Chapter Fifty-One: All Goes Smoothly

Back at home, Zhao Fan stared at the transfer contract and suddenly burst out laughing. He had expected some haggling, but things had gone unexpectedly smoothly. The property was his!

After laughing for a while, Zhao Fan put the contract away. He'd have to buy a safe soon to keep these valuable documents secure.

The next day, Zhao Fan went to the hospital. After checking on Zhao Yuner, he visited the young man downstairs and was told that Chen Jianyu had recently started working odd jobs.

“He’s working at a nearby construction site, but from what I’ve seen, things haven’t been going well for him.”

For some reason, hearing the words "nearby construction site" immediately reminded Zhao Fan of the one where Zhao Haitian was almost swindled before.

He was about to ask more when the door to the ward suddenly opened and Chen Jianyu walked in.

Zhao Fan raised an eyebrow. “Hey, you don’t look so good. What happened?”

Chen Jianyu wiped his face. “Don’t ask. I’ve been carrying bricks at the site these past few days. They promised to pay me daily, but after a few delays, they suddenly told me today not to come back—and didn’t pay me at all.”

A subtle feeling stirred in Zhao Fan’s heart. Wasn’t this the same site Zhao Haitian had been to?

He asked for the location, and when Chen Jianyu answered, Zhao Fan’s lips twitched. It really was the same one.

“That place is a trap. Who knows how many people they’ve cheated.”

The site was near the hospital, and with so many people coming and going—many short on cash—it became a cycle. The number of people tricked by the site kept growing.

But the problem was, the victims couldn’t unite. With just a few people, there was no way to take on the site. It would be like an egg trying to break a stone—nothing but a dead end.

Chen Jianyu drew a sharp breath. “That site is really… I can’t let this go.”

He paced back and forth in the ward, growing more agitated the more he thought about it.

Zhao Fan shook his head. “Like it or not, you’ll have to swallow it. A few people can’t do anything.”

Even if Zhao Fan wanted to take action, their strength was too meager.

“So we just let them keep cheating people near the hospital?” Chen Jianyu was getting anxious. “Anyone looking for work here is in need of money. To be tricked like this—how disheartening.”

Zhao Fan stroked his chin. Chen Jianyu was right—most people looking for temp work near a hospital were desperate for cash. Letting the site keep swindling them wasn’t right.

But the constant flow of people at the hospital made it hard for news to spread.

Was there a solution?

His thoughts raced. Suddenly, Zhao Fan remembered advertising flyers. What if they put up a lot of flyers at the hospital entrance, and combined that with other methods? What might happen?

“Chen Jianyu, come here,” Zhao Fan called.

Chen Jianyu hurried over, and Zhao Fan whispered a few ideas to him. Simply posting flyers wouldn’t be enough; they’d need to combine several tactics to deal with the construction site.

As he listened, Chen Jianyu’s eyes lit up. “Good, good, good…”

“That’s all. You go make the arrangements,” Zhao Fan said.

“Alright.” Chen Jianyu dashed out.

Yawning, Zhao Fan bid the young man in the hospital bed farewell and left.

Sunday was the day of Zhao Yuner’s surgery. Zhao Fan got up early and headed straight to the hospital.

The Zhao family was there, as were all three members of the Yang family. Zhao Yuner turned her head this way and that, then suddenly broke into a wide smile.

“Mama, I missed you so much.”

Yang Qingqing glanced at her, then turned away in silence.

Zhao Yuner blinked, puzzled as to why her mother was ignoring her.

“Mama? Mama?”

After a few calls, Yang Qingqing snapped impatiently, “What are you shouting for? Keep your mouth shut.”

Zhao Yuner had just reached out her little hand, but froze at those words, shrinking back timidly.

“Mama, don’t be angry.”

No one else spoke. Mother Zhao, feeling sorry for the child, said, “What are you yelling for? It’s only natural for a child to seek her mother. But you—how can you act so unlike a mother?”

“Hmph. I’d like to act like a mother, but isn’t it your Zhao family that wants a divorce? Now you’re turning around to scold me? Do you have the right?”

“We may not have the right to scold you, but you have no right to twist words here either. You know perfectly well why there’s a divorce. Say another word and the surgery stops immediately—we’ll find someone else.”

Hearing this, Yang Qingqing’s face changed instantly. Before she could respond, her father hurriedly pulled her aside.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. She just wasn’t thinking straight. The surgery goes ahead, the surgery goes ahead…”

Zhao Fan snorted, having nothing but contempt for Mr. Yang’s cowardice and lack of discernment. The Yang family would never amount to more than this.

Soon after, a nurse arrived to call them for the surgery. Zhao Fan and the others followed.

Mother Zhao, worried about her granddaughter, muttered all the way. When the little girl was finally wheeled into surgery, her tears fell at once.

Father Zhao said, “Why are you crying? This surgery is a good thing—she’ll be fine after it’s done.”

Mother Zhao wiped her tears. “I don’t want to cry, but I’m just scared. What if something…”

“Don’t say that! There is no ‘what if.’ How could anything go wrong?” Father Zhao was startled, quickly covering her mouth. There would be no mishap; this surgery would absolutely succeed.

Mother Zhao realized she had misspoken. When Father Zhao let go, she covered her own mouth tightly.

Soon after, Yang Qingqing was wheeled into the operating room, the red light above the door flicking on. Everyone waited in silence outside.

Time passed slowly. Near noon, the light suddenly went out. All at once, everyone looked toward the operating room doors as if a switch had been flipped.

How had it gone?

“Doctor, how did the surgery go?”

“Doctor, how’s my daughter?”

“Doctor…”

The elders surged forward, bombarding the doctor with questions. The doctor answered the most important ones.

“The surgery was very successful. Now she just needs proper care. If possible, remember to bring her in for regular checkups.”

“Thank you, thank you.”

“Doctor, how is my daughter? How is she?” Mrs. Yang pressed nervously.

“She’s doing well. She’ll be out soon—you’ll see for yourselves. By the way, payment…”

At the mention of payment, Zhao Fan stepped forward. “I’ll take care of it.”

The doctor gave Zhao Fan a few instructions. “Pay according to this, then come by my office.”

“Alright.”

After Zhao Fan made the payments, he returned to find Zhao Yuner already on an IV drip.

Father and Mother Zhao stood on either side of the bed, eyes fixed on their granddaughter.

Looking around, Zhao Fan realized Zhao Haitian was not there.

“Dad, Mom, where are big brother and the Yangs?”

“In the next room,” Mother Zhao replied, not taking her eyes off Zhao Yuner.

With that, Zhao Fan went to the neighboring ward.

“Brother, what brings you here?” his brother asked.

Zhao Fan didn’t answer immediately. He glanced at the surroundings—three beds in the room. Yang Qingqing lay in the middle bed, the other two beds also occupied.

Yang Qingqing was still unconscious from the anesthesia.

“Where are her parents?” Zhao Fan asked.

“They’ve left.”