Volume One Chapter 86: The Ex-Husband Comes Over for a Meal

Qin Minshu had skipped work yet again. She hadn’t shown up at the hospital. Though she had no clinics scheduled in recent days, there were group meetings she needed to attend, and she was also a participant in a certain research project at Haici Hospital. Her unexplained absence meant her responsibilities had to be handed over to someone else at the last minute.

Everyone felt disgruntled about this, though they only dared to complain behind her back. After all, she was set to become the future Mrs. Huo, and no one wanted to risk offending her. Well, except for the former Mrs. Huo—she wasn't intimidated by Qin Minshu in the least.

Ye Sheng was not one to indulge Qin Minshu. If an absence needed to be recorded, it was recorded. If the project leader needed to cut her out, then so be it.

"This is a hospital, not her home. We’re not her parents or her partner—no one is obliged to clean up her messes," Ye Sheng said.

Her words made everyone present inwardly cheer. After returning from a business trip, Ye Sheng was as busy as a spinning top, running back-to-back clinics for several days.

The recent trending scandal hadn’t damaged Ye Sheng’s reputation; on the contrary, it made her name resound throughout the country. Especially in the leukemia community, countless patient groups shared information about her.

Her research achievements and clinical experience were real and substantial. To become the chief physician of the hematology department at Shanghai Haici Hospital at such a young age—unless you had genuine skills, no amount of backing could keep you in that seat.

Medicine is unlike any other profession; lives are at stake, and who would dare be careless?

Many patients, drawn by her reputation—some even traveling from other provinces—found their way to the hospital and then to Ye Sheng through various connections.

All of them were complex and difficult cases, and Miya had been gasping in awe for days.

“Boss…they really do treat you like a miracle worker.”

People are born wanting nothing more than to live well.

Other provincial or top-tier hospitals would send cases they couldn't handle to Ye Sheng, and if she couldn’t help, the only option left was to seek treatment abroad. But how many families could afford that?

Dean Ji had brought her back and placed her in this position precisely for leukemia patients who couldn’t go overseas for treatment—to carve out a path to survival for them.

With work so demanding and having to care for her child, even Miya found Ye Sheng’s life exhausting.

But Ye Sheng simply shook her head. “Doing what you want to do isn’t called hardship. Doing what you don’t want to do but must—that’s true hardship.”

For example, she didn’t want to add Huo Mingtian on WeChat, yet now, because they were jointly responsible for raising their child, there were matters they had to discuss, forcing her to communicate with him.

Or, for instance, Huo Mingtian would message her every day, asking when she’d get off work, whether he should pick her and Huo Cong up for dinner…

All of this made Ye Sheng feel extremely irritated. Every time she saw his messages, she had to frown and take a deep breath before replying. If she could avoid responding, she would simply leave them on read.

She was finally doing to him what Huo Mingtian used to do to her—there was a certain cold, triumphant satisfaction in that. Not loving is invincible.

—

One day, just before the end of her shift, Ye Sheng suddenly received a call from an unfamiliar number. The person on the other end hesitated for a long time, and Ye Sheng recognized the voice.

“Meng Juan?”

There was a two-second silence, then a slightly agitated response, “You still remember me?”

“We were old classmates, of course I remember,” Ye Sheng replied, her tone indifferent. “Is there something you need?”

Since her name had trended online, quite a few former classmates had reached out. After all, Ye Sheng had attended university in China, and the medical and academic circles, while not small, were close-knit—there were plenty of her old classmates at Haici Hospital.

They were all part of the same circle; it was impossible to avoid each other.

Meng Juan had been Ye Sheng’s roommate in university, and among her old classmates, they should have been considered close. But Meng Juan was actually closer to Qin Minshu; they were inseparable throughout university.

Ye Sheng’s strongest impression of Meng Juan was her being constantly bossed around by Qin Minshu—fetching hot water, picking up parcels, buying meals.

There was one evening when Ye Sheng returned to the dorm from the library and sensed something was off. Qin Minshu was lounging on her bed, legs crossed, playing on her phone, while Meng Juan knelt on the floor, cleaning up spilled soup, red-eyed and sobbing.

Another roommate quietly told Ye Sheng that the meal was something Qin Minshu had made Meng Juan go off campus to buy. But when she brought it back, Qin Minshu complained it was too spicy and had aggravated her mouth ulcers, so in a fit of anger, she threw the food onto the floor.

Ye Sheng helped Meng Juan up and said to Qin Minshu, “Get down and clean up your own mess.”

Qin Minshu sneered, refusing outright.

Ye Sheng couldn’t recall how that night ended. They probably cleaned the floor together, then spent ages comforting Meng Juan, urging her not to indulge Qin Minshu anymore.

But the next morning, it was still Meng Juan who happily went to buy breakfast for Qin Minshu, just because Qin Minshu had given her a necklace—one she’d already worn and didn’t want anymore.

Their roommates were furious, vowing together at the cafeteria, “If I ever pity Meng Juan again, I’ll eat my hat!”

“I…” Meng Juan’s voice was as timid as ever, tinged with tears. “I want to ask you for a favor.”

After adding each other on WeChat, Ye Sheng received Meng Juan’s nephew’s diagnosis report and medical records. The patient was Meng Yiyang, eight years old, preliminarily diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

After asking about the basic situation, Ye Sheng instructed Miya to schedule a consultation.

“My assistant will contact you shortly—bring your nephew in for an appointment.”

“Thank you, thank you so much!” Meng Juan replied gratefully, over and over. She couldn’t get an appointment with Ye Sheng through the normal process. She’d even heard about scalpers selling appointments, but the price had frightened her off. In the end, she’d reached out to several old classmates before finally mustering up the courage to contact Ye Sheng.

They’d all studied medicine, but Ye Sheng’s current status and achievements were now far beyond their reach.

On the phone, Meng Juan mentioned a class reunion, but Ye Sheng didn’t respond.

After work, just as she stepped out of the elevator, Ye Sheng received another call—this time from her university class president.

“I know you’re busy—just show your face for a bit. This is the third time I’ve called you. If you keep ignoring me, I’ll come drag you out of your clinic, goddess Ye.”

Just the last nickname made Ye Sheng’s skin crawl. She knew the class president’s temperament—he was relentless. Back in college, he’d pestered her into signing up for the three-thousand-meter race.

“Alright, if I have time, I’ll come,” Ye Sheng relented.

That evening, she had dinner at Huo Lintong’s place again. The two children were doing their homework in the other room, and Ye Sheng was in the kitchen helping Huo Lintong while they chatted about several difficult cases.

In the middle of their conversation, the doorbell rang.

Ye Sheng went to answer it and found Huo Mingtian standing there. Her brows instantly knitted. “What are you doing here?”

Huo Mingtian was carrying two bottles of red wine. “I came to scrounge a meal.”