Chapter 46: Dilemma
Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Dilemma
Zhang Yan chose this restaurant not just because the food was genuinely good and the service impeccable, but most importantly, because its atmosphere was absolutely perfect for a date.
"Baby, how come you didn’t bring that white bag you love so much today?" he asked.
He had bought his junior over a hundred thousand yuan’s worth of items in a single shopping spree back then. Still, Zhang Yan could tell that the two tops, the pair of pants, and the necklace combined couldn’t compare to how much she loved that white bag. When she had first gotten her hands on it, the adoration in her eyes had practically overflowed. Perhaps girls were just born with an incomprehensible infatuation with bags.
"Aren’t we going to the aquarium today? I heard it’s been super popular lately and packed with people. I couldn’t bear to bring it."
Zhang Yan could actually understand that feeling. Back in college, when he finally managed to buy a new pair of basketball shoes, he had still worn his old ones to play on the court, saving the new ones for everyday wear.
However, his mindset had completely changed now. After all, most of his previous worries had just been money worries.
"Things are bought to be used, otherwise it’s just a waste of money," he said. "If it gets ruined, we’ll just buy a new one."
"That was the very first gift you gave me. Even though that ’first time’ included quite a few things, I still want to keep every single one of them forever."
Zhang Yan had initially thought his junior loved every gift because they were all from the top-tier luxury brand Louis Vuitton. Even if they weren’t the most aesthetically pleasing, their sheer brand value made them naturally lovable. Now it seemed that, while the price tag might have played a part, it wasn’t the deciding factor. She loved them because they were the very first gifts Zhang Yan had given her.
He wondered if the restaurant was serving fake white wine today; he was already feeling a little buzzed after just one sip.
Under the soft, gentle lighting, his junior looked even more pure and charming. Her dining habits were completely different from Xia Xiqing’s. With every dish that arrived, she would excitedly snap a close-up photo, then meticulously adjust the color and lighting. It seemed the presentation of the food was far more important to her than its taste.
Once she had photographed everything, she would later select the best eight pictures and arrange them around a close-up of the table setting she had taken at the very beginning. This carefully curated nine-grid photo collage would then be shared with her friends to capture the beautiful moment. Whether it was the first time he treated her at Guanye Street or the second time at Hongmei Cottage, it was always the same.
Zhang Yan could now slightly understand the root cause of this difference in behavior. Price was a factor, of course, but the main reason was frequency. It was hard to muster the desire to take a dedicated close-up of the chair one sat in every day. But if it were a gold or silver chair that one only got to sit in once in a lifetime, or once in many years, chances were they would document the moment for future memories or to share with friends and family.
"Senior, the food here looks so pretty! You really know how to pick a place!"
Seeing his junior awkwardly grip her knife and fork, clumsily trying to tackle a steak, Zhang Yan coughed gently and murmured, "Fork in the left hand, knife in the right."
In truth, this so-called etiquette wasn’t all that important. It wasn’t a banquet or a public event; in private, the two of them could eat however they pleased. But since Zhang Yan had just learned a little something himself, he couldn’t resist seizing the opportunity to show off his second-hand sophistication.
Hearing the tip, his junior playfully stuck out her tongue and swapped the cutlery in her hands.
CLINK, CLATTER. The two beginners noisily sawed at the food on their plates, though the racket didn’t stop them from chatting.
"Baby, where is your hometown?"
"I’m from Bai City."
"That’s not too far from Meng City. I think the high-speed rail connects there now. Does it only take three or four hours to go home?"
"Yeah, about five hours if everything goes smoothly. It really isn’t far."
"Do your parents both work back home?"
"My mother passed away from an illness when I was very young. My father... he used to drive a taxi in the city."
Zhang Yan noticed that when his junior mentioned her late mother, there wasn’t much sadness in her voice, but when she brought up her living father, her mood visibly sank.
"I’m sorry," he said. "I brought up something that makes you sad."
"It’s okay. I want to tell you everything about me."
But Chi Xinyue silently added in her heart, "But the thing I should tell you the most is the one thing I just can’t bring myself to say."
Chi Xinyue had originally been admitted into a very good university. Relying on her good looks, she managed to earn a decent amount of money taking on part-time jobs while studying. It should have been the prime of her life, the perfect time to enjoy her youth.
However, a sudden tragedy felt like a bucket of ice water poured over her head. Her father had been diagnosed with liver cancer.
It wasn’t actually all that sudden. Her father had long suffered from early symptoms like indigestion, loss of appetite, bloating, and fatigue. But at the time, they both just assumed he was overworked and didn’t take it seriously. This was a common mindset among ordinary people. They wouldn’t make a mountain out of a molehill over general symptoms, instead secretly hoping they were lucky enough to have avoided any major illnesses. After all, if it truly was a severe illness, the consequences would likely be more than the whole family could bear. It was almost better not to know until the late stages when treatment was no longer an option.
Chi Xinyue’s father fell exactly into this category.
He was diagnosed with early-stage liver cancer, but due to an underlying condition of cirrhosis, a resection wasn’t viable. The doctors recommended a liver transplant. However, after asking around, she learned that the total cost of the treatment from start to finish would range from one to one and a half million yuan. The portion covered by medical insurance was extremely limited. How could a family like theirs possibly afford that?
Moreover, even if the surgery was successful and the liver was transplanted, the near-endless, long-term postoperative care would be a bottomless pit. This wasn’t a matter of a few thousand or even tens of thousands; it was a massive, million-yuan crater!
That was why she had never dared to voice this out loud. She truly, deeply cherished her relationship with Zhang Yan. Yet, on the other hand, she couldn’t just abandon her familial duties.
She had been raised almost entirely by her father. Even though he had many shortcomings, Chi Xinyue knew he had given her everything he had. His illness was certainly linked to his frequent drinking, but wasn’t his love for alcohol born from the overwhelming pressure of life? He had merely been drowning his sorrows. Therefore, both emotionally and rationally, it was impossible for her to give up on her father’s treatment just to pursue her own happiness.
She had approached Zhang Yan with an ulterior motive from the very beginning. If she confessed everything—that her intentions weren’t pure and that she needed an exorbitant amount of money—how could she possibly expect to retain his love? But out of everyone she knew, there was no one else who could help him except Zhang Yan.
And so, she found herself trapped in this current dilemma. She didn’t want to give up on either side, yet it felt as if she was going to lose both.
Chi Xinyue poured herself a large glass of white wine, tipped her head back, and downed it in one gulp.
The wine was terribly bitter.