TFRLTOP Chapter 49 Part 1

Chapter 49 – The Educated Youth’s Humble Wife

◎ White Moonlight ◎

This time, going to Beicheng, Ming Ming brought everything she owned—five thousand from Yan Junsheng, ten thousand from Yuan Chenglong, eleven gold bars, plus scattered ration tickets and cash. Altogether, it was worth just over twenty thousand yuan.

Now that gold prices had changed, that twenty thousand had suddenly turned into several hundred thousand.

In an era where just a few cents could fill your stomach, carrying nearly a hundred thousand yuan onto a train was nerve-racking to say the least.

Ming Ming spent the trip clutching her luggage tightly, terrified that if she let her guard down even for a second, someone would steal it.

When they got off the train, Yan Junsheng made a few calls and told Ming Ming and Chen Weiguo that everything had been arranged—they just needed to head to the hospital. But once there, Chen Weiguo wavered.

“Maybe we should forget it.”

Ming Ming clutched his arm and whispered, “Dad, didn’t you hear the broadcast? We’re rich now. What are you afraid of? Your son-in-law can get you the best doctors, and your daughter has plenty of money to pay for your treatment. All you need to do is relax, get treated, and wait to enjoy life.”

“You can’t just throw money around,” Chen Weiguo said, pained.

“This isn’t wasting money. We’ll never spend all of it in our lifetimes. And spending on your own father—how could that ever be considered wasting?”

Maybe because he was sick, maybe because he feared that walking into a hospital was the same as signing a death warrant, but Chen Weiguo had lost all the authority he used to command. It was like his energy had been drained, leaving him without backbone.

But Yan Junsheng wasn’t about to indulge him. He said bluntly, “Weren’t you brave enough before? Now you get sick and you turn into a coward? If you really don’t want treatment, fine—I don’t care. But you’ll break Juan’er’s heart. From then on, whenever she thinks of you, all she’ll feel is grief. Is that what you want for her future?”

He didn’t dare say out loud, When you threatened me before, weren’t you full of guts?

“Don’t you get it? She’d rather spend every last cent on you than watch you give up treatment and one day wake up to find you stone-cold dead.”

His blunt words earned him a sharp pinch in the waist from Ming Ming, who hurried to the back to coax her father gently for a long while.

Yan Junsheng even felt a bit jealous. He thought, If I were the one sick right now, Juan’er probably wouldn’t be willing to spend all our money on me.

But that was how it was—daughters loved their fathers deeply, just like fathers loved their daughters. In his own highly educated family, those kinds of passionate bonds ran cooler.

His parents had always treated everything with excessive calm.

Finally, Chen Weiguo stopped resisting, and they took him into the hospital. Yan Junsheng asked the nurse at the front desk some questions, then led them upstairs. The hospital had seven floors; they went to the very top. It was quiet there. He knocked on an office door, and inside was a man in his forties or fifties wearing gold-rimmed glasses, scholarly and composed. The moment he saw Yan Junsheng, he lit up with joy.

“Junsheng? You got here so fast?”

Yan Junsheng stepped forward to shake his hand. “Uncle Bai, long time no see.”

“Good child, you’ve suffered enough in the countryside,” Uncle Bai said with deep sympathy. “Are you going back again after this? Have you been home yet? Your parents miss you very much.”

“Not yet. I came straight here from the train station.”

By all rights, with two other people standing there, Uncle Bai should have at least greeted them. But it was as if he only had eyes for Yan Junsheng, fussing over him endlessly. Finally, it was Junsheng who introduced them.

“This is my wife, Chen Juanjuan, and this is my father-in-law. He’s not well—we’d appreciate your help, Uncle Bai.”

Only then did Uncle Bai spare them a glance, though his warmth dropped at least eight degrees.

Ming Ming noticed the nameplate on his desk: Bai Houxiong, President of Huaxin Hospital.

Last name Bai.

“System, don’t tell me this is the female lead’s father? The way he looked at me was… something.”

“Smart guess.”

Great. No escaping the battlefield of tangled relationships.

But for Junsheng’s sake, Bai Houxiong went through the motions—asked a few questions, then personally escorted Chen Weiguo for X-rays and a series of exams.

“Preliminary results don’t look like a lung issue. We’ll wait for the full set of tests before making any conclusions.”

That alone ruled out the worst possibility, but Ming Ming still didn’t dare relax.

Junsheng squeezed her hand, steadying her.

Hours later, with all results in, Bai Houxiong led a team of specialists to review Chen Weiguo’s case. The conclusion: bronchiectasis.

His condition was fairly advanced. Medication alone wouldn’t cure it. The team recommended surgery.

Beforehand, the patient’s vitals needed to be stabilized. Bai Houxiong arranged a VIP hospital suite—like a hotel room, fully equipped. Ming Ming and Junsheng moved right in with him.

“You want to go home first?” Ming Ming asked.

“No rush. Let’s take care of Dad first. Our parents haven’t met yet. They’ll definitely expect a family dinner. Nervous to meet your in-laws, future daughter-in-law?” Junsheng teased.

Ming Ming squinted. “Did you just try to say ugly daughter-in-law?”

“No way, absolutely not,” Junsheng denied, “Our Juan’er is the most beautiful—how could she be an ugly bride?”

When she’d first seen her father cough up blood, Ming Ming had braced herself for a lung cancer diagnosis. Even after the system gave her reassurance, she hadn’t dared hope. Now, hearing it was bronchiectasis—serious but surgically fixable—she finally breathed easier.

Her spirits lifted.

The day before surgery, Junsheng went out to buy things for her and pick up clothes from home. Chen Weiguo grew anxious about the operation, so Ming Ming stayed close, chatting about anything and everything to distract him.

She might be a disaster in the kitchen, but she was a master at peeling apples in one long ribbon of skin.

When Junsheng returned, he found Chen Weiguo munching on an apple while Ming Ming stretched out the perfect peel like an accordion, chattering away.