90: Chapter 90 The Heir!

"Are you and Xiao Su doing well?"

Li Li's back stiffened for a moment.

Xiao Su.

Su Wantang.

Doing well, my ass.

"We broke up."

Zhang Guifang froze. Under the blanket, her body, thin enough to be nothing but a skeleton, shifted.

"How did you break up?"

"She cheated."

Li Li replied blandly; the three words were delivered as if he were reading a weather report.

Zhang Guifang fell silent.

She pursed her withered lips. She didn't look surprised; on the contrary, it was as if a heavy stone had been lifted from her chest.

"...It's good that you broke up."

Just those three words. She didn't curse Su Wantang, didn't say "I saw that coming," and offered no hindsight bias.

But Li Li could hear it; those three words were weighed down by at least two years of endurance.

Zhang Guifang leaned back against the pillow and turned her head to look at him.

"Then what are you doing... now?"

"Filming variety shows." Li Li pondered his phrasing for a moment. "It's just... recording programs for television or streaming platforms."

"Television?" Zhang Guifang frowned. "Didn't you study architecture?"

"I do architecture too, but variety shows are a side gig. They pay a bit more."

"How much is 'a bit more'?"

Li Li decided not to give a specific number.

Even with state subsidies, this woman still needed to spend extra money every year to put over three hundred children through school.

She couldn't even bring herself to buy a new piece of clothing. If he told her he had over six million in his account, she would pull out her IV needle on the spot, jump up to hit him, and demand to know where the money came from.

"Enough to pay for your medical treatment."

Zhang Guifang's fingers twitched on the blanket.

"How much money?"

"Don't you worry about the money—"

"I'm asking you how much."

Li Li glanced at her.

Sick or not, her temper hadn't shrunk one bit.

"At West China Hospital, surgery plus chemotherapy will cost at least five hundred thousand, conservatively."

The room fell silent.

Zhang Guifang slowly closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, they were full of reluctance.

"Too expensive."

Li Li opened his mouth, but before he could speak—

"Five hundred thousand." Zhang Guifang repeated the number, enunciating every word with great effort. "There are over three hundred children in the orphanage, and their food expenses alone are eighty thousand a month. Five hundred thousand is enough to feed them for half a year."

She raised her hand, which was attached to an IV, and pointed toward the window.

"Those children are growing, and sometimes we can't even afford an egg for their breakfast. If you spend five hundred thousand to treat an old woman who's already got one foot in the grave, I won't be able to close my eyes even after I die."

Li Li didn't respond.

He leaned against the back of the chair, his right hand resting on his knee, his thumb rubbing against the seam of his trousers.

In the memories of his predecessor, Zhang Guifang was exactly this kind of person.

The orphanage's funding was never enough. In recent years, the subsidy in Chengdu had increased to two thousand per child per month, which, combined with tuition waivers, barely managed to balance the expenses.

But she had poured all her own money from earlier years into it; she washed the children's uniforms by hand one by one, saving the laundry detergent money to buy milk for the kids.

She had suffered from stomach pain for three years without getting it checked, dragging it out until it reached stage 3b.

Reasoning with her was useless; she only had one principle—the children were more important than her.

"Mother Zhang."

Li Li spoke up, dropping the honorific "you."

"I have a question for you."

Zhang Guifang looked at him.

"If you're gone, who will run the orphanage?"

The room fell silent.

"Teacher Wang? She can manage the accounts, but not the people. Teacher Liu? He can't even remember all the children's names."

Li Li counted them off one by one.

"There are four hundred people in the orphanage. Food, housing, education, medical care, rehabilitation for disabled children—it's all on your shoulders. If you die, what happens to these children?"

Zhang Guifang gripped the corner of the blanket.

"You say spending the money on the children is more worthwhile. Fine, let me change the calculation."

Li Li leaned forward.

"If you live, the orphanage keeps running, and over three hundred children are taken care of. In ten or twenty years, the children who go out into the world will succeed and give back to society. The return on investment for your life is far higher than six months of food expenses."

He paused.

"You aren't spending money to treat an illness; you're sustaining the life of the orphanage. Without you, this place is just an empty shell."

The only sounds in the room were the occasional footsteps in the hallway and the ringing of a telephone at the distant nurse's station.

Zhang Guifang stared at the ceiling, remaining silent for a long time.

Li Li didn't rush her.

He understood this woman. She wouldn't be persuaded; she had to figure it out for herself. The more he pushed, the more stubborn she would become.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Zhang Guifang's throat moved.

"...Fine."

A single word.

So soft it was almost inaudible.

Li Li let out a breath, though he kept his face neutral.

"I'll handle the transfer procedures tomorrow. I've already booked an appointment with a specialist at West China Hospital."

Zhang Guifang turned her head to examine him.

"Since when do you have the ability to book a specialist at West China Hospital?"

Li Li's mouth twitched.

This question was impossible to answer. He couldn't exactly say, "My romantic interest's father is the commander of the Imperial Capital Garrison, her mother is the director of Haidian High School, and she has a hundred million fans; one phone call and the director of West China Hospital answers personally."

"A friend helped."

Zhang Guifang didn't press him.

Having lived for most of her life, she knew perfectly well what should and shouldn't be asked.

After a few seconds of silence, she spoke again.

"I'll get the treatment. But I have one condition."

"Go ahead."

"While I'm hospitalized, the orphanage cannot be left without someone in charge."

Zhang Guifang looked straight at him.

"You must shoulder your responsibility."

Li Li was taken aback.

"What responsibility?"

Zhang Guifang didn't explain.

She shrank back into the blanket, her eyelids drooping as she sank into the pillow.

"Go find Teacher Wang; she will tell you. I'm tired."

She closed her eyes.

It wasn't a dismissal; she was genuinely exhausted. The muscles on her face relaxed completely, and within thirty seconds, her breathing became deep and rhythmic.

Li Li sat for a while, pulled the corner of the blanket up, and got up to leave the ward.

The fluorescent light in the hallway was still flickering on and off.

Teacher Wang was crouching at the door of 402, clutching a paper cup; the water inside had long since gone cold.

Her eyes were red, but she wasn't crying.

Hearing the door open, she stood up and placed the paper cup on the windowsill.

"What did she say?"

"She agreed to the treatment. We're transferring to West China Hospital tomorrow."

Teacher Wang nodded, her lips trembling slightly.

"Also," Li Li leaned against the wall, "she told me to come find you, saying I have some 'responsibility'."

Teacher Wang stared at him for a moment, her expression shifting several times.

"Follow me."

She turned and walked to the end of the hallway. She pushed open a door marked "Family Lounge." Inside were two plastic chairs and a folding table. Teacher Wang took a stack of folders out of her bag.

She sat down and pulled a kraft paper envelope from the bottom of the stack.

The envelope was crumpled, its edges frayed.

She placed the envelope on the table and pressed down on it with her crossed hands.

"Do you know the orphanage's current financial situation?"

Li Li shook his head.

Teacher Wang stated a number.

"Debt: 8.47 million."

Li Li's mind buzzed.

8.47 million.

He had over six million in his account. After subtracting Mother Zhang's medical expenses, what remained wasn't enough to fill this hole.

"How did we get into so much debt?"

"Don't look at how we're barely breaking even now. In the early years, building repairs, updating teaching equipment, rehabilitation for disabled children, rising food costs, delayed government subsidies...", Teacher Wang counted them off one by one, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the table. "The director never complained about poverty to anyone, but the numbers don't lie. Just last winter, we owed 110,000 in heating fees, which is still on the gas company's books."

Li Li was silent.

"Then what do we do?"

Teacher Wang looked at him.

"That depends on you."

"Depends on me?" Li Li frowned. "What use am I?"

Teacher Wang didn't answer directly.

She pushed the kraft paper envelope toward him.

"See for yourself."

Li Li opened the envelope.

Inside was a notarized document.

The paper was yellowed, and the date was six years ago.

He scanned it line by line.

Testator: Zhang Guifang.

Will contents: ...The land use rights and all buildings on the property located at XX Road, XX Number, Mount Qingcheng Town, Dujiangyan City, covering an area of approximately 50,000 square meters, shall be inherited by the legatee after the death of the testator...

Legatee: Li Li.

ID Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

Li Li held the notarized document and read it again, word for word.

50,000 square meters.

At the foot of Mount Qingcheng.

He was the sole heir to this land.

Teacher Wang leaned back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest.

"Six years ago, the year you were admitted to university, the director drew up this notarization."

She paused.

"You were the first child she picked up with her own hands, and the only one she raised as her own son. This land was passed down from her ancestors. After her husband and son passed away, she used all of it to build the orphanage."

"She said that after she passes, this land can only be given to one person."

Teacher Wang's gaze fell on his face.

"And that's you."

At the end of the corridor, a nurse pushed a medication cart past, its wheels creaking on the floor tiles.

Li Li sat on the plastic chair, clutching the notarized document.

50,000 square meters of land, at the front of Mount Qingcheng, next to the high-speed railway station.

If this were sold to a developer—

He extinguished that thought.

That was the home of over three hundred children.

He had over six million in his account, medical expenses were at least five hundred thousand, and the orphanage's debt was over eight million.

It wasn't enough.

Far from enough.

And the four hundred people on this land were, from today on, tied to him.

Teacher Wang downed the cold water in the paper cup in one gulp, stood up, and walked to the door.

She turned back and left one sentence behind.

"The director said you've changed."

She pushed open the door, and the light from the hallway spilled in.

"I think so too."

The door closed behind her.

Li Li sat alone in the family lounge, the notarized document in his hand wrinkled from his grip.

His phone vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out.

Jiang Rumu: How is your foster mother doing?

Li Li stared at the screen, his thumb hovering for three seconds.

Li Li: She's okay. We're transferring her tomorrow.

After sending it, he typed another line.

Li Li: I think I just became a father.

The reply came back instantly.

Jiang Rumu: ???

Jiang Rumu: You'd better explain that sentence clearly.