Volume One, Chapter Three: Casually Scheduling Fu Mingyue for a Urology Appointment!

"Oh! I apologize, that was my oversight. You can come back for a follow-up in seven days; if there are no issues, the stitches can be removed. If you experience any discomfort during this time, please come in for a consultation immediately."

"Understood." Ji Yunzhuo nodded, then asked with some hesitation, "Excuse me, where is the department for andrology?"

"Andrology?" The nurse paused, confused. "Do you mean gynecology?"

"No..." Ji Yunzhuo lowered her eyes, masking her calm gaze. "My husband, he..."

The nurse caught on instantly. "Mr. Fu?"

Oh my!

The nurse covered her mouth, stifling a gasp. This was scandalous gossip!

Ji Yunzhuo nodded tentatively. "Yes, he... he has some issues, but he's too embarrassed to come himself. I—I wanted to ask on his behalf. Is that alright? Our Fu family funds this hospital, so you won't spread this around, right?"

"Of course not!" The nurse shook her head vigorously. "Even if Mr. Fu didn't fund our hospital, this is patient privacy. We would never spread rumors. Don't worry!"

"That's good." Ji Yunzhuo put on a look of relief.

But knowing the Fu family as she did, it was impossible that word wouldn't get out. Fu Mingyue, just you wait.

The debt of gratitude for him saving her life—the favor she owed him after he stopped her from being in a car accident—was settled, life for a life.

In her past life, she had loved him too much, which was why she helped him without any boundaries.

In this life, she would no longer help him. Instead, she would strike back, one by one, and return every bit of harm she had suffered. As for Li Susu...

Deep in thought as she entered the andrology clinic, Ji Yunzhuo nearly collided with someone coming out. She hurriedly dodged, and the person on the other side did the same.

Ji Yunzhuo looked up and realized the man was very tall with an impressive physique. He was in the middle of adjusting his mask over his nose; even though he covered up quickly, she could still discern that he was a man with striking features.

A pity, she thought subconsciously, that he had such an issue.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, a familiar yet distant voice came from behind her.

"Ji Yunzhuo!"

Ji Yunzhuo turned her head, but before she could see who it was...

*Smack!*

A sharp, stinging slap landed across her face!

"You useless thing! You can't even keep your own husband in check!"

"You've truly wasted such a pretty face!"

"If I had known you were so incompetent, I never should have let you marry into the Fu family; I should have sent your sister instead!"

Her biological mother, Zhang Fangping, ranted on, her sharp nails repeatedly poking at Ji Yunzhuo's face, causing the same stinging pain she had known all her life.

Such a commotion immediately drew a crowd, with people watching, taking photos, and pointing fingers.

Yet, rather than restraining herself, Zhang Fangping lashed out at the onlookers, "What are you looking at? What’s there to film? This is my daughter, what's wrong with me scolding her?"

Ji Yunzhuo touched her face, which had been swollen and was now even more so, but she felt nothing.

Her own mother had always been this kind of person...

When Fu Mingyue hit her, Zhang Fangping would say it must have been her fault for provoking him.

When Fu Mingyue kept a mistress, Zhang Fangping would praise his success and tell her to be more submissive.

When Fu Mingyue wanted a divorce, Zhang Fangping would say she wasn't good enough to hold a man's heart.

In her past life, she would have felt aggrieved, wondering why it was always her fault.

Now, it didn't matter.

Some people were simply destined to have shallow familial ties; she must be one of them.

But the thought of Zhang Fangping fawning over Li Susu, praising her as if she were the real daughter simply because she was Fu Mingyue's mistress, made her want to laugh.

Perhaps someone like Li Susu, who could make Fu Mingyue completely devoted, was indeed the kind of capable, obedient daughter Zhang Fangping truly admired.

"Why aren't you saying anything? You look like a walking corpse, it makes me sick!"

Seeing Ji Yunzhuo's calm face, Zhang Fangping felt a surge of inexplicable rage.

It was that same listless expression, as if she had been crushed by her!

She was her own mother! If her daughter weren't so spineless, would she have to nag her so much?

"Mom is right; you should have let my sister marry him," Ji Yunzhuo replied earnestly.

"How dare you talk back to me with that sarcastic tone?" Zhang Fangping's anger flared even higher.

"Ma'am, please mind your volume. This is a hospital; if you want to argue, take it outside." The nurse, unable to watch any longer, stepped in to intervene.

Zhang Fangping finally suppressed her anger, but the moment she saw Ji Yunzhuo standing there like a wooden post, she couldn't help but flare up again. "Get moving! You absolute embarrassment!"

After cursing, Zhang Fangping stomped away in her high heels, pushing through the crowd with an arrogant air.

Ji Yunzhuo glanced at her and followed without a word. She needed to retrieve the deed to the old house in the countryside.

Because he disliked Zhang Fangping, Ji Yunzhuo's grandfather had lived alone in the countryside. After Zhang Fangping gave birth to Ji Yunzhuo, she dumped her in the countryside with him, and they had lived together ever since.

It wasn't until she was seven or eight that Ji Yunzhuo first met her parents, brother, and sister. She had expected to return to the city with them, and while she was reluctant to leave her grandfather, she was secretly looking forward to it.

As it turned out, Zhang Fangping had only come to say that Ji's father had finally passed the civil service exam and settled down in the city. However, he had lied to his department, claiming he only had a son and a daughter, and dared not bring Ji Yunzhuo back for fear of losing his position.

So, they obtained an "orphan certificate" for her, registered her under her grandfather's name, and claimed she was an abandoned infant her grandfather had found at the hospital entrance, having nothing to do with them.

Already literate at the time, Ji Yunzhuo looked at the words "orphan certificate" and thought of the village children who called her "the wild child nobody wants," and the tears fell instantly.

Ji Yunzhuo would never forget how her grandfather had beaten her father right then and there and chased their entire family away.

Yet, before leaving, Zhang Fangping had viciously cursed her for being ungrateful and asked if she was happy for causing such a scene.

At that moment, she realized her only family was her grandfather.

"Get in the car! I'm having Old Zhao take you back to the Fu residence!"

Zhang Fangping's shrill voice snapped Ji Yunzhuo back to reality. She opened the car door and sat down.

"I'm not going to the Fu residence. I’ve divorced Fu Mingyue."

"What?" Zhang Fangping looked shocked.

Ji Yunzhuo didn't explain further, but Zhang Fangping suddenly threw the car door open, causing Old Zhao to slam on the brakes!

Ji Yunzhuo's body lurched forward instinctively, and her head injury struck the back of the front seat, causing her to feel faint with pain.

Zhang Fangping grabbed her and shoved her out of the car before it had even come to a complete stop.

*Thump!*

Ji Yunzhuo fell heavily to the ground, her elbow slamming into the pavement with a "crack"—it was clearly broken.

Her face turned pale with agony, but she bit her lip, refusing to make a sound, even as tears welled up in her eyes.

It wasn't the first time she had been abandoned, so why did it still hurt so much?

"Miss!" Old Zhao started to get out of the car.

Zhang Fangping barked, "Don't you dare!"

"You useless thing! Mingyue has such great conditions, and you don't even know how to suck up to him, and now you've actually managed to get him to divorce you! Get yourself back there! Don't contact us again until you've begged for his forgiveness!"

After her machine-gun fire of abuse, Zhang Fangping slammed the car door shut. "Old Zhao, drive!"

Old Zhao had no choice but to drive away.

Ji Yunzhuo watched the car disappear with a calm expression.

After a long while, she propped herself up with her uninjured hand, endured the piercing pain, and began to limp toward the elevator.

A Maybach pulled up beside her, and the rear window rolled down.