Volume One, Chapter 34: Father, Do You Hate Her?

Huo Cong’s tone was as cold and rigid as his father’s, but Huo Mingting could see that his son hoped Ye Sheng had been forced to leave them back then.

Huo Mingting gently patted the boy’s head, his voice low. “No matter if your mother had her reasons for leaving us, Cong’er, you mustn’t hate her. After all, she gave you life.”

Huo Cong pressed his lips together and lowered his eyes.

“She gave me life—does that mean I have to be grateful?”

Huo Mingting didn’t know how to answer.

“Dad.” Huo Cong suddenly looked up. “Do you hate her?”

Huo Mingting was taken aback.

Did he hate her?

Perhaps a little.

But more than hate, he felt anger and confusion.

Marriage was never a trivial matter to him. When he married Ye Sheng, he intended it to be for life; divorce had never crossed his mind.

Because of the divorce, he had become the subject of countless idle conversations.

All men care about their pride. Ye Sheng’s actions had trampled his pride into the dirt, leaving him humiliated and a laughingstock.

And in the past three years, as a single father raising a sick child alone, who could he turn to with his hardships and exhaustion?

If Ye Sheng had cared for him even a little, she wouldn’t have left so abruptly.

—

Ye Sheng played with Huo Xiaobei in her living room for a while.

While Xiaobei watched cartoons, Ye Sheng curled up on the sofa, knitting a woolen hat.

The pale gray yarn slipped swiftly through her nimble, slender fingers. Unconsciously, Xiaobei’s gaze drifted from the TV to Ye Sheng’s hands.

“Shengsheng, you’re amazing!” Xiaobei never held back her praise, her sweet words like honey: “Who taught you this?”

Ye Sheng smiled. “My grandmother.”

“Grandma…” Xiaobei thought for a moment. “I had a grandma too, but she’s not in this world anymore. I’ve seen her photos—she was so beautiful!”

Ye Sheng freed a hand to stroke Xiaobei’s cheek. “You’re beautiful too.”

Xiaobei giggled.

She’d just finished a small circle on the brim when her phone rang. Her nerves jumped—she answered quickly. Sure enough, it was the hospital. Her voice dropped, all business. “Speak.”

“Director Ye, there’s a critical patient in the ER. We need you to come in…”

Ye Sheng acknowledged, then glanced at Xiaobei, making eye contact. Xiaobei hopped up from the sofa, put on her shoes, grabbed her little coat, and followed Ye Sheng out the door.

Huo Lintong was still at work. The keypad to the apartment chimed as Ye Sheng brought Xiaobei back.

She slipped on her own coat and said, “Lin, I’ve got an emergency at the hospital. I need to go.”

Huo Lintong glanced at the time and picked up his phone. “I’ll have the driver take you.”

“No need, I’ll get a cab!” Ye Sheng protested.

“It’s too late for that.”

Huo Lintong quickly made arrangements and said to Ye Sheng, whose face showed reluctance, “The car and driver were assigned by Third Brother. There’s no need to be polite with me, let alone with your Third Brother.”

“I’m not being polite, Lin.” Ye Sheng gave in. “I’ll go then… Xiaobei, go to bed early.”

“Okay!” Xiaobei reminded her, “Be safe!”

Huo Lintong accompanied Ye Sheng all the way to the elevator, then stood by the window in the corridor, watching until she got into the car before heading home. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Xiaobei looking up at him with sparkling eyes, smiling. “Shengsheng is really nice, isn’t she?”

What a clever little thing…

Huo Lintong smiled and nodded. “She’s very nice.”

—

By the time Ye Sheng arrived at the hospital, the patient was already in critical condition and was rushed straight into the operating room.

The patient was in the late stages of leukemia, had just come home from a round of chemotherapy, written his last words, and overdosed on sleeping pills. During the operation, Ye Sheng could hear the heart-wrenching cries of the family and the nurses’ scolding.

This was a desperate race with death. When the surgery finally ended, dawn had already broken.

As Mia informed the family that the boy had survived, his mother collapsed into her husband’s arms in exhaustion, sobbing so hard she could barely make a sound, clinging to Mia and bowing in gratitude.

“It was Director Ye who performed the surgery. Although he’s been saved, the patient’s will to live is weak. The family needs to keep a close eye on him and consider psychological intervention…”

Ye Sheng lay motionless on the floor, covered by a white sheet.

Nearly six hours of surgery—her back felt as if it might break.

When Huo Lintong walked in carrying a lunchbox, his eyes met Ye Sheng’s. She just looked at him, too tired to utter a single word.

All her usual thoughtfulness, politeness, and courtesy—gone with the wind.

Who had strength left for those things?

Huo Lintong walked up to her and crouched down, his amber eyes smiling at her. “Little Fairy Ye, is there any fairy dust left in you?”