Chapter 4: Encountering an Enemy at the Hospital

Chapter 4: Running into an Enemy at the Hospital

Qiao Huan was smart; although she had just taken over, she was keeping up just fine.

At that moment, she looked at the documents piled high on the desk and the numerous categorized folders on the computer, stretched lazily, and said, “Sister Jiang, our workload is huge.” After half a month, she had a general understanding. These days, even though she clocked in and out on time, she felt completely drained. Moreover, most of the time when she left, Jiang Yingxue was still there.

Jiang Yingxue gave a faint smile, “When one person’s doing the work of two or three, how could the workload not be heavy?”

Qiao Huan gasped, “Ah! Does this mean I’ll have to work overtime every day? I heard from the manager that business is busy this month or two, so overtime is required, but it’ll return to normal after this period.”

Jiang Yingxue glanced at her with a sympathetic look—this girl had no idea how tough the real world is. “You won’t catch a break until they hire an assistant later.”

Before leaving work in the afternoon, Jiang Yingxue handed off all her duties to Qiao Huan. Both of them signed their names and pressed their thumbprints on the handover form.

Immediately after, Jiang Yingxue took the handover form and resignation letter to get the bosses to sign off and get her final pay sorted with Finance.

Everything went smoothly. Jiang Yingxue was unemployed. No—she was free!

Breathing the free air, she thought even the sky looked bluer.

Just as she was about to buy a ticket home, she received a call from her aunt, saying her cousin wasn’t feeling well and asking her to swing by her cousin’s place to check on her.

Jiang Xianzheng and Lu Caiyun had two daughters: Jiang Mingzhen and Jiang Mingzhu. Jiang Mingzhen and her husband, He Minsha, had a daughter, 27-year-old He Siqin. Jiang Mingzhu married far away when she was young but divorced within two years. After returning home, she discovered she was pregnant with Jiang Yingxue. Although the child’s biological father was involved, she chose to give birth in the end. However, she passed away from illness when Jiang Yingxue was two years old.

Jiang Yingxue was raised by her maternal grandparents, and her aunt’s family also took great care of her. Therefore, upon hearing from her aunt that her cousin He Siqin was unwell, she felt she had to go check on her.

Y City First People’s Hospital.

He Siqin leaned against the hospital bed getting an IV. Her face was somewhat pale, and her voice was sickly hoarse, “It’s just a slight fever, not serious, but my mom called you over anyway. Ah, Yingxue, I’m really putting you out.”

Jiang Yingxue sat beside her peeling an apple, “You’re in the hospital on an IV and you call that ‘not serious’? Sister Qin, how many days have you been dragging this on?” She had brought the apple in a thermos, having steamed it warm at home.

He Siqin gave a dry laugh. She had started running a fever two days ago but didn’t go to the hospital, instead taking fever-reducing medicine at home and insisting on going to work. Unexpectedly, this illness came on fiercely, and medication alone couldn’t cure it. Last night, she passed out at the entrance of her residential complex and was brought to the hospital by a kind neighbor.

“Not many days. Yingxue, if my mom asks, just tell her I’m better.”

If her mother found out she had dragged it on until she passed out and was hospitalized for an IV drip, He Siqin was in for a serious lecture.

Jiang Yingxue sliced the apple into pieces, placed them on a plate, and brought it to He Siqin. She reached out and touched He Siqin’s forehead—the fever had already subsided. “Hmm, the fever’s gone. Sister Qin, the apple is warm, eat it while it’s hot. By the way, what would you like for lunch? I’ll go buy it now.”

He Siqin’s eyes warmed with a smile. She speared a piece of apple and put it in her mouth—the temperature was just right. “The apple tastes good. For lunch, I’ll have noodle soup, vegetable noodle soup.” When sick, she didn’t want anything greasy. If possible, she’d prefer to survive on air alone.

“Okay.”

Jiang Yingxue knew there was a noodle shop on the street behind the hospital that tasted pretty good, so she planned to go there.

To reach the hospital’s back door, she had to pass through the rear garden. The greenery was pleasant, the air fresh, and she could see nurses or family members pushing patients for walks, or patients sitting leisurely by themselves. Here, one could breathe fresh air, admire the garden scenery, and so on.

A cultivator’s senses were sharp. Even before reaching the corner, she heard a rather intense argument between a man and a woman coming from the pavilion ahead.

They were Zhao Bingming and Shen Jiaqing.

Jiang Yingxue sensed the situation wasn’t simple. Thinking fast, she activated her phone’s audio and video recorder. At the same time, she cast a spell to start the video recording on Shen Jiaqing’s phone.

Shen Jiaqing was holding her phone; even if the camera wasn’t aimed directly at them, it didn’t matter—as long as the audio was captured correctly.

Shen Jiaqing’s voice was somewhat agitated but deliberately lowered, “You won’t agree? Why won’t you agree! Look at the state you’re in now—do you really think you can still make me happy?”

Zhao Bingming said coldly, “On the grounds that I’m a member of the Zhao family! Hah, back then, this marriage was something your Shen family shamelessly clung to. Now that I’m in trouble, you want to call it off?”

“Bingming, actually, there’s another solution. The Shen and Zhao families don’t have to break off the engagement—just change the candidate. I have two cousins: Chulin likes you, you could choose her. If you don’t like Chulin, Chuting is also an option.”

Seeing Zhao Bingming’s face grow even darker, Shen Jiaqing felt a flicker of fear in her heart. She paused, then braced herself and continued, “Has Lin Xiaoru from Duofu Alley come to visit you?” Lin Xiaoru was the woman Zhao Bingming had been involved with. Zhao Bingming was caught in the act by Lin Xiaoru’s husband while they were having an affair, which led to him being beaten up and dumped in an alley.

Shen Jiaqing had only learned the truth about Zhao Bingming’s actual condition and the reason he was dumped in Duofu Alley the night before. Before that, she had been looking forward to a happy future with Zhao Bingming. But after learning the truth, she changed her mind.

The person who gave her the information was also known to Zhao Bingming—it was Zhao Bingming’s cousin.

She also knew Zhao Bingming liked to fool around, but in their social circle and at their level, how many people were truly clean? Moreover, Zhao Bingming was the man she had liked for ten years. Until last night, she had loved him deeply and very much wanted to marry him. As long as the outside flowers and grass didn’t threaten her position, she could turn a blind eye—and she had managed to do so before.

But now he was ruined. No matter how much she loved him, for the sake of her family and her own future happiness, she had to let go. Besides, she realized her love might not have been that intense after all.

Hearing Shen Jiaqing mention Lin Xiaoru, Zhao Bingming was so furious his eyes nearly bulged out. Gripping the wheelchair tightly, he roared angrily, “Shen Jiaqing, you investigated me! Changing candidates? Don’t even think about it!”

His affair in Duofu Alley was disgraceful. He had already arranged for Lin Xiaoru’s husband to be dealt with. If the Shen family made an issue out of this, the Zhao family would lose face, and their engagement might indeed be called off.

In the past, Zhao Bingming wouldn’t have cared much about the engagement with Shen Jiaqing since he didn’t like her. But now, he was ruined, and his personality had become paranoid and twisted. He absolutely would not allow anyone to take what belonged to him, nor would he allow Shen Jiaqing to leave him. In this lifetime, Shen Jiaqing would be his person in life and his ghost in death.