Volume One, Chapter Three: No One Cares After the Divorce

Three years later, Meishan.

Outside, the rain came down in torrents. In the back seat, Huo Mingting anxiously touched his son’s burning forehead, his heart in knots.

“How much longer until we reach the airport?”

The driver replied hesitantly, “Mr. Huo, the mountain roads are too slippery because of the rain. I really can’t drive any faster. With the young master in this condition, it’s best to find a nearby hospital first.”

The rain was so heavy that even if they made it to the airport now, the plane wouldn’t take off. Huo Mingting quickly assessed the situation and asked his assistant to find the nearest hospital.

The driver, a local, immediately added, “Our medical resources here are sparse, and the county hospital is very far away. But just recently, there’s been a top-tier hospital offering free clinics nearby—not too far from here. Why not head there first?”

The assistant quickly searched on his phone from the passenger seat and turned around. “Mr. Huo, it’s true. Haici Hospital is running a medical aid project here, it’s even been reported in the news.”

Haici Hospital was an affiliate of Beijing Medical University, renowned for its research on blood disorders.

Huo Mingting immediately ordered the driver to head there.

Night had fallen, but the medical team was still busy. Because of the rain, several makeshift tents had been set up outside the clinic to receive patients.

The assistant held an umbrella while Huo Mingting wrapped his child in his suit jacket and stepped forward to explain the situation. The nurse took the child’s temperature and asked, “Does the child have any medical history?”

“Leukemia.”

The nurse paused, looking at the beautiful, delicate child, her heart aching with pity. She quickly offered a few words of comfort. “Please fill out the medical records first. You’re in luck—Director Ye happens to be here today. She’s a blood disorder specialist.”

Huo Mingting raised his brows. “Director Ye?”

He was very familiar with Haici Hospital; Qin Minshu worked in the hematology department there, but he’d never heard of a Director Ye.

The assistant asked, “Isn’t the head of the hematology department at Haici Hospital surnamed Zhong?”

“Director Zhong has been transferred,” the nurse replied, noticing how familiar they seemed with Haici, and added, “Director Ye just returned from the Einstein Oncology Research Center in the US. She’s the hospital director’s junior schoolmate, personally invited back from the States.”

With that, the nurse took the medical records into the consultation room. “Director Ye, there’s a child with leukemia and a fever.”

Not long after, they were called inside.

Huo Mingting carried Huo Cong into the consultation room. As he entered, he caught sight of the woman in a white coat and face mask, and his vision swayed violently.

“Ye Sheng?”

His voice trembled with surprise and disbelief.

The moment Ye Sheng saw the medical record, she knew exactly who had come. Whether it was the name “Huo Cong” or the familiar, powerful handwriting, both told her a simple truth: after three years, she was seeing her ex-husband and son again, here in Meishan.

Three short years, yet it felt like a lifetime had passed.

Never in his wildest dreams did Huo Mingting expect that the Director Ye, who had just joined Haici’s hematology department from the US, would turn out to be Ye Sheng—

His ex-wife.

His child’s mother.

“Come here. Let me take a look.”

Ye Sheng stood up and went over to touch Huo Cong’s small face. It was burning hot.

Her heart clenched sharply.

Over the years, she had seen countless children with leukemia; each one reminded her of her own. For the past three years, Huo Cong’s medical reports were regularly delivered to her hands—she knew every detail by heart, even without reading them.

But the chief physician’s signature on those reports had always been “Qin Minshu.”

Photos of Qin Minshu, Huo Mingting, and Huo Cong together had appeared many times in business news, the three of them an enviable family.

“Give him to me.”

Ye Sheng reached out to take Huo Cong into her arms, but Huo Mingting didn’t let go, just stared at her fixedly.

His eyes brimmed with reproach, dissatisfaction, and even… hatred.

“Director Ye…” The nurse could not help but notice something. “Do you two… know each other?”

“No, not really.” Ye Sheng gave only these two cold words, thus making their relationship clear.

Huo Mingting watched as Ye Sheng examined the child with gentle care, so reminiscent of three years ago, as if nothing had changed.

If not for the white doctor’s coat and her insistence that they were “not really” acquainted.

Ye Sheng asked Huo Mingting several questions about Huo Cong’s recent condition.

This trip to Meishan, Huo Mingting was investigating a plot of land. Over the years, he had played both father and mother, reluctant to leave his son at home alone, taking Huo Cong everywhere he went.

But Huo Cong was frail and easily fell ill when they traveled. This time, after several days of rain in Meishan, he’d caught a chill and developed a fever.

As Huo Mingting spoke, his tone was muffled and sulky, as if everything that had befallen him and Huo Cong was Ye Sheng’s fault.

Even the young nurses could sense the grievance in his voice, glancing between him and Ye Sheng.

Ye Sheng had no desire to deal with such obstinacy. She quickly began to reduce Huo Cong’s fever, then instructed her assistant, “It’s too crowded in here. All unrelated persons, please step outside.”

In that room, the only “unrelated person” was Huo Mingting.

The message was all too clear.

With a stony face, Huo Mingting was ushered out by the medical staff. The rain still poured outside, so he could only stand under the awning with his assistant and driver.

So this was what divorce meant. The woman who used to refuse him even a sip of cold water now didn’t care about him at all!