Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  “Although the tuition fees for The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China are expensive, it is not ridiculously expensive, is it?” The colleague looked at Ding Jiayi in disbelief. “Don’t tell me that you all bought Qiao Zijin a place at The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China?”

  All the family savings were spent for the sake of one daughter. There was not a single cent left. Was Qiao Zijin the only one in the Qiao family?

  In his opinion, this type of situation was too ridiculous.

  He found it hard to accept the fact that something so serious had happened to Qiao Dongliang, but the only person who could provide the money was actually Qiao Nan, who was just a child. Qiao Nan took out the scholarship she earned with her capability. It was unflattering, and she also had to endure Ding Jiayi’s slap on top of that.

  At that moment, the colleague felt that Qiao Dongliang’s family was strange and abnormal.

  In short, Qiao Dongliang’s spouse was not reliable in accomplishing any major tasks when situations called for it. She could not be compared to her child, Qiao Nan. No wonder Qiao Nan could attain the top place during the middle school examination.

  Just as Qiao Nan handed over the three hundred yuan, Qiao Dongliang’s medical results were out. “The patient’s hip suffers a comminuted fracture. Most critically, his spleen is ruptured and needs surgery urgently. Have your family members prepared the money?”

  “How…… how much money?” Ding Jiayi’s legs were wobbly. She was under the false assumption that Qiao Dongliang’s condition was very good. She was now so scared that her face turned pale, and she could barely stand. The colleague had to hold her by the side.

  “Pay a thousand yuan first. You could pay the rest later if it is not enough.”

  “One…… One thousand?” Ding Jiayi was further stupefied by the amount.

  Given the family’s situation, not to mention a thousand yuan, she could not even take out a hundred yuan now.

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  “What should we do? Is Old Qiao going to die for sure?” Old Qiao, how could you leave the three of us mother and daughters?! Ding Jiayi squatted on the ground and patted her thighs as she began to cry.

  “.……” The colleague was speechless. “Sister-in-law, don’t be anxious. As mentioned, no matter how much more money your family has, you should take them all out now and pay as much as you can. This won’t do. I will think of a way. I will return to the factory and see if we can raise some money. The priority is to save Old Qiao’s life!”

  Till now, Ding Jiayi had not even taken out a single cent. The colleague was also puzzled.

  “Dad?” At this time, Qiao Dongliang was pushed out and arrangements were being made for him to enter the operating theater. Qiao Nan saw him and hurriedly walked over.

  Qiao Dongliang’s clothes were a little torn, but what caught Qiao Nan’s eyes most were the numerous droplets of blood on Qiao Dongliang’s body.

  Qiao Dongliang could still force his eyes open, looking confused and lifeless. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

  “Dad, don’t worry, the doctor will definitely be able to cure you.”

  “Sister-in-law, Old Qiao, this is?” The saying ‘When it rains, it pours’ was right. Suddenly, a group of people walked over. Ding Jiayi was so scared that she was shivering all over. “Sister-in-law, when you borrowed money from me at the beginning of the year, you clearly said that you will return it after two months. You see, it has been six months since then.”

  “That’s right. Although the amount borrowed is not huge, we still need to survive, don’t we? If not for the sake of Old Qiao, we…… What happened to Old Qiao, though?” The few people who came seemed to be of similar age as Qiao Dongliang. Their posture was prim and proper, and their eyes exuded an aura of ferocity and justice.

  “All of you claimed that you were Old Qiao’s good buddies. Don’t you see the state Old Qiao is in now? I don’t even have the money to save his life; where can I get the money to return to you?” Ding Jiayi cried continuously. She sounded so miserable as if the whole world was bullying her. As she was standing in the corridor of the hospital, her action was extremely glaring and attracted a lot of attention.

  The group of people was furious when they heard Ding Jiayi’s words, and their face turned pale.

  Their families were not well-off as well. However, since they were good buddies with Qiao Dongliang, they were willing to part with whatever money available and lent it to Ding Jiayi, the wife of their good buddy.

  She could not refuse to return what she borrowed!

  There was clearly an agreement to return the money after two months, considering Qiao Dongliang only had temporary financial problems.

  The old and young in their family could not go hungry after all. They had no choice but to come looking for the sister-in-law to ask for the money. Why did this become a fault of theirs?

  “To all uncles, I am very sorry. I am my dad’s younger daughter. My dad has been hit by a car and needs to undergo surgery immediately. Could you let the doctor push my dad into the operating theater first? As for the money that my mom borrowed from you, can you tell me what happened in detail?” Qiao Nan was having a headache. She hated her mother, Ding Jiayi, even more than before.

  Her mother clearly had so many things she could do. Why did she only do the wrong things instead of the good ones?

  Borrowing money…… Her mother actually borrowed money. Additionally, she seemed to have loaned it from her father’s former comrades!

  Qiao Nan was aware that although Qiao Dongliang missed his former comrades, he was unwilling to stay in contact with them since he left the army. He had a knot in his heart as he was no longer an army officer but these people still were.

  Most importantly, Qiao Dongliang did not want them to know how poor his life was after leaving the army. This concerned his pride as a man.

  Now, Ding Jiayi not only looked for them but also seemed to have asked them to lend her money. Qiao Nan did not know what to say anymore.

  Typically, it was not appropriate to tell these matters to a child. However, Ding Jiayi was unreasonable and refused to pay them back. The few uncles had no choice but to roughly tell Qiao Nan what happened.

  After listening to them, Qiao Nan immediately understood what happened.

  She had felt strange that her mother could gather the money for Qiao Zijin’s tuition fees within such a short time span of two days. Qiao Zijin was studying in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, and the tuition fees for one semester was not cheap. Hence, her mother borrowed money from others.

  Furthermore, when Qiao Nan calculated, the money Ding Jiayi borrowed was much more than Qiao Zijin’s tuition fees!

  “Your name is Nan Nan, right? Nan Nan, it is not that we are heartless. We also did not know that Old Qiao would meet an incident. Your family is facing such a situation. Reasonably, we should not demand money at this inopportune time, but we also have kids. We need to pay their school fees, feed the elderly at home, and send them to the hospital if they are unwell!”

  “I know…… I know all that. The problem indeed lies with my family. We will definitely return the owed money to you. Can…… can you give me a few more days? There are still two months before the school reopens. If any of your family needs money urgently, please let me know. When I have money, I will return it to you first. Will that do?”

  At the end of her speech, Qiao Nan’s eyes were red. “Who has a pen and paper? I will note down the debts first. What my mom owed must be returned to you in full, not one cent less.”

  Tears rolled down Qiao Nan’s fair and smooth face. She looked much more pitiful than Ding Jiayi who cried miserably and loudly earlier.

  Qiao Nan was only crying quietly. Her voice was a little hoarse, but neither did she complain nor lose her temper. She tried her best to ask these former comrades of Qiao Dongliang in a polite manner. Seeing her like this was really heart-wrenching.

  The few comrades could not bear the sight of it. After all, Qiao Nan was just a kid.