Chapter 7 — The Day My Father Remarried

It was not as if he would nitpick over a mere twenty-eight hundred yuan in monthly living expenses. Liu Mei Ling’s expression shifted subtly. She turned to look at the middle-aged man standing beside her. He furrowed his brow, remaining completely silent. Right at that moment, the eldest uncle stood up.

Money.

I will handle it.

His voice was not loud, but it carried an absolute, unshakeable certainty.

Save the person first.

We can figure out the rest later.

Liu Mei Ling visibly breathed a sigh of relief, though her mouth still uttered polite pleasantries.

Big brother...

How could this possibly...

I am his older brother.

There is nothing that cannot be done.

Su Wei Guo looked at her. His gaze was not fierce in the slightest, yet it exuded a heavy, oppressive weight that left no room for argument. He reached into his trouser pocket, took out his phone, and immediately called the factory accountant, instructing them to transfer one hundred thousand yuan straight to the hospital account. The surgery was scheduled for the very next morning. That evening, Liu Mei Ling took her daughter back home, claiming that children cannot stay overnight in a hospital. I had originally intended to return to campus as well, but my eldest uncle stopped me.

When your father wakes up.

And sees you here.

He will feel much more at ease.

I nodded and pulled up a chair to sit beside the hospital bed. Su Zhen Hua lay upon the mattress, wearing an oxygen mask, his complexion stark white, his chest rising and falling in shallow, rhythmic breaths. Deep into the night, the hospital room fell into an eerie, profound silence. The steady, mechanical beep of the vital signs monitor echoed clearly through the space. The eldest uncle pushed the door open and stepped inside, holding two cups of hot soy milk. He handed one to me.

Drink it.

To warm yourself.

I accepted the cup and took a quiet sip. Uncle gazed at Su Zhen Hua resting on the bed for a long while before suddenly breaking the silence.

Wan Wan.

Do you know...

Back when your mother fell ill.

Did your father ever borrow money from me?

I was startled and shook my head.

He did.

Su Wei Guo leaned against the window sill, both hands cradling his cup of warm soy milk.

Your mother's illness.

Ultimately cost more than one hundred thousand yuan.

Your father was short on cash back then.

So he borrowed fifty thousand from me.

Less than a year after your mother passed away.

He had paid back every last cent.

And even added five thousand yuan in interest.

I remained silent, quietly waiting for him to continue.

Aside from that loan...

The eldest uncle took another sip of his soy milk.

Before remarrying, your father came to borrow money from me one more time.

That time, it was sixty thousand yuan.

He told me he wanted to invest in a project.

Swore up and down that it was a guaranteed profit with no risk of loss.

I believed him.

So I gave him the money.

The result...

The venture failed completely.

Every single cent was lost.

He paused for a moment before speaking slowly once more.

Then he remarried.

The betrothal gifts.

The wedding banquet.

The expensive gifts for Liu Mei Ling’s family.

All of that cost quite a pretty penny.

Out of all that money...

How much of it came from the sixty thousand I lent him?

I have no way of knowing.

His voice dropped lower.

But I do know.

Ever since then...

He never spoke of paying me back again.

My heart tightened painfully in my chest.

Wan Wan.

Your father...

Is a man who cares deeply about his pride.

He crushed the empty paper cup in his hand and tossed it into the nearby trash can.

In the old days.

He was not like this.

When your mother was still alive.

Even though his business was not large.

As for the two of you, mother and daughter...

He truly gave us nothing to complain about.

It is just that later on...

He changed.

I asked softly:

Was it because my mother passed away?

Not entirely.

He looked right at me.

There are some matters.

Wait until you graduate.

Stay by your father's side for a while.

And you will naturally understand.

I asked no further questions. That night, Su Wei Guo sat in the bedside chair for the entire duration. Near dawn, he finally dozed off for a brief moment. I draped my jacket over his shoulders. He did not wake up, merely murmuring something under his breath, sounding vaguely as though he were muttering an apology.

I am sorry...

I had no idea whom he was apologizing to. My father’s surgery was a complete success. After half a month of recovery in the hospital, he was finally discharged. On the day he left the hospital, Liu Mei Ling went to pick him up. Because I was in the middle of final examinations, I could not be there, so I only sent a WeChat message asking how he was feeling. He replied:

Much better now. Don't worry about me, just focus on your exams.

On the day I finished my very last exam.