Chapter 3: CH 3

“You still know how to come home?! Are you going to give this month’s allowance?!”

Her step-mother Yang Su Ping rushed towards the door, her spit flying as her harsh words and complaints piled onto Bai Zhen Zhen.

Bai Zhen Zhen pushed the door open and gave her a look.

She had a sharp face, with lines surrounding her mouth from a perpetual frown, and a head full of permed hair.

“Oh? You have nothing to say? You still have the guts to open your eyes wide and glare at me?” Yang Su Ping had her hands on her hips, throwing out another harsh complaint.

Bai Zhen Zhen ignored her, walking straight into the house.

The house had a simple structure of two rooms and a living area. The layout within was very simple, with most of the furniture rundown and old. To treat her father’s illness these few years, she had been scrimping and saving wherever she could.

Bai Zhen Zhen inspected her surroundings. Not seeing anyone else, she asked: “Where’s my father?”

Yang Su Ping gave a cold laugh: “Where else could he be?! If he’s not eating, then he’s sleeping! Where else could he be other than lying in bed?!”

As she was speaking, an innocent and scholarly looking girl walked out of a room.

“Sister, you’re back.” The girl greeted Bai Zhen Zhen.

Bai Zhen Zhen guessed the girl’s identity. This should be her step-mother’s daughter, Bai Meng Ru. She was younger than her by two years, and was in her third year in university.

Though her step-sister was surnamed Bai, she had no blood relations with Bai Zhen Zhen. She was her step-mother and her ex-husband’s daughter. After her step-mother’s ex-husband passed away, she brought her daughter Bai Meng Ru and married Bai Zhen Zhen’s father, conveniently changing her daughter’s surname as well.

“Meng Ru, you’ve only slept for an hour, why did you come out? You’re studying so hard, you should rest more when you’re home.” Yang Su Ping’s heart ached for her.

Bai Meng Ru gently replied: “I heard sister was back, so I came out to greet her.”

As she spoke, she gave Bai Zhen Zhen a smile.

Bai Zhen Zhen’s face didn’t change.

As far as she knew, her step-sister wasn’t anyone good. On the surface, she was warm and gentle, but deep in her heart, she had a lot of schemes.

In the original plot, her step-sister was jealous of her. Later on, she encouraged Ling Hao Chen’s fiancée to poison her father.

“Greet her, for what?” Yang Su Ping gave a cold snort, looking unhappily at Bai Zhen Zhen, “She hasn’t even provided your monthly allowance even after pushing it off for a week! If it continues on like this, our family might as well starve to death!”

If she was the original owner, she would have apologized to her step-mother and step-sister at this point to calm them down. After that, she would comfort and appease them, promising to work harder at earning money.

Unfortunately, Bai Zhen Zhen wasn’t such a saint.

Though she didn’t want to stir up trouble, but she definitely would not bear such unreasonable accusations.

Yang Su Ping’s words gave her an opportunity to interrogate her step-mother on the doubts she harbored while reading the book.

“Aunty, your words are too ungrateful. What qualifications do you have to criticize me? We are all a part of this family, how can you just rely on me to earn money? Your daughter hasn’t joined the workforce, so we won’t discuss that, but you’re an able-bodied, strong woman, yet you spend your days lazing about, aren’t you embarrassed?!”

Yang Su Ping was shocked.

She was flustered by how Bai Zhen Zhen called her “Aunty”.

In the past, Bai Zhen Zhen had obediently called her “Mom”, but she hadn’t cared.

What was going on now, she changed the way she called her, and even her words were so rebellious?!

“Sister, mom also has no choice, she needs to stay home to take care of dad…” Bai Meng Ru tried to explain.

“Doesn’t dad have lung cancer? It’s not like he’s vegetative on the bed. He doesn’t need someone to take care of him all the time.” Bai Zhen Zhen replied.

Yang Su Ping’s temper exploded: “Bai Zhen Zhen, what do you mean by that? Are you turning your back on your parents now? As a daughter, shouldn’t it be your responsibility to earn money to support your dad?!”

Bai Zhen Zhen found it both angering and funny.

What a shrew, changing the meaning of her words and shifting the topic.

She was too lazy to argue with these two people. Turning away, she opened the door to another room and walked in.

Her father was currently lying in bed, sleeping.

The way he was sleeping so deeply, he should have been exhausted. Even the argument in the living area couldn’t wake him up.

“Dad, I’m home.” Bai Zhen Zhen sat by his bedside and shouted.

Father Bai woke up. Upon seeing his daughter home, he was elated.

“Zhen Zhen, you’re home…” He arduously sat up on his bed, holding Bai Zhen Zhen’s hand, “Are you tired? Have you eaten? Dad will go cook for you…”

“I’ve… already eaten.” Bai Zhen Zhen unnaturally replied.

She was originally a little adverse to Father Bai’s intimate movement of holding her hand, but under the overwhelming love shining in his eyes, she was instantly touched.

Bai Zhen Zhen continued: “Dad, I came back this time to discuss admitting you into hospital for treatment.”

“Admitting into hospital?!” The moment she heard it was about money, Yang Su Ping immediately rushed in, “Bai Zhen Zhen, what do you mean? Where do we have such money in the house to admit your dad into the hospital?! One night costs a few hundred dollars, not to mention the treatment fees!”

Bai Zhen Zhen calmly replied: “The disease cannot be stopped just by eating medicine and not seeking treatment. I’ve already done my research. The medical field is very advanced now. Dad’s lung cancer hasn’t reached the late stages. If he accepts surgery to treat it now, his survival within the next 5 and 10 years will increase to minimally 80% and 50% respectively.”

This information was precisely what the doctor said in the later parts of the plot, when the female lead sent her father to the hospital for treatment with the male lead’s aid.

“You’re just speaking mere words! If he can be treated, who wouldn’t want to be treated! Just purchasing medicine for your dad now already takes up a large part of the daily expenses, your sister still needs to study, learn ballet…”

“Then, how about we stop your daughter’s ballet lessons?” Bai Zhen Zhen retorted.

Yang Su Ping and Bai Meng Ru didn’t have the time to respond when Father Bai became anxious first: “Zhen Zhen, how could you say such things? We are one family, Meng Ru is your younger sister! My disease is probably incurable. Just leave me be, you don’t have to buy medicine either… Ballet is Meng Ru’s dream, you can’t destroy it…”

In her heart, Bai Zhen Zhen thought to herself that the original’s self-sacrificial generosity was probably learned from her father.

Yang Su Ping gloated at Bai Zhen Zhen, sarcastically saying: “Meng Ru has been intelligent since young, and also has talent in ballet. In the future, she will be a star! What does spending a little money now count as? In the future, she will earn way more than you!”

Bai Meng Ru stood by the side, pretending to be upset. Continuing her mother’s words with a sincere façade, she told Father Bai: “Dad, wait till I start earning lots of money, I will definitely cure you.”

“Good, good!” Father Bai was extremely moved, “You are both my good daughters!”

“Alright, let’s not talk about this.” Bai Zhen Zhen broke the heartwarming moment, “I’ve already called a cab downstairs. Let’s go to the hospital now.”

Yang Su Ping’s mouth fell into an ‘o’ shape, her expression not knowing to laugh or cry: “Bai Zhen Zhen, have you hurt your brain? You haven’t given this month’s allowance, yet you want to send your dad to the hospital?”

“Since I said I’ll send him to the hospital, naturally I have the ability to do so.” Bai Zhen Zhen helped her father to stand up.

Father Bai’s stature wasn’t too tall, and was a little hunchbacked, having worked many years of manual labor when he was younger. With his disease now, his entire figure was skinny, his face sallow. Bai Zhen Zhen saw this, and her heart twisted in discomfort.

“Zhen Zhen, I won’t go to the hospital.” Father Bai frowned, saying, “Your mother is right, going to the hospital requires money. As a small girl, it’s not easy for you to earn money and take care of this house…”

“Dad, I have money. Relax.” Bai Zhen Zhen said.

“You have money, my ass!” Yang Su Ping uncourteously spit out.

Only to hear a sound of “pa” as Bai Zhen Zhen fished out the twenty thousand dollars cash from her bag, harshly throwing it on the floor.

Yang Su Ping: “…”

****

The group of four sat in the cab towards the city center’s hospital.

If she followed the original plot, Father Bai would also go to this hospital for treatment in the future. The hospital had a specialist in lung cancer surgery, Doctor Zhang. Bai Zhen Zhen remembered this event, thus directly bringing her father to find Doctor Zhang.

In the doctor’s office.

Doctor Zhang took a look at Father Bai’s medical history and previously taken X-Rays, saying: “Lung cancer is a vicious form of disease attacking the respiratory system. The earlier it’s identified and treated, the better. We definitely cannot miss the timing to perform surgery. How about this, let the patient take a CT scan first. I will review the current situation, and we can discuss the surgery in the future.”

Yang Su Ping immediately asked: “Doctor, how much would the surgery cost?”

Father Bai was evidently very worried about this issue as well, his wrinkled fingers twisting together in anxiousness.

“The surgery will cost around ten thousand dollars. Including the post-treatment care, etc… You should prepare at least thirty thousand dollars.”

“Thirty thousand dollars?!” Yang Su Ping screamed in fright.

Doctor Zhang nodded his head: “This is the medical fees for the basic surgery. If he doesn’t recover well post-surgery…”

“No, no surgery! Where will we get so much money for the surgery!” Yang Su Ping anxiously pulled at Father Bai’s sleeves.

Father Bai was initially sitting on the stool. After hearing what Doctor Zhang said, he immediately stood up.

“That… Doctor, I won’t do the surgery now, in the future…”

Bai Zhen Zhen interrupted her father’s words.

“Doctor Zhang, I’ll have to trouble you to prepare the invoice for the CT. I’ll go pay now.”

“Zhen Zhen…” Father Bai’s eyes were full of panic, deathly afraid he was burdening Bai Zhen Zhen.

Bai Zhen Zhen patted his hand comfortingly: “Relax, dad, I have money.”

Disbelieve covered Father Bai’s face.

Yang Su Ping and her daughter exchanged looks, finding the situation strange in their hearts.

Doctor Zhang wrote out the invoice for the CT and passed it to Bai Zhen Zhen.

Bai Zhen Zhen opened her mouth again: “Dad, you rest here first. I will be back soon after paying.”

Finishing her words, she walked out of the office.

Her steps were stable, only wanting to complete the current task before quickly going back to disrupting the plot as she wished.

Bai Zhen Zhen had just rounded the corner when a shadow came running from the other direction.

There wasn’t enough time to stop, and they collided.

Just as Bai Zhen Zhen wobbled, about to fall to the ground, the other party’s hands were quicker. Catching her waist, he pulled her back up, tightly hugging her in his embrace.

After that brief moment of fright, Bai Zhen Zhen immediately extracted herself from the man’s arms.

Before she even lifted her head, a notion flashed past her mind.

—— Isn’t this like those unexpected meeting plot armour in Mary Sue novels?!

—— So this man…