Yang Mei called Lin Zhen, but there was nothing she could do. Apart from the monthly living expenses, he had never given her extra money.

“No money! Do you know I work every day like a grandson? The engagement banquet for our son tonight costs 50,000 yuan! Dowry, marriage, wedding room, where would I get the money?”

“Figure out your family’s affairs yourself!”

After Lin Zhen finished speaking, he hung up the phone, frowning as he smoked in the hotel.

“This is the bracelet I bought for you, here, it’s for you.”

The woman, wearing a bathrobe and looking about 30 years old, cheerfully accepted the Cartier bracelet with a smile.

Yang Mei had no choice but to call Lin Ze over. Lin Nuan was working in another city and couldn’t help much.

Xia Qing rushed over. She heard that the surgery cost 250,000 yuan. Now, her uncle had scraped together 50,000 yuan, and Yang Xia had also taken out her family savings of 60,000 yuan.

Yang Mei was already trying to sell her jewelry.

By the time Yang Mei sold her jewelry and arrived with Lin Ze, arrangements had already been made for Old Grandma to be hospitalized.

Yang Mei was shocked to hear that Old Grandma had already been admitted to the hospital, knowing that the surgery fees needed to be paid in advance.

“Mom is hospitalized? Have you raised enough for the surgery?” Yang Mei said in shock.

“Auntie, don’t worry, I’ve already paid it,” Xia Qing said in a low voice.

“Yes, yes, Qing Qing paid it!” Yang Xia exclaimed. If she hadn’t known that her daughter’s copyright fees were over a million, she would have been very worried about the 200,000 yuan.

Lin Ze rushed over with his girlfriend, Li Mo. They were supposed to be preparing for their engagement tonight, but they came over when they heard about Old Grandma’s situation.

“Paid?” Lin Ze asked in surprise.

He had been to Yang Mei’s hometown when he was a child, and the conditions were very ordinary. He had originally planned to scrape it together somehow, but he didn’t expect it to be paid so quickly.

Lin Ze’s girlfriend looked like a sophisticated businesswoman, wearing gold-rimmed glasses.

“Yes, it’s already paid,” Xia Qing said with a smile.

At this moment, she was really grateful to Su Yu, because if it weren’t for him, she would probably be worrying about money as well. They clearly could survive, otherwise they might not have been able to raise the surgery fees and would have had to give up Old Grandma’s life.

Lin Ze and Li Mo couldn’t help much by coming. They both went to see Old Grandma.

Li Mo was carrying a fruit basket worth a lot of money.

Old Grandma smiled and said, “This is a little gift for you as a first meeting, a small token.”

Old Grandma took out a red envelope that she had been clutching for a long time from her arms.

“No need, Old Grandma,” Lin Ze said with some heartache. The old woman had specially brought him a red envelope.

“It’s a little token from Old Grandma, just accept it,” Yang Xia said.

Lin Ze nodded. Li Mo, who was standing next to him, frowned slightly. She didn’t want to accept it at all.

Looking at the black spots on the red envelope, she showed disgust in her eyes, but her good upbringing still made her take it.

As soon as the two of them left the hospital entrance, Li Mo didn’t want to open the red envelope at all and threw it to Lin Ze.

“It’s from your Old Grandma, I don’t want it.”

Lin Ze opened the red envelope, and inside were brand new five hundred yuan bills. His eyes turned slightly red. Elderly people in the countryside don’t have retirement pensions, and it’s very difficult to save money.

In the village, they really support the elderly, unlike in the city, where most people are mooching off their parents.

“Didn’t I hear your sister say she went back to the countryside? She paid 250,000 yuan as soon as she said she would? What kind of job is she doing?” Li Mo asked curiously.

After all, even though she had a high salary of 20,000 yuan a month, it was still a bit difficult to take out 250,000 yuan at once.

After all, she was almost always broke by the end of the month.

“I’m not too sure, I haven’t seen her in a long time,” Lin Ze frowned.

Now that’s settled, none of the three of them could attend the engagement banquet. Old Grandma and his mother weren’t going, and it wouldn’t be interesting for Xia Qing to go either.

“Qing Qing, I gave your card number to your uncle, and he transferred 50,000 yuan to you.”

Xia Qing looked at her phone and indeed received a notification of the payment.

The aunt’s face was a little embarrassed, and she said, “We can’t let you pay for all of our mom’s surgery. I will try to make up for my share too.”

Actually, Xia Qing didn’t care, but since both sides said so, she had no choice but to agree.

Xia Qing opened a room in a large hotel across from the hospital, as people were not allowed to stay overnight in the hospital.

During the day, she would order food and send it to Yang Xia and her aunt.

“Hello, I’m Le Yue’s agent. I got your phone number from your editor.”

“Le Yue? Is that the singing star Le Yue!” Xia Qing remembered that Le Yue seemed to be very popular.

“Yes! I’m her agent. I’ve been following your novel, and Le Yue is very interested in the lyrics you wrote later. Can we buy the copyright to your lyrics?”

“Of course! I have a lot more lyrics! I mean, I’ve written a lot of lyrics before,” Xia Qing said with a smile.

“Which city are you in now? We’d like to meet you to sign the contract.”

Although electronic signing was also possible, they wanted to meet in person to discuss it.

Le Yue really liked these lyrics, as if they were tailor-made for her, and there was also the background of the novel.

“I’m in Shanghai now.”

The voice on the other end of the phone was even more pleasantly surprised, and said, “That’s great! Let’s add each other on WeChat, and I’ll send you an address. We can arrange a time to meet.”

“Okay!”

Soon, Xia Qing added her on WeChat, and the two agreed to meet at the Shanghai People’s Coffee Shop at ten o’clock tomorrow morning. They had already reserved a seat there.

In a very good mood, Xia Qing directly bought twenty cups of milk tea and put them in her space, and left a note for Su Yu.

She was in a good mood, so she treated him to milk tea! She also bought a box of ham sausages and a box of instant noodles. Buying too many things at once was too conspicuous in Shanghai.

She just bought a little bit here and there, but she really loved shopping—it seemed to give her a sense of accomplishment.

The next day at 9 a.m., she took a taxi and set off.

This was the Mo Du People’s Café, where seating was only available by reservation—otherwise, you couldn’t get in.

The entire place boasted 360-degree panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, and in the evening during the two phases of sunset lighting, one could overlook the sweeping views of Mo Du’s Lujiazui and Bund.

Xia Qing arrived on time and found that Le Yue’s agent had already arrived—a graceful, capable woman.

Xia Qing casually ordered a cup of cappuccino.

“Le Yue really loves your lyrics and would like to purchase the copyright,” the agent said.

Before coming here, Xia Qing had already done her research: famous lyricists could command as much as 8,000 yuan per character—sometimes even over 10,000.

And she wasn’t famous at all!

“With that in mind, as a gesture of our sincerity—and since Le Yue really adores your lyrics—would you accept a price of 3,000 yuan per character?”

“Yes!”

Xia Qing quickly agreed. Her portfolio still had no name, and some moderately well-known authors only fetch about 1,000 yuan per character.

In other words, back in the day, top lyricists could sell their work for up to 10,000 yuan per character.

Actually, according to the agent’s plan, this set of lyrics could even fetch 8,000 yuan per character. But a lyricist’s renown is also very important.

If the writer were purely a professional lyricist, even 1,000 yuan per character would be considered a high price.

It just so happened that these lyrics were paired with that wildly popular novel—which, it was said, had also sold its film and TV rights. Eventually, the theme song was bound to be chosen from them. So they compromised on a high price.

In the future, they also hoped to work with the girl before them.