Qi Yuqing raised her glass of water. “I’m treating you to dinner today for two reasons: first, to thank you, and second, to celebrate my rebirth.”
She touched her hair. “Zhang Chenghui and I… are divorced.”
Her voice was calm. There was no anger or grievance in it. If anything, it even carried a hint of joy.
“I confronted him. I told him that if he refused to divorce me, I would report what he and Wang Dani had done with the drugs as well. I wouldn’t let either of them off. I’d let Yanyan die alone in the hospital.”
Xiao Mandong watched her in silence, chin resting on her palm as she listened intently.
“Zhang Chenghui knew that even if he avoided the death penalty, he’d be sentenced to at least twenty years. The court would grant us a divorce anyway, so he agreed.”
At that, Qi Yuqing laughed aloud. She had been looking forward to this divorce certificate for years, but had never dared to take that final step. The moment she received it today, she felt like an entirely different person. Even the air seemed fresher.
She regretted wasting more than a decade of her life on that man. “I’m only thirty-eight this year, and I have a child of my own now. I believe life will only get better from here.”
She placed a piece of braised spareribs in Xiao Mandong’s bowl and continued, “Do you know why I’m letting Wang Dani off for now? Because Yanyan’s report came back. I want to avenge my child. I want Wang Dani to watch her own flesh and blood leave her.”
She paused, her voice dropping. “I know that now that I’m pregnant, I shouldn’t do something so extreme. I should be accumulating blessings for my child. But I can’t let it go.”
How could she possibly let Wang Dani off?
Her father had called in some favors to investigate what had happened back then. The doctor who had treated her had actually been a relative of Wang Dani’s family, and those drugs had been prescribed by that doctor as well. Unfortunately, the doctor had died two years ago. Now there was no evidence, and no one left to testify.
Even without proof, Qi Yuqing firmly believed that Wang Dani, that poisonous woman, had killed her child and nearly robbed her of the chance to become a mother. She had to watch Wang Dani suffer the same fate.
“Congratulations, Sister Yuqing.” Xiao Mandong raised her glass. She was sincerely happy for Qi Yuqing. If only she had realized the Lu family’s schemes a little earlier in her previous life—would she have avoided such a tragic death?
Just then, Yanyan began barking next door, followed by a knock on the door.
“Sister Yuqing, it’s freezing outside. Don’t catch a chill. I’ll go take a look.” As she spoke, Xiao Mandong had already opened the door and stepped outside.
Qi Yuqing hurriedly put on her coat and followed her. Who could be knocking at their door so late at night?
When Xiao Mandong reached the entrance, she saw Tang Jing still pounding on the door of her home.
A woman behind her kept pulling her back.
“Jingjing, stop making a scene. Working at the cashier’s desk isn’t so bad. It’s much easier than working in a department.”
Tang Jing suddenly shook off the woman’s hand. “Being a doctor is so much more respectable. You can find a better husband that way. What kind of future is there at the cashier’s desk? I’m going to become a department director, even the hospital director.”
She pointed at the woman, her eyes filled with disdain.
“Unlike you. You have no ambition at all. You’ve worked in the cafeteria your entire life, and you come home smelling like cooking oil. It’s disgusting.”
The woman’s arm was flung against the doorframe, and pain instantly creased her brow.
But after rubbing her injured arm, she went back to pull Tang Jing away.
“Tang Jing, are you done yet? If your uncle finds out you came here to cause trouble, he’ll be furious. Come home with me right now.”
The woman was panicking. If her husband found out Tang Jing had caused a scene in the staff housing compound, he wouldn’t scold Tang Jing. He would only blame her for failing to raise her properly.
How was she supposed to teach a child like this?
Tang Jing tried to push the woman away, but when she turned around, she saw Xiao Mandong. Her eyes immediately reddened.
“Xiao Mandong, how dare you show your face?”
Director Qi frowned. “Tang Jing? What are you doing here?”
Tang Jing ignored Director Qi. She still wanted to return to the internal medicine department, so she couldn’t afford to offend Director Qi. Instead, she pointed at Xiao Mandong.
“It’s all your fault! If you hadn’t come and tried to steal my patient that day, how could I have made a mistake? You got me transferred to the cashier’s desk, and all the years I spent working toward my goal have gone to waste. How can you be so vicious?”
She had been transferred to the cashier’s desk that day, and everyone had been gossiping about her. Even the nurses she had always looked down on were now looking at her with contempt.
She simply couldn’t stand it. She had come here to make a scene so everyone would know that Xiao Mandong had deliberately tried to steal her patient, and that she had only made a mistake because Xiao Mandong had upset her. It had nothing to do with her professional ability.
By then, the neighbors had heard the commotion and come outside in their padded coats to watch.
“Tang Jing, you make mistakes whenever you get nervous. You really aren’t suited to being a doctor.” Xiao Mandong’s tone remained calm and unhurried. “In fact, you might not even be suited to working at the cashier’s desk. What if you get nervous and charge someone the wrong amount? Wouldn’t that be troublesome?”
Tang Jing’s face turned white.
The woman beside her was displeased when she heard Xiao Mandong’s words.
“Doctor Xiao, that isn’t fair. Doesn’t everyone learn step by step? Are you honestly saying that you weren’t nervous when you first started treating patients?”
She stepped forward and shielded Tang Jing behind her.
“Besides, Jingjing is still young. You should be more understanding. She only changed positions today, so she was upset and needed somewhere to vent. Why are you quibbling with a young girl?”
“Besides, what happened today was partly your fault. Jingjing was wrong, but if you hadn’t interfered, she wouldn’t have made a mistake. She’s always been this way since she was little. She can’t be disturbed while she’s working. She’s very serious and focused.”
The more she spoke, the more impassioned she became. She was completely different from the timid woman who had been so cautious around Tang Jing moments ago.
“You’re colleagues. Shouldn’t you be more tolerant of one another, improve together, and learn from each other?”
Although she disliked Tang Jing, she had raised the girl herself. How could she allow an outsider to speak about her like that?
Besides, her husband was the chief of the General Affairs Department and cared deeply about his reputation. If word got out that Tang Jing couldn’t even calculate money correctly, it wouldn’t just embarrass Tang Jing—it would disgrace her husband as well. How could she allow that?
Her husband had told her that they could argue among themselves at home, but in front of outsiders, she had to take her niece’s side.
At that moment, Xiao Mandong’s gaze fell on the woman standing before her.
The door next door was open, and the light from inside fell directly across the woman’s face.
She was plump, with the corner of her mouth slanting slightly to the right. And that mole…
It was exactly the same.
Although she was older now, the corners of her eyes covered in fine lines and the smile gone from her face, her features overlapped with the person in the photograph. The outline was still there.
Xiao Mandong’s heart jolted.
She remembered…
Section Chief Tang’s wife, Cui Lijuan.
She worked in the hospital cafeteria, though she was usually in the kitchen and rarely crossed paths with anyone.
She was…
Xiaoli’s mother.
