Chapter 98 The Toad
After much deliberation, Chen Yun did not discuss the matter of remarrying Ruanqiu with Li Shuaishuai.
In the following days, I called that number several more times, but each time the call ended with the person not being there or the line being unreachable. After a week, I finally got a different person answering the phone.
As soon as the call connected, Ruanqiu's voice, filled with disbelief and unease, reached Chen Yun's ears.
Taipei, a city thousands of miles away.
"Did something happen to Shuai Shuai?"
Ruanqiu's heart skipped a beat, as if she had a premonition of something, and the unease gradually grew until it enveloped her entire body.
"Shuai Shuai has a very serious illness."
Chen Yun's voice sounded very calm, as if she were saying that Shuai Shuai had caught a cold, which was as commonplace as it was.
"What illness?"
"Acute leukemia, confirmed. Next..."
"What will happen next? Can it be cured?!"
Chen Yun sighed before continuing to explain the next steps of the treatment to Ruan Qiu.
For a long time, all that could be heard through the receiver was Chen Yun's unhurried voice, but every word felt like it was stabbing countless bloody holes into Ruanqiu's heart.
The hole grew larger and larger until a dense, throbbing pain in my chest made it difficult to breathe.
“I’ll go buy plane tickets now. Tell Shuai Shuai that Mom will go to the hospital with him tomorrow to help him get treatment.”
"..."
Tears welled up in her eyes, and Ruanqiu couldn't help but sob softly.
"You...don't you need to discuss it with your new husband before making a decision?"
After a long silence, Chen Yun suddenly said something on the other end of the line that left Ruanqiu somewhat puzzled.
"What husband?"
"..."
After a brief silence, Chen Yun suddenly became excited and then recounted to Ruan Qiu the contents of their phone calls, which had been almost twice a day last week.
Although the old man who answered the phone was initially impatient, he still managed to say a few words to Chen Yun.
Later, he directly yelled at Chen Yun to stop calling and harassing his daughter-in-law, saying that Ruanqiu was a member of their family and that if her son didn't agree, she couldn't go anywhere.
Ruanqiu's eyes darkened further as she listened, the burning anger in her chest spreading to her eyes, making them red and scalding.
“I’m not married, I know who answered the phone, and I have absolutely no connection with that family…”
Ruanqiu answered firmly, quickly explained, and then hung up the phone, saying she had to deal with the matter.
After hanging up, Ruanqiu dialed another number.
"Mr. Liu, I agree to your acquisition of the garment factory, but there's one condition..."
The phone call turned out to be a landline in the office of Ruanqiu Garment Factory, and the old man impersonating her father-in-law was actually the father of Chen Liang, the deputy director of the garment factory.
Ruanqiu was filled with anger whenever she mentioned this family.
Chen Liang was a long-time employee of the garment factory. When Ruan Qiuhua took over the factory, she hired him as the deputy factory manager to manage the operation of the garment workshop.
But then, he somehow found out that Ruanqiu was divorced, and secretly set his sights on her.
Their plan was that once they married Ruanqiu, the garment factory would become the property of the Chen family.
Even a toad doesn't bother to take a piss and look in the mirror... What kind of person dares to daydream like that!
Even if Chen Liang's father didn't lie to Chen Yun, Ruan Qiu had already decided that after finishing the urgent orders at hand, she would give the whole family a good talking-to and fire them all.
Before they could even make a move, the Chen family had already inflamed Ruanqiu's anger to a new level.
"I'm willing to sell the factory to you at the price we agreed on during the first negotiation, but I hope that Chen Liang will no longer have a place in the entire Guangzhou Garment Factory. If you agree, we can sign the contract this afternoon."
“Why… I’m not afraid of being laughed at by President Liu, but this Chen Liang is like a toad trying to eat swan meat, he’s ruining my reputation everywhere… The matter involving my son has crossed the line, I believe President Liu should be able to understand.”
"Then I really thank you, Mr. Liu."
"I'll wait in the office for Mr. Liu to come and sign the contract... Okay, see you in a bit!"
After hanging up the phone, Ruanqiu slumped heavily into the large leather chair behind her desk, overwhelmed by fear, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
Reason prevented her from immediately flying back to her child.
The money for treatment and subsequent rehabilitation is tied up in the factory. Only by selling the factory and converting it into cash can I feel at ease.
Ruanqiu also needs to consider the future home for the mother and son, a place that will shelter them from the wind and rain.
Therefore... the most urgent task now is to convert all assets into cash.
Thinking that her son was still waiting for her, Ruanqiu quickly wiped away her tears and stood up, leaning on her desk.
"Ruanqiu, where are you going?"
As soon as I stepped out of the office, a man in a gray shirt strode towards me, looking somewhat impatient.
"I'm going to Shunnan this afternoon to discuss an order." Ruanqiu looked at the man with a half-smile, her tone as gentle as ever: "Go to Boss Zeng's fabric factory now and urge them to hurry up with the fabric delivery. Just tell them that our factory is waiting to rush the goods!"
The man glanced at the office, a fleeting look of guilt crossing his face.
"Did you...take a phone call in your office just now?"
"What call?" Ruanqiu asked.
"It's nothing! I just heard the phone ringing and didn't expect you to be in the office."
"It must be the phone ringing in the office downstairs. I just took a nap in the office." As she spoke, Ruanqiu yawned, and a few tears, seemingly caused by fatigue, slid down her cheeks. "You go ahead and get busy! I'm going to my dorm to sleep for a while."
“I told the cook not to come anymore, my mom and my older sister can manage on their own.”
Ruanqiu, who had already turned her back, stretched and said lazily, "You decide what to do!" A hint of coldness gradually rose in her otherwise emotionless eyes.
Chen Liang's expression brightened, and his gaze towards Ruan Qiu's retreating figure grew even more intense.
She's good at making money and has some good looks. Once her son, who lives far away in the northern city, dies, there will be no one left who can sway Ruanqiu.
Chen Liang had a wonderful plan. No sooner had Ruan Qiu gone downstairs than he went to his office and unplugged the telephone line.
He fired the cafeteria lady and then scolded the two young men in the sewing room who didn't get along with him before finally driving to the fabric factory to urge them to send him more fabric.
And that car... Ruanqiu had only bought it less than two months ago.
In Chen Liang's view, the garment factory and Ruanqiu were already his, and sooner or later the title of factory manager would be his!
He went to the fabric factory to show off, feeling quite pleased with himself. The factory manager treated him to good wine and cigarettes, afraid of offending the factory's big client.
After a satisfying meal, I drove back to the garment factory only to discover... the sky had fallen.
The police, who had been waiting outside the factory for quite some time, came up and handcuffed him without saying a word, then put him in the police car.
When he inquired at the police station, he learned that his father had been detained even earlier, on charges of stealing fabric from a clothing factory, and had been caught red-handed.
In addition to being an accomplice in Chen's father's theft, Chen Liang also has a charge of attempted robbery.
Ruan Qiu, the former factory manager of the garment factory, provided evidence as a witness that the Chen family father and son had stolen and resold the factory's fabric.
The subsequent attempted robbery was exposed when a female employee came forward to report it at the scene of Chen Liang's arrest. This incident occurred before Ruan Qiu took over the factory.
Ruanqiu's original plan was suddenly useless. It was uncertain whether Chen Liang could even establish himself in the Guangzhou Garment Factory. First, it depended on how long he would have to stay in prison.
Ruanqiu finished handling all the follow-up matters in just two days, and then boarded a plane back to Beicheng without looking back.
Before leaving, all I wanted was to escape this place of heartbreak as quickly as possible, but when I returned, all I could think about were the beautiful memories of the past.
I never want to leave again after coming back this time...
***
Beicheng Workers' Hospital.
The ward was bathed in the warm afternoon sun at three o'clock, which felt cozy on the skin.
A potted green ivy on the windowsill is growing well, its vines winding down to almost touch the ground. The heat from the radiator has diluted the smell of disinfectant.
Li Shuaishuai sat back on the raised pillows, his face pale and sickly, but his eyes were full of expectation and vitality as he looked out the window.
"Uncle Gao, when will my mom be able to get to the hospital?"
This was the tenth time Li Shuaishuai had asked Gao Ming the same question since he got up.
Gao Ming answered with a smile, as if hearing it for the first time, "We should arrive before sunset."
"When Sister Nian'an and Brother Nianping come over later, can we play Ludo for a while?"
"You can play after the nurses finish disinfecting." Gao Ming bent down and raised the head of the bed so that sunlight could shine on it: "What do you want to eat tonight? Uncle will call your grandma in a bit."
"My tooth hurts, I don't want to eat."
The reactions caused by chemotherapy gradually appeared on Li Shuaishuai. The vomiting had just subsided a few days ago, but in the past two days, his gums have become frequently red, swollen, and bleeding.
"Your Aunt Chen went to buy some medicinal herbs this morning to make chicken soup. If you drink some soup, your toothache will be gone tomorrow."
Since many medications were unavailable, Chen Yun could only alleviate the side effects through dietary therapy, and the two elderly people from both families spent every day traveling between various markets.
"Alright then." Li Shuaishuai pouted listlessly and asked for the eleventh time, "When is my mom arriving? Why hasn't Nianping come yet?"
On the bedside table was an enamel mug with a floral pattern, and several peeled apples were soaking in warm water.
While answering the same questions repeatedly, Gao Ming picked up an apple with his chopsticks and gently urged Li Shuaishuai to eat some.
The atmosphere was so calm that it was easy to forget that this was a hematology ward that had only been there for two days. The entire ward was filled with men, women, and children who had the same disease as Li Shuaishuai.
Until the door to the ward was gently pushed open.
Li Shuaishuai suddenly shuddered and instinctively pulled his arm back under the covers.
The nurse walked in carrying an oval-shaped treatment tray, and even though she tried her best to smile warmly, it instantly changed the peaceful atmosphere.
The bag of medicine in the tray, covered with a black light-proof bag, is the daunorubicin that Li Shuaishuai will be given later.
The smile on her lips vanished as quickly as the tide, and although her gaze was fixed on the medicine, her body trembled involuntarily with fear.
Gao Ming, a grown man, felt his eyes well up with tears. When the nurse hung the medicine on the wire hook, he reached out and gently patted the snow-white blanket.
"So handsome."
"This medicine won't hurt, it's just like the cold medicine we usually get!" the nurse reassured Li Shuaishuai with a smile.
Li Shuaishuai stiffly stretched out his hand, the back of which was covered with bruises and needle marks.
In just half a month, it has become so terrifying that even Gao Ming can no longer bear to look at it.
He sat down on the edge of the bed, turned his head away reluctantly, and gently held Li Shuaishuai's hand, which trembled more violently than a child's.
No adult could remain unmoved by such a scene.
The cool alcohol swabs were wiped across the skin, and then the needle tip was inserted.
"Shuai Shuai is so brave!" The nurse smiled as she untied the hair tie and gently patted Li Shuai Shuai's head. "They're showing cartoons in the office this afternoon, so if you go early you can get a front-row seat."
The transparent liquid began to drip into the tiny blood vessels the moment Gao Ming released his hand.
Ruanqiu's tearful cries finally rang out at the ward door.
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