The 99th Divorce

Shen Manting arrived at the office. She punched in at work and changed into her work clothes. Just as she was about to start work, she received a phone call.

The number wasn’t assigned a contact name, but she was too familiar with it.

It was Shen Luo’an calling.

Shen Manting rejected the call. She started preparing her workstation.

There were all kinds of paperwork and logistical matters to manage.

About three minutes into her work, her phone rang again.

But it was not Shen Luo’an calling this time. A landline number was displayed on the phone screen.

The call was made from a phone in the capital.

It wasn’t the Shen family’s landline number either.

Shen Manting hesitated for a moment and eventually answered the call. “Hello?”

The voice of a middle-aged woman against a noisy background came from the other end of the line. “Hello, I’m calling from Renxin Hospital in the capital. I’m the head pediatrics nurse. Your child, Shen Yuexiao, has been admitted with a high fever of 39 degrees celsius.”

Shen Yuexiao?

“Excuse me?” Shen Manting was stunned for a while. She suddenly came to her senses and thought to herself, Didn’t the nurse mention her child’s name?

“Come over immediately to look after the child. Don’t bear grudges against the child’s father anymore. The child has caught a dangerously high fever!” The head nurse sounded reproachful and impatient. “Call your husband. No one is capable of taking care of the child better than his mother!”

Shen Manting felt her head spin. The head nurse hung up.

She hastily dialed Shen Luo’an’s number. He picked up the phone within seconds.

His voice sounded hoarse. “Hello?”

“Shen Luo’an! I heard that the child is ill, isn’t he?” Shen Manting demanded in a panicked voice as she walked toward the changing room.

He grunted in a low voice on the other end of the line.

Shen Manting blew up in anger and shouted into the phone, “How could you be so careless with your child? Now he’s ill with a high fever. You’re such a lousy father!”

She didn’t bother filtering her words. Her colleagues turned to look at her with odd glances.

“What did you do for the child? At least I cared for him. Where were you?” Shen Luo’an sneered back. “The baby is now on a drip. He has been feverish since last night. If his fever persists, he might suffer permanent brain damage.”

Shen Manting felt her heart explode. Her mind was buzzing.

She hung up the phone and changed her clothes in a hurry before approaching her supervisor to request for leave from work.

Fortunately, her supervisor was kind and understanding.

He let her leave without saying anything when he heard that her child had fallen ill.

Renxin Hospital was a distance away from the office. On top of that, it was rush hour.

The downside of working in the capital was that the various modes of transport were almost always congested.

Motor vehicles clogged up the roads, while the subway was packed with commuters.

But fortunately, Shen Manting didn’t have to wait too long to board the subway.

There was less foot traffic at the Renxin station. Shen Manting walked as fast as she could and soon emerged onto the road.

Shen Manting was panting heavily by the time she found her destination based on the address Shen Luo’an gave her.

The child was asleep. His body was flushed red like a tomato.

Shen Manting reached out to touch him. His body was exceptionally hot!

“Oh dear!” Shen Manting burst into tears. “How could he possibly have contracted a high fever? What kind of nanny did you hire?”

Shen Luo’an was already bitingly anxious. When he heard Shen Manting’s words, he closed his eyes and clutched at his scalp with his hands.

Shen Manting was so infuriated that she kicked him and yelled, “Are you mute? Say something!”

“I’ve already said that a nanny cannot take care of the baby as well as his mother. You are partly responsible for landing the baby in such a state,” Shen Luo’an uttered impatiently, frowning. “How dare you blame me!”

Shen Manting kept shedding tears. She wiped her eyes and cried, “The poor baby didn’t deserve us as his parents. He shouldn’t have been born to such parents!”