Chapter 1909: Continue Supporting
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The quad was not hers. It was her father’s.
Qiao Zijin was very clear of the concept of ownership. As such, she hinted to Ding Jiayi to sell the quad to pay for her treatment.
Ding Jiayi did not understand what Qiao Zijin meant by that, but Qiao Donglian did. It was exactly because he understood Qiao Zijin’s intentions that he would never sell the house.
At this moment, Qiao Dongliang could never rest easy about Qiao Zijin. For her own benefits, Qiao Zijin was willing to sell the quad once and again. Without the quad, given Qiao Zijin’s personality, there was no way she would care about the elderly couple, much less invite them to her large apartment to live with her.
“Then, what will happen to Zijin? Are we really going to let her die?” Ding Jiayi was unskilled and had no other choice. Other than selling their house, they had no other way of forking out such a huge sum of money in such a short span of time. “We really can’t afford to delay Zijin’s treatment any longer.”
It was urgent. Her elder daughter’s treatment could not wait any longer. In the past, her daughter had been attractive and healthy-looking. Now, she was so skinny that she was left with just skin and bone. Qiao Dongliang had seen all these and was frantic too.
As a father, he had lost countless strands of hair worrying about this situation, but Qiao Zijin herself was still in the mood to preserve her own interests even as she toed the line between life and death. Worse still, she was even trying to maximize her own interests! That was what made Qiao Dongliang so coldhearted.
It was not as though Qiao Zijin had no other choice. If she really cherished her life, Qiao Zijin would have made a decision to sell her apartment in the first place. If she had sold the house, would she be worrying about money now? Qiao Zijin wanted that house, but she also wanted her life and money. Should everything belong to Qiao Zijin? Who said so?
Thinking about how Qiao Zijin was still so scheming, Qiao Dongliang felt that there was no need for him to hurry. Anyway, Qiao Zijin herself was in no hurry to save her life. Would he not be taken as a joke if he spent too much effort worrying about her?
His elder daughter was the one who was ill, and it was his elder daughter’s life. If his elder daughter cherished her life and wanted to live, she would know what to do. If she no longer had the will to live, there was no reason for her to drag the elderly couple down with her, especially since she had never supported them in her entire life. Even if Old Ding was willing to do it, he was not.
He had not seen Nan Nan get married and have children yet. He could not bear to die at this moment. “If you can’t wait, then just get treated.”
“Treated? Where’s the money?” Ding Jiayi felt that Qiao Dongliang still did not understand her point. If that was so easy, why would they be so worried and have delayed it until now?
Qiao Dongliang sighed. “Zijin, you’re not asleep yet, are you? Since you’re not asleep, come on out and listen to us. Let’s hear what plans you have for yourself. This is your illness, after all.”
After hiding in the room for a long time, Qiao Zijin had gotten anxious over how Ding Jiayi had not managed to settle the matter after such a long time. Initially, Qiao Zijin had already wanted to jump up from her bed to settle this personally. Now that Qiao Dongliang had invited her out, Qiao Zijin indeed emerged from her room.
She wanted to clarify the situation too. Her dad had only one daughter left, so what did her dad really want to do? Did he really intend to watch her die and put his hopes on Qiao Nan, who had run away and had not returned for a few months?
She was her parents’ only hope now, and only she would be able to support her parents in their old age. Once her parents passed on, this house would still be hers. Since it would eventually be hers, would it not be the same to sell it and pass her the proceeds of the sale now?
“Dad.” Qiao Zijin did not feel the least bit guilty. After emerging from her room, she picked a comfortable spot and sat down. “Dad, you’ve always been good to me. I’ll listen to you no matter what plans you have.” Since she had already said that, she did not believe that her dad would really wash his hands off the matter and let her die.
“No. This is not about what plans I have. It’s what plans you have. Zijin, I’ll give you three options. You can pick any one of them. First, your mom and I will go get ourselves checked tomorrow to see which of our kidneys are more suitable for you. Then, we’ll quickly borrow some money for you to get your surgery done.” Qiao Dongliang looked at Qiao Zijin in the eye with a little expectation in his heart.
Qiao Zijin did not know the dilemma Qiao Dongliang was in and immediately rejected this idea. “Dad, I’ve already said that this won’t work. I haven’t been filial to you and Mom, and I haven’t provided for you guys yet. How can I let you suffer while I live?”
Her parents were already advanced in age. As such, she was sure that their kidneys were no better than her own. She was afraid that she would need to undergo another surgery in another ten years’ time if she were to receive a kidney from her parents.
This did not count. Even if she did not mind her parents’ kidney and accepted it, it would only solve the problem of a kidney donor. The problem was that the surgery fees alone were not something that the Qiao family could afford. They still had to borrow money from others.
If this had been Qiao Zijin in the past, she would never have been worried about it. There was no big deal about borrowing money. As long as Qiao Nan was around, she would never have to worry about returning the money she borrowed. But the situation was different now. Qiao Nan was no longer here. Her parents would pay for whatever money her parents borrowed while they were still alive. But once they were gone, she would have to take on that debt and return the money.
How could she agree to that?
Ever since she got married to Chen Jun, Qiao Zijin had never worked at all. If the family had such a huge burden to carry, Qiao Zijin could imagine that once she was discharged, her parents would definitely pressure her into finding a job and would work her as hard as Qiao Nan in the past.
If that were the case, she might as well refuse the surgery. Working that hard would shorten her life. Even a fool knew that.
Ding Jiayi was moved by Qiao Zijin’s words while Qiao Dongliang was shocked by Qiao Zijin’s calculations and schemes. He did not want to think so badly of his daughter, and neither did he want to admit just how scheming his daughter was. As such, Qiao Dongliang continued. “The second solution… Zijin, don’t you still have an apartment? Just sell that apartment. Didn’t you tell Nan Nan at that time that your mom and I have a share in that apartment? Don’t worry. Even after you sell that apartment, there will always be a room for you in our house. Besides, there will be some money left even after paying for your treatment. Your mom and I won’t touch that. You can keep it for yourself.”
In other words, as long as Qiao Zijin sold her apartment and treated her illness with that money, Qiao Dongliang was still willing to support his daughter, Qiao Zijin, who was already in her forties.