he looks at her.

Da-Chang blurred "I don't like him, I wouldn't even like him if he was the last guy on earth," in a bitter tone, they just giggled.

Chin interrupted "You guys, stop teasing her. We don't want her to be angry at us," in a calm tone as she sat on the edge of the couch. "Come on, let's get going," she added as she stood up, they did the same thing. Chin begins to walk out as they thanked Lai for the drink and followed Chin. Lai cleans up the coffee table, then he went to make dinner, after an hour he was done making dinner so he went back into his room, he took some medicine before taking a nap.

"Lai wake up, Lai wake up," a voice said as someone was shaking him, "Huh!?" he mumbles as he slowly woke up. "Where is Chin," in a worried tone as he sat up, when he looked, he saw that it was Xaing, who has a worried look.

Lai said "Oh hi, Xaing, give me a second," in a quiet tone as he grabs his phone to check the time, it was almost 7 pm, he continues "Chin went out with her friends, she should be home soon, why," in a calm tone, then he begins to stretch.

Xaing answered "Just got worried since she wasn't home," in a relaxed tone, then they heard that door open, they went to see who it was, it was just Chin.

She was a little shocked on seeing Xaing and Lai coming out of the same room, she said "Hi, Brother Lai and Xaing, what are you are guys doing," in a quiet tone as she was taking off her shoes.

Xaing answered "Nothing, I just went to go asked Lai, where you were since I didn't see you home," in a calm tone as he sat on the couch, Chin nodded while going to her room.

"How was it with your friends," Lai asked as he followed her.

Chin looked so excited, she said "I'm so happy that you asked. While we were at the cafe, enjoying ourselves when we saw the group from Da-Chang's school. We all just decided to leave so we don't have to deal with them, especially Da-Chang since you know so we grabbed our drinks and stuff. Da-Chang was walking backward while I was still helping Jai Li and Mei Zhen pack their paper since they were doing homework. I didn't know what happened but when Mei Zhe, Jai Li, and I looked we saw Da-Chang bickering with the guy that she hates the most, of course, his guy friends watched him. I tried to drag her so we can leave but she didn't, she lost it when he said "You're just jealous that my family is richer than yours." Da-Chang poured her drink on him and told him to never talk about her family, then she-," then she busted laughing.

Lai was laughing too, he asked "This is so funny, what happened next," in-between laughs.

"She slapped him really hard, that his cheek turned red, and kicked on the shin. That's when Mei Zhen helped me drag her out before she can hit him again. As we were walking out, the rest of the guys looked shocked and impressed by what Da-Chang did as she was glaring at them. I wish I have a video of it, it's much funnier watching it, I would go back time to watch it all over," in a joyful tone.

"Woa~ I'm so proud of her," he said in a proud voice, he added "This guy sounds like a jerk, I hope none of you guys date a guy like him or I'll give you guys a lecture," in a serious tone as he frowns at him.

"To be honest, I don't think he's that bad, I think he said that in the heat of the moment," she noted with a calm tone. She continues "The last time I met him, he seems pretty flirty when he was sweet-talking to Da-Chang," she mumbles.

Lai slightly shouted "What do you mean? He flirted with Da-Chang," in a shocked tone.

Chin looked nervous and said "Um, I got to go to the bathroom," with a nervous tone as she runs to the bathroom. He quietly giggled as he went back to his room. At 8 pm, Zhe wasn't home yet so Lai just decided to have dinner without him, Lai shouted "Xaing and Chin, dinner time." They both came and sat down, Xaing asked "Is Zhe home? Where is he," in a curious tone, Lai shook his head, no.

"He's not but he texted me that we should eat dinner first since he won't be home until it's really late," he answered in a calm tone, they all started to eat.

While they were eating, Xaing said "I need to tell you guys something," in a calm tone as he looks at them, they stopped eat and hummed. "So I have a tour for 3 weeks and I'm leaving in a few days," in a calm tone.

Lai asked "Wasn't your concert like a month, why are you going on tour after weeks after your concert," in a curious tone.

He shrugged and answered "I don't know, I asked my boss that but he said that they were fully booked last month so they booked me for this month so yeah," in a quiet tone, Lai just nodded.

Chin asked "Can I be your backup dancer again," in a sarcastic tone with an exciting look. Lai softly hit her arm and said "No, you still have school," in an upset tone as he glared at her.

Xaing giggle a tad and answered "Don't worry Lai, I'll have a different group of backup dancers for these concerts," in a calm tone, Lai nodded as they went back to eating. After a few minutes, Xaing added "Oh you guys don't have to worry about the bills, I already paid them for this month," in an assured tone.

Lai said "I feel so guilty that we live here for free, the last thing I could do for this last month is paid for the bills," in a guilty tone.

"Don't worry, you guys are like my second family plus you guys help me clean, cook, buy things so that could make up for bills if you really feel that guilty," he assured him.

"That's so flattering of you but if you ever need help with something, I'll try to help you," in a cheerful tone with a small smile. After dinner, Chin helped Lai clean up and then they got ready for bed.

As Yu was going back to the hotel from a walk with Xia and Hong, Xia asked "Hong, what did you buy yesterday," in a curious tone as they looked at her while walking on the sidewalk, late at night.

She lied and answered "It's a gift for the guy I talk to and no you can't see it if you're going to ask that," in an emotionless tone as she was looking ahead. Xia frowned and mumbles something, Yu asked "Hong, are you okay? You look very pale and drowsy," in an anxoius voice as Xia and she looks at her.

"I said a bunch of times, I'm fine, don't wor-" then she fainted, luckily Yu caught her before she could hit the concrete. Yu shouted "Xia, hurry, get a taxi. We need to get her to the hospital," in a panicked tone as she looks at her. Xia quick went on the side of the road and stretched her arm, when a taxi parked for them, Xia went to help Yu get Hong into the car and told the driver to go to the hospital that Hong went to last time.

Once they got her on a bed, the doctor asked "What is going on with her?"

Yu answered "I don't know, we were taking a walk then she suddenly fainted," in a nervous tone as the doctor was checking her.

"Do you guys know what would possibly lead to her fainting," the doctor asked.

"Yeah, she hasn't eaten anything in days," Yu commented.

The doctor asked "Does she have any eating disorders," they shook their head, "Why isn't she eating and do you guys know how days?"

Xia said "I don't know but this started about 3 days when my brother and she might've had a misunderstanding," in a nervous tone.

"She looks fine, she just needs start eating again. When she starts to eat again, have her start with foods that contain a lot of water, then bland foods like crackers, toast, potatoes, noodles, and rice, and eat very small meals like 6-8 times a day. As the meals get bigger, the less times she'll eat in a day. Once her stomach get use to food, she can slowly get go back to eat like normal," in a cautions tone. "You guys have any questions for me, if not I'll take my leave," they shook theirs so the doctor left.

Yu whispers "Hong, why have you done? Why didn't you just talk with Xiu Ying, instead you do this," in a soft concerned tone as she was looking at her, pale and unconscious.

Xia asked "You think I should tell Xiu Ying or no," in a quiet tone.

"We'll ask her when she wakes up but for now don't, if he comes and she doesn't want to see him, things might get awkward," she answered in a calm tone as Xia nodded.