Chapter 81: The Silent, Scalding Guard in the Shadows

"Has it been paid?" Meng Shutang exclaimed in shock. "Hello, can you help me find out who paid it?"

The staff shook their head. "Sorry, we can't do that."

Meng Shutang went to the main service desk and asked the staff, "Hello, could you check who paid my mother's treatment fees?"

Zhou Xingfan had been at Jiangcheng Yiyuan for fourteen years, and the staff there were already very familiar with Meng Shutang.

"Why look this up? Do you need to write a thank‑you letter?"

"No, I just want to know who it was so I can return the money."

The person at the service desk turned pale upon hearing that. "Miss Meng, your mother's recent treatment has cost a lot, you just bought a house, and your grandmother's health is also poor.

Isn't it good that someone helped you pay? All these years you've shouldered it alone; maybe after half a year your mother's illness will improve.

Go back. The higher‑ups specifically instructed us… To be honest, we don't know either."

Meng Shutang said thank you and then went to find Director Zhang.

Director Zhang understood her purpose. "I'm sorry, Miss Meng, we signed a confidentiality agreement, so we cannot disclose any information about the benefactor."

In fact, the benefactor also donated a device worth tens of millions to Jiangcheng Yiyuan, to be used free of charge for treating comatose patients.

The patients' treatment fees are fully waived; the benefactor covers all costs.

But there is one condition—Meng Shutang must not find out who he is.

Meng Shutang looked at Director Zhang. "…Is it Gu Yunci?"

Director Zhang smiled and shook his head. "It's really not convenient to reveal."

Meng Shutang didn't press Director Zhang further, said thank you again, and left.

Bai Cixian had been lying at home for a few days.

She was indeed taking medicine, and indeed cutting her wrist, but not to the exaggerated extent Bai Lianyue described.

But Gu Yunci came over once, offered no comfort, and turned and left—that was what hurt her the most.

For a brief moment she truly felt that death would be better!

Later she thought, why should she cheapen that wretched woman!

They are both daughters of the Meng family; whatever Meng Shutang can have, she must have; whatever Meng Shutang doesn't have, she also wants.

She got up, ate breakfast, and planned to go to work, but the thought of going to the administration center, sitting at a window, being summoned back and forth to do trivial tasks like serving tea, fetching water, printing and copying, gave her a headache, so she sat back on the sofa.

Meng Zhibang saw her and said, "How about resigning and going to the Meng family?"

Bai Cixian shook her head. "I don't want to go."

Bai Lianyue said, "No need to rush. Uncle Gu is traveling abroad; why not wait for him to return and let him think of a solution?"

Meng Zhibang asked, "Will that work?"

Bai Lianyue replied, "Why not? Mr. Gu himself said that Cixian is his most satisfactory daughter‑in‑law."

Gu Clan Building, basement level two storage room.

Meng Shutang had just discussed the progress with Zhou Songyan. "Alright, Manager Zhou, we'll proceed according to this."

Because of the previous incident, Meng Shutang planned to keep her distance from Zhou Songyan in the future; after all, he's thin‑skinned, and any further trouble would hinder work progress.

Zhou Songyan suddenly called out to her, "Shutang, I just found out about your relationship with Yunci."

He said, smiling foolishly, "Are you not used to me calling him that? Actually I haven't called him by name for many years."

That day, when I heard him say you two were divorcing, I sat there, thought a lot, and finally understood why he stubbornly assigned many important projects to you.

I still remember, when you first entered the Gu Clan, you were fresh‑skinned, blushing at anyone you met, and your legs would start shaking the moment you stepped on stage without speaking.

His mentorship toward your work was not ordinary pampering; it was like a master to a disciple, a patron to a thousand‑mile horse.

What he cultivated was never your ability, but your perspective and confidence."

Indeed, back then her most valuable asset was being the only daughter of the master jade‑pearl restorer Zhou Xingfan, yet Zhou Xingfan had been lying in bed for eleven years.

What merit or ability did she have to step onto one important Gu Clan occasion after another, receiving one major project after another?

Zhou Songyan saw a slight change in her expression and said, "I still don't believe there's anything between Yunci and Cixian; he's not that kind of person…"

"Cixian once bore a child and even suffered postpartum bleeding; Gu Yunci recognized that." He hadn't finished speaking when Meng Shutang cut in, "I have never forgotten Gu Yunci's kindness—lifting me up, teaching me to stand, giving me a way to live, including his aid when my mother was on the brink of death. Those… I have never forgotten."

If one day he meets disaster, I will not hesitate to help.

But our relationship—divorce is divorce; a broken mirror cannot be restored.

Manager Zhou, I'm grateful you told me this; I'll be leaving now."

Watching her walk away step by step, Zhou Songyan felt something was wrong. "Shutang, don't misunderstand; this isn't something Yunci asked me to say.

It's just me, your senior brother, speaking from the bottom of my heart."

Meng Shutang's steps faltered, her eyes slightly lowered, but when Ruan An called, she walked forward without hesitation.

After work, Meng Shutang left the Gu Clan Building; today her car wasn't in the underground garage but parked in the open plaza beside it.

"Miss Meng."

She had walked a few steps when a familiar voice called her.

She stopped there, turned, and saw Zhang Ma.

Four years of seasons passed in a flash; meeting the old maid who had lived with her day after day, she felt as if she were in another world, things the same but people changed.

Zhang Ma brushed back her wind‑tousled silver‑gray hair, smiled shyly, walked to her side, and her eyes fixed on her as if looking at a long‑lost daughter.

"I heard the young master say you work here; I didn't expect to meet you today."

The two sat beside the flowerbed, and Zhang Ma expressed her longing and concern for Meng Shutang over the past four years, "As long as you're well, I can be at ease."

She also spoke of what happened after she left, "After you left, the young master fell seriously ill several times; I thought he wouldn't survive.

I don't believe in spirits, but during that period, every first and fifteenth of the month I would run to the temple."

As she spoke, Zhang Ma choked up.

Meng Shutang didn't think she was complaining or trying to reconcile; it was simply that those days were so unforgettable, and she had met an acquaintance, so she just mentioned it.

After saying that, she wiped away a tear and handed the snacks she had made to Meng Shutang.

"Your favorite, I've wanted to give it to you for a while."

Refusing would hurt the old lady's feelings, so she smiled and took the snacks, then pulled out some money from her pocket to give to Aunt Zhang.

Aunt Zhang rose to leave, saying, "I came only to see you, not to take anything from you."

Aunt Zhang left and entered the subway station, then suddenly remembered she had dropped her keys in the flowerbed, so she went back to look for them.

From afar, she saw Meng Shutang holding a little girl's hand as she boarded the vehicle.

She froze, then immediately pulled out her phone and called Gu Yunci.

"Young master, I just saw Miss Meng pulling along a little girl; the girl looked… about three years old."