“Zhou Bingxing, look at you, look at you! I just said we shouldn’t treat her! But you insisted on treating her. Now we’ve spent over a hundred yuan, and Xiao Cui might not even survive. Isn’t this a waste of money?” Ding Ermei didn’t dare to vent her anger on Wang Jing, so she slapped Zhou Bingxing’s back a few times.

"Mom, what's the use of blaming me now? You just said you wanted to treat her. We can't just stand by and watch Xiao Cui die!" Zhou Bingxing hurriedly dodged left and right, shouting as he spoke.

"What can we do now? The person is still going to die even though we've treated them halfway through. Oh dear, it would have been better not to treat them at all in the first place!" Ding Ermei said with heartache.

"I'll go back and think of a solution," Zhou Bingxing said.

"Are you trying to get an advance on your year-end bonus from the brigade leader? No way, we're not going to get treatment anymore. If we keep going, our family will go bankrupt." Ding Ermei was very angry.

The village has a rule that villagers can receive an advance on their dividends if they are sick. This isn't just for one year; some villagers can even receive advances for several years' worth of dividends. It's essentially like borrowing money from the village, which the villagers will repay gradually later.

Generally speaking, people like this are from very poor families. They only go to the village committee for an advance when they have nowhere else to borrow money.

Ding Ermei would never allow her family to become the kind of "poor devils" who have to borrow money from the brigade.

"Mom, please don't do this," Zhou Bingxing said, his face flushed.

If he has gold bars at home, why would he need to go to the brigade to get an advance?

However, the gold bar affair couldn't be made public, and he felt extremely aggrieved.

"Then what do you suggest? Our family can't keep paying back money every year just because of Ding Xiaocui, can we?" Ding Ermei wiped away her tears.

“Mom, I’ll go back to the village and ask Lao San. He should have some money.” Zhou Bingxing said, suddenly having an idea.

Zhou Bingxing was calculating in his head.

The highest earner in their family is the third son, Zhou Bingchen.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhou Bingxing planned to "borrow" a hundred or so yuan from Zhou Bingchen. Whether he'd pay it back or not, he could deal with that later. Surely the third brother couldn't drive his second brother to his death over a little money, could he?

If Zhou Bingchen refused, he would reveal Zhou Bingchen's true identity.

Do you feel guilty, third brother?

Zhou Bingchen's parents have raised him, so it's only right that he gives his family a lot of money.

"You brothers just split up the family property, would the third brother really lend you money?" Ding Ermei expressed her doubt.

"We have to lend it whether we want to or not, since the third brother owes us!" Zhou Bingxing felt more and more justified as he spoke. After he finished speaking, he turned and ran away without waiting for Ding Ermei to say anything.

"Bingxing! Wait a minute, take Jiaxiang and the others back." Ding Ermei took two steps forward and called out.

Ding Ermei didn't understand. She thought Zhou Bingxing was saying that Zhou Bingchen owed the family money because he earned more and should contribute more to the family.

Ding Ermei just wants Zhou Bingxing to take Zhou Jiaxiang and his sister away as soon as possible.

It was already past midnight, and the two children were so sleepy they were practically falling over. Staying here would not only fail to help Ding Ermei, but would also distract her from taking care of them.

Zhou Bingxing didn't even turn his head; he ran off in a flash.

When Zhou Bingxing arrived home, Zhou Bingqiang had just returned home not long before.

"Open the door! Open the door now!" Zhou Bingxing's face was contorted with rage.

While the rest of the family was living in fear in the hospital, their relatives, instead of coming to help, were all sleeping soundly, carefree, and had even locked the door.

Zhou Bingxing was furious, so he knocked on the door a little louder.

The whole family was awakened by the loud knocking on the door.

The main room was close to the door, so Chen Jinfeng went to open it.

"Second brother, is your wife alright?" Chen Jinfeng was startled when she saw Zhou Bingxing's ferocious expression, thinking that something had happened to Ding Xiaocui.

"She's having surgery! Sister-in-law, you care so much about her, why don't you go to the hospital to check on her?" Zhou Bingxing said with a sour face, then shoved Chen Jinfeng aside and walked into the house.

Chen Jinfeng's face turned black with anger.

She kindly opened the door for Zhou Bingxing, but he opened it to the wrong person? Zhou Bingxing was like a powder keg today; he exploded at the slightest question.

Next time, if anyone from their second wife's family is locked out, don't even think about her opening the door.

Chen Jinfeng rolled her eyes at Zhou Bingxing's retreating figure and went back into the house.

Zhou Bingxing stormed to the door of the third room, banging on it and shouting repeatedly:

"Third brother, come out here for a moment."

"Third brother, come out here right now."

"Third brother, if you don't come out, I'm kicking the door down."

Zhou Bingchen was about to get out of bed when Zhao Zhenzhu grabbed him.

“You go to sleep, I’ll go,” Zhao Zhenzhu said.

"Okay." Zhou Bingchen lay back down on the bed.

His wife feels sorry for him! He listens to her.

With him around, my second brother probably wouldn't dare to do anything outrageous.

"What are you doing, howling like a ghost in the middle of the night?" Zhao Zhenzhu asked unhappily after opening the door.

"Zhao Zhenzhu, I'm looking for Lao San. Tell Lao San to come out," Zhou Bingxing said, glaring at Zhao Zhenzhu.

“Bingchen is injured and has fallen into a deep sleep after taking medicine; he’s difficult to wake up. If there’s anything you need to say, you can tell me, or you can talk to him after he wakes up at dawn,” Zhao Zhenzhu refused.

"Lend me two hundred yuan. Xiao Cui is waiting for money to save her life in the hospital." Zhou Bingxing had no choice but to reveal his purpose.

“I have no money. Not even two hundred, let alone twenty.” Zhao Zhenzhu remained unmoved.

"Why are you pretending to be rich if you don't have money? Get out of the way, I'll go in and talk to the third brother myself." Zhou Bingxing angrily reached out to shove Zhao Zhenzhu.

"Get out!" Zhao Zhenzhu snapped, shoving Zhou Bingxing so hard he stumbled a few steps.

She tried to hit Zhou Bingxing after failing to borrow money; how dare she offend him?

"Zhao Zhenzhu, don't force me to hit you." Zhou Bingxing raised his fist and waved it at Zhao Zhenzhu.

"Come on!" Zhao Zhenzhu gave Zhou Bingxing a provocative look.

Want to hit her?

Zhou Bingxing is such a weakling that Zhao Zhenzhu could easily take him down with one hand.

"You son of a bitch..." Zhou Bingxing rolled up his sleeves, cursing as he prepared to step forward.

"Second brother, why are you out here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? What are you doing, causing trouble in front of my door?" Zhou Bingchen, fearing that Zhao Zhenzhu would be taken advantage of, hurriedly stepped out to block her.

"Third brother, I need to borrow money. Quickly lend me two hundred yuan," Zhou Bingxing shouted.

"Second brother, I have no money," Zhou Bingchen said, shaking his head.

Zhou Bingchen was originally thinking about whether he should discuss with Zhao Zhenzhu about giving Ding Xiaocui a few dozen yuan to treat her illness first.

Now, Zhou Bingchen has given up on that idea.

Zhou Bingxing's performance just now was very disappointing to Zhou Bingchen.

Even while he was at home, Zhou Bingxing showed Zhao Zhenzhu absolutely no respect.

It's easy to imagine that Zhou Bingxing's attitude towards Zhao Zhenzhu was even worse when he wasn't home.

Besides, Zhou Bingxing asked for two hundred right off the bat.

If you give him a few dozen yuan, Zhou Bingxing will definitely not be satisfied. If you give him two hundred yuan, Zhou Bingxing might even ask for more.

Zhou Bingchen's money didn't come from thin air. He has a family to support!

If that's the case, it's better not to give them a single cent.

“Third brother, your father-in-law’s family is rich! Why don’t you just ask your father-in-law for a loan?” Zhou Bingxing said confidently.