Scorching Summer
S City, the temperature hitting forty degrees. The entire city is like a giant steamer, leaving those who brave the outdoors drenched in sweat in just a brief moment.
A tall and slender girl stands in front of a thirty-story building, under the glaring sun. She looks up at the high-rise building, inhales deeply and steps inside with a "do or die" determination.
A month ago,
“You only have until the end of this month!” proclaimed the slightly plump, middle-aged landlady as she put her hands on her hips, her brow furrowed, issuing her ultimatum.
“I really appreciate it!” Xia Yongning exhaled in relief, and bowed sincerely at a ninety-degree angle in gratitude.
The poufy-haired landlady gave her a look of disdain, turned around, and exited. However, she paused after a few steps to remind, “It’s only until the end of this month. If you still can’t afford the rent, don’t blame me for kicking you out!”
“Absolutely, absolutely!” Xia Yongning nodded vigorously, smiling like a blooming flower.
As she watched the landlady's back disappear through the door, Xia Yongning closed the door and slumped against it. The smile on her lips faded, and she raised a hand to rub her weary brows.
Xia Yongning had just turned twenty-three two months ago. On her birthday, she was handed her pink slip. Actually, it would be more accurate to say she handed in her resignation in a fit of rage, losing a decently paying job. Even now she regretted her impetuous decision. If only she had chosen a different way to refuse, she might not have lost her job, and she wouldn't have the problem of not being able to pay her rent now.
But when she heard that thinning-haired boss, who always had his hair slicked back in a seventies-style comb-over, expressing his intention to keep her, she was livid. Impulsivity often comes faster than rationales, and before she fully understood what was happening, she was slapping the desk declaring, "I quit!”
She still could not figure out how she, who always kept a low profile, had attracted the lascivious boss's attention. Even in the sweltering heat, she wore long pants and a t-shirt, dressing more casually than the average passerby.
Xia Yongning shook her head, deciding not to dwell on it any longer. Right now, finding a job was her priority. She donned her large, black-framed glasses and set out to job hunt. Thankfully, her grandmother was not home, else she would have worried about the rent issue. No matter what, she decided, she had to secure a job today.
Under the scorching sun, Xia Yongning, with her resume in hand, hustled between companies, always leaving with a forlorn look.
Just then, her phone buzzed in her bag. Xia Yongning hastened to pull open her bag’s zipper to find it. With her long, fair fingers she adjusted her glasses and pulled out her phone. A strange number displayed on the screen, causing her to slightly wrinkle her brows. She gently swiped the answer button, “Hello…”
Xia Yongning's face turned pale instantly, her breath seemingly choked, and her fingers holding her phone continued to tremble.
The next second, heedless of the traffic, she ran towards the road on the opposite side.
An emergency brake, the ground, and the tires emit a sharp screeching sound from the friction.
"You crazy woman, are you suicidal?" A young man with a harsh tone sticks his head out of the car while incessantly honking the horn. However, the woman had already disappeared. Sitting in the rear was a big boss, and if anything went wrong, his lucrative job would be at stake.
The man in the back seat looking at documents had cold eyes. The light voice drifted from his thin lips: "I have a meeting in ten minutes!"
"Yes, boss!" The driver then let go of the anger in his eyes and stepped on the gas pedal, driving towards the company.
At the hospital,
Xia Yongning had just received a call from the hospital, saying that her grandmother had fainted and was now being resuscitated.
"Uncle Wang, how's my grandmother?" Xia Yongning, whose place is not far from the hospital, appeared somewhat disheveled from running all the way. Her hair was sticking to her cheeks, and she was still breathing somewhat unevenly.
The doctor looked somewhat grave: "We need to perform surgery as soon as possible, otherwise..."
"What surgery?" Xia Yongning was confused. Her grandmother had just had a health check two months ago, and she was told she was very healthy!
"Two months ago, your grandmother was diagnosed with a recurrence of a brain tumor. If she doesn't have surgery, I'm afraid..." He didn't finish his sentence before Xia Yongning started swaying, her face turning alarmingly pale.
"Yongning!" The doctor called Uncle Wang managed to catch Xia Yongning as she was about to fall.
"Please, Uncle Wang, help me arrange the surgery for my grandmother as soon as possible!" Xia Yongning's hands, gripping Doctor Wang's arm, were shaking slightly.
"Yongning, this surgery is very risky. Therefore, we are inviting a doctor from abroad to perform it, so this surgery will require a considerable sum of money!"
Tears rimmed her eyes as she bit her lower lip, "I'll find a way, Uncle Wang, please arrange the surgery for my grandmother as soon as possible!" She couldn’t even pay the rent, where could she raise the money for the surgery? Xia Yongning felt that the world was against her. Her grandmother was the only family she had left, if she lost her... she wouldn't be able to go on, no matter what method, as long as she could save her grandmother, she was willing to do anything, even if it meant begging that person!
Xia Yongning gazed at her grandmother, whose face was hidden behind an oxygen mask, in the intensive care ward. Her eyes filled with moisture, she sniffed, attempting to hold back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. Reaching out, she gently covered the hand that was covered in age spots but could still comfort her. She whispered into her grandmother's ears, "Grandma, you have to get better!"
Left without a choice, she had to ask that person for money now. No matter how reluctant she was, she had no other options.
At dusk, the lights in the Lin family's hall were bright, but it was eerily silent. Sitting on the sofa, Xia Yongning was the first to break the silence, "Could you lend me a million?" She had once vowed to never set foot in this place. Now here she was, humbling herself to ask for a loan, she felt as though she had lost all her backbone. But in front of her grandmother's health condition, what did her ridiculous pride matter?
The middle-aged man with a stern face, his fingers tapping on the armrest of the sofa intermittently, only spoke after a long pause, "If you did not come to ask for money, would you have ever come to visit me, your father?"
The man before her was Xia Yongning's father, Lin Guanghuan, who had made many mistakes common to men when he was young, raising a mistress and having an illegitimate child.
Unlike him keeping his mistress outside the home, Lin Guanghuan brought her home. Why she came home was all thanks to the aid of Lin Guanghuan's siblings, which in the end drove Xia Yongning's mother to an unknown destination. Young Xia Yongning was then forced to live a life under the oppression of this mistress and her illegitimate daughter.
This life only ended when Xia Yongning's grandmother took her away. Thus, in Xia Yongning's heart, her grandmother was the only family she had left, and the most important person in her life!
She didn't want to deny what Lin Guanghuan said, but she was not foolish enough to admit it. So, Xia Yongning chose to remain silent.
"This is not a small sum of one million! Our family may have some wealth, but money does not just come along with the wind, we can't just throw out a million!" The woman sitting next to Lin Guanghuan crossed her arms and laughed sarcastically, this woman was the shameless mistress who drove the lawful wife away, Tian Fei!
Xia Yongning's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she turned her gaze to Lin Guanghuan, "I will pay you back this money!" Although she was displeased, she didn't want to say anything harsh, and even less did she want to argue with her out of anger, otherwise, this trip would be in vain.
"Pay it back? With what? Your salary that's only two thousand per month?" Tian Fei let out a snort of laughter, as if she had heard a hilarious joke.
Xia Yongning's fingers slowly tightened. She had no way to refute this woman's words because she really couldn’t repay it with her salary alone!
If she had any other choice, she wouldn't have asked him for a loan, and she wouldn’t want to have anything to do with the Lin family!
"Say less!" Lin Guanghuan lightly reprimanded Tian Fei, turned his head towards Xia Yongning and said, "Let me think about it!"
Xia Yongning frowned, "It's urgent! My grandmother's surgery cannot be delayed. The foreign doctor can't be available at any time. If I can't raise the money before the day after tomorrow, the surgery can't be done...."
"Your dad said he would consider it. Don't bother him anymore. The company already has enough things to deal with!" Tian Fei interrupted Xia Yongning impatiently. She knew that nothing good comes out whenever Xia Yongning shows up!
Xia Yongning threw her a cold glance. If this continues, she truly can't endure any longer. A mistress not only shows no shame, but also acts so brazenly. If possible, she really wants to slap her. What does her borrowing money from Lin Guanghuan have to do with her!
"Don't look at me with that kind of glance. You said it yourself, what does your grandmother have to do with us! Not to mention, my husband only has one daughter and she is a Lin. As for you... Hah!" She raised one of her eyebrows high and her piercing glare seemed as if she wanted to tear Xia Yongning into pieces.
Her goal is to borrow money, so all she could do about this woman's words is bear with them. Xia Yongning's tightly clenched fists dug into her palms.
After Xia Yongning was taken away, her surname was changed along with her name. Hence, speaking about the surname, Lin Guanghuan, who originally had a stern face, looked even worser.
Seeing the situation, Tian Fei became more excessive. First, she laughed coldly and then said, "You are an outsider now, how dare you ask to borrow money from our Lin family! Whether your grandmother can have the surgery or not has nothing to do with us. Whether she lives or dies is her fate. Even if the Yama King let her die at midnight, she can't live past dawn!" She even emphasized the words ‘Lin family’. After finishing, she provoked Xia Yongning with a smile.
"I'll give you an answer tomorrow!" Lin Guanghuan timely spoke in silence. After speaking, he turned and walked upstairs.
Facing his back, Xia Yongning pulled up her tightly pressed lips, "Okay, I'll wait for the news tomorrow! Please!"
Such polite words really didn't seem like the ones exchanged between a father and daughter. Lin Guanghuan paused his steps for a moment, his heart felt a bit cold towards Xia Yongning.
Xia Yongning didn't want to stay here a minute longer. She shot the woman a cold glance and turned to leave.
Tian Fei grabbed Xia Yongning's wrist and dragged her to the door, throwing her out harshly, "Don't come back if there's nothing important!"
Xia Yongning looked up at her, the corners of her lips pulling into a cold smile, "Shouldn't it be Lin Guanghuan who decides whether I come or not!"
"Don't forget, you and your good-for-nothing mother were the ones I kicked out. What in this house can't I decide!" Tian Fei's voice rose octave due to her outrage spurred by Xia Yongning's words.
Xia Yongning clenched her fists tightly, glaring at Tian Fei. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to resist the urge to slap her. If she did that, she would really not be able to borrow the money!
Tian Fei looked at her trying her best to bear it, feeling immensely satisfied. With a face full of sarcasm, she said, "For the sake of money, your tolerance is truly astounding. However... you are just like your worthless mother!" After giving her a quick look, Tian Fei ‘slammed’ the door shut.
After a long while, her tightly clenched fist gradually relaxed, and the palm that had been pricked by her nails looked heart-wrenchingly painful.
She walked home in a daze, feeling as if there was a huge stone pressing against her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe. Her only hope now was that Lin Guanghuan could lend her some money tomorrow.
Glancing upwards, the red Porsche under the street light was particularly noticeable. She lived in a small bungalow that had not been demolished yet, a place where luxury cars were rarely seen.
Xia Yongning withdrew her gaze and continued walking. However, it seemed that the car was parked at her front door. As she approached, a tall man exited from the car. Judging from his height, he should be around 1.85 meters tall. His slim figure was elongating into a long, dark shadow under the dim street light.
Bypassing the man, she lowered her head to take out the keys from her bag. As she turned the key and pushed open the door, a light pleasing voice rang out from behind.
"Xia Yongning!"