Chapter 224: Keeping This Family Around Just Makes Me Sick
Chapter 224: Chapter 224: Keeping This Family Around Just Makes Me Sick
Liu Qiang’s face flushed. "Your brother—your brother was just joking with you. He doesn’t mean what he says, how could you take it seriously!"
Shen Lu shrugged and held up her hands. "I didn’t take it seriously. That’s why I never paid him any mind."
Liu Qiang was at a loss for words. The doctor, however, had no patience to listen to them squabble.
"The surgery needs to be done as soon as possible. It’ll be around 2,000 Star Coins. You should go pay the fee."
"2,000 Star Coins? Where are we going to get that kind of money?" Liu Qiang was in a panic, looking to Shen Lu again. "Little Deer, you have to think of something."
Shen Lu looked at Liu Qiang, then at Yang Jing. "Dad, Mom, you’re not thinking clearly right now. Why don’t you step outside for a moment? I’ll talk to the doctor alone."
"Talk to him alone? You’re just a kid. You think you can handle that?"
Shen Lu: ...
’What is this crap? They tell me to figure something out, but then they don’t trust my ability to do it. I really just want to wash my hands of this whole thing.’
Perhaps sensing Shen Lu’s displeasure, Yang Jing tugged on her husband’s arm, whispered something, and the two of them left the doctor’s office.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" The doctor took a sip of water. "But let me be blunt: even if you get on your knees and beg, I can’t possibly waive the fees."
"I’m not in the habit of kneeling before people. I just wanted to discuss Liu Yaozu’s treatment options with you." Shen Lu chose her words carefully. "In his current condition, will his life be in danger if he doesn’t have the surgery?"
"No, but the bone in his arm is dislocated. If it isn’t set properly, the long-term complications will be quite severe. The bone in his calf, on the other hand, is easy to treat. We just need to immobilize it, and with some medication, it’ll heal in time."
"Then let’s skip the surgery. My family isn’t well-off. The money for his last surgery was borrowed from relatives. If there are long-term complications, so be it. We’re just lower-class citizens; being alive is good enough."
"Are you sure? Perhaps you should call your parents back in to discuss it." The doctor pushed up his glasses. ’That couple would never give up on their son so easily. This young lady, on the other hand, is quite ruthless.’
"I’ll talk to them."
The doctor said, "In any case, I still recommend the surgery. Just come to a final decision and let me know. Hmm, is ten minutes enough?"
"It is."
Outside, Yang Jing and Liu Qiang were waiting anxiously. Seeing Shen Lu emerge, they rushed to meet her.
"How did it go? What did the doctor say?"
"Is there any money left at home?" Shen Lu didn’t answer Liu Qiang’s question, asking one of her own instead.
"There’s no money. Not a single cent left." Liu Qiang shook his head. With Liu Yaozu spoiling his girlfriend and indulging his gambling habit, how could the family possibly save any money?
"Then there’s nothing to be done. The hospital isn’t a charity; they won’t provide treatment for free. Besides, I already asked the doctor. In his current condition, he won’t die without the surgery. He’ll just have some minor long-term complications that won’t affect his daily life."
"What if we try asking Xiao Lan again?" Liu Qiang suggested.
"We could, but Shen Lan has already blocked me. The only way to find her is to go to the Shen Family residence. How about I lend you my access pass, and you go look for her in the Upper City District?"
"Huh? Me?" Liu Qiang waved his hands frantically. "I’ve never been to the Upper City District. I’d get lost."
Yang Jing was even more timid. She rarely strayed from her own neighborhood and had never even been to the district checkpoint.
"Why can’t you go? You lived with the Shen Family for so many years; you must have some sort of connection with them. Maybe if you go, they’ll even help you pay off your debts. It’d kill two birds with one stone."
Shen Lu shot him a sidelong glance. "Did your ’kind informant’ not tell you that I had a falling out with the Shen Family?"
"A falling out? What did you do?"
"Why don’t you ask what *they* did?"
"You really had a falling out? Then why was Xiao Lan still willing to transfer money to you?"
’I really wish I could sew his mouth shut. Day in and day out, how can he have so many questions?’
"She wasn’t transferring the money to me; she was transferring it to you," Shen Lu said, forcing herself to be patient. "You did raise her, after all. The debt for one’s upbringing must be repaid, right?"
It dawned on Liu Qiang. "That’s true."
"You and Mom should discuss who’s going to find Shen Lan. I have something to take care of right now. I’ll be back in half an hour."
’If I stay with these two any longer, I’m going to get violent.’ Shen Lu decided it was better to leave for a while and cool her head.
She went to watch Fu Cheng do his physical therapy exercises for a while. The man was drenched in sweat, and beads of it ran down his cheeks and into his eyes. He refused to let go of the machine, so all he could do was blink repeatedly.
Shen Lu stepped forward and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Then she instructed Ye Fan, who was clanking away on a nearby machine he was borrowing, to wipe the sweat for Fu Cheng from time to time.
’Motherfucker!’ Ye Fan cursed inwardly, but he still agreed with a cheerful smile.
’It’s not enough that I have to be his personal chauffeur,’ he thought. ’Now I have to be his sweat-wiper, too.’
’But for the sake of the staff meals,’ he thought, ’I’ll put up with it.’
When it was about time, Shen Lu went to see the Liu Family again.
To her surprise, Liu Qiang had already made a decision and even settled things with the doctor.
"We sold the house," Liu Qiang said. "It was just enough. It sold for exactly 2,000 Star Coins, so your brother’s medical fees are covered."
Shen Lu choked, taking a moment to find her voice. "Then where will you live after you’re discharged?"
"With you, of course. Our family has finally been reunited after so long. Naturally, we should all live together."
Shen Lu ground her back teeth, her smile turning somewhat sinister. "Whose idea was this?"
"It was your brother. He’s the one with the brains. Your mom and I would never have thought of it." Liu Qiang was his son’s biggest, most mindless fan. "Your brother has already gone in for the operation. The doctor said it’ll be over in half an hour."
Shen Lu deeply regretted having left for that short while. In a single moment of inattention, things had spiraled wildly in a direction she didn’t want.
’She had wanted the Liu Family to go pester Shen Lan, but the plan had backfired on her.’
’This family was dead set on leeching off of her. Liu Yaozu had probably already marked her as his new blood source, just waiting for his injuries to heal before he started looking for ways to drag her down.’
Shen Lu wasn’t a bloodthirsty person, but at this moment, she could feel her killing intent starting to flare up, uncontrolled.
’Keeping this family alive would be nothing but a constant source of nauseating frustration.’
’She had a long list of problems to solve and didn’t want to waste any more time on them. Killing them seemed like the most efficient, energy-saving solution.’
But then, Shen Lu thought of Shen Lan.
’She and Shen Lan were mortal enemies. Shen Lan was probably watching her every move. If the Liu Family were to suddenly die, Shen Lan would absolutely seize the opportunity to drag her name through the mud.’
Shen Lu didn’t care much about her own reputation, but she cared a great deal about her shop’s satisfaction rating.
The customers’ personal approval of her also affected the shop’s satisfaction rating.
’No matter what kind of person she was in private, the image she projected to the public had to be virtuous and upstanding. Someone who murdered their adoptive father, mother, and brother would never be accepted by society. If Shen Lu was going to do it, she had to do it cleanly, leaving no trace that could possibly link back to her.’
’Forget it. For now, she’d let them keep their pathetic lives. But the moment they crossed her bottom line, she would make sure they suffered the consequences.’