Chapter 3 Ruthless

Sitting at the dining table, Ling Mo saw the worry etched on his mother’s face and couldn’t help but say, “Mom, don’t worry. I can take care of Dad’s medical expenses. That orchid I dug up from the mountains? I posted a picture of it online, and someone is willing to pay a high price to buy it. It’ll be more than enough to cover Dad’s medical bills.”

Yang Shulan forced a smile. “Mo’er, you’re really becoming sensible. Mom is happy. But your dad’s medical expenses require hundreds of thousands of yuan. How could a wild orchid sell for that much? After you eat, get some rest. Mom will go out for a bit.”

Ling Mo hesitated for a moment but didn’t argue. He understood that the price of an orchid was unbelievable for people living in the mountains. Before the money was in hand, it would be hard to convince her.

Even if he guaranteed it repeatedly, it would be difficult to dispel his mother’s concerns.

“Mom, I’ll go with you,” Ling Mo said firmly.

Ling Mo’s family had quite a few relatives. On his father’s side, besides two aunts (father’s sisters), there were three uncles (father’s brothers) and seven cousins (children of father’s uncles and aunts). On his mother’s side, there were three aunts (mother’s sisters) and two uncles (mother’s brothers).

Among the aunts, the eldest aunt, Ling Hongying, was closest to their family. She was currently taking care of his father in the hospital.

The younger aunt, Ling Hongmei, had married an agricultural technician. Their family’s situation was considered good among all the relatives.

The three uncles’ families were also doing well. Back then, when his father argued with his grandfather and they divided the family property, his father didn’t take a single share. So the three uncles’ families were considered above average in Jinping Township.

The seven cousins’ families were relatively ordinary. The eldest cousin and second uncle’s families were the poorest.

On his mother’s side, the eldest aunt, second aunt, and younger uncle’s families were doing okay. The eldest uncle and youngest aunt’s families were also very poor.

Ling Mo accompanied his mother to his younger aunt’s house. His aunt’s husband was now the head of the Jinping Township Epidemic Prevention Station, and his aunt ran a small shop in the township. Their finances had always been good. Among all the relatives, his aunt’s family was the most capable of lending money.

“Oh, Sister-in-law, Xiao Mo, you’ve come.”

Seeing Ling Mo and Yang Shulan arrive, Ling Hongmei’s expression changed rapidly a few times before finally settling into a smile as she welcomed them.

Ling Mo greeted Ling Hongmei with his mother. Yang Shulan said expectantly, “Hongmei, you probably guessed why I’m here. Your older brother suddenly fell ill. The hospital examined him, and the condition is very serious, requiring immediate surgery. But the surgery fees and subsequent treatment costs are very high. Our family doesn’t have enough money right now. I was wondering if you could lend me some?”

Ling Hongmei said with a look of sympathy, “Oh, Sister-in-law, you said Big Brother was always fine. How did he suddenly get sick? Of course, I want to help since Big Brother is sick. But, but it’s really bad timing. Our family originally had some spare money, but we just used it to buy goods a few days ago. All the money is gone, and we can’t come up with any money now.”

Yang Shulan’s expression froze, and her eyes dimmed. She felt lost. With her kind nature, she didn’t know if Ling Hongmei was telling the truth or not. Even if it was false, she couldn’t refute it.

“Then…then what do we do?” Yang Shulan said frantically.

“Mom!” Ling Mo held his mother’s hand tightly.

He knew that his parents rarely borrowed money, but they had lent money to others quite often. Now that a sudden change had occurred, his mother had originally placed her hopes on relatives and friends. But she didn’t expect that the very first person she asked had shattered her hopes.

“Little Sister, is there really nothing at all? Your older brother needs money to save his life. Please help us,” Yang Shulan said sorrowfully.

Actually, she didn’t expect to borrow all the treatment fees. But at least she wanted to gather the surgery fee first to save her husband’s life, and then find a way to solve the subsequent treatment fees.

The surgery fee was 150,000 yuan. The family’s money plus the bride price returned by the Xu family was about 70,000 yuan. She originally expected to borrow 10,000 to 20,000 yuan from Ling Hongmei’s family, so the remaining relatives could lend 3,000 to 5,000 yuan each, which would be almost enough.

But she never expected that the younger sister, from whom she had the most hope of borrowing money, would be in this situation.

Ling Hongmei said with ‘utmost’ apology, “Sister-in-law, I’m really sorry. Big Brother’s matter happened so suddenly. I just paid the payment for the goods, and I only have the money originally prepared for Xiao Mo’s gift and some pocket money left.”

Ling Hongmei opened the drawer, took out all the hundred-yuan bills inside, counted them, and handed them to Yang Shulan. “There’s exactly one thousand yuan here. Sister-in-law, if you don’t mind, take it first.”

Looking at Ling Hongmei’s fake expression, a surge of anger suddenly rose in Ling Mo’s heart. One thousand yuan? Was she trying to get rid of a beggar?

Having experienced more than a thousand years in the Canglan Continent, he could tell at a glance that Ling Hongmei was lying and being perfunctory.

At the same time of anger, Ling Mo felt more was chilling. Ling Hongmei, as the youngest sister of his father’s generation, had always been specially taken care of by his parents. It could be said that in all these years since Ling Mo understood things, his parents had almost always been helping her. But in the end, this was the result.

Ling Mo wanted to be angry, wanted to explode, but he knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t make his mother more sad and embarrassed at this time.

“Thank you, Little Sister. Then… we’ll go first.” Yang Shulan took the money with a lost expression and forced a smile. “Mo’er, let’s go.”

“Mom!” Ling Mo reached out to support his mother. Seeing his mother’s sad look, he couldn’t help but stop and turned back to look at Ling Hongmei. “Aunt, thank you so much for your help. No wonder my parents always told me that Aunt is the best person. She married into a cadre family, so our family should give her more support. That’s why my dad, no matter how busy he is every year, will definitely take the time to help at Aunt’s house. Every year when the fruits and vegetables are ripe, my mom always chooses the best ones to send over. I didn’t understand my parents’ words before, but now I understand. Thank you so much, Aunt. At the critical moment, it’s still relatives that we can rely on.”

Ling Hongmei’s expression froze on her face. She only felt her cheeks burning hot. Her lips moved, but she finally held back.

Ling Mo looked at Ling Hongmei’s reaction, stopped talking, and helped his mother leave.

Next, Ling Mo accompanied Yang Shulan to the homes of several uncles and cousins. But the situation was similar to that of his aunt’s family. All the relatives were unenthusiastic about the arrival of the mother and son.

The tactful relatives still pretended to be helpless, while some relatives didn’t even bother to pretend. Their tone was full of ridicule, and they refused bluntly.

“Mom, don’t be sad. Let them be heartless and unjust. Even without their help, I will solve Dad’s medical expenses. You believe me.”

On the way home, Ling Mo tried his best to comfort his mother. The relatives’ faces made Yang Shulan completely disappointed and hurt. All the way, Yang Shulan’s expression was very low.

Ling Mo felt extremely distressed. Even he didn’t expect his family to be like this. In previous interactions, everyone was still respectful to his parents. But now that he thought about it carefully, his parents had paid more in these years, and those uncles and aunts had been enjoying their parents’ help.

“Why are they like this? Your dad has never mistreated them all these years!” Yang Shulan’s face was full of doubt, sadness, and disappointment.

Ling Mo didn’t know what to say. Money was an interesting thing. It would make the disguises of many people instantly disappear.

Whether it was now or in the Canglan Continent, he had seen too much.

“Sister-in-law, Sister-in-law.”

Suddenly, from the fork in the road on the right, a figure quickly chased after them.