89: Chapter 89 The Debts of My Predecessor Begin to Be Repaid Today

"Driver, change of plans. Go to the Capital Airport."

The bald driver slammed on the brakes, and Li Li in the back seat almost chipped his front teeth.

"Changed your mind? Going to the Capital Airport?"

The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror and chuckled.

"Got it. Flying from Daxing to Tianfu is called exile; flying from the Capital to Shuangliu is called a business trip."

Li Li pulled out his phone to cancel the ticket and buy a new one. From the Capital to Shuangliu, business class—nothing else, just for speed.

He switched to WeChat and found Director Pei Zhao.

"Director Pei, do me a favor. Can you expedite the withdrawal of my personal earnings from the TikTok backend?"

The "typing..." indicator on the other end flickered for a long time.

"Are you in urgent need of money? How much are you short? I'll cover it for you first."

"No need, just withdraw my own portion. Please handle the tax withholding as well. Don't touch the 6.66 million tipped by that guy in the white headscarf."

"Saving it to breed more money?"

"I'll donate it later through a corporate channel; it can be used for tax avoidance."

Director Pei Zhao sent a string of thumbs-up emojis.

"Your abacus beads just hit me in the face. Alright, it'll arrive in half an hour."

Li Li switched out of WeChat.

The previous owner was a pauper with a two-digit balance in his card. He had to see some money coming back today.

An hour later, in the Capital Airport business class lounge.

His phone vibrated.

[Your savings card ending in 8848 has received 6,124,500.00 RMB.]

Li Li counted the zeros three times.

In this life and the last, this was the first time he had seen so much money.

The debt owed by the previous owner could finally be repaid.

He sat in the lounge for ten minutes and did two things.

First, he pulled up the official website of the Dujiangyan City Hospital and scanned the list of attending physicians in the Gastroenterology Department.

Second, he opened the chat box with Jiang Rumu.

His finger hovered for two seconds.

He had never taken the initiative to ask her for a favor before.

Li Li: Do you have any connections in the medical circle in Chengdu? Specifically, West China Hospital's Gastrointestinal Surgery.

He sent it, expecting to wait a while.

Three seconds later, a reply popped back.

Jiang Rumu: Yes, what's wrong?

Li Li: My foster mother has stage 3b stomach cancer. She's at a district hospital, and I want to transfer her to West China Hospital.

Jiang Rumu: Send me her medical records.

There wasn't a single wasted word. She didn't ask how he had a foster mother, didn't ask why he hadn't mentioned it sooner, and didn't make small talk.

Three minutes later, another message came.

Jiang Rumu: I've already called Director Zhang of the West China Gastrointestinal Surgery Department. Bring her over, and you can get an extra appointment slot anytime.

Li Li stared at the screen.

The Jiang family's network was terrifyingly powerful.

Li Li: Thanks.

Jiang Rumu: You're welcome.

She paused for two seconds.

Jiang Rumu: After you finish handling your foster mother's affairs, come back and treat me to a meal. You owe me two now.

Li Li didn't reply and shoved his phone into his pocket.

The boarding announcement sounded.

—

In the evening, after exiting Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, Li Li chartered a black car and headed straight for Dujiangyan.

As the sky turned dark, he first detoured to the entrance of Qingcheng Orphanage.

He didn't go in.

Jiajia received a call and slipped out from the side gate two minutes later.

She had her hair in pigtails, wore a faded school uniform, and her nose was red.

"Brother Li! You've become handsome!"

Li Li pressed down on her head.

"Stop with the flattery. Which ward is Mother Zhang in?"

"402, Bed 3." Jiajia sniffled. "Brother, Mother Zhang has lost so much weight, I almost didn't recognize her..."

Li Li took out a hundred-yuan bill and stuffed it into her hand.

"Buy some candy. Don't tell anyone I came."

Jiajia gripped the money and nodded vigorously.

In the distance, the old man in the security booth was already walking out with his tea mug. Li Li turned and merged into the night in two strides.

—

Eight o'clock at night, Inpatient Department of Dujiangyan City Hospital.

The smell of disinfectant hit him straight in the forehead.

Li Li stepped out of the elevator onto the fourth floor, Gastroenterology Department.

Two nurses on duty at the nurse's station were organizing medical records.

"Excuse me, for Zhang Guifang in Bed 402, is the attending physician in?"

The chubby nurse looked up and sized him up.

"Who are you?"

"Family."

The chubby nurse paused for a second and stuffed the medical record into a folder.

"Didn't she say she had no family... Dr. Liu is in the office."

The thin nurse added, "Such a good person, why doesn't she have better luck?"

Li Li didn't respond and went to the doctor's office first.

Liu Jianhua was balding and wearing reading glasses while looking at scans.

Li Li walked in and pulled up a chair without waiting to be offered a seat.

"Dr. Liu, I am Zhang Guifang's family member. What is her current condition?"

Liu Jianhua pushed up his reading glasses and scanned him from head to toe.

"Family? What is your relationship with her?"

"She raised me."

Liu Jianhua put down the scans.

"Stomach cancer, stage 3b. Surgery must be done as soon as possible to remove part of the stomach tissue, followed by chemotherapy."

"The cost?"

"Initial surgery and hospitalization will be at least 100,000. The subsequent chemotherapy is a bottomless pit, starting at a conservative 500,000." Liu Jianhua took off his reading glasses, his tone carrying the exhaustion typical of district hospital doctors. "Young man, I know what the conditions are like at your orphanage. Even the 5,000 yuan deposit for President Zhang's hospitalization was pooled together by a few doctors in our department. This illness isn't something that can be cured just by having filial piety; it requires real money."

Li Li stood up.

"I've already contacted Director Zhang of West China Hospital's Gastrointestinal Surgery Department. I plan to transfer her. Please help me organize her medical records and imaging files; I will come to pick them up tomorrow."

The reading glasses in Liu Jianhua's hand almost fell to the floor.

"West China? Professor Zhang? How did you —"

"Personal connection. Don't worry about the costs."

Li Li didn't explain further.

He turned and walked out. Liu Jianhua stared at his back, unable to close his mouth for a long time.

Since when did a child from an orphanage have such connections?

—

A fluorescent light in the corridor was flickering.

Li Li walked to the door of 402, but before he could push it open, the door opened from the inside.

A middle-aged woman walked out, wearing black-rimmed glasses and carrying a plastic water jug.

It was Teacher Wang from Qingcheng Orphanage, the one in charge of the accounts.

In the previous owner's memories, this person was shrewd, sharp-tongued, and not a bad person at heart, but she protected the orphanage director like a hen protecting her chicks. She would get angry with anyone who provoked Zhang Guifang.

The two locked eyes.

Teacher Wang stopped in her tracks.

She sized Li Li up.

She recognized him.

"Li Li?"

Her voice went up an octave.

Several patients' families in the corridor poked their heads out at the same time.

"Teacher Wang."

Teacher Wang slammed the water jug onto the ground, causing water to splash out from the spout and spill all over the floor.

"You still have the face to come back?!"

Her finger pointed directly at his nose, and her entire arm was trembling.

"To put you through college, Director Zhang scrimped and saved, and now she's fallen ill with a body full of sickness! And you? You went to the big city and haven't had a word of contact for two years! You didn't even make a phone call during the New Year!"

The chubby nurse, passing by with a tray, stopped.

Teacher Wang's scolding grew louder.

"The year before last, when the Director fainted from high blood pressure and was sent to the emergency room, I used her phone to call you — and you hung up directly! I called again, and you turned your phone off! You damn well turned it off! The first thing the Director asked when she woke up was whether she had disturbed you!"

The corridor was so quiet you could hear the water dripping from the jug.

"They don't pay attention to the internet, but I do. In Su Wantang's livestream, your girlfriend wanted to buy a bag, and you were delivering food in the middle of the night! The Director was rolling on the floor in pain from her stomach, and you couldn't send back a single cent! Even a dog raised by the orphanage knows how to run back for a visit during the New Year — you're not even as good as a dog!"

Li Li stood there, motionless.

He had to bear the sins committed by the previous owner.

Teacher Wang was red-eyed from scolding, her chest heaving violently, her voice already cracking.

She took a breath and was about to speak again.

Li Li waited for that second when she caught her breath, then spoke.

"I've already scheduled an appointment with a specialist at West China Hospital's Gastrointestinal Surgery Department. I'll handle the transfer procedures tomorrow."

Teacher Wang's mouth was still open, but no sound came out.

"Surgery and follow-up chemotherapy, no matter how much it costs, I will pay. I will take responsibility for Mother Zhang's illness to the end."

The corridor went completely silent.

Teacher Wang's lips moved a couple of times, but not a single word could come out.

She had known Li Li for twenty years; the child had been taciturn since he was young, and his word was his bond. But for the past two years, he had been so obsessed with that woman surnamed Su that he had lost all sense of family. She thought the child was ruined.

Now, the person standing in front of her — she couldn't say what was different.

But he was definitely different.

Teacher Wang slowly bent down and picked up the water jug from the ground.

Her hand was still shaking.

She didn't say anything else and stepped aside to clear the doorway.

—

Ward 402.

The dim bedside lamp was on.

The bed at the very end by the window had its curtain half-drawn.

Li Li walked over.

The person on the bed had woken up.

She was leaning against the pillow, her head tilted, not knowing whether she was looking out the window or just spacing out.

Hearing footsteps, she turned her head.

Li Li paused.

Jiajia said she had lost a lot of weight.

It wasn't just a lot; she was unrecognizable. The slightly plump woman from the previous owner's memories who used to chase him all over the courtyard with a broom was now shrunken in the quilt, her cheeks sunken into two hollows, an indwelling needle stuck in the back of her hand, her veins bulging one by one.

Zhang Guifang's gaze landed on him.

Five seconds, ten seconds.

Her withered lips moved.

She didn't scold him, didn't cry.

She tugged at the muscles on her face, revealing an incredibly ugly smile.

"You're back."

Li Li stood by the bed, his throat tightening.

He walked to the bedside table, pulled out a chair, sat down, and reached out to pull the corner of the quilt up.

"Mother Zhang, we're transferring to West China Hospital tomorrow."

Zhang Guifang's smile froze on her face.

"West China? How much will that cost —"

"Don't worry about the money."

Zhang Guifang stared at him for several seconds.

Her lips moved again, as if she wanted to say something.

Li Li handed her the water cup.

"Drink some water first. If you have anything you want to scold me for, wait until you're healed, then scold me."

Zhang Guifang took the cup, her hands shaking violently, the water sloshing back and forth at the rim.

She lowered her head and took a sip.

The water went down.

Tears fell into the cup.

Outside in the corridor, the sound of Teacher Wang's sobbing came through, muffled.

Li Li sat in the chair, his right hand resting on his knee, motionless.

His phone vibrated in his pocket again.

He didn't take it out.

Outside the window, the night in Dujiangyan was pitch black, and the sound of the river could be heard faintly in the distance.

The bedside lamp cast long shadows of the two of them.

Zhang Guifang suddenly spoke, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible.

"Are you and Xiao Su doing well?"