Chapter 50: Worn Down by Overwork

When Liang Jinshang saw the name "Director Yuan" flashing on her phone screen, she tensed up immediately.

The man slapped her waist, urging her to relax. “Relax,” he said, almost mocking her. Whether it was Gong Xueyuan or Yuan Xi, he never seemed to feel the nervousness of being caught in an affair. A habitual adulterer, indeed, possessed excellent nerves.

But Liang Jinshang was different. She shoved the constantly ringing phone beneath the pillow, defeated. “Just hurry up!” she said.

The same phrase, uttered in a moment of passion or impatient urging, had entirely different effects—the difference between excitement and disappointment. Yet, for the man, the latter stirred an intense desire to conquer, compelling him to make her submit.

Liang Jinshang’s voice was already incoherent, but at that very moment, the man insisted she answer the call.

“Are you even human?” she gasped.

Shang Yucheng’s movements and tone were forceful. “Pick up!”

Driven nearly mad by his strength, Liang Jinshang had no choice but to swipe the answer button. “…Director Yuan.”

Yuan Xi’s voice lingered in silence on the other end—so long that Liang Jinshang feared she might have overheard something she shouldn’t. Only then did Yuan Xi softly utter her name, “Liang Jinshang?”

It was Yuan Xi who called her, yet her tone was uncertain. Perhaps it was because Liang Jinshang’s head had banged against the headboard several times; at that moment, she sensed nothing amiss. Yuan Xi, her supervisor, calling at this hour—what else could it be? Surely, she’d noticed Liang Jinshang was late.

Liang Jinshang explained that an accident had occurred yesterday and she wanted to take half a day off. After hearing her out, Yuan Xi’s attention was drawn elsewhere. As if recalling something, she said, “On the way home from work yesterday, we seemed to notice someone following you. Got distracted by other matters and forgot to warn you… Sorry, Jinshang.”

Yuan Xi had no obligation to warn her, so Liang Jinshang could only reply, “It’s fine,” and had nothing else to say.

But after hanging up, Liang Jinshang’s demeanor visibly grew colder. The flush faded from her face, leaving behind a jade-like pallor.

Indifference was more discouraging than rejection, and Shang Yucheng ended things abruptly.

His tone was hardly pleasant. “What’s with the attitude now?”

Liang Jinshang pushed him aside and sat up. “I should be grateful to be alive to display any attitude at all. Shang Yucheng, did you see someone following me yesterday?”

Shang Yucheng hadn’t witnessed it himself, but Yuan Xi had mentioned it in front of him. He’d just assumed, based on a conversation overheard in the break room, that it was Shang Yiming.

But he was not the sort to deny responsibility and claim ignorance about Liang Jinshang being followed.

Shang Yucheng’s gaze first landed on the phone in Liang Jinshang’s hand, lingering for several seconds. Then, he replied with a casual “Mm,” as if answering her question.

“Mm… just ‘mm’?!”

Liang Jinshang laughed in fury.

How naïve she’d been! She chastised herself for being angry last night because Shang Yucheng failed to keep his promise to protect her—how utterly naïve! Not only had he neglected to send someone to guard her in advance, he was the kind of cold-blooded creature who could remain unmoved even after seeing her being followed.

Last night’s affair—she might as well have hired a gigolo free of charge. No point expecting humanity from a gigolo; skill alone sufficed. By that measure, she’d actually profited.

Liang Jinshang walked along the street. With leave taken for the morning, she didn’t know where to go.

Her phone rang again. She glanced at the name: “Jingyu.”

A strange sensation crept over her. She knew who Jingyu was… but the name she had saved in her phone was “Dr. Chao.”

Her heart skipped a beat. She turned the phone over and inspected it thoroughly, then resigned herself to the realization: The model and color matched hers exactly.

She had taken the wrong phone.

Worse still, she’d used it since morning—answering Yuan Xi’s call, storming out after the quarrel—always holding it in her hand.

Which meant—

That morning, Yuan Xi hadn’t called to urge her to work at all…

She had dialed Shang Yucheng’s phone, perhaps just to give her boyfriend a morning call…

And Liang Jinshang had answered instead.

A complex mix of emotions washed over her, but ultimately she could only conclude that educated people truly had different manners. When Gong Xueyuan caught a whiff of perfume on her, she slapped her without hesitation. Yuan Xi, on the other hand, apologized for her own oversight even when she suspected Liang Jinshang had spent the night with her man.

Such poise—surely, it was only a matter of time before Yuan Xi displaced Gong Xueyuan as the “main wife.”

Still, Liang Jinshang found Shang Yucheng impossible to read. Who else would save their date’s name as “Director Yuan”?

She let the ringtone fade out naturally, but Chao Jingyu soon called again.

Now that she knew she had the wrong phone, there was no way she’d answer—especially not Chao Jingyu’s call. She didn’t want him to know she was entangled with Shang Yucheng.

Perhaps Chao Jingyu was too good—a mirror so flawless that one could not help but try to act a better person before it, even if only to fool oneself.

After the call ended, as Liang Jinshang was about to put the phone away, a message flashed on the screen.

Jingyu: [Liang Jinshang, answer the phone!]

Though the words betrayed no emotion, a sense of foreboding swept over her.

How did Chao Jingyu know the phone was in her possession?

He called again, and Liang Jinshang answered quickly. “Dr. Chao, how did—”

“Come to the hospital. Nephrology.”

The moment she heard “Nephrology,” Liang Jinshang dropped everything and ran.

When she arrived, Liang Xizhou’s wheelchair was already outside the emergency room. “Where have you been? We couldn’t reach you at all.”

Liang Jinshang asked anxiously, “What happened to Teacher Liang?”

“Teacher Liang?” Liang Xizhou snorted. “After raising you for all these years, about to die and can’t even hear you call him ‘Dad.’”

At the mention of “die,” Liang Jinshang trembled.

Chao Jingyu stood quietly to the side; he had long noticed that these “siblings” were nothing like a normal brother and sister. Not one to pry, he only now gleaned from their exchange that they were not blood relatives—Liang Jinshang was adopted.

Soon, Liang’s father was wheeled out of the emergency room.

There was no need to ask; he had always suffered from uremia, and in the advanced stage, nothing but a transplant could save him.

Since Liang Xizhou’s injury and paralysis, their father had to support two children, burdened with worries and toil. Eventually, the day arrived.

The doctor spoke at length, but the conclusion was simple: “If you can’t find a suitable kidney donor within a month, the family should prepare for the worst.”