Chapter 23

Achen, you said on WeChat yesterday that you only had two hundred yuan left—what does that mean?

The residential building where the Chu family lives.

In the living room.

Chu Lian couldn't sit still; she stared at Shu Lingchen, who was hunched over fixing a chair, and asked tentatively, "Isn't the insurance fund your mother bought for you supposed to bring in fifty thousand yuan every month? Where's the money?"

Shu Lingchen stopped hammering the nail, lifted his head, a little embarrassed, and said, "The fund lost everything; last month's return was only two hundred yuan."

"What?!"

"Crack!" came the sound of shattering glass.

Chu's mother ignored the broken glass on the floor, walked over with an incredulous expression, and said, "Xiao Chen, what did you just say…?"

Shu Lingchen scratched his head, repeated what he said, then took out his phone, opened the fund details, and Chu Lian and her mother hurried over to look.

The column for this month's earnings showed: 【200.25】

"……"

The Chu mother and daughter felt as if the sky had collapsed.

Chu Lian bit her lip.

No wonder Shu Lingchen only transferred me 200 yuan at the dessert shop—turns out he has no money!

The loss of the Imperial Scenic Garden house had already threatened to shatter her "Eldest Young Lady" persona; now even the monthly fifty thousand yuan is gone—how can she maintain her luxurious lifestyle from now on!

Chu Lian felt a bit light‑headed; she almost urgently asked Shu Lingchen, "Wasn't the fund stable before? How could it plummet so sharply? Will it ever rise again?"

"I don't know either; it's probably hard to bounce back." Shu Lingchen recalled Shu Shu's words and shook his head. Seeing Chu Lian's poor complexion, he assumed she was worried about him and said lightly, "It's fine, Chu Chu—even though the fund is gone, I can still afford meals."

His mother topped up his meal card, and he now has a place to stay.

In that light, whether the fund falls or not has little impact on his life.

"……"

Seeing Shu Lingchen's carefree attitude, Chu Lian felt a flash of indescribable disgust in her eyes.

This presumptuous idiot!

But she showed nothing on her face, instead looking troubled as she said, "But Achen, what about Mother's special medicine? There's only half a week's supply left; without it, she'll suffer again. Can't we think of another way to deal with the fund issue?"

As soon as Chu Lian finished speaking, Chu's mother paused for a second, then immediately clutched her chest, sighing with a look of discomfort and weakness.

Shu Lingchen returned to Imperial Scenic Garden 1600; as he swiped the door open, he heard the DJ version of "Borrow Five Hundred More Years from Heaven" playing from the surround‑sound system that cost over eight hundred thousand.

In the kitchen.

Shu Shu tied on an apron, turned her spatula into a microphone, and sang along to the music with gusto: "I really! Still want! To live! Five hundred more years!"

She sang with great enthusiasm.

It felt as if she were standing on the stage of the Bird's Nest concert.

While singing, she also interacted with the vegetables on the cutting board.

"Hey, garlic! Great to see you!!"

"Carrot, let's go!"

"Beef slices, wave your hands!"

Shu Lingchen was no stranger to this scene.

This can be understood as a certain ritual his mother cannot do without when cooking.

…

During the meal, Shu Lingchen glanced at Shu Shu opposite him, wanting to speak but hesitating.

"Just say it."

Shu Shu held her bowl, head still down.

"... Mom, can you lend me some money?"

Shu Shu's chewing paused; she realized the Chu mother and daughter probably already knew about the fund's drop.

She casually asked, "Why do you need to borrow money?"

"Didn't I tell you before? When I was little, Chu Auntie carried me to the hospital in the rain, leaving me with a lingering illness that needs that expensive special medicine to ease—but now my fund has crashed..."

Shu Shu had looked at Shu Lingchen's statement; of his fifty‑thousand‑yuan monthly living expense, aside from what he transfers to Chu Lian, a large chunk goes toward Chu Mother's "special medicine."

Each dose costs over five thousand.

This has continued for seven or eight years, up to now.

Recalling the vigorous Chu Mother she saw last weekend—her body showed no sign of illness—Shu Shu lifted her eyelids at her mentally challenged son and said calmly, "What special medicine? What's it called, and what does it treat?"

"An imported prescription Western medicine for chest pain."

"Oh, do you send the medicine money directly to Chu Mother?"

Shu Lingchen wondered why Shu Shu asked that; he shook his head: "No, I buy Chu Auntie's medicine myself and deliver it to her."

"Is that so?" Shu Shu raised an eyebrow, intrigued, and nodded: "Fine, I'll give you the money for the medicine—no need to borrow."

Shu Lingchen sensed that Shu Shu didn't like Chu Lian and her mother; he had been nervous about whether she'd agree, but hearing this, his face lit up with delight: "Really? Thanks, Mom!"

Shu Shu smiled: "Don't be polite—Chu Mother got soaked in the rain while taking care of you; emotionally and logically, I, as her birth mother, should thank her too. Tomorrow I'll go with you to buy the medicine, and from now on I can cover her medicine expenses."

Upon hearing that, Shu Lingchen was even more delighted; he quickly pulled out his phone to text Chu Lian the good news, telling her that Chu Auntie's special medicine would now be secured.

Shu Shu glanced at the silly‑looking turkey opposite her.

She wanted to see exactly what this "special medicine" was.

The next day after school.

Shu Shu and Shu Lingchen got into a taxi.

Usually one goes to a hospital to get a prescription, but Shu Lingchen didn't tell the driver which hospital's address.

The car finally stopped in front of a pharmacy.

Shu Shu surveyed the pharmacy; the shop was neither big nor small, just a typical chain pharmacy.

Shu Lingchen walked in familiarly; the woman at the cash register wearing a white coat clearly recognized him, and upon seeing him she broke into a smile: "Little Chen's here, coming to get medicine for Aunt Chu?"

"Yes." Shu Lingchen nodded.

"I had it prepared ahead of time, just waiting for you to pick it up." The woman, wearing a staff badge on her chest, said as she turned to open the cabinet, took out a pre-packed bag, placed it on the counter, and then told Shu Lingchen: "Same monthly dosage, once in the morning and once at night—just scan the code."

Shu Lingchen looked at Shu Shu.

Shu Shu walked over, her gaze falling on the bag of medicine; she reached out and opened the bag, which contained seven or eight white medicine bottles about half a palm in size; Shu Shu casually picked up one bottle, its label covered in tiny English.

She glanced down and saw a string of professional pharmaceutical names; it indeed looked like an imported product.

But none of the ingredients listed had the effect of treating chest pain.

The woman in the white coat frowned upon seeing this: "Hey! What are you doing?"

"I'm Shu Lingchen's classmate." Shu Shu lied without changing expression: "His phone broke, so I'm helping him pay for the medicine."

Shu Lingchen beside her: "…?" When did his phone break?

Seeing Shu Shu's student appearance, wearing the same uniform as Shu Lingchen, she believed her, pointed to the payment QR code, and said: "Oh, then since that's the case, you go ahead and scan."

Shu Shu, however, didn't reach for her phone but instead directly twisted open a medicine bottle.

The bottle wasn't even sealed, so the white pills inside were visible; Shu Shu brought the mouth to her nose and gave it a light sniff.

"What are you doing?!"

The woman, seeing this, suddenly shouted loudly, making Shu Lingchen beside her jump in fright.