"Ten thousand yuan is a bit expensive, but in the face of life, money is nothing. Don't you agree?"
...
Zhang Guo'er didn't remember how the nurse left.
She stared blankly at the bill for over ten thousand yuan, falling into despair once more.
Ropes fray most where they're thin; misfortune visits those who already mourn.
Tang Xiaomin's compensation hadn't been resolved, and now there was new debt.
Zhang Guo'er called her mother, Zhao Lan, to explain her situation.
Two days later, Zhao Lan sold her jewelry and scraped together over ten thousand yuan to pay off Zhang Guo'er's hospital bill first.
Back in their small one-bedroom, two-living-room rental, Zhao Lan grumbled.
"Tang Xiaomin's issue isn't settled, and you get injured and land in the hospital costing tens of thousands. Can't you be more careful?"
"Your father is also impossible; his phone is unreachable. I don't know what he's up to. How are we supposed to live?"
It seemed her mother was still unaware that her father had abandoned them to pursue a better life on his own.
"Mom, Dad really doesn't want us anymore."
"You..."
Zhao Lan stared at Zhang Guo'er in disbelief.
"Are you out of your mind? How could your father abandon us? This divorce is just to transfer assets."
Zhang Guo'er's words shattered Zhao Lan's naive hope.
"Mom, Dad really doesn't want us anymore."
"He's not transferring assets; he deceived us, transferred the assets, sold the house, and has already fled abroad."
"He won't answer our calls or take care of us. He told me so himself on the phone. Stop deceiving yourself and wake up!"
Zhang Guo'er's words struck Zhao Lan like a bolt from the blue.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"What... what did you say?"
"How could your father abandon us? This is just a temporary difficulty; how could he abandon us?"
"This is impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Zhao Lan refused to believe such a cruel reality; she had been foolishly abandoned by her husband.
Zhang Guo'er was also heartbroken and desperate.
But one couldn't live in a fantasy; reality had to be faced.
"If you don't believe me, let's go back and see who is living in our old house."
Zhang Guo'er took Zhao Lan to their former home.
The gate of the Zhang residence had been renovated, looking even more beautiful than when they lived there.
Just then, the woman who had beaten up Zhang Guo'er last time returned.
Upon seeing them, she said impatiently,
"I've told you this house is sold to me. You still dare to come here and cause trouble? Your skin is itchy again, isn't it?"
"How can you speak like that? This is clearly my family's house..."
Zhao Lan, like Zhang Guo'er before, argued relentlessly and insisted on her point.
This time, before the homeowner could get angry, Zhang Guo'er interrupted Zhao Lan.
"Mom, please don't get agitated."
She then said to the homeowner,
"This used to be my home. You say Zhang Guodong sold it to you, but we, as his family, were unaware. Can you show us the paperwork so we can understand?"
The homeowner rolled her eyes at them.
"Fine, I'll let you see clearly and give up, so you don't bother me again."
The owner went back inside and produced the transfer documents for them to see.
Even though Zhang Guo'er had prepared herself mentally, seeing that her father had truly sold the house and abandoned her,
Her heart still ached.
Upon seeing the documents, Zhao Lan's face turned ashen, devoid of all color.
"Mom, are you alright?"
Zhang Guo'er quickly supported her, preventing her from falling.
"Guo'er..."
"Your father... he truly abandoned us, he doesn't want us anymore, sob..."
Zhao Lan's tears flowed uncontrollably, unable to express the pain and despair she felt.
Deceived into divorce by the husband she trusted most, only for him to sell their house and flee.
The blow to Zhao Lan was immense.
*Pfft...*
A mouthful of blood spurted out, and Zhao Lan could no longer support herself.
"Mom! How are you?"
"Mom, don't scare me!"
...
The homeowner, startled by the sight, immediately snatched back the transfer documents and callously shooed them away.
"This is my newly purchased house; go die somewhere else. Don't try to extort me; I just installed surveillance yesterday."
Saying that, she hurried back inside and slammed the door shut.
Zhang Guo'er dialed the emergency services.
While waiting for the ambulance, she knelt on the ground, holding Zhao Lan, who continued to vomit blood.
Before long, blood stained the clothes of both mother and daughter, spreading across the ground.
"Mom!"
"Mom, what's wrong?"
"Don't do this, stop spitting blood, Mom!"
...
Zhang Guo'er's helpless cries echoed.
It was summer, with temperatures in the thirties Celsius.
Yet, the world seemed devoid of warmth, and no one came to help them.
Ten minutes later, the ambulance finally arrived. Medical personnel urgently carried Zhao Lan onto the ambulance.
Despite the emergency medical efforts, once admitted to the hospital, before the surgeon could operate, Zhao Lan, due to severe blood loss and the inability to stop it promptly, ultimately died from excessive bleeding.
The doctor, dressed in a white coat, somberly delivered the news to Zhang Guo'er.
"I'm very sorry, she died from excessive blood loss; resuscitation was unsuccessful."
"What!"
Zhang Guo'er's mind went blank, as if her soul had been ripped away.
After a long moment, she excitedly grabbed the doctor's arm.
"How could resuscitation be unsuccessful? How could this happen? She looked at me when she was brought in; how could she have ended up like this!"
"You must have done it on purpose; you did it on purpose!"
...
The doctor shook his head helplessly.
"We understand your feelings; please accept my condolences."
The doctor left, not engaging further with the agitated Zhang Guo'er.
Zhang Guo'er slumped onto the hospital corridor floor, unable to articulate her feelings.
It wasn't until a nurse wheeled out Zhao Lan's body, covered in a white sheet, that she could no longer deny the reality of her passing.
"Mom..."
"Mom... sob..."
...
With her mother's sudden death and her father's phone number now a dead line,
The burden of arranging the funeral fell entirely on Zhang Guo'er's shoulders.
But she had no money.
Zhao Lan's body had to remain in the hospital morgue temporarily.
She tried borrowing money from everywhere, friends, classmates, exhausting all her contacts.
However, Zhang Guo'er's reputation for fabricating stories and spreading rumors had already ruined her character.
Consequently, no one was willing to lend her money, offering all sorts of excuses.
For three days, she shamelessly asked everyone she could think of, but she couldn't borrow a single cent.
Until Lu Sisi appeared.
Lu Sisi approached Zhang Guo'er proactively. She still appeared shy, timid, and lacking presence.
"I heard from Shu Ya and the others about your mother's situation and that you're having trouble borrowing money."
"I have ten thousand yuan here; it's what I've saved from my allowance. It's not much, but please take it for now."
Looking at the envelope Lu Sisi offered, Zhang Guo'er felt a question arise.
"You just said you knew I couldn't borrow money. Why can't I borrow money?"