PSMD – Chapter 149

Shen Ningruo’s question wasn’t a baseless guess. She had recalled many details along the way and found that many of Shen Yuankai’s actions fit this possibility.

“I don’t know, I don’t know anything.” Shen Yuankai shook his head, then looked at the gently smiling photo on the tombstone. He looked completely spiritless at the moment.

Shen Ningruo was angered by his attitude. Her breathing became erratic. She wanted to say something but didn’t know where to start. Just then, Shen Yuankai added, “Daughter, I want to be buried here too.”

Qiu Yang’s eyelid twitched upon hearing this. Shen Ningruo almost choked on her breath. “Dad, do you know what you’re saying?”

“Yes, I know.” Shen Yuankai’s eyes weren’t very clear. He coughed twice more. He looked very haggard in the sunlight.

Qiu Yang quietly observed everything, not saying another word.

Shen Ningruo’s nose suddenly felt sore. She felt that the man sitting before her looked much more weathered and aged than in her memory. But Shen Yuankai was only in his early fifties this year. He hadn’t worked for many years and shouldn’t be in this state.

“Dad, although we haven’t been happy together these past few years, I still want you to be healthy.”

Shen Yuankai sighed heavily. “Ruoruo, after all these years, I’m tired. Let it go.”

“How can you just let it go?” Shen Ningruo said with red eyes. “You’re only fifty-three, not ninety-three. How can you just let it go?”

Shen Yuankai still only stared at the tombstone, his voice low. “But I haven’t been happy for many years, and I’ve been lonely for many years.”

Shen Ningruo shook her head. “No, you have to go to the hospital with me and get checked. If it can be cured, you must get it cured.”

“It can’t be cured…”

“By the time this illness was discovered, it was already terminal.”

As soon as Shen Yuankai said this, Shen Ningruo’s brain seemed to shut down. Qiu Yang was also a bit stunned.

Even though Qiu Yang didn’t have a good impression of Shen Yuankai, this was a different matter.

“What, what terminal?” Shen Ningruo’s lips trembled slightly. She had never considered this possibility.

Shen Yuankai changed the subject again. “I want to go home. I want to go back and rest.”

“Dad…”

Shen Yuankai didn’t respond again. He remained silent, and the atmosphere became quiet, remaining so until they left the cemetery.

The old man selling flowers at the entrance was still there. Some people were still squatting at his stall, wanting to buy flowers. But he saw Shen Ningruo and the other two coming out of the cemetery and called out a greeting.

Shen Yuankai walked over and smiled at the old man. “Uncle, you’re still here.”

“Yes.” The old man pointed at Shen Ningruo. “Is this your daughter?”

Shen Yuankai nodded. “Yes.”

Shen Ningruo was a bit confused. “Grandpa, do you know my dad?”

“How could I not know him?” The old man had lost two teeth, making his speech a bit airy, but everyone present could understand him clearly. “He comes often, for many years now. I’ve never seen anyone visit this frequently.”

Shen Ningruo’s expression became even more complicated upon hearing this.

“Uncle, I’m heading back now. I’ll come see you another day.” When Shen Yuankai said this, he had a rare hint of simple honesty about him.

“Alright!”

Qiu Yang tugged at Shen Ningruo’s hem, pulling her back to the present. She was a bit worried about Shen Ningruo’s state.

The three of them walked towards the parking area, but halfway there, Shen Yuankai stopped. “I’ll take a taxi back myself.”

Shen Ningruo furrowed her brow. “I’ll drive you.”

“I want to be alone for a bit.” Shen Yuankai glanced at Qiu Yang twice as he said this. “I’m uncomfortable with an outsider present.”

Qiu Yang’s heart was calm. Before Shen Ningruo could speak, her lips twitched. “Uncle, I think you should go to the hospital instead of blaming your discomfort on outsiders.”

Qiu Yang certainly knew how to write the four characters for “respect the old and cherish the young,” but what if the other person didn’t respect her?

She wouldn’t tolerate it.

Even though the person in front of her was Shen Ningruo’s father.

Furthermore, Qiu Yang only wanted to be family with Shen Ningruo; she had never had that thought about Shen Yuankai.

“Then please be careful.” Shen Ningruo didn’t insist. She wasn’t quite herself at the moment, so she could only offer this reminder.

Shen Yuankai: “Okay.”

Shen Ningruo and Qiu Yang continued walking towards the parking lot, while Shen Yuankai went the other way to catch a taxi.

The three people thus split into two groups. After Shen Ningruo got into the car, she held the steering wheel but didn’t drive away immediately.

She lowered her head slightly, her voice filled with unconcealed weariness. “I never thought my dad would get cancer.”

Shen Yuankai hadn’t directly said what illness he had, but it wasn’t hard to guess.

Qiu Yang reached over and placed her hand on the back of Shen Ningruo’s hand, patting it gently. “Talk to him properly again. No matter what, he should go to the hospital and get proper treatment.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to him about it when he’s not so resistant.”

Qiu Yang let out a slight sigh. “Alright.”

As she spoke, she glanced at the time. It was five minutes before six. “It’s almost six.”

Shen Ningruo raised her head again. “Okay, let’s go back now.”

She started the car. Qiu Yang tuned the radio channel; it was still commercial time.

The car sped along the road. Exactly at six o’clock, the radio program started on time, opening with Yue Chu’s voice.

Yue Chu’s broadcasting voice was strong at the moment, different from usual. Her magnetic voice made it hard not to find her charming.

“Hello everyone, you are now listening to the program 《Oxygen》. I am Yue Chu.”

Immediately following was the voice of Yue Chu’s partner, a man. “I am Ziyue.”

Qiu Yang knew Ziyue. He used to be a very famous radio host in Yuncheng, but he hadn’t been as popular in the last two years, and his career had declined. However, after Yue Chu returned and took over this program, his career also saw a significant rebound.

The name of the program, 《Oxygen》, sounded a bit artistic and didn’t seem particularly special. The slogan was also simple: People need oxygen to live, and they need to vent to live wonderfully.

This program seemed ordinary on the surface, but it had recently become very popular online, especially on short video platforms. Many people would post videos with subtitles, making it a program that netizens found very engaging.

Yue Chu: “We’ve received quite a few submissions for our program recently. We’ll go through them today and won’t be taking live calls.”

Ziyue: “Yes, since this program relaunched, it has been loved by many listeners…”

The two of them were a perfect match, making it very comfortable to listen to.

Shen Ningruo and Qiu Yang both listened intently, afraid of missing any key point. Soon, the first “submission” was introduced.

It was a script read by Yue Chu. Her speech wasn’t monotonous; she used different tones for emphasis when reading key points, which didn’t break the immersion but allowed listeners to fully relate.

The first “submission” was about Guo Ming’an.

Real names wouldn’t be used on the program to avoid affecting people’s normal lives. Everyone was listening to it as a story.

It wasn’t the first time such a scumbag had appeared, but this time, because of Yue Chu’s clear articulation and pronunciation, people listened very carefully and were even more captivated.

If it were a live call, the caller might have unclear speech or other issues, which would somewhat reduce people’s curiosity.

This time, it wouldn’t.

Therefore, listeners were enraged from the moment they heard that Guo Ming’an had a fiancée but still pursued Shen Ningruo.

Yao Yao was responsible for coordinating on Weibo. She had drafted the post early and included the program’s tag. As soon as Yue Chu started, she posted the Weibo message.

This Weibo post had been edited for a long time. Both in terms of text and logic, it was very well done.

Guo Ming’an’s “crimes” were listed clearly one by one. Text alone wasn’t enough; there were also screenshots and links to video Weibo posts in the comment section.

In short, it was almost a full-scale effort to hammer Guo Ming’an into the ground.

When others played Whac-A-Mole, they would still give the mole a chance to pop up, but they wouldn’t do that. They would block all the holes, preventing this mole from popping up again.

Many netizens, even if they didn’t listen to the program, would search online for things related to it when the time came.

The account Yao Yao bought had good credibility and went directly to the program’s trending topics. Then, the pre-arranged “internet trolls” started discussing and reposting, and it quickly became a hot topic for the program, allowing more people to see it.

Guo Ming’an was quickly decoded, and there was a faint trend of him appearing on the trending searches.

Shen Ningruo was driving, and Qiu Yang was looking at Weibo. She couldn’t help but laugh as she scrolled through the screenshots Yao Yao had posted.

“A girl who was dumped by Guo Ming’an said he’s mysteriously confident. Every time before going to bed, he’d be very imposing, saying things like ‘I’ll make you cry tonight,’ but in reality, he was just so-so in bed.”

Guo Ming’an had a good appearance and a decent physique, so quite a few people liked him before. Some girls actively pursued him, and he didn’t refuse, but later he would find an opportunity to dump them.

Qiu Yang looked at the increasing number of people joining the discussion and was a bit confused. “For someone like Guo Ming’an, would he run into an ex every time he goes out?”

“Very likely.”

Guo Ming’an’s name eventually reached the bottom of the trending searches. He was practically stripped bare of everything.

Shen Ningruo even specifically took Guo Ming’an off her blacklist. She knew he would definitely call her.

Sure enough.

Right after they got home, her phone rang. It was Guo Ming’an calling.

Yao Yao had a smile on her face. Seeing Shen Ningruo about to answer the phone, she swallowed her words.

Qiu Yang quietly took out her phone and pressed record.

“Shen Ningruo!” Guo Ming’an was furious. “Don’t think I don’t know it was you!”

Shen Ningruo responded calmly, “What is it?”

“Stop pretending.”

“What did I do to you? Why are you treating me like this?”

Shen Ningruo still pretended not to understand. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Damn it.”

“You just wait.”

Shen Ningruo scoffed. “Is it me waiting or you waiting? Congratulations, Guo Ming’an. Your boss has always valued the company’s reputation. Now, because of your scandal, what do you think he’ll do to protect the company?”

Guo Ming’an hung up the phone.

Only then did Yao Yao speak. “I’m dying of laughter seeing him so angry. I saw a netizen cursing him saying, ‘My name is Shangguan Nanbei, is his Sima Dongxi?’¹ Hahaha.”

“To deal with someone as thick-skinned as him, you have to make a big fuss, so he loses both face and substance.”

“Isn’t he concerned about these things? Then let him have none of them.”

¹ A sarcastic wordplay using compound surnames (上官/Shangguan, 司马/Sima) and directional terms (南北/north-south, 东西/east-west) to mock Guo Ming’an as nonsensical or contemptible.