Gu Lanyan sighed: "Is it really that serious? If surgery is needed, it will probably cost a lot of money. I just deposited 500 yuan into a fixed deposit a few days ago, and lent 200 yuan to your father's classmate for his son's wedding. I only have a little over 300 yuan in cash on hand. I just took 100 yuan, and there is still 200 yuan in the cabinet. I don't know if that will be enough."
Hua Kai said, "Mom, don't worry about this. I have three uncles. If anything happens to the old man, our families will pay equally. I have some money on hand if it's not enough, so don't worry."
After saying that, she added, “Mom, our family absolutely cannot take the lead in this matter. You know what my uncles are like. The more you contribute, the more they will think it’s your duty. So you and Dad should just follow their lead. They contribute what they contribute, and they take care of us what they take care of. If the money is still not enough, then we’ll talk about it later. Our family is indeed not wealthy. To put it bluntly, we don’t even have anything to sell.”
It's not that I'm being ruthless, it's just the truth. We can't let them squander all the money we have. They're all big and powerful families, and every one of them has several thousand in savings.
If the uncles were as poor as our family, then there would be nothing we could do; we couldn't just watch an elderly person get sick without money for treatment. But the uncles all had some savings, so our family didn't need to take the lead. Besides, we didn't know the old man's health at the moment, and our family couldn't take on everything. Moreover, the old lady was also there, so they were the ones who made the decisions. Our family was just there to play a supporting role.
Gu Lanyan nodded: "Yes, everyone knows our family's situation, so we'll just follow your uncles' lead."
In the afternoon, Gu Lanyan didn't do any work. She just sat in the house with Hua Kai, waiting for Hua Qingyi to have any new news.
In the evening, Zheng Shuzhen and Hua Wanhe arrived.
Zheng Shuzhen's hair was messy, her complexion was poor, and she looked very haggard. She didn't even sit down when she entered the room, but said to Gu Lanyan, "Eldest daughter-in-law, I know I haven't done well all these years. It was all my fault before, but now your father is in trouble. He is your husband's biological father, and you can't just ignore him."
Hua Kai sensed the hidden meaning in her words and asked directly, "Grandma, how is Grandpa?"
Zheng Shuzhen sighed and said, "They say it's not good, but I don't really understand what it is. Anyway, they said it would be best to have the surgery tomorrow, otherwise if it's delayed too long, the patient might not be able to stand up. The surgery will cost three thousand yuan, and we came here to ask you to raise the money."
Hua Kai understood when she heard this. Even now, this old lady was still scheming. She thought she would wait until the old man was settled before causing trouble, but she never expected that the old lady was so cunning.
Hua Kai said, "Grandma, shouldn't you take out all the money in the house and go save my grandpa? Saving lives is the most important thing."
Zheng Shuzhen felt guilty after Hua Kai spoke to her, and she didn't dare to look up. But she knew that this was a lot of money, and she couldn't let her son carry such a burden.
So he said to Hua Kai, "You said it yourself, your grandfather can't be delayed. Our family doesn't have much income this winter, unlike your family which runs a business and has money. Your grandfather is already like this, so if you have money, you shouldn't hide it."
Hua Kai looked at Zheng Shuzhen and said, "Grandma, you know what our family's situation is. We only go to the market for a few months a year. At most, we can save a few hundred yuan. A few days ago, my dad lent his classmate two hundred yuan. When my dad left just now, he took one hundred yuan with him. We only have two hundred yuan left at home. You can take all of this. We'll try to raise some more. The surgery will cost three thousand yuan. On average, it costs about eight hundred yuan for each son. We guarantee that our family will not be shortchanged. Don't worry."
Zheng Shuzhen had no intention of letting her son pay for it. She said to Hua Kai, "Where are we supposed to get the money now? Your father is the eldest son, so this money should be paid by your family."
Hua Kai frowned as she looked at Zheng Shuzhen: "Grandma, you've never treated my dad like the boss, so it's no use saying this now. According to the customs of our village, you and Grandpa lived with Fourth Uncle, so your land and houses belong to them. It's Fourth Uncle's duty to take care of you. But our family is filial, so we'll automatically contribute a quarter of it. That should be enough, right? We can't delay Grandpa's expenses. We only have three hundred yuan right now, and we still need to raise five hundred. You should hurry up and raise the money too, otherwise it will delay our family from raising the money as well."
Zheng Shuzhen glared at Hua Kai: "How can you be so heartless? You clearly have the money, but you insist on forcing us to borrow it? Where is your conscience?"
Hua Kai laughed, a laugh born of genuine anger: "Am I heartless or are you? This is the time for the whole family to unite and work together to raise money. What kind of time is this? My grandfather is waiting for money to save his life!"
At this moment, Hua Wanhe said, "Your factory in the city is so big, you can earn several hundred yuan for just one sofa, and you can earn enough in a day to cover your grandfather's surgery fees. Why don't you pay?"
Hua Kai looked at Hua Wanhe's shameless attitude and said, "Second Uncle, are you out of your mind? I make money no matter how much I sell it for. Doesn't that stuff have costs? Workers and shop costs money, don't they? Besides, our family didn't invest a single penny. It's all Captain Ye who invested. He's not a bank. If he doesn't have money, he has to take out a loan or borrow money. We haven't even made enough to cover the shop's costs yet, let alone the factory's capital. Do you think I have the nerve to ask Captain Ye for his money back? I'm afraid I'll be kicked out."
Hua Wanhe wasn't unaware of this; although it was true that Hua Kai made money, he also knew that what Hua Kai said was true.
But he just didn't want to take the money. Eight hundred! His family was broke. If he took this money, he would have to borrow it.
He was shameless, saying to Hua Kai, "Then you should try to rob us. You should borrow money from Captain Ye first and help me pay for it. I'll pay you back later. I can't borrow that much money right now."
Hua Kai said, "I have no face to borrow money from Captain Ye. My family owes him enough. When my second uncle caused trouble at the school, it was Captain Ye who helped me. Does he not want to repay the favor? Repaying a favor doesn't cost money? If someone keeps asking you for things, would you still be close to that person? What, do you want me to drain Captain Ye dry and go back to square one? My family only has a little money, and we have to borrow money now. I can't help my second uncle."
Gu Lanyan also said, "Don't waste time here. I'll go out now and go to Sister Feng's house to see if we can borrow a hundred or so. If we can't borrow enough today, we'll take out all the money we have in our savings when the credit union opens tomorrow morning. We guarantee we can raise the money and send it to the hospital before nine o'clock tomorrow morning."
With that, Gu Lanyan got dressed and went out, which was clearly a way of telling people to leave.
Hua Kai said, "Grandpa isn't just my dad's father; he can't rely on us all. There are no buses back to the city at this hour, and I don't know where to borrow money. I'll go cook some dough and steam some buns. Whoever goes to the city to deliver the money tomorrow can take the buns as provisions. That way, it won't waste any time. We should all do what we can right now and not waste any time." With that, Hua Kai went out to knead the dough.
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