Gu Yifei looked at the payment receipt in Meng Zihan's hand and still couldn't quite believe it.
She really took out four thousand yuan?
Could it be that what she said is true, that she really found a rich man in Hong Kong and started her own company?
No, something's fishy about this. He has to go back and ask his cousin for clarification.
Gu Jingran is knowledgeable and experienced; perhaps he can see through some of the tricks of the trade.
Having made up his mind, Gu Yifei didn't want to stay with Meng Zihan any longer. He glanced at the wall clock and bid farewell to Meng Zihan.
"It's getting late, I have to go home. How many days do you plan to stay in Jiangcheng this time?"
Meng Zihan was still immersed in the immense pain of losing her designer bag; the four thousand yuan felt as if a piece of her heart had been ripped out, and the pain was still raw and bleeding.
Hearing Gu Yifei's question, she snapped out of her daze and forced a smile, "Probably... I'll stay for a week. Brother Yifei, do you have time these few days? We're classmates, how about we get together sometime? My treat."
Gu Yifei refused without hesitation, his tone distant yet polite.
"I'm busy preparing for my final exams and really don't have time. You rarely come back, and you won't be staying long, so you should spend more time with Uncle Ye."
His gaze swept over Meng Zihan's face, and he said meaningfully, "They all miss you. Once you return to Hong Kong, you won't have the chance to spend time with them again."
After saying that, he nodded, then turned and left, not giving Meng Zihan a chance to stop him.
Meng Zihan watched his tall figure disappear at the end of the corridor, the forced smile on her lips gradually fading, and her eyes darkening.
She glanced down at her stylish suit and the expensive handbag in her hand, and felt utterly ironic.
Inside the purse, besides an ID card, a few useless cards, and the payment slip that had just arrived, there were only a few crumpled coins, which added up to only two or three hundred yuan.
Where can I afford the expenses for the next week?
If she doesn't find a way to get money, she'll go hungry.
She was used to the extravagant and wasteful life in Hong Kong, frequenting upscale restaurants and never looking at prices when buying things.
Asking her to go back to that kind of life where she barely makes ends meet with a monthly salary of 100 yuan would be worse than killing her.
As Meng Zihan walked towards the ward, she was quickly making plans in her mind.
That foreign-related hotel in the city center that costs over a hundred a day is no longer a viable option.
Now that things have come to this, no matter how unwilling I am, I have no choice but to go back to the Ye family's dilapidated building and squeeze in for a while.
No matter what, she paid the four thousand yuan for medical expenses. Even if the Ye family disliked her, they wouldn't accept the money and then kick her out, would they?
She walked step by step toward Ye Zhenghua's ward. The sound of her high heels hitting the ground was no longer the confident and spirited one she had come from, but rather tinged with a sense of panic.
Pushing open the ward door, one sees Meng Xueyun sitting by the bed, her back to the door, feeding Ye Zhenghua, who is lying on the bed, thin porridge with a stainless steel spoon.
After suffering a stroke, Ye Zhenghua survived, but half of his body is still not very agile, and his limbs are weak and powerless. When he tries to feed himself, he can't even hold the spoon properly, and he spills porridge everywhere.
Meng Xueyun found it troublesome to clean up, so she simply fed him spoonful by spoonful every day.
Hearing the door open and the sound of high heels, Meng Xueyun turned around and saw that it was Meng Zihan. She forgot about the bowl in her hand and hurriedly asked.
"Xiaohan, you're back? Did you pay the money? How much did you pay?"
Meng Zihan was already furious and had nowhere to vent her anger, so seeing her anxious look made her even angrier.
She said impatiently, "I paid! I paid for two months, a total of four thousand yuan!"
Meng Xueyun, however, completely failed to detect her emotions and immediately broke into a wide smile.
She turned her head and shouted at Ye Zhenghua, "Old Ye, did you hear that? Did you hear that?! Xiaohan is really doing well now, taking out four thousand yuan at once! We don't have to worry about medical expenses anymore!"
Lying on the bed, Ye Zhenghua made indistinct "ah ah" sounds, his lips twitching slightly, as if he wanted to laugh or say something.
This scene, as Meng Zihan witnessed it, did not make her feel any better; on the contrary, it was like adding fuel to the fire, making her even more irritable.
She walked over, looked down at Ye Zhenghua's thin, sallow face, and questioned, "I'd like to ask, where did all your money go? How come you can't even afford medical expenses? Didn't the factory reimburse you?"
Meng Xueyun's smile froze.
She placed the bowl on the bedside table, let out a long sigh, and began to complain.
“I used it to treat your uncle’s illness. Xiaohan, you know we’re not well-off and have never had any savings.”
“Your uncle’s illness came on suddenly, like a mountain collapsing. When he was first brought here, there was emergency treatment and examinations, and the cost of medicine and nursing care was just flowing out like water every day. My meager salary is not enough to fill this hole. The family’s money has long been gone.”
She wiped her eyes, feeling both wronged and heartbroken.
“Xiaohan, when you were in school, you needed extra lessons and pretty clothes. Your uncle and I scrimped and saved to support you. Later, the factory didn't do well, and we were laid off. We took our severance pay and helped you through it because we knew you were struggling on your own. Now your uncle is sick and can't work anymore. The family is completely dependent on my meager salary of a little over a hundred yuan a month. It's really…”
"Alright!" Meng Zihan interrupted her irritably, her anger rising. "Stop bringing up those old, trivial matters. I don't deny that when my dad and I went to Hong Kong, we received 30,000 yuan in severance pay from you!"
“But I’ve only been in Hong Kong for two months, and after I settled in, didn’t I send you two thousand dollars a month for living expenses? Last month, I had some extra money, so I paid you back fifteen thousand dollars in one go, didn’t I? Plus, today’s four thousand dollars for medical expenses, it adds up to almost twenty-five thousand dollars! I still have almost paid back your thirty thousand dollars! How come in your mouth, it’s like I have no money at all?”
Meng Xueyun looked away when she was asked the question, but she quickly recovered and smiled reassuringly at her.
"Look at you, child, why are you still so calculating with your aunt? We all remember the good things you've done for us."
“But you also know that your uncle’s illness is life-threatening and cannot be delayed at all. When his condition was at its worst two months ago, the doctor said that he had to use imported medicine, which was effective and had fewer side effects. That medicine was incredibly expensive! And he had to undergo all sorts of tests every day.”
"The little money you transferred went straight to medical expenses as soon as it arrived, it's not even enough to cover a fraction of the cost."
"During that time, I was really desperate and had no choice but to swallow my pride and borrow money from all over the place. I begged my relatives and friends for help and barely managed to get by."
At this point, she sighed heavily, "I used the money you sent back later to pay off my debts. Otherwise, how could I face people coming to my door every day to ask for it? Now, we really don't have any savings left, and we're still heavily in debt."
These words were spoken with utmost sincerity and without any exaggeration.
But Meng Xueyun's heart was pounding, and she was extremely flustered.
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