Chapter 1786: 1724 The Life of Overtime

At this very moment, in the eastern suburbs of Di Du, beyond the Fifth Ring Road, Chen Zehui was drenched in sweat from head to face in her rented apartment, pain making her sweat profusely.

She is 24 this year, in her second year after graduating university, working as a programmer at a company in Di Du.

It was nothing like she had imagined in college.

Back then she thought that entering society would make her a standard urban white‑collar worker.

A refined professional suit could better flatter her figure, making her the focus of everyone's eyes.

When she spent all her savings to buy the professional suit she had been eyeing for work, she was full of passion, ready to conquer the world.

But the cruelty of this world far exceeded her imagination.

Within less than a year, she was utterly exhausted, thoroughly subdued by the world's lessons.

The imagined nine‑to‑five schedule never materialized as expected.

During the morning rush hour, the crowded subway squeezed her like a sandwich biscuit; like a paper doll, she appeared at the CBD entrance, composed herself, only to face work that would keep her busy until late at night.

She averaged less than five hours of sleep a day, Chen Zehui struggling to endure. Yesterday's code she wrote had another bug; after a day of work, around 5 p. m. her waist felt as if a knife were stirring inside, causing sharp pain.

Sweating profusely from the pain, she had no choice but to ask her leader for leave. Amid contemptuous looks and mocking words, Chen Zehui gritted her teeth against the pain, struggling back to her rented apartment like a dying small animal.

The project team was short‑staffed, so after she took leave, her work had to be picked up by others.

But Chen Zehui could no longer endure; that pain made her feel as if she wanted to die.

Her rented apartment, only a dozen square meters, consumed nearly half of her monthly income.

Lying in bed under the covers, Chen Zehui shed tears that streamed down her face.

She still persisted, enduring poor food and poor lodging. She kept telling herself that the harder she worked and the luckier she was, she would surely become a princess admired by all; the present torment was only temporary.

It might be because her period was coming, but this pain was excruciating, making Chen Zehui think of death.

She wondered if she might really die here.

Once that thought arose, it surged like a tide, impossible to hold back.

She clutched the blanket tightly; the Peppa Pig pattern on it had become distorted, looking as if life were sneering at her, mocking her overreach.

Princess?

That was merely a dream, an unrealistic one. In reality, she was just a lowly brick‑carrier.

She curled up under the blanket like a shrimp, her body trembling constantly under the intense pain.

Perhaps the intense pain had drained too much energy; Chen Zehui felt her blood sugar drop suddenly, and her clothes became damp.

Should I eat something?

Never mind, I have no strength to eat anything.

I hope I can get through this night; tomorrow I still need to finish my unfinished work. And it is this job's meager income that can sustain me in this bustling city.

As long as I stay alive, there will be a day when I rise up! Chen Zehui firmly believed this.

After a few hours, she could no longer hold back.

The pain never eased; it accumulated wave after wave, reaching Chen Zehui's threshold.

She struggled to take out her phone, hesitated a moment, then called the landlord.

Living in the unfamiliar Di Du, she had no time to make friends; moreover, her coworkers at the unit were surely working overtime at this hour.

Basically, no one had time to look after her.

The landlord elder sister's life was the kind Chen Zehui envied most.

Owning many properties in Di Du, she could enjoy life just from the rental income. As they say, one's rebirth is a matter of study.

Chen Zehui couldn't recall how she had chosen her rebirth no matter what she thought. If she could truly choose… she would have lost at the starting line from the very beginning.

After getting through to the landlord elder sister's phone, she was still warm‑hearted and appeared beside Chen Zehui as quickly as possible.

Chen Zehui's appearance frightened the landlord elder sister, who immediately dialed the 120 emergency rescue vehicle and sent Chen Zehui to the nearby district hospital.

Arriving at the hospital, the emergency department doctor had her lie face down on the examination bed.

The old, dirty examination bed, seemingly still stained with blood, made Chen Zehui think of an execution ground.

At this moment, man is the cutting board and I the meat; there was no room for her to be literary any longer.

The doctor placed his left hand on Chen Zehui's waist and tapped the back of his left hand with his right hand.

Just that one tap made Chen Zehui feel pain so intense she almost fainted.

She had no strength to scream or shout about the pain; she merely curled up on the examination bed, trembling and moaning incessantly.

"Kidney stones," the emergency department doctor said confidently, and ordered several tests, having the landlord elder sister take Chen Zehui for examination.

The whole examination process felt like a difficult battle.

Blood draw, urine test, B‑ultrasound.

After more than an hour, Chen Zehui sat pale‑faced in a wheelchair, seeming to have entered a near‑death state.

After looking at the lab report, the district hospital's emergency department doctor said, "There is inflammation and infection, with red blood cells in the urine. Have you had your period?"

"No." Chen Zehui's voice had become extremely strange; even she could not recognize her own sound.

"The B‑scan shows a stone about 8 mm × 14 mm in the upper segment of the right ureter, and the routine urine occult blood test is 3+. I recommend you undergo lithotripsy, and …" the emergency department doctor said in a flat yet rapid tone, rattling off a lot.

Chen Zehui was almost in tears.

Kidney stones?

Lithotripsy probably costs a fortune. I've just started working—how am I supposed to get past this hurdle?

When she graduated from university, she had earnestly told herself she would never rely on her parents and would definitely become an independent new woman.

But it happened so quickly…

She hesitated for a long time; the landlord elder sister gave her a few words of advice, then finally let Chen Zehui make the decision herself.

In the end she still chose conservative treatment.

She was given an IV drip of ceftriaxone, 6542 for antispasmodic effect, and a shot of analgesic.

A few hours later, her lower back pain symptoms noticeably eased, and Chen Zehui felt as if she had escaped death.

Being alive, living without illness or disaster, still feels great.

Chen Zehui once again refused the suggestion from the doctors at the District Hospital's Emergency Department to undergo lithotripsy; after finishing her IV drip, she went back with the landlady.

The landlady also earnestly advised her for a while, but seeing Chen Zehui's persistence, she gave up.

I'm not her parents, so there's no reason to spend money on her medical treatment.

Moreover, Chen Zehui looked much better; the landlady felt she had fulfilled her duty, told Chen Zehui to drink more hot water, and then left the rented apartment.

The next two days were the most difficult days Chen Zehui had faced since entering society.

On one hand she had to endure the pain from the ureteral stone, on the other hand she still had to work overtime at her unit; Chen Zehui was on the verge of breaking down.

Two days later in the afternoon, she finally could not hold on, fainted, and was taken by a colleague to the Emergency Department of 912 Hospital.