Divorced at fifty, I embarked on my path to success.

Upon hearing her voice, Mei Yusheng stopped crying, wiped her eyes with a tissue, and looked up.

Seeing Mei Yusheng's red eyes, Shen Yingying assumed she was heartbroken because of her father-in-law's infidelity. Not wanting to ask any further questions, she put down some daily necessities and fetched hot water for Mei Yusheng to wash her face.

To cheer Mei Yusheng up, Shen Yingying turned on the video call and let her chat with Xuanxuan for a few minutes. As soon as Mei Yusheng saw her soft and cute grandson, all her worries disappeared, and her heart began to ache again.

She was angry at her own indecisiveness and cowardice, but the thought of separating from Xuanxuan made her heart ache.

She secretly berated herself for being so weak. It's not like she'll never see him again, so why make it seem like a life-or-death separation? Hasn't she sacrificed enough for her children and grandchildren?

Think about a person's life: after raising their son, they have to raise their grandson, and when their children and grandchildren grow up, they themselves should be buried. The cycle repeats itself, and everyone does it, so people take it for granted.

Her life was meant to be consumed for her children and grandchildren; the meaning of her life was merely to procreate. But what about herself? Where was she?

Is she really willing to be a piece of dry firewood, burning herself out for her children and grandchildren, leaving only a pile of blackened ashes in the end?

So why does her heart still ache when she wakes up in the middle of the night and thinks of her youthful ideals?

"Mom, Dad and Guangzhi have a business dinner tonight and can't come to see you. Don't be angry. Dad has arranged for a 24-hour caregiver for you, and they can come tomorrow morning." Shen Yingying ended the video call with Xuanxuan and said with a smile, "Just rest and recover quickly so you can come home soon."

Mei Yusheng nodded, then suddenly remembered something and looked up at her daughter-in-law: "Who is Xuanxuan with tonight?"

Shen Yingying's expression stiffened, and her smile became somewhat unnatural: "Yes, Aunt Han is taking care of Xuanxuan..."

"What?" Mei Yusheng's eyes widened suddenly as she glared at her. "How dare you entrust the child to a stranger? Do you know if she has good intentions? If anything happens to Xuanxuan, you won't even have time to cry!"

"Mom, it's okay," Shen Yingying opened her mouth in surprise, then realized she shouldn't have revealed this, and quickly reassured her, "Aunt Han really likes children, and Xuanxuan likes to play with her too."

The more Mei Yusheng spoke, the colder her heart became. She felt a panic, as if her precious child was about to be snatched away. She waved her hands frantically to drive Shen Yingying away: "Go back quickly! Take Xuanxuan back to your home upstairs! Don't let that slut touch Xuanxuan. She's such a dirty person. Aren't you afraid she'll dirty Xuanxuan?"

Shen Yingying looked at Mei Yusheng speechlessly and helplessly, and finally had to compromise: "Okay, Mom, don't get agitated. I'll go back right away and take Xuanxuan upstairs right away. Don't worry."

"Go back and video call me immediately, so I can see you're back in your own home!" Mei Yusheng shouted, "Tell Xiaozhi to kick that bitch out! If I see her in our house again, I'll call the police and have her arrested!"

Shen Yingying hurriedly placed the half-peeled apple on the bedside table, grabbed her bag, and ran away as if avoiding a plague.

The other two patients in the ward cast curious glances at her. Mei Yusheng was breathing heavily, but she didn't look at them. She lay back down, her mind a complete mess.

Han Caiyu not only wants to steal her husband, but also her precious Xuanxuan! This is absolutely intolerable! She wants to go home!

I braced myself on the bed with both hands, trying to sit up. My lower back was stiff and painful, like a sheet of iron, and I failed several times.

She collapsed, panting heavily, feeling anxious and angry, and tears streamed down her face.

She wanted to call and berate Yue Jiangting, but aside from being coldly hung up on, she couldn't think of anything else that would happen. She considered calling her son, even finding his number, but then dejectedly put the phone down.

She could almost picture her son's disgust, thinking she was being unreasonable. She could even imagine his words: "Dad and I don't have time, Yingying wants to see you, so what's wrong with Aunt Han helping to look after Xuanxuan? Is it really that big of a fuss? We can't exactly take Xuanxuan to the hospital, can we? There are all sorts of germs in hospitals, aren't you worried about Xuanxuan getting infected?"

In front of her husband and son, she was just a clueless housewife who was good for nothing except washing clothes and cooking.

She's such a failure!

Mei Yusheng didn't know when she fell asleep. When she opened her eyes, she saw Yue Guangzhi standing in front of her bed, accompanied by the caregiver that Shen Yingying had mentioned yesterday, a round-faced girl in her twenties.

"Mom, you're awake?" Yue Guangzhi came closer with concern. "I bought you some shumai and multigrain porridge. Xiao Zhang will feed you later."

Mei Yusheng followed his gesture and saw the lunchbox on the bedside table. She asked him in a deep voice, "Is Han Caiyu staying at our house?"

Yue Guangzhi glanced quickly at the caregiver beside him and said with displeasure, "Mom! Just focus on getting better. Don't worry about things at home. With Dad here, there are many things I can't make decisions about!"

He felt it was shameful for Mei Yusheng to talk about family scandals in front of outsiders, so he quickly interrupted her. He felt that his mother was getting more and more confused as she got older, and couldn't distinguish between inside and outside the family anymore.

Before Mei Yusheng could say anything more, Yue Guangzhi interrupted her, "Mom, I have to take Xuanxuan to school. I'm leaving now. You eat well!"

The last sentence was spoken by the person outside the door, and Mei Yusheng angrily pounded the bed.

"Auntie, let me wipe your face and hands first, and then we'll eat, okay?" The caregiver, Xiao Zhang, spoke in a clear voice with a sweet smile.

"Okay." Mei Yusheng smiled gently and obediently followed her instructions.

Not long after we finished eating, Xie Mingqi arrived.

She also bought breakfast and a bag of fruit.

Seeing Xiao Zhang busy beside her, she winked at Mei Yusheng: "If you didn't know better, you'd think your husband was so considerate."

Mei Yusheng felt a pang in her heart and sighed inwardly.

After sending the caregiver away, Xie Mingqi leaned closer and lowered her voice: "Was she sent to spy on you?"

"You think too highly of me. Do I deserve all that trouble?" Mei Yusheng said self-deprecatingly, unable to resist telling him about how Han Caiyu took care of Xuanxuan last night.

Xie Mingqi slapped her thigh in frustration: "This woman is such a scheming woman, she's trying to undermine us!"

But Mei Yusheng was lying in bed unable to move, what could she do but watch helplessly?

“I asked Lao Chen last night, and he happened to have that lawyer’s business card. He told me to get it for you first.” Xie Mingqi said, taking out a blue business card with gold lettering from her wallet and handing it to Mei Yusheng.

Mei Yusheng took it and saw the two characters "Qin Zhan" written neatly in regular script, with a line of smaller characters below: Jiayu Law Firm.

Mei Yusheng took out her phone and saved the phone number below.

"How about we call him first, then add him on WeChat and ask him?" Xie Mingqi suggested, eager to try.

Mei Yusheng also had the same thought, but when the matter was right in front of him, he became uneasy and stared at the string of numbers for a long time.

Finally, he pursed his lips and pressed the dial button.

After two beeps, a clear, youthful voice came through: "Hello, this is Jia Yu Law Firm. How can I help you?"

"Hello," Mei Yusheng greeted in a dry voice, gave her name with some difficulty, and said she wanted to consult about some divorce issues.

“Tell him that Professor Chen Juansheng introduced you,” Xie Mingqi said silently, her red lips moving slightly.

"Professor Chen Juansheng asked me to consult you." Mei Yusheng's tone was gentle, and the other party's attitude became noticeably warmer upon hearing this.

Soon, Mei Yusheng added Qin Zhan on WeChat, organized her thoughts, briefly described Yue Jiangting and her situation, and then asked what channels and methods the man could use to ensure that she would not only not get any property but also be burdened with debt if they divorced.

After about ten minutes of silence, the other party replied: "If he said such a thing, it's either just to scare you, or he has already made thorough preparations. All the joint property under your names, including cash and securities, has been transferred, leaving the company as an empty shell with a large amount of debt on the books. So when you get divorced, the company shares you receive will not only not receive any dividends, but you will also have to share a portion of the debt."

"But the company has always been profitable; I haven't heard of any losses." Mei Yusheng frowned, looking at the messages and documents sent by lawyer Qin Zhan over and over again. The more she looked, the more worried she became. Could Yue Jiangting have really been preparing for a divorce all along?