The situation with Lin Rongyuan is worse than imagined.

The caregiver said that not long after she left, her lips began to turn purple and her breathing became labored. They quickly rang the bell for the doctor, but before they could examine her, the ECG monitor emitted a harsh, urgent beeping sound.

The setting sun outside was casting a dim orange light, still bright enough that the incandescent overhead light wasn’t too noticeable. Perhaps because her breathing was deepening, the smell of disinfectant was stronger than ever.

Facing the doctor’s routine but reassuring expression, Ying Ni’s ears were ringing with a strange buzzing sound. She heard him, but it was as if she couldn’t fully understand.

She stared blankly at the doctor, her lips slightly parted, feeling as though she was trapped in a small wooden house swaying in the middle of a storm, helpless and lost.

After the doctor left, the nurse patiently explained again.

In summary: after successful resuscitation, surgery must be performed as soon as possible.

Ying Ni followed Chen Jingjing to the office, signing one agreement after another. She held the pen steadily until she reached the consent form for surgery.
When she scanned the few lines in black and white saying “may worsen the condition and endanger life,” her fingers suddenly became weak, and the pen fell to the ground.

Chen Jingjing had seen this situation many times. Most people would break down into heartbreaking sobs at this point, some even kneeling and begging the doctor. Comforting words in these moments seemed useless. Chen Jingjing picked up the pen, turned, and poured a glass of warm water, placing it beside her.

Then began the long wait.

But Ying Ni didn’t even have time to wait. She went to a corner near the restroom, where she wouldn’t disturb the other patients, and started searching through her contacts to make calls to raise money for the surgery.

Ying Ni didn’t have many friends, and the list mostly consisted of distant relatives. But the relationship with her relatives was far from good. To be precise, it was antagonistic.

Years ago, when Ying Junyu’s business was booming, relatives wanted to invest and hinted at it during holidays with gifts. Ying Junyu, valuing relationships, wanted to agree, but Lin Rongyuan wasn’t happy about it.

Ying Ni remembered the small argument between her parents at the time. Lin Rongyuan believed that these relatives, who were friendly today, would turn into enemies once they lost money or made no profit.

She thought this way because it had happened before, when Ying Junyu had yet to enter the real estate industry and was working in the restaurant business. Seven or eight relatives, under Ying Junyu’s leadership, invested in a big restaurant.

But due to a bad location and ongoing decision-making conflicts between partners, the restaurant went bankrupt in less than a year, and the relatives lost money ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands.

Lin Rongyuan had received a lot of sarcastic comments at the time, but it wasn’t until Ying Junyu succeeded in real estate that the relatives smiled again.

Ying Junyu, believing that they were family and it wasn’t necessary to hold grudges, gave them what he thought was the best project—one with assured returns.

The number of investing relatives expanded from seven or eight to more than twenty, with a total amount reaching several million, nearly covering all the relatives who could be named.

Although Lin Rongyuan wasn’t happy, she reluctantly agreed, while complaining that Ying Junyu was too generous and warning the relatives.

“Investing is risky, profits and losses are your own responsibility!”

Everyone nodded, smiled, and assured that they understood.

But in the end, the Ying family ended up with a situation where relatives turned against them.

When her parents had a car accident and Lin Rongyuan needed surgery, no one would lend them money.

Only her aunt’s family came to visit.

After being rejected as expected, Ying Ni slid her thumb down the contact list and, with one last hope, called her aunt. After explaining the situation, her aunt was silent for a few seconds before saying, “We don’t have much money at home, let me discuss with your uncle, and we’ll try to gather what we can.”

Ying Ni kept saying thank you. She breathed a short sigh of relief as she clutched the phone, anxiously pacing back and forth.

Then, the sound of a WeChat notification pinged, and she stopped her restless steps.

Her aunt had indeed transferred some money and kindly added a note: “No need to return it.”

Seeing the amount followed by two zeros, Ying Ni suddenly smiled.

After the refund, she checked the balance. It was a little over two thousand, with one thousand eight hundred coming from a scratch card she had bought an hour ago.

It was like the heavens gave her a candy, only to slap her face right after.

So who could she still rely on? She swiped her finger across the screen and unblocked Yu Jiao. She sent a message and waited a minute, but there was no reply. Immediately after, she accepted a pending friend request.

Then, more waiting.

She hugged her arms, exhausted, leaning against the wall, the phone sitting on the windowsill within her sight, not missing any movement.

Time ticked by, and she glanced back at the bright lights of the emergency room.

Suddenly, she remembered something, quickly grabbed her phone, and dialed that long-uncontacted number.

The phone rang again and again, and it felt like the other person had set it on silent, not noticing the call.

Didn’t they say to contact her? Didn’t they promise to help? Where did they go?!

Ying Ni gritted her teeth and muttered, “Pick up the phone!”

The ringing continued until it automatically hung up.

Desperate, Ying Ni grabbed her hair and copied the message she had sent to Yu Jiao, then sent it to Zhou Siyang’s number. After that, she went to the bathroom and washed her face.

When she came out, she bumped into Chen Jingjing, who was going to the restroom. Seeing the look of sympathy in her eyes, Ying Ni didn’t like that kind of gaze but couldn’t care much at the moment. She blocked Chen Jingjing’s way.

“Do you like bags?”

The sudden question made Chen Jingjing confused. She thought Ying Ni must have been mentally affected, given the tense doctor-patient relationship. She instinctively took a step back.

Ying Ni held onto her hand without letting go. She remembered that Chen Jingjing’s family was well-off and that she had a rich brother.

“I have a Hermes bag, bought from the store. Even though it’s scratched, it’s worth over thirty thousand. I’ll sell it to you for twenty-five thousand, or I can pawn it to you, and when I have money, I’ll redeem it.”

She said it all in one breath, without pausing.

After a moment, realizing what she meant, Chen Jingjing’s expression turned wary: “You want to borrow money?”

“Yes, I’ll pawn the bag to you. We can go get it now.”

Chen Jingjing immediately shook her head.

She had been tricked by patients’ relatives before, who had offered to pawn items as collateral, only for them to later deny it after the surgery was done.

Trust between people is fragile.

Once you’ve been deceived, there’s no second chance.

Besides, she was just a nurse, not a savior.

Chen Jingjing had a clear sense of boundaries. “You should ask your relatives for money. If that doesn’t work, you can try crowdfunding. If that fails, let the hospital open a green channel.”

Ying Ni stared at her in silence. Chen Jingjing thought she might beg her or burst into tears, but Ying Ni simply released her hand and said, “Sorry.”

Then she left.

Chen Jingjing turned around, her gaze filled with sympathy, and watched her walk away.

Ying Ni went to the office and signed the papers to expedite the process, then sat down and waited.