Chapter 6 — The Day My Father Remarried

To Wei Guo raised his teacup and took a slow sip. His gaze dropped downward, his eyes shadowed with thoughts left unsaid.

There are certain matters...

You will understand them yourself in due time.

Just remember this.

After you graduate.

Come directly to my company.

Do not go anywhere else.

My mind was a tangled knot of questions. Yet, looking at the expression settled on his weathered face, I swallowed every single one of them back down. Just as I was about to leave, he called out to me once more.

That is right.

Have you been in contact with your father lately?

Yes.

We just spoke on the phone.

What did he say?

Nothing of great consequence.

He only asked if I would be coming home.

He nodded, his face betraying no emotion whatsoever. After a long, heavy silence, he asked in a deliberate, measured tone:

Wan Wan.

If a day should ever come...

When your father tells you to sever ties with me.

Would you listen to him...

Or would you listen to your uncle?

I froze, caught completely off guard.

Why would my father ever forbid me from seeing you?

Do not ask why.

Just answer me.

Whose side would you choose?

I looked deep into his eyes. I remembered the day he paid my tuition fees without a second hesitation. I recalled the indifferent, mocking tone of Liu Mei Ling in the milk tea shop. I thought of the increasingly brief and perfunctory phone calls from my father. Softly, I gave my answer:

I would listen to you.

Uncle.

To Wei Guo looked at me. Across his sun-browned features, a complex wave of emotion suddenly washed over him—as though he had found a profound source of comfort, yet was pierced by a quiet sorrow. He merely patted my shoulder gently, offering no further words. On the bus ride back, I leaned my forehead against the cool glass of the window, watching the factories and roadside trees recede into the distance. A strange, foreboding intuition began to stir deep within my chest. I always felt that... between my father and my eldest uncle... these two brothers... were harboring a secret entirely hidden from me. And that matter... sooner or later... would inevitably be dragged out into the light.

During the autumn of my junior year, my father was hospitalized. The call bearing the news came from my cousin, To Loi. He was the eldest uncle’s son, working at a foreign trade firm in the provincial capital. Ordinarily, the two of us rarely kept in touch. That day, however, his voice was laced with frantic urgency.

Wan Wan.

Your father suffered a sudden myocardial infarction.

He was just rushed to the Municipal People's Hospital.

You need to get here immediately.

My mind went completely blank. I scrambled to ask my advisor for leave and ran all the way to the hospital without stopping. Outside the emergency room, I spotted Liu Mei Ling sitting on a metal bench, holding my young step-sister. Her eyes were rimmed with angry red. Standing right beside them was a middle-aged man I had never laid eyes on before, likely some relative from her side of the family.

Aunt Mei Ling.

How is my father?

She lifted her head to look at me, pausing for a fraction of a second before hurriedly wiping away her tears.

He is still inside the operating room.

The doctor said he was brought in on time.

He should be fine.

Wan Wan, do not worry yourself sick.

The massive boulder pressing down on my chest finally lowered just an inch, though my hands and feet remained frozen as ice. I had not stood long in the sterile corridor when my uncle arrived. He walked with long, hurried strides, still wearing his dusty factory uniform, his hands stained dark with industrial grease—a clear sign he had dashed straight from the workshop without a moment to spare.

Where is he?

He demanded, looking directly at Liu Mei Ling.

Still in surgery.

The doctor has not come out yet.

To Wei Guo stared at the tightly shut doors of the emergency room, then shifted his heavy gaze to Liu Mei Ling. His expression was grim and suffocating. Without uttering another syllable, he found an empty seat and sat down. I stood quietly by his side, my eyes locked relentlessly onto the glowing red sign above the door: Operating in Progress.

Roughly half an hour later, the doctor finally emerged.

His life has been saved.

However, the arterial blockage is quite severe.

He will need a stent inserted.

Family members need to go handle the admission paperwork.

And at the same time, prepare the surgical fees.

Liu Mei Ling scooped up the child and stood, her face twisting with visible embarrassment.

Doctor...

Roughly how much will this operation cost?

It depends on the type of stent chosen.

Domestic brands are less expensive.

Imported options yield better results, but they come at a higher price.

Taking the hospital stay and miscellaneous costs into account...

You should prepare around seventy to eighty thousand yuan.

Hearing that staggering sum, my heart plunged into an abyss. Seventy to eighty thousand. If my father truly had any spare wealth to speak of.