These two inexplicable phone calls did not make Jiang Yu realize anything; he simply treated them as ordinary harassing calls. To prevent such calls from coming again, Jiang Yu directly turned off his phone and walked quickly to the doctor’s office.
Yu Qiuze’s attending physician was a well-mannered and serious-looking middle-aged doctor in his forties. When he heard Jiang Yu propose to transfer Yu Qiuze out of the ICU, he looked at him as if he were an idiot.
“Mr. Yu is still not out of danger, his condition is very unstable, and he could suffer a heart attack at any time, which could cost him his life.” The doctor took out Yu Qiuze’s medical records and told Jiang Yu, “Look, this is Mr. Yu’s recent…”
The middle-aged doctor had not finished his sentence when he saw Jiang Yu wave his hand, his expression serious and not at all joking as he said to the doctor, “You don’t need to tell me these things. I went to see him, and we chatted for fifteen minutes. His mental state seemed fine, chatting and laughing, nowhere near as serious as you described.”
“What’s more, Qiuze’s illness is not a one- or two-day affair. To fundamentally solve the problem, he needs a heart transplant, but there’s no heart source available now. Whether he’s in the ICU or a regular ward, isn’t it the same? What’s the difference?”
“But Mr. Yu’s heart can’t withstand…” The middle-aged doctor was bewildered by Jiang Yu’s show, but with the patient’s interests in mind, he still tried to explain the severity of the situation to Jiang Yu.
However, all this was in vain. Jiang Yu was almost broke now, and the ICU was notoriously expensive, especially for the emergency treatment Yu Qiuze’s heart condition required, costing tens of thousands each time, not to mention the exorbitant price of the life-sustaining equipment used daily.
When Yu Qiuze’s family went bankrupt and emigrated years ago, he directly obtained immigrant status, so he didn’t even have social security. He did have medical insurance, as the most favored young master of the Yu family, but the maintenance fees for Yu Qiuze’s various insurances and funds alone were astronomical each year.
However, after the Yu family went bankrupt, Yu Qiuze naturally could not afford those high debts, and almost everything that could be stopped was stopped.
Now, the cost of Yu Qiuze’s stay in the ICU was being borne entirely by Jiang Yu, at his own expense. In the past, this amount of money would not have made Jiang Yu bat an eye, but times had changed. Jiang Yu was now almost being driven to desperation by Cheng Ran, and he had no choice but to feel hopeless.
So at this point, no matter how clearly the doctor explained it to him, he could not comprehend it. He interrupted the doctor several times, his tone stern as he stated, “Qiuze has already said he’s fine. The rest is none of your concern. I hope to have the transfer paperwork completed this afternoon, or I’ll consider transferring him to another hospital.”
The middle-aged doctor: “…”
Alright, you’re the boss.
He had been a doctor for so many years and had seen all kinds of patients. Even patients’ relatives with low education levels had never been like Jiang Yu, disregarding right and wrong, ignoring the patient’s physical condition, and insisting on transferring wards against the doctor’s advice.
Looking at Jiang Yu’s attire and speech, he seemed educated. He was also quite young, so why was he more unreasonable than some elderly folks with little education?
Jiang Yu had just left the doctor’s office when he reached the ICU entrance and heard a piercing alarm from the equipment inside. Immediately, several medical staff rushed over.
The scene became quite chaotic for a time. Jiang Yu was jostled back a few steps but stood on his tiptoes to look inside, wondering which unfortunate soul had an issue. At a glance, he saw the medical staff surrounding none other than Yu Qiuze’s bed.
Jiang Yu: …
His face hurt a bit. This was really too humiliating. It seemed he couldn’t leave the ICU!
Jiang Yu was not wrong. After this emergency, the hospital stated that Yu Qiuze’s condition was dire. If Jiang Yu insisted on transferring him out of the ICU, the hospital would not be responsible, politely requesting that Jiang Yu transfer hospitals quickly.
To make matters worse, during Yu Qiuze’s emergency treatment, the people from Summit were going crazy looking for Jiang Yu. After learning he was at the hospital, Summit’s manager brought people to corner Jiang Yu outside the ward.
Seeing Summit’s furious leader, Jiang Yu tried to flee but was quickly surrounded by bodyguards and unable to escape. Unless he coughed up that 50 million today, this matter would not be easily resolved.
Although an illegitimate son, Jiang Yu had never really suffered much growing up. Father Jiang neglected his eldest son, Jiang Tingyuan, but doted on the younger Jiang Yu, whom he raised, basically giving him whatever he wanted and never letting him be wronged from a young age.
Being called an illegitimate son was unpleasant, but in reality, his life was not much different from that of Jiang Tingyuan, the legitimate heir.
Though Grandpa Jiang loved his grandson, it was based on his eagerness to groom a successor due to his only son’s incompetence. In his eyes, being too lenient with his youngest son was why he ended up so useless.
So, in raising Jiang Tingyuan, far from pampering him, Grandpa was notoriously strict. He demanded he excel at everything and immediately punished any slack.
Compared to Jiang Tingyuan, Jiang Yu’s childhood was like being immersed in honey. His cunning mother influenced Father Jiang’s guilt, ensuring he never spared praise or money for this favored son.
Jiang Yu had never suffered such indignity, especially being hounded for debt so publicly in a hospital corridor where he lost all face. He had always valued face – how could he endure such humiliation?!
But Summit’s manager couldn’t care less about Jiang Yu’s face. Pay up, and they’d still be buddies. If not, then sorry, today’s matter would not end well!
——
That evening, Ye Zhou was waiting to pick up Mr. Jiang from work and go home together. As soon as they got in the car, Jiang Tingyuan’s phone rang.
Mr. Jiang had two phones, one for work and one for personal life. He usually used the work phone more, receiving most calls on that one, while the other “personal” phone was almost exclusively for Ye Zhou. Besides Ye Zhou, hardly anyone else would call that number.
Ye Zhou had just seen Jiang Tingyuan turn off his work phone in the office. Now, hearing the other phone ring, he couldn’t help but be curious and leaned over to sneak a peek.
Noticing Ye Zhou’s curiosity, Jiang Tingyuan angled the phone towards him for a better view before glancing at it himself.
When he saw the number on the phone, Jiang Tingyuan raised an eyebrow.
Ye Zhou didn’t recognize the unfamiliar number, so he silently mouthed to Mr. Jiang: “Who is it?”
Jiang Tingyuan played along childishly, silently replying: “Jiang Changsong.”
Hearing this name, surprise showed on Ye Zhou’s face. If he wasn’t mistaken, that was the name of Mr. Jiang’s cheap father.
Ye Zhou’s impression of Mr. Jiang’s father lingered from when they visited the Jiang family’s old mansion over New Year’s and Father Jiang arrogantly demanded Mr. Jiang help Jiang Yu repay debts.
After Ye Zhou gave Father Jiang no face and beat him in front of everyone that New Year’s, he hadn’t seen Father Jiang or those despicable Jiang relatives again.
However, despite rarely encountering Father Jiang, just mentioning him made Ye Zhou feel it couldn’t be good news.
Sure enough, from when Jiang Tingyuan answered until hanging up, the call lasted less than five minutes.
Throughout, Mr. Jiang only gave three simple, blunt responses: “Um.” “No.” “Impossible.”
Even though the phone was not on speaker, Father Jiang’s raging, hysterical voice occasionally burst from the receiver, making it almost impossible for Ye Zhou not to overhear.
After the call ended, Ye Zhou felt unsettled. He licked his slightly dry lips before calmly asking, “What was it about?”
His little act might fool others, but Jiang Tingyuan knew him too well. Patting Ye Zhou’s head, he slowly said, “Asking for money.”
Ye Zhou was quite clever and immediately connected the dots to Cheng Ran’s phone call, “Jiang Yu?”
“He didn’t say. Only that he owed money outside, and if he couldn’t get it, the company would go bankrupt,” Jiang Tingyuan said flatly, as if talking about a stranger rather than his own father.
“How much?” Ye Zhou asked.
Jiang Tingyuan looked at him and held up some fingers to indicate the amount.
“Ten million?” Ye Zhou guessed tentatively.
Jiang Tingyuan shook his head.
Ye Zhou’s jaw dropped. Even with his current wealth, seeing the number Mr. Jiang gestured made him whistle. “One hundred million?!”
“Old Mr. Jiang really dares to ask for that much.”
If he remembered correctly, Cheng Ran took away fifty million. Even including the house and such, the number his father-in-law stated now was almost double – that was just too excessive.
Yet to Jiang Tingyuan, that amount was trivial, not even worth mentioning. If Ye Zhou said he wanted to invest in a movie, let alone ninety million, Jiang Tingyuan would probably fork out billions without blinking.
But using it to repay debts for his father or that illegitimate brother Jiang Yu? Sorry, not a single cent.
Jiang Tingyuan smiled wryly. “He’s just aiming high first to provoke me. With this hundred million set as the opening, he can then slowly lower his demands, hoping I’ll agree eventually.”
Ye Zhou pondered this and asked in return, “Would you agree?”
“Of course not,” Jiang Tingyuan replied without hesitation, giving a direct rejection.
The little person in Ye Zhou’s heart immediately burst into applause. As expected of his Mr. Jiang – clear-headed and able to distinguish right from wrong. Truly excellent!
Before Ye Zhou could praise him, he noticed Jiang Tingyuan suddenly tilt his head slightly, leaning down to gently blow into Ye Zhou’s ear.
The warm breath on his ear instantly set off alarms. His previously normal body temperature suddenly soared from Mr. Jiang’s little devilish wind.
Jiang Tingyuan’s eyes danced with amusement as he murmured in Ye Zhou’s ear in a warm tone, “Times are hard, supporting a family isn’t easy. Where would I get money to throw at them?”
“Right?”
Ye Zhou blushed furiously from the teasing, seeing Mr. Jiang’s self-satisfied look. His eyes narrowed as mischief welled up, and he pounced towards Jiang Tingyuan flailing.
Caught off guard, Jiang Tingyuan was tackled back. Since he was seated close to the window, the inertia caused his head to knock against it with a light thump.
Ye Zhou jumped at the sound, flustered as he asked, “S-Sorry, Jiang-ge, are you okay?”
Jiang Tingyuan covered his face, preventing Ye Zhou from seeing his expression as he leaned silently against the window, unmoving.
Ye Zhou had never seen this before and thought he really hurt Jiang Tingyu. Panicking, he immediately leaned closer to check on him.
But the moment Ye Zhou drew near, Jiang Tingyuan suddenly dropped the hand covering his face while reaching out with the other to grasp Ye Zhou’s collar.
Unable to brake in time, Ye Zhou stumbled with Jiang Tingyuan’s movement. Brushing against Jiang Tingyuan’s thin lips, their lips met perfectly.
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