With everyone in charge gone, what could Zheng Shuzhen and Hua Wanhe do left in the room? They had no choice but to leave as well.

The mother and son stepped out the door and began to complain.

"What should we do? It's so much money, eight hundred per person, Mother, I really can't afford it," Hua Wanhe complained to Zheng Shuzhen.

“I know, but this is to save your father’s life. You should do your best to help. I have five hundred yuan left. I’ll secretly give it to you later, and it’ll count as your share.” Zheng Shuzhen had always favored this son.

Hua Wanhe felt a pang of heartache at the thought of five hundred yuan: "It would be so much better if I spent that money on him. He's not my own father."

"What did you say? He's not your biological father, but he raised you and you've been calling him 'Dad' for so many years."

"They're not blood relatives, Mom. They're not my biological father. Can I take less responsibility? If others get eight hundred, can I take two hundred?"

"Are you making yourself a laughingstock in the whole village?"

"No, but I really don't want to pay this money."

“This money must be paid. You hurry up and get another two or three hundred. I’ll go back and have my fourth brother’s wife check the money too. Oh, and you should go to your third brother’s house and have your third sister-in-law check the money as well.”

“Mom, I think we don’t need to prepare any money. Hua Kai has so many businesses in the city. If we don’t have a single penny tomorrow morning, won’t Hua Kai have to borrow money? Captain Ye has money. As long as they pay it, we won’t have to pay it back.”

Zheng Shuzhen thought for a moment and said, "That's one way, but you know how ruthless that girl Huakai is. If she really doesn't give the money, then we can't just abandon your father. So, you two prepare the money and don't take it out unless absolutely necessary."

“Mother, we should go all out when we do things. Even if we have the money ready, there’s no guarantee we won’t have it. We can force Huakai to spend the money.”

“I’m not sure how to handle Hua Kai. If she really makes up her mind, is your father just going to wait to die? If something happens to your father, they can move to the city, but what about us? Forget about moving to the city, we don’t have the money to even move to the countryside. All our land is in the village. Can we just not come back? Do you want the villagers to curse us to death? So we have to have a backup plan.” Zheng Shuzhen wasn’t worried about Hua Zhongzhi, but she was afraid that her son wouldn’t be able to survive in this village.

Hua Wanhe agreed with his mother's words: "That's right, then we'll prepare the money and not take it out unless absolutely necessary."

"Okay, you go and discuss this with the third son's wife. I'll go back and talk to the fourth son's wife as well."

"Okay, then I'm going to see Mother."

The two had come up with a plan and felt much more relaxed. Although they were trying to raise money, they felt that they wouldn't be able to spend it in the end.

Hua Kai watched the two leave, knowing full well that they wouldn't take the money so easily. So she made a plan: she would pay what she should pay, and she wouldn't be a sucker for what she shouldn't. More importantly, those people were all bloodsuckers. The old man's health couldn't be fixed with just one surgery; there would be a lot of follow-up issues. So she had to control things from the beginning.

Over the years, the old man really didn't fulfill any of his responsibilities as a father to Hua Wanjiang. Now that his own family is able to share the burden equally with his uncles, it can be considered that he has done his utmost.

Of course, if those uncles really act like beasts and abandon their responsibilities, then I will pay to save the old man's life. But then there will be a rule: the old man will have nothing to do with them anymore and will live with my family instead.

You know, in the countryside, if a family abandons the elderly like that, the whole village will despise them. In that case, Hua Wanhe and Hua Wanhai won't be able to live in the village anymore.

Zheng Shuzhen was a woman who cared about her reputation; she wouldn't dare to be so ruthless, otherwise all the women would be finished.

So this matter won't get out of control at all. They're just trying to take advantage of us. As long as we stop that, everything else is still under control.

When Gu Lanyan returned, Hua opened the door and said to her, "Mom, I'll call Ye Yifan later and ask him to pick me up early tomorrow. Then I'll take our share of the money to my brother at the hospital. Before my grandfather's surgery, I'll ask my dad to stay out of the way. This surgery is risky. Putting aside the money, if they get my dad to sign the surgical consent form, and something happens to my grandfather, our family will be in big trouble. We can't afford to take that risk. My grandfather has a wife and their son, and they should be the ones to deal with these things. If we get involved, it will only make things more complicated."

Gu Lanyan suddenly realized: "I don't understand. I didn't expect there to be so many things involved in surgery. Well, we can't let your dad sign it. Otherwise, if something happens, our family will never have peace again."

Hua Kai nodded: "That makes sense. Even if it costs more, we can't let my dad take the responsibility. So tomorrow morning, I'll go to the hospital and secretly call my dad away. I'll have my brother stay at the hospital, and he'll give the money to my grandma in front of the nurses. This kind of major surgery is definitely not something that can be finished in an hour or two. I'll let my dad go over after the surgery starts. That way it's safe."

Gu Lanyan pulled Hua Kai along: "Mom doesn't understand these things, you can arrange them. Why don't you call Xiao Fan now? We have to trouble him with everything in our family."

Hua Kai felt the same way. Whenever something happened in her family, Ye Yifan would step in, but when something really happened, she would think of him and feel at ease using him.

She said, "Then I'll go to the brigade to borrow a phone, just in case he goes out after get off work."

Gu Lanyan said, "Alright, then go ahead."

Hua Kai quickly went outside to make a phone call to the brigade.

When they arrived at the brigade, they heard that Hua Kai needed to borrow a phone. They all knew that her father had an accident, so they didn't ask any questions and let her make the call.

However, the accountant and the village secretary were also in the room, so Hua Kai couldn't go into too much detail after making the call.

She said to Ye Yifan, "Could you pick me up early tomorrow morning? I have something urgent to attend to." After saying that, she added, afraid that Ye Yifan would worry, "It shouldn't be as serious as you think, so you don't need to rush."

Ye Yifan knew Huakai and knew that Huakai made the call from the village committee. There was something in her words that she couldn't say.

So he asked directly, "What time tomorrow?"

Hua Kai said, "Seven o'clock, I guess."

Ye Yifan said, "Okay, I understand."

Hua Kai agreed and hung up the phone.

After returning home, Gu Lanyan was sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) counting money: "I'll go to the credit union to withdraw money tomorrow morning, and I'll make sure I don't miss it. I've borrowed some more, and that's about it. I'll go ask the East Courtyard later."

Hua Kai said, "Mom, no need. I still have two hundred here. Use it first, and I'll ask you for more money when I need it."

Gu Lanyan sighed: "Other children who go to school ask their families for money, but you have to subsidize your family."

"But something happened, Mom, don't overthink it." With that, Hua Kai took out the money and gave it to Gu Lanyan.

Gu Lanyan took the money and said, "I'll go get the money tomorrow and return it to you. You're a business person, you can't be without some cash on hand."

Hua Kai didn't say much more about it: "Mom, it's getting late, let's cook."

Gu Lanyan agreed: "Okay, we have to eat, no matter what."