Chapter 10
When Ji Zhixing was in his first year of high school, the neighborhood committee organized a free physical examination for people over 70 years old. His grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer during that examination, and it was already in its late stage when he was diagnosed.
Grandpa kept this a secret and then transferred his only house to Ji Zhixing, just in case all sorts of relatives came up and caused trouble after his death.
Ji Zhixing sensed something amiss during the property transfer and, after making inquiries, learned that his grandfather had cancer. He was stunned when he heard the news, and even after recovering, he still couldn't believe it. He had seen lung cancer patients when he was a child, an older man living downstairs who often wailed in agony throughout the night in his late stages. His grandfather, on the other hand, only experienced some chest tightness and coughing; he didn't seem to have lung cancer at all.
He suspected there was a mistake in the free medical check-up, so he coaxed his grandfather to go to a provincial hospital for a more detailed examination, but the result did not change.
The doctor said Grandpa was lucky; his lung tumor hadn't metastasized to the bone or brain. It was a central lung cancer, and because lung tissue has relatively few sensory nerves, he didn't experience significant pain, only symptoms like chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. However, precisely because of this, this type of lung cancer often makes it difficult for patients to detect abnormalities in their bodies in the early stages.
Grandpa refused to be hospitalized. He was afraid of the suffering from chemotherapy and even more afraid of the money. It was already in the late stage and incurable, so why suffer like that? It would be better to save some money for his grandson's life.
Of course, Ji Zhixing couldn't just stand by and watch his grandfather die. Even if he couldn't be cured, with proper care, he could live for a few more years!
He searched and consulted extensively online and offline, and finally chose immunotherapy on the advice of a doctor. This method mainly involves administering immunotherapy drugs intravenously to the patient to enhance their resistance and stimulate their immune response to suppress tumor cells. Compared to chemotherapy, immunotherapy has fewer side effects and is less painful. Of course, it is also much more expensive.
Ji Zhixing had inquired and learned that pembrolizumab was mainly used in the initial stage, costing approximately 30,000 yuan per month. In the later stages, the patient's condition became more complex, requiring combination therapy, at which point the cost would increase accordingly. Although expensive, the pain was negligible compared to chemotherapy. Ji Zhixing hoped his grandfather would live a few more years, but he didn't want to see him suffer from the pain of treatment. Therefore, immunotherapy was the best solution at the time.
To allay his grandfather's concerns, Ji Zhixing asked a neighborhood committee member to help him put on a show, lying to his grandfather that medical insurance would cover 90% of the costs. After his grandfather agreed to be hospitalized, Ji Zhixing secretly planned to sell the house to raise money for the treatment.
However, old, dilapidated apartments in high-rise buildings without school districts or elevators are not easy to sell. He had listed the apartment with a real estate agency for over a month and only four or five people had viewed it, with only one expressing interest in buying. But seeing that Ji Zhixing was in a hurry to sell, he was pushing the price down very hard.
Ji Zhixing was only fifteen or sixteen years old at the time, and no one wanted to hire him. He could only rely on the money from selling the house to pay for his grandfather's medical treatment, so he was unwilling to lower the price easily. At that time, the family's savings were only enough for his grandfather to stay in the hospital for two months. If they couldn't continue paying for the medical expenses, his grandfather would have to stop treatment.
It was around that time that a cousin he hadn't contacted in a long time reached out to him, expressing interest in buying the house. Ji Zhixing felt that relatives were much more trustworthy than outsiders, and since his cousin wasn't trying to lower the price, she was the perfect person to make the deal.
At that time, Ji Zhixing was really in a hurry and didn't have much social experience. After receiving the down payment of 300,000 yuan, he was coaxed by his aunt to complete the transfer procedures.
After the transfer of ownership was completed, my aunt said she was going to raise the remaining 700,000 yuan and would definitely be back within a week. Then she left her hometown and disappeared without a trace.
The phone number her aunt left was no longer in service, and the address she provided was also fake. Ji Zhixing asked around among relatives and learned that her aunt had gone out to work when she was young and hadn't even been in contact with her parents back home for many years. Nobody knew what she did or where she lived.
Helpless, Ji Zhixing could only call the police, but only met with a lawyer sent by his aunt. The lawyer stated that the contract did not specify a time for the final payment, and that his client would transfer the money to Ji Zhixing immediately once he had raised enough. However, his aunt refused to show up or give a definite date.
Ji Zhixing consulted several lawyers with the contract but couldn't find a solution. Meanwhile, after a period of treatment, his grandfather's medical expenses were only enough for another two months. That period was arguably the darkest and most difficult time of Ji Zhixing's life.
Ji Zhixing racked his brains and finally found a breakthrough in a list of "Provincial Outstanding Students" for evaluation.
When the property was transferred, it was my cousin's son, Wang Sikai, who signed the document. While waiting for the paperwork to be completed, my cousin casually mentioned that he would soon be admitted to Peking University without taking the entrance exam.
Ji Zhixing only knew that Wang Sikai attended high school in the province, but didn't know which school. There were hundreds of high schools in the province, and searching for them one by one was impractical. Ji Zhixing inquired with teachers and learned that there were four categories of students eligible for direct admission: provincial-level outstanding students, winners of science Olympiads, children of martyrs, and retired athletes.
Based on his cousin's fragmented words, Ji Zhixing deduced that the first two possibilities were the most likely. During that time, he checked the provincial education bureau's website, Yenching University's official website, and various middle school websites every day. Finally, he found Wang Sikai's name on a list of "Provincial Outstanding Students" in April.
On the publicized list, the middle few digits of the ID card were blurred, but the last five digits were visible. Ji Zhixing compared Wang Sikai's ID number with the purchase contract and knew he hadn't looked for the wrong person.
He first contacted the lawyer who had represented his aunt and asked him to convey to her his intention to report Wang Sikai.
He didn't know if reporting it would be effective, since according to the contract full of traps, even if his aunt delayed paying the final payment, she couldn't really be considered a true deadbeat. But at the time, it was the only option he had.
He was lucky; his aunt contacted him soon after, weeping on the phone, explaining that she had indeed encountered a problem and would be able to raise the money next month. After asking for money for almost a year, Ji Zhixing was no longer so naive. He knew his aunt wanted to drag it out until the end of the public notice period, so he immediately said he would call the hotline to report her.
From appealing to his emotions to cursing and pleading, Ji Zhixing remained unmoved. In the end, his aunt had no choice but to give in and transfer the remaining balance to him that same day.
After receiving the money, Ji Zhixing immediately made a report. He had gleaned some information from his aunt's emotional outburst—the trap in the contract was the idea of her clever son, Wang Sikai.
How can someone with such low moral character, who would even swindle money from a relative's life-saving fund, be granted a guaranteed admission?
Later, Ji Zhixing was pleased to see Wang Sikai's name removed from the list of names on the public notice board, and he actually found his cousin's furious and abusive words on the phone quite amusing.
Because he had already avenged himself, Ji Zhixing didn't waste any more energy on the mother and son. He never expected that several years later, he would see the person he once hated so much again.
Wang Sikai was surprised to see Ji Zhixing, but even more surprised to see Xu Dongyang standing next to him. If Xu Dongyang hadn't shown no sign of surprise, he would have almost thought they were a team deliberately trying to cause trouble. Seeing Xu Dongyang looking at him blankly, clearly unaware of who he was, Wang Sikai chuckled inwardly. This guy was just as stupid as his mother! However, he didn't intend to confront him directly, so he only glanced at Xu Dongyang before looking back at Ji Zhixing.
His meticulously planned path to university admission was ruined entirely thanks to Ji Zhixing, and he deeply resented Ji Zhixing. At that time, there were less than two months left until the college entrance examination. His mother frantically hired tutors for him, and he studied hard for a while, but still couldn't pass the admission line for Yenching University. To increase his standing in his father's eyes, he had to transfer schools and repeat a year, only barely managing to secure a place at Yenching University through a series of painstaking efforts.
The more pathetic he was during that time, the more disgusted he felt towards Ji Zhixing now. However, he was a respectable man, and even though he hated Ji Zhixing to the core, he couldn't bring himself to publicly hurl insults at him.
Wang Sikai walked up to Ji Zhixing and chuckled, "Long time no see, cousin. I heard you're all alone now, life must be tough..." As he spoke, he sized up Ji Zhixing, but then noticed he was wearing Prada and Gi shoes, and his sarcastic remarks faltered. What was going on? Shouldn't Ji Zhixing be down on his luck these days?
His mother, unwilling to accept this situation, had been keeping an eye on Ji Zhixing's situation for the past few years. She heard that after selling his house, Ji Zhixing had to live in the school dormitory; she heard that his grandfather spent three years in the hospital, costing a full million yuan, before passing away; she heard that he only got into a bottom-tier 985 university in the college entrance examination, and he had to work to pay for his tuition and living expenses...
Wang Sikai imagined Ji Zhixing to be shabby, down on his luck, and in a sorry state; he should never be so glamorous.
Seeing Wang Sikai's hypocritical attitude, Ji Zhixing also put on an act: "Long time no see. I heard you were disqualified from being recommended for admission. What a pity."
Wang Sikai's face turned cold, but he put on a faint smile again: "Alas, the most regrettable thing is that I ended up going to Peking University. If I could just coast along at a bottom-tier 985 university like you, I wouldn't have to suffer like this to prepare for the CUPT competition."
Xu Dongyang and Lin Lang both frowned upon hearing these seemingly complaining but actually boastful and belittling remarks.
"The CUPT competition..." Ji Zhixing pondered. Could Wang Sikai be like Fan Yongjie, aiming for a guaranteed postgraduate admission? He seemed to be showing some interest in this competition.
Wang Sikai's heart tightened at first upon hearing Ji Zhixing's pointed words, but then he relaxed. Ha, even if Ji Zhixing wanted to do something bad, did he have the ability? He's only a sophomore; he probably wouldn't even qualify for the provincial competition.
However, just in case, Wang Sikai didn't intend to get entangled with Ji Zhixing any further. Besides, he had more important things to do and couldn't afford to waste any more time here.
He glanced at his watch and said, "Alright, for the sake of our family ties, I won't hold the car damage against you." With that, he turned to leave.
Ji Zhixing stopped him: "You make it sound so easy, the responsibility is yours!" He was sitting in the passenger seat and saw it clearly. The moment he started moving, Wang Sikai's car grazed his right side, was half a car ahead, and crashed into him. The responsibility lies with Wang Sikai.
Wang Sikai narrowed his eyes. He had already subtly scanned the area; there were no cameras at the intersection. Furthermore, there were no lane markings, making lane demarcation difficult. The two cars were almost parallel at the time, and the dashcam couldn't capture what happened beside them. It would likely be impossible to determine which party was at fault from the footage, so he didn't intend to take responsibility.
Back then, Ji Zhixing had exploited his weakness and forced him to hand over more than 700,000 yuan, which was already enough to infuriate him. If he were forced to hand over money to Ji Zhixing again today, he would be furious for the rest of his life!
He shrugged and said, "You can't just judge who's responsible based on your words alone."
Ji Zhixing glanced at Wang Sikai and smiled slightly: "How about this, since we're both studying physics, let's do some calculations?"
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