Chapter 343 — The Bittersweet Burden

For all the fine words and honeyed promises, in the end Xiaofen had come to this.

Looking back, Wei Zhao had offered her nothing but a certain overbearingness — no sweet talk at all, and yet at the critical moments, when she was at her most helpless and in need of help, Wei Zhao always appeared at precisely the right time.

On the other hand, Tang Zhi felt that she owed Wei Zhao far, far too much — so much that she was already past the point of ever repaying it... She did not believe that within the next few years she would have the means to repay Wei Zhao's one hundred and fifty thousand, nor did she believe Xiaowei and the others could repay it either...

Could it really be as her brother said — that since she would one day belong to him, she need not repay it? Easy enough to say; doing it was another matter, very, very hard...

"Borrowed it already, just like that?" Mother Tang had assumed her daughter would have to speak with Wei Zhao herself, or pay some sort of price... Mother Tang was no fool; she had seen too much of the world's coldness. True, it looked a little like pushing her daughter into a fire pit, but on closer thought it was not entirely so — Wei Zhao was different from that Kang Jingming Xiaofen had known, and surely would not cast her daughter aside once he had had his fun?

Besides, in her own family there was only Xiaowei as the male heir; if she, his aunt, did not stop him from selling a kidney, her own father would never forgive her. In their village home, the preference for sons ran deep.

What Mother Tang had not expected was that a single phone call from her daughter would bring the money! Shocked and delighted at once, she then began to feel a touch of regret: "If I'd known, I would have borrowed fifty thousand more, and then we could have paid for your father's surgery..."

"Mother!" Tang Zhi frowned, displeased. Did she think Wei Zhao was a money tree, yielding however much one shook from it?

"Are you out of your mind, girl? You're borrowing once anyway — why not borrow a little more?" Mother Tang's thinking was that this money surely would not come free, so they might as well borrow more of it!

"Mother, what are you saying!" Tang Zhi grew agitated. "If you keep on like this, I won't borrow it — not a single cent!"

"All right, all right, Mother will stop!" Mother Tang shot her daughter a glance of exasperation at her failure to measure up, thinking to herself: why can't the girl see sense? While the man likes you, get a little more money out of him — then even if he tires of you later and casts you off, at least you'll have the money...

Mother Tang could hardly be blamed for such mercenary thoughts. Anyone who had single-handedly held a family like this together would think the same. Mother Tang had truly been frightened by poverty, and did not want to be poor any longer!

Love was all very well, but what was left of love without a foundation of money? If she did not still love Old Tang, she would have divorced him long ago — would she have had to suffer like this?

And yet, what good was love? Old Tang was not the only one injured at the factory — how many families there had already divorced?

That was why Mother Tang urged Tang Zhi to ask Wei Zhao for money. In her mind, only money in hand was real...

Watching her mother's somewhat disappointed back, Tang Zhi gave a faint sigh. Did she not know what her mother was thinking? But at this moment Tang Zhi still could not understand her mother's cursed notions; the hardships of life had not yet worn away the sharp edges of Tang Zhi's self-reliance.

"Tang Zhi, what's wrong? Is a hundred and fifty thousand not enough?" Wei Zhao had heard Mother Tang's grumbling over the phone too, and asked with a laugh.

"No... no, don't listen to Mother's nonsense..." Only then did Tang Zhi remember that she was still holding the phone, and that her whole exchange with her mother had fallen on Wei Zhao's ears. She was instantly ashamed and indignant, and felt thoroughly humiliated by her mother's cursed greed...

Mother Tang found a bank card. The family had barely over twenty thousand in savings, and this one card was all they had; Mother Tang had carefully hidden it beneath the mattress.

"Yun'er, give me the phone..." Mother Tang said, reaching to snatch the mobile from Tang Zhi's hand.

How could Tang Zhi hand the phone to her mother? Give it to her, and who knew what she might say. She stretched out a hand and said, "Give it to me — I'll read him the card number!"

Mother Tang had no choice but to hand the card to Tang Zhi. Tang Zhi was about to read the number out to Wei Zhao, who heard it and said, "Just text it to me — if it gets transferred wrong, the money's gone..."

"Ah, then I'll text it to you!" Tang Zhi was startled and said hurriedly. How was she to know that Wei Zhao was only teasing her — with a card number and account name that did not match, the transfer would simply fail.

After Wei Zhao received the card number Tang Zhi sent him, he dialed Guan Xuewen's number.

"Xiaoyi? Where have you been these past two days? I've been calling you, and your phone's been off the whole time!" Before Wei Zhao could speak, Guan Xuewen's voice came through from the other end.

"Oh? Grandpa Guan, you were looking for me?" Wei Zhao had not expected Guan Xuewen to come seeking him out these past two days.

"Yesterday Liu Tianyi brought Old Liu over. Old Liu wanted to thank you in person. After he went home, he found his health had visibly improved — not only had his appetite grown, but he walked with a brisk, springing step, as though he had shed a dozen years!" Guan Xuewen marvelled. "Xiaoyi, that medical skill of yours — even I look on it with envy!"

"They came to thank me?" Wei Zhao smiled. More likely the Liu family had realized his worth and wanted to get on good terms with him early. There had been some unpleasantness before, but the Lius were no fools — they knew to mend the fold after the sheep were lost.

"That's right. They are returning to Yanjing, and the villa they bought here is of no further use to them, so they want to give it to you in thanks!" Guan Xuewen said. "Just give me your ID number and I can handle the transfer of ownership for you."

"Ha, generous all of a sudden, aren't they." Wei Zhao shrugged. "But I'm short of cash right now — I'd rather they just gave me money; that would be more practical."

"They did. Liu Tianyi also sealed a red envelope for you with ten million in it." Guan Xuewen chuckled. "I never imagined a hundred million in startup capital would come to you so easily. I was worried before that the pharmaceutical factory wouldn't have enough to get started, and then you treat one patient and the whole sum falls into your lap!"

"What can I say? I hadn't planned on taking the money in the first place, but those people in his family had to go and behave the way they did." Wei Zhao laughed. "Still, the old man Liu is all right — no airs about him at all..."

"It's not that he has no airs — it's that he understands how important it is for their family to be on good terms with a miracle doctor like you!" Guan Xuewen said. "Otherwise they would never have sealed another red envelope for you!"

"Mm. Grandpa Guan, would you pass on a message to them for me? I'll accept the red envelope and the villa, but I'll still charge my fee for treating them next time — though I might consider giving them priority!" Wei Zhao said with great swagger. Still, no doubt the Liu family would be delighted to hear that promise.