"It's over."
This was Xue Miao's last thought. In fact, she wasn't the only one whose situation was over; her vice-principal lover was too.
All the guests were discussing the final outcome of the engagement banquet.
Lu Chuanping, as the director of the education bureau, was so furious that his face turned ashen. To him, this was no different than a resounding slap to his face in front of all his subordinates.
It was crisp and loud.
And it hurt.
Lu Chuanping stood up, forcing himself to suppress his anger so that he wouldn't curse out loud in public. He merely said in a deep voice, "It seems I've been too lenient these past few years, allowing some of the foundations of our system to rot. This is my fault."
Liu Chen didn't hear these words. She had already changed her clothes and left through the hotel's back door.
For safety's sake, she specifically took a taxi to the park first. She stayed in a public restroom in the park for a long time, then changed into different clothes and shoes, took off her wig, and only then came out.
Standing by the park, Liu Chen felt her entire face burning. After a moment's hesitation, Liu Chen finally took a taxi to C City Second People's Hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital, she pulled up the hood of her hoodie and sat quietly in the waiting area.
Not far away, outside the gynecology waiting room, Hu Xingfa was carefully supporting a girl in her early twenties. The girl wore obvious false eyelashes, black eyeliner, and lipstick – not a single item was missing.
"Darling, don't worry, I will definitely take responsibility for you."
"Wuwu, Xingfa, I'm so scared. What if Sister Zhang finds out? I'm afraid she'll come and hit me, what if she makes me lose the baby? Wuwu, Xingfa..."
As she spoke, the girl even forced out two tears, making Hu Xingfa even more eager to swear an oath.
"Yanyan, don't worry. Starting today, you don't have to come to the company to work. I'll buy you an apartment. After you give birth, I'll divorce Zhang Lili and marry you!"
Liu Chen, who was already groggy with fever, heard these familiar scummy words and couldn't help but open her eyes to look at the couple.
Heh.
It really was Hu Xingfa.
So, the love and fatherly affection that Zhang Lili and Hu Qian had been showing off to her all along simply didn't exist.
The corner of her mouth twitched slightly, a sort of smile.
Just as her number was called, Liu Chen, clutching her slip, entered the examination room.
As soon as she sat down and took off her mask, her flushed face was revealed. Dr. Feng, in her early forties, frowned slightly as she looked at the well-behaved young girl in front of her, but said nothing, first taking her temperature.
As the cold thermometer was placed under her armpit, Liu Chen couldn't help but flinch from the chill.
The doctor opened her slightly chipped thermos, took a sip, chewed on the tea leaves, spat them into the nearby trash can, and then closed it.
"Alright, take out the thermometer. Remember, don't shake it."
Carefully, she took the mercury thermometer out from under her arm and handed it to Dr. Feng, who was sitting in her chair.
Dr. Feng frowned slightly and asked, "39 degrees Celsius? High fever? Where are your parents?"
Liu Chen, who had been to the hospital so many times in her two lives, was momentarily stunned by the question about her parents. For some reason, perhaps her head was truly fuddled with fever, she thought of Hu Xingfa outside.
"He's escorting his little mistress to the gynecology department for a prenatal check-up."
Dr. Feng took a deep breath, suppressing her rage, and then looked at the little girl suffering from a high fever and seeking medical attention alone. She sighed faintly, "It's alright, we'll give you an IV drip, two bags and you'll be fine."
As she spoke, Dr. Feng opened the "Happy Many QQ Group" of the Second Hospital.
'Parents nowadays are so irresponsible. Just now...'
As soon as Dr. Feng posted, several nurses responded to the usually quiet QQ group.
'Wow, the little sister is so pitiful!'
'I know, I know! Was it that middle-aged man and a woman in her early twenties in the gynecology department just now?'
'Them? Pfft, they're the epitome of scum. They even want to check the gender of the baby in her womb, heh.'
Seeing the doctor seriously typing on her keyboard, Liu Chen took her slip downstairs to pay at the window. But somehow, while queuing, many people told her to go to the front to pay.
For the first time being 'cut in line' unwillingly, Liu Chen was still a bit dazed after paying. She couldn't help but sigh. Although this world had scumbags like Hu Xingfa, it also had many good people!
Liu Chen, having fallen ill for the first time in a long time, experienced a sense of vulnerability. This feeling was novel, at least she hadn't had the time to feel it in her previous life.
Sitting alone in a corner chair, the nurse gently spoke while quickly and skillfully inserting the needle. After adjusting the IV drip rate, she added softly, "Little sister, if you feel sleepy, you can sleep. I'll come to wake you in twenty minutes."
In Nurse Zhu's eyes, Liu Chen had long, straight black hair draped over her shoulders. Her eyes were watery as she looked at herself. Below her eyes was a white mask, obscuring most of her face, but one could vaguely make out the flushed cheeks beneath the mask.
"Thank you."
Hearing the little girl speak in a soft, sweet voice, Nurse Zhu felt her heart skip a beat. "Oh my, she's too cute!"
Meanwhile, Hu Xingfa, who was accompanying his little secretary for a prenatal check-up, wasn't feeling as pleasant.
While the little secretary went inside for her examination, Hu Xingfa took out five thousand yuan in cash and tried to bribe the little nurse standing nearby to find out if the baby in the little secretary's womb was a boy or a girl.
As soon as he took out the money, before he could even give it to her, the little nurse opposite him frowned and recoiled as if she had touched something dirty.
Hu Xingfa's temper flared when he saw that frown. Fine! If you don't want the money! Someone else will!
After the examination was complete and the doctor came out, Hu Xingfa directly placed ten thousand yuan on the table after the little secretary had left.
"Doctor, tell me, should I prepare to buy pants or skirts when I go home?"
The gynecologist, who had just read all the gossip in the QQ group, quickly stepped back three paces as if she had encountered an infectious agent.
"This patient, your examination is complete, please leave." After speaking, the gynecologist pressed a button on the desk, and a number was called from outside the door.
Hu Xingfa had no choice but to put the ten thousand yuan back into his briefcase, thinking to himself that the doctors at the hospital were all crazy! They don't want money! They deserve to be poor!
The little secretary's complexion, however, had turned a bit pale. It was not easy for her to hook up with Hu Xingfa and get pregnant with his child, and she was waiting to use the child to improve her status.
But seeing Hu Xingfa's current obsession with the baby's gender, she wondered if he would make her abort the child if it turned out to be a girl.
At this moment, the little secretary's hand, holding her small bag, slowly tightened.