Chapter 60 Why Would a Pregnant Woman About to Give Birth…

Bai Yuanzhi shook her head, “It’s nothing.”

Although Chen Shuojie’s visit earlier had indeed made her quite unhappy.

From Chen Shuojie’s demeanor, it seemed he wanted to have a long talk with her.

But in the end, he was called away by that phone call.

For Bai Yuanzhi, this was the calm before the storm.

It was indeed unsettling, but not too much.

So regarding this matter, she didn’t have much desire to talk about it.

Thus, Ming Jiayao took the initiative, “Sister, earlier…”

He had indeed been busy,

so much so that after rushing back from the United States, he had devoted most of his energy to the Rong Fu Ji acquisition case.

Plus, he hadn’t had time then to win over Ah Bin and Sister Cai,

so he had no choice but to put his feelings for Bai Yuanzhi on the back burner.

Now that the Rong Fu Ji acquisition was settled, Ming Jiayao finally had time to deal with Chen Shuojie.

Ming Jiayao was very certain that Bai Yuanzhi had feelings for him.

But he didn’t want Chen Shuojie to be too attentive to Bai Yuanzhi.

So he wanted to ask her what exactly Chen Shuojie had said to her earlier;

but the words stuck in his throat.

Afraid of embarrassing her, afraid of putting her in a difficult position…

In the end, Ming Jiayao said, “…When I came over earlier, I saw there’s a park nearby.”

Bai Yuanzhi nodded, “Yes!”

The reason this house had been her dream home in both lifetimes,

the park not far away played a big part.

Bai Yuanzhi enthusiastically told Ming Jiayao all about that park.

Ming Jiayao listened intently.

However,

before long, his pager kept ringing incessantly.

Bai Yuanzhi said with concern, “I have a phone here, you can return the call.”

Ming Jiayao knew very well,

the reason his pager was going crazy—was because of Xu Wenrui’s hospitalization.

Ming Jingxing and Ming Zhixuan probably couldn’t reach him on his mobile phone, so they had their assistant page him.

Ming Jiayao stood up and said to Bai Yuanzhi, “No, it’s probably something at the docks… Sister, I, I’ll… take my leave now.”

Bai Yuanzhi hesitated, wanting to say more.

She had originally wanted to invite him to stay for a meal and introduce him to her older sister!

But on second thought,

at this time, career was far more important than anything else.

So she stopped dwelling on it, “Alright, then come visit again when you have time!”

Ming Jiayao reluctantly stood up, took the tea leaves Bai Yuanzhi had given him, and left.

After leaving Bai Yuanzhi’s home, Ming Jiayao instructed Ah Wu to turn on his mobile phone.

Soon, Ming Jingxing’s assistant called, “Young Master Ming, Chairman Ming requests you to go to St. Maria Hospital immediately. Both Sir and Madam have been hospitalized.”

Ming Jiayao was stunned.

What?

Both Xu Wenrui and Ming Zhixuan were hospitalized?

How did that happen!

However, Ming Jiayao felt not a trace of anxiety or worry.

He was just curious,

and even with a mentality of wanting to watch the drama unfold, he told Ah Wu to drive faster.

Soon, Ming Jiayao arrived at St. Maria Hospital.

It was exactly as the assistant said—both Xu Wenrui and Ming Zhixuan were hospitalized!

They were husband and wife,

so the hospital had arranged them in a luxurious double room.

Before Ming Jiayao’s foot even crossed the threshold of the hospital room, he heard Xu Wenrui’s frantic shriek: “…If you want to die, go die by yourself! Why drag Brother Shen into it?”

Ming Jiayao stopped in his tracks.

Then—

Ming Zhixuan roared back just as fiercely, “Xu Wenrui! Who exactly is your husband?”

“Have I done anything that harms heaven and reason? I just found a few women, and they were all willing! Why did I seek women outside? Don’t you have any idea? If you had even the slightest bit of a wife’s demeanor, why would I have to do this? You’re the one who should reflect on yourself!”

“And don’t say I dragged Chen Shen to his death!”

“Do you think your precious Brother Shen is so clean?”

“Go ask him! Who was it that booked a room on the nineteenth floor of Bilanting last month using my name?”

“Lan Lan was so messed up by him that shit flew up to the ceiling!” Ming Zhixuan sneered.

Hearing this, Ming Jiayao narrowed his eyes.

Xu Wenrui was driven mad with anger. “You’re lying! Brother Shen isn’t that kind of person at all! It was you who corrupted him…”

Ming Zhixuan sneered, “Oh really? In your eyes, I’m just trash?”

“Since your Brother Shen is so wonderful, why don’t you divorce me? Why don’t you marry him? Is it because you don’t want to, or because he won’t have you?”

“Xu Wenrui, let me tell you, you’re already a middle-aged woman pushing fifty. Stop fantasizing about some rich man staying chaste for you for a lifetime!”

“No matter how trashy I am, at least I haven’t fathered any illegitimate children outside! Your Brother Shen is perfect in every way, why don’t you go find out how many illegitimate sons and daughters he has? His eldest illegitimate daughter is already in college!” Ming Zhixuan shouted.

Xu Wenrui screamed, “You’re lying! And why do you think you don’t have any illegitimate children? Is it because you don’t want them?”

After saying this, she suddenly fell into an eerie silence, as if somewhat guilty.

Ming Zhixuan, however, flew into a rage. “What did you say?”

Ming Jiayao, standing at the doorway of the hospital room, was also stunned.

—Xu Wenrui’s words were subtle yet pointed.

So…

Ming Jiayao fell into deep thought.

At that moment, Ming Zhixuan’s assistant hurried over. Seeing Ming Jiayao standing at the hospital room door, unsure whether to enter or leave, he greeted him, “Good day, Young Master Ming!”

The couple inside the room instantly fell silent.

Only then did Ming Jiayao leisurely walk into the room. “Daddy, Mommy, Grandpa asked me to come check on you.”

As he spoke, Ming Jiayao saw Xu Wenrui with white gauze wrapped around her head, her makeup smeared, her face twisted in fury;

He also saw Ming Zhixuan, his face and neck covered in fierce scratches from fingernails…

Ming Jiayao revealed a satisfied and pleased expression.

“Daddy, Mommy, you’ve worked hard,” Ming Jiayao said politely yet distantly. “It seems you’re both full of energy and in good spirits. Well then, rest well. I’ll be going now.”

With that, Ming Jiayao strode away.

Xu Wenrui: …

Ming Zhixuan: …

Only after Ming Jiayao’s figure had disappeared from sight did Ming Zhixuan hesitantly say, “He… didn’t hear us just now, did he?”

Xu Wenrui rolled her eyes and sneered, “So what if he did!”

Ming Zhixuan looked at Xu Wenrui as if she were an idiot. “Could you use just a tiny bit of your brain? Jiayao is the sole heir designated by the old man!”

“So what?” Xu Wenrui said disdainfully. “You’re afraid of offending him, but I’m not!”

“After all…”

“You can only hope that the old man will toss you some scraps like charity! But I’m different, at least I have Brother Shen and my family to back me up…” Xu Wenrui said smugly.

Ming Zhixuan sneered, “Oh really? You have your Brother Shen and your family to back you up?”

“Have you ever thought about why your Brother Shen would back you up? It’s because you are my wife, Ming Zhixuan’s wife! If you weren’t my wife, if you weren’t the daughter-in-law of the Ming Family, why would he back you up? Because you’re old, because you’re so fat, or because you’ve already gone through menopause?”

“And oh, you say your family backs you up. Then let me ask you, how many times have you borrowed money from your sister-in-law lately? Did she give it to you?”

“Xu Wenrui, if you were still an eighteen-year-old girl, your ignorance would only make men think you’re naive and cute. But you’re almost fifty! Are you still pretending to be naive and ignorant? That’s disgusting! Do you even understand?” Ming Zhixuan mocked.

Xu Wenrui was furious, roaring as she lunged from the adjacent hospital bed, grappling with Ming Zhixuan.

Outside the ward,

Ming Jiayao waited a little longer. Seeing that his parents were no longer providing any valuable information, he finally raised his arm, extending his thumb, index, and middle fingers, gesturing toward Ah Jiu beside him.

Ah Jiu released Ming Zhixuan’s assistant.

—Yes, when Ming Jiayao stood outside the ward door eavesdropping,

Ming Zhixuan’s assistant showed a surprised expression. Just as he was about to ask, “Young Master Ming, what’s wrong?”

Ah Jiu suddenly grabbed him by the collar and covered his mouth!

Only after Ming Jiayao had eavesdropped enough and turned to leave

did Ah Jiu finally release the assistant’s collar with a smile. With one hand, he pulled banknotes from his suit’s inner pocket, pinched them between two fingers, and stuffed them into the assistant’s hand. Then, with a cold and fierce gaze, he stared at the assistant for a moment before following Ming Jiayao and leaving.

The assistant trembled with fear.

He looked at the two thousand-dollar bills in his hand, then glanced around.

Seeing no one nearby, the assistant said nothing, quickly pocketed the money, and wiped the cold sweat from his brow with his sleeve.

Ming Jiayao did not leave St. Maria Hospital.

He went to the dean’s office.

Soon, the dean hurried over upon hearing the news. “Young Master Ming, I wasn’t aware of your arrival. My apologies for not welcoming you properly.”

Seeing Ming Jiayao lost in thought,

the dean grew uneasy and said softly, “Young Master Ming, you’re here for Mr. Ming and his wife, right? Rest assured, their condition… isn’t too serious. We’re confident we can provide them with the best treatment! They’ll recover as usual…”

Ming Jiayao scoffed.

He didn’t care at all about Ming Zhixuan and Xu Wenrui’s “condition.”

At worst, Xu Wenrui had a bone fracture from the fall,

and Ming Zhixuan had scratches on his face from fingernails.

St. Maria Hospital could certainly treat that.

But Ming Jiayao hadn’t come to see the dean for those two useless people.

After a moment of silence, Ming Jiayao spoke slowly, “Uncle Mai, I’d like to ask, if I wanted to buy St. Maria Hospital… how much would it cost?”

Dean Mai was stunned.

After a long pause, Dean Mai let out an awkward laugh. “Ah… hahaha, Young Master Ming, you must be joking.”

“I’m serious,” Ming Jiayao said calmly.

Dean Mai’s laughter abruptly stopped.

However, he didn’t dare underestimate Ming Jiayao.

—Rong Fu Ji, with its substantial assets, collapsed due to poor management. The Ming Family, Hong Kong City’s wealthiest, had intended to acquire it but unexpectedly lost out to an unknown, newly emerged company.

There were vague rumors that the newly formed company’s top executives were all young people in their early twenties.

It was even said that the actual controlling shareholder of the company was the Ming Family’s young master—Ming Jiayao!

Well, well,

Truly, the newborn calf fears no tiger!

Isn’t Young Master Ming still underage? Yet he dares to snatch his grandfather’s business while hiding behind a shell company…

So now, when Ming Jiayao earnestly says he wants to buy St. Maria Hospital,

Dean Mai doesn’t think he’s joking.

“Young Master Ming, this… this…”

But Dean Mai finds this utterly insane.

However, he doesn’t want to sell.

Ming Jiayao said, “I’d like to review my parents’ medical records from St. Maria Hospital over the years to assess the hospital’s operational status and profit structure. Uncle Mai, you wouldn’t object, would you?”

St. Maria Hospital is a private hospital catering exclusively to the wealthy.

Ming Zhixuan and Xu Wenrui have always received treatment here.

Dean Mai is an old fox.

He can certainly tell that this is a threat from Ming Jiayao.

So???

Ming Jiayao is using the “acquisition of St. Maria Hospital” as a threat, but his real goal is to see Ming Zhixuan and Xu Wenrui’s medical records over the years!

Dean Mai still wants to resist a little.

After all, as a private hospital serving the wealthy, St. Maria has always prided itself on respecting patient privacy.

“Young Master Ming, how about this… Since Mr. Ming and his wife are also in the hospital, why don’t you wait in their ward first? I’ll find their medical records and send them over right away, okay?” Dean Mai said with an ingratiating smile.

Ming Jiayao smiled. “Sure, that works. I can also discuss the acquisition project for St. Maria Hospital with them.”

With that, he stood up to leave.

Dean Mai panicked. “Ah, ah, ah! Young Master Ming, please wait!”

“Oh, Young Master Ming’s concern for his parents and desire to understand their health issues is only natural! It’s also a sign of his filial piety…”

“Young Master Ming, please wait here. I’ll have someone bring Mr. Ming and his wife’s medical records right over!”

As he spoke, Dean Mai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and immediately made a phone call.

A few minutes later, a young and beautiful nurse brought over a stack of documents.

Ming Jiayao said to Dean Mai, “Uncle Mai, I’ll borrow your office for a moment.”

Dean Mai nodded and hurriedly left.

Ming Jiayao sat alone in the dean’s office and opened Ming Zhixuan’s medical records.

Truthfully, Ming Jiayao wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking for.

Perhaps it was because he had overheard Ming Zhixuan and Xu Wenrui arguing earlier, with Xu Wenrui making insinuations that seemed to mock Ming Zhixuan for being infertile.

Ming Jiayao instinctively found this absurd.

If Ming Zhixuan were infertile, then where did he, Ming Jiayao, come from?

So Ming Jiayao thought that if Ming Zhixuan truly were infertile, there would be no reason for him not to seek medical treatment.

However, after flipping through Ming Zhixuan’s medical records from the past twenty years, he found no mention of terms like “andrology” or “fertility assistance.”

This—

Ming Jiayao fell into deep thought.

Since he couldn’t find any clues,

Ming Jiayao casually opened Xu Wenrui’s medical records as well.

Xu Wenrui’s medical records were far more extensive than Ming Zhixuan’s.

She seemed to treat St. Maria Hospital as a beauty center. From the time she married into the Ming Family, there were almost yearly and monthly medical records, more than half of which were cosmetic add-ons, such as mole removal, freckle reduction, teeth adjustment, myopia correction, menstrual pain management, and so on.

It all seemed perfectly normal.

Ming Jiayao held two thick medical records and stared blankly for a while.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. He reopened Ming Zhixuan’s medical record and flipped to around New Year’s Day 1964—the time of Ming Jiayao’s birth.

Ming Jiayao wanted to see what Ming Zhixuan had been doing when he was born.

According to the records, two days before New Year’s Day 1964, Ming Zhixuan underwent root canal treatment and restorative procedures for three teeth.

The tooth numbers were: 16, 17, 18.

This also seemed unremarkable.

So Ming Jiayao opened Xu Wenrui’s medical record and similarly flipped to around New Year’s Day 1964.

As it turned out, also two days before New Year’s Day that year,

Xu Wenrui had a medical visit recorded at St. Maria Hospital.

—She came to have a tooth extracted.

Tooth extraction???

Ming Jiayao’s breath hitched for a moment.

He wondered if he had misread…

Or perhaps St. Maria Hospital had recorded the date incorrectly?

Wasn’t Xu Wenrui pregnant with him at the time?

And he was due to be born just one day later!

Why would a woman in her third trimester go to the hospital to have a tooth extracted???

Was that even reasonable?!

Ming Jiayao furrowed his brows and carefully examined the records.

Then,

He saw something utterly shocking.

The medical record included a consultation card from that visit.

The card clearly stated:

【Patient Name: Xu Wenrui】

【Patient Gender: Female】

【Patient Age: 23】

【Patient Blood Type: O】

【Penicillin Allergy: No】

【Pregnancy Status: No】

…

In that instant, Ming Jiayao suddenly felt his vision blur and his breathing grow labored.

He couldn’t help but run his fingers over that line of text:

【Pregnancy Status: No】

He tried to discern whether the word “No” had been altered or if it had been added later.

But no matter how he looked at it…

No!

The handwriting was seamless and natural!

Ming Jiayao was stunned.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to do.

Suddenly, Ming Jiayao remembered something else:

In the Ming Family of four, Ming Zhixuan and Xu Wenrui had always sought medical care at St. Maria Hospital,

But Ming Jingxing and Ming Jiayao never went to outside hospitals for treatment. No matter what ailments they suffered, the grandfather and grandson were always cared for by a dedicated family doctor.

A few years ago, when Ming Jingxing underwent surgery, he didn’t go to a hospital either. Instead, he stayed at the old mansion. After the family doctor assessed the qualifications and medical resources of several hospitals, doctors from St. Wales Prince Hospital brought their equipment directly to the old mansion to perform the surgery.

Ming Jiayao fell into deep thought once more.

So,

In Ming Jingxing’s mind, his grandson received the same treatment as himself—more precious and more cautious. He was unwilling to disclose his physical condition and health status to the outside world;

But did his son and daughter-in-law not have such concerns?

Ming Jiayao suddenly remembered something.

He quickly picked up Ming Zhixuan’s medical record again and flipped to the first page.

—Ming Zhixuan’s medical records should have started in November 1963?

In other words, Ming Zhixuan only established his file at St. Maria Hospital more than a year after marrying Xu Wenrui?

What about before that?

Where did Ming Zhixuan receive medical treatment before?

Logically speaking, Ming Zhixuan is Ming Jingxing’s only son, so his illness and treatment should have been overseen by the family doctor.

Then why, after Ming Zhixuan started his own family, was he “exiled” by Ming Jingxing and treated as an “outsider”?

Ming Jiayao stood there dumbfounded.

After a long while, Ming Jiayao finally instructed Ah Jiu, who was standing quietly nearby, “Make copies of both of these medical records.”

Ah Jiu acknowledged the order, took the medical records handed to him by Ming Jiayao, and used the photocopier in the dean’s office to copy them page by page.

By the time this was done, it was already night.

Ming Jiayao placed the original medical records back on the desk in the dean’s office and left St. Maria Hospital with the copied documents.

Then—

Ming Jiayao went to the Xu Family.

Mrs. Xu was surprised by Ming Jiayao’s visit.

Unlike Chen Shuojie,

he had never been willing to get close to the Xu Family.

But no matter what, Ming Jiayao was still her nephew, so Mrs. Xu greeted him politely, “…Have you eaten, Jiayao?”

Ming Jiayao shook his head. “I heard from my cousin that the noodles at Auntie’s house are delicious, so I came hoping to get a bowl. I wonder if Auntie would mind.”

Mrs. Xu chided him, “What kind of talk is that!”

She turned and instructed the butler, “Go tell the kitchen to see what ingredients are left and prepare them. I’ll go over in a bit to make a bowl of noodles for Jiayao.”

Ming Jiayao understood perfectly well.

This was his aunt’s way of vindicating Chen Shuojie.

—His aunt was a virtuous and perceptive woman with a heart full of wisdom.

She must have sensed his jealousy toward Chen Shuojie early on,

and so she was using her own method to balance the resentment in Ming Jiayao’s heart: I’ll cook for you myself, so don’t be jealous of your cousin anymore.

Ming Jiayao scoffed.

Then he said to Mrs. Xu, “Auntie, you know my mother is in the hospital, right?”

Mrs. Xu, who was about to get up and go to the kitchen, was startled. “Huh? What did you say?!”

Ming Jiayao said word by word, “Not only is my mother in the hospital, but my father is also hospitalized…”

“What?” Mrs. Xu was shocked!

She hurriedly asked, “What happened to them?”

Ming Jiayao continued, “And that’s not all… Auntie, did you know? Even my uncle is in the hospital!”

“This is what happened… For some reason, my mother fainted at my uncle’s house. My uncle carried my mother to the hospital, but my father happened to see them. Maybe my father misunderstood something between my mother and my uncle, so they got into a fight…” Ming Jiayao said coldly.

Mrs. Xu was stunned.

“Jiayao, what on earth are you talking about?” She composed herself and asked in a trembling voice, “Where are they now?”

Ming Jiayao replied, “They’re at St. Maria Hospital… Oh, Auntie, when I came here, my mother asked me to go to her room to get some magazines and other things to bring to the hospital.”

“That’s why I thought I might as well come over and ask Auntie for a bowl of noodles.”

“How about you make a little extra noodles and send a portion to my mother too?”

“Oh, Auntie, I’ll go to my mother’s room to get her things now.”

Mrs. Xu’s mind was in turmoil. She waved her hand and said, “Go ahead!”

Then she hurried off to the kitchen.