Chapter 44 To Prevent Any Prolonged Delay from Breeding Complications

The hospital line connected, and a respectful voice sounded on the other end.

"Mr. Shen?"

"I am Shen Zhou's wife. How is the surgery arranged?"

"Madam, we have already consulted with several experts, and it will begin in half a month."

Tang Yuan lowered her eyelashes, her voice very soft. "I have found a new kidney source here. Since it won't start for half a month, there is no need to preempt someone else's."

"A new kidney source?"

"Yes, make the arrangements on your end and transfer the kidney source over. If there are any subsequent issues, my husband will call you directly."

Doctor Hu did not harbor any suspicions, especially since this was indeed Shen Zhou's phone number.

Given how vigilant Shen Zhou was, it was impossible for him to let anyone casually handle his phone, so this must indeed be Mrs. Shen.

"Rest assured, Madam. I will transfer the kidney source immediately."

After hanging up the phone, Tang Yuan lowered her gaze and opened all the applications on her phone, switching it to the highest power consumption mode.

At four in the morning, Shen Zhou heard a sound coming from the balcony door.

He got up and felt for his phone by the pillow. It was dead.

He walked to the balcony, and just as he pushed the door open, he heard Tang Yuan's voice.

"But you were the one who chose to leave in the first place. Shen Zhou doesn't like to dwell on the past, and he won't come to see you."

With that, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shen Zhou standing by the edge of the balcony, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Honey..."

The panic on her face did not look like it was faked.

Shen Zhou draped a coat over his shoulders. The weather in March and April was still fluctuating between warm and cold, and the night wind was strong.

His expression was hidden in the dim night as he uttered a single sentence: "Give me the phone."

It seemed he knew who had called.

Tang Yuan took a step back, keeping her face calm. "Someone just dialed the wrong number by accident."

Shen Zhou walked over quickly and snatched the phone from her hand, but the screen showed the call had already ended.

"Tang Yuan."

He rarely called her by her full name, which showed how angry he was.

He gave a slight, cold laugh, took her phone, and scrolled through it, naturally coming across a news article.

International superstar Qiao Qianmei had fallen off a cliff and gone missing while filming.

He wore a cold expression, his deep eyes resembling ice crystals frozen in the depths of an ancient abyss.

Tang Yuan's heart trembled slightly, and she pressed her lips together.

He gave her a deep, piercing look, turned around, and left.

Tang Yuan hurried to catch up. "Shen Zhou..."

However, he had already begun changing his clothes and tossed her phone onto the bed.

He opened the bedroom door and instructed Jiang Nian, "Book the earliest flight to Country M right away."

The sound of receding footsteps echoed as the two of them left one after the other.

Tang Yuan took a deep breath and called the director's attending physician. "The kidney source is being transferred over immediately. I have persuaded the Shen family side, so please arrange the surgery as soon as possible."

The doctor checked the time; it was only six in the morning.

"Alright, Miss Tang. I will perform the kidney transplant surgery for the elderly director in a day."

Tang Yuan's palms were covered in cold sweat. After hanging up the phone, a chill settled deep in her heart.

When dawn fully broke, the attending physician called.

"The surgery is scheduled for nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Can it be brought forward even earlier?"

To avoid any complications that might arise from prolonged delays.

The doctor furrowed his brow. "Tonight?"

"Is that possible?"

"Yes. I will have the patient begin preoperative preparations right away."

Tang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. Shen Zhou should be preoccupied enough to be stalled until tonight, especially since he was still on a plane.

She rushed to the hospital. When the director heard that the kidney source had arrived, he found it hard to believe, and he tightly grasped Tang Yuan's hand with deep emotion.

"Weren't you told that no match had been found all this time?"

"Director, just rest easy and go into surgery. You don't need to worry about anything else."

The director's lips twitched into a weak smile as he patted the back of her hand. "Yuanwan, it is my greatest blessing in this life to have crossed paths with you."

At six in the evening, the surgery commenced precisely on schedule.

At ten in the evening, when the attending physician emerged from the operating room, he removed his surgical mask and said, "The surgery was very successful. However, I've been meaning to ask you, why was the Shen family willing to give up this kidney source?"

Tang Yuan remained silent and simply walked to the ward to check on the director.

The director was still unconscious and would not wake up until the following morning.

Upon returning to Shuiyue Bay, due to her nerves having been tightly wound for so long, she felt utterly exhausted.

Another call came from overseas. "Yuanwan, I can only hold out until now on my end. Qiao Qianmei's influence abroad is simply too great; both her agency and the media have dispatched a massive number of people to search for her."

Tang Yuan slumped against the sofa, leaning her tired back heavily into the cushions. "It's over here. Thank you."

The person on the other end breathed a sigh of relief. "If I weren't Qiao Qianmei's manager, I really wouldn't have been able to pull off this mission."

Tang Yuan curled her lips into a faint smile and raised a hand to massage her brow. "Our relationship must never be known to anyone else, ever."

"Rest assured. By the way, your husband really did come here, but he hasn't seen anyone. He just brought a whole bunch of professionals to search, and then he just sits in his car and refuses to get out."

Tang Yuan did not speak. There was an idiom: *the closer one gets to home, the more timid one feels*.

Who would have thought Shen Zhou would have such a day.

She found it bitterly ironic, merely instructing the caller, "Thank you. Don't slip up over there."

*

Shen Zhou wouldn't be back until at least the day after tomorrow. She had to completely extricate herself from this entire affair.

She went to the hospital under the Shen Corporation and located Doctor Hu, whom she had contacted by phone earlier.

Doctor Hu held a prominent position in this hospital, but Tang Yuan knew he possessed one fatal weakness.

Otherwise, she would never have dared to orchestrate this scheme.

She lured Doctor Hu to the outskirts of the city, pulled out a photograph, and slid it across the weathered tabletop toward him.

Doctor Hu's expression turned icy and anxious. "Who on earth are you? If you don't explain, I'm calling the police!"

"Doctor Hu, I am Shen Zhou's wife. I called you last night, so you should remember my voice."

The photograph Tang Yuan handed to Hu Tong was of his daughter.

Hu Tong's daughter, much like her father, possessed immense talent in the medical field, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, her future was remarkably bright.

Hu Tong took a deep breath, still dressed in his white lab coat. "I have no idea what purpose Mrs. Shen had in asking me to this place."

"This whole business with the kidney source was something I did behind Shen Zhou's back. I've currently sent Shen Zhou out of the country, but in two days he will discover all of this. I need Doctor Hu to take the blame for me. When the time comes, you'll simply tell him that you accepted a bribe of twenty million and secretly released the kidney source."

Hu Tong's face flushed with anger. He had built a successful career within the Shen Corporation's hospital; how could he possibly have gone behind the general manager's back to do such a thing?

Especially since General Manager Shen trusted him.