Chapter 835

Ma Rui stood not far away, hands in his pockets, and shouted at her: "Sister Jing, do you not want to take care of your mother anymore? My big brother is offering you money, and you don't want it?"

Yang Jing turned her head abruptly, her eye sockets so red they looked like they were dripping blood; her mother was still lying in bed waiting for money to save her life, yet this man was actually speaking to her in such a disrespectful tone, as if rubbing salt into her wounds.

She rushed over in a few steps, kicking and hitting Ma Rui, her fists pounding on his shoulders and her feet kicking his shins: "I'm already in this state, damn it, and you're still mocking me? Still mocking me!"

Ma Rui didn't move an inch, letting her vent. After a good while, he finally pointed a finger at his driver, Xiao Tian, standing beside him.

"I say, big brother, you just wanted this actress to take you around to get familiar with the alleys of Si Jiu Cheng. She won't even agree to this small matter for you; you must lack charm. Are you still willing to give her that 500,000 in your hand?"

Xiao Tian laughed awkwardly and said: "Young Master, stop teasing me. If you want to give Miss Yang money, just give it quickly; don't use me as a distraction."

Yang Jing was stunned.

She raised her head and looked at Ma Rui, the anger in her eyes slowly turning into disbelief.

500,000? What 500,000? She felt she must have misheard, or this man was making fun of her.

Ma Rui smiled, took a bank card out of his pocket, and tossed it into her arms: "The password is on it. There is only one condition: accompany my driver around Si Jiu Cheng for a month and get me familiar with the road conditions. If your mother needs to go to the hospital for checkups, you can also have him drive her."

Before his words had even landed, Yang Jing's tears fell, and a mix of indescribable emotions surged in her heart—grievance, gratitude, and also shame...

She punched Ma Rui two more times, though this time the force was much lighter; as her fists landed, even she felt as if she were acting coquettishly.

"Fine, I'll let you off today. But I have to check if there's actually money in here! If you're lying to me, I'm not done with you!"

After saying this, she turned and ran.

There was a bank near Dian'anmen, and as she ran, she thought: What if there's no money in the card? What if he's just playing with me? But she didn't dare stop; even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, she had to try.

Insert card.

Enter password.

The screen lit up.

She stared at that string of numbers, and her brain went 'buzz'—600,000.

Yang Jing counted it with trembling fingers once, twice, three times.

That's right, 600,000. 100,000 more than what Ma Rui said.

Yang Jing squatted in front of the ATM, covered her face with both hands, and cried until her whole body shook, her shoulders heaving.

Tears seeped out from between her fingers and dripped onto the cold floor tiles.

She sobbed, cursing incoherently: "Ma Rui, isn't that what you wanted, for me to accompany you? I... I'll accompany you then! I'm not losing out anyway!"

As she cried, she started to laugh.

Ma Rui followed Yang Jing into her small bungalow.

The light in the room was dim, and it was filled with a heavy smell of traditional Chinese medicine.

Her mother lay on the bed, her breathing as heavy as a bellows.

Ma Rui stepped forward and said softly: "Auntie, let me take you to the hospital."

Tao Ran shook her head with difficulty and said: "I've heard Yang Jing mention you, saying you're still a student. Your family has money, but that's not yours. It's normal that you wouldn't lend her money."

Yang Jing felt as if someone had gripped her heart tightly, hurting terribly. Her tears fell 'pitter-patter' as she sobbed and shouted: "Mom, Ma Rui brought 600,000, it's for your surgery! He was just teasing me on purpose earlier, wanting to give me the money; it was me who misunderstood."

Tao Ran raised her head abruptly, her cloudy eyes full of shock. She couldn't believe that a young child would be willing to take out so much money.

Ma Rui grinned, his smile carrying a youth's roguishness, but also hiding a trace of embarrassment: "Can't help it, I'm a bit mischievous, and I've been scolded and beaten quite a bit because of it."

Tao Ran waved her hand, her eye sockets gradually turning red: "Child, we can't take your money. Although my daughter is professionally trained in acting, the film and television industry is currently in a slump; even if she acts in many plays, she won't be able to pay back so much money... Besides, an old woman like me, I'm afraid this illness can't be cured." While she spoke of refusal, her heart felt as if a bottle of five flavors had been overturned—she was touched, pained, and even more, she couldn't bear it. She couldn't bear to drag her daughter down...

Ma Rui squatted down, looked into Tao Ran's eyes earnestly, and said: "Auntie, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, let's try, okay? Let the doctor make the decision."

Yang Jing also wiped away her tears and said through gritted teeth: "Mom, don't worry. I will definitely pay this money back!" She secretly swore in her heart that even if she had to act for the rest of her life or play bit parts forever, she would pay off this 600,000.

Tao Ran was not a stubborn person. Looking at the two young and determined faces of her daughter and Ma Rui, she finally nodded and agreed to go to the hospital for treatment.

At that moment, she suddenly felt that perhaps Heaven didn't intend to take her yet; while it had closed a door on her, it had ultimately left a window.

Over these years, Tao Ran had always sought medical treatment at the People's Hospital, and her medical records were all stored there.

The doctor had long advised her to have a bone marrow transplant, but the family really had no money and could only keep dragging it out. Eventually, even her attending physician felt she had already given up.

When Yang Jing called to arrange the hospitalization, the person on the other end of the phone informed her helplessly: "Sorry, there are no beds available for the time being; it will take at least two months to arrange."

Yang Jing hung up the phone and handed the mobile phone back to Ma Rui, her eye sockets as red as a rabbit's.

"The hospital said there won't be a bed until two months from now."

At this moment, her father, Yang Demao, happened to return from a stroll and overheard his daughter calling the People's Hospital to beg for a bed.

Hearing that Tao Ran needed to be hospitalized for treatment, his face immediately darkened: "Xiao Jing, I won't stop you if you want to send your mother to the hospital. But we've already borrowed from every relative and friend we could; where are we going to scrape together the hospitalization fees?"

Yang Jing felt a pang of bitterness in her heart, but she raised her head, her eyes shining brightly: "Dad, Ma Rui is lending it to us!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Demao was not the least bit happy; instead, he walked into the kitchen with a mournful face, saying nothing.

The moment he turned around, tears shimmered in the corners of his eyes.

His heart was in turmoil: an outsider could take out 600,000 to save his wife, yet he, as her husband, could only worry at home and do nothing; he was truly incompetent.

Ma Rui quietly walked to the side and dialed Jiang Mei's number: "Auntie Jiang, this is Ma Rui. I have a leukemia patient here who wants to be hospitalized at the People's Hospital, but there are no beds right now. Do you have any connections to help coordinate?"

Jiang Mei answered very crisply: "Wait, Director Huang has a classmate who is a Deputy Director at the People's Hospital. I'll ask for you right now."

In less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea, Jiang Mei called back: "Ma Rui, take the patient to the People's Hospital to register for the emergency department first; someone will arrange a temporary bed very soon."

After a while, Huang Ying called personally, her tone carrying a smile: "Xiao Rui, hurry to the People's Hospital now. Professor Guo has already arranged it for you; just go find him when you arrive."

"Thank you, Auntie Huang, I'll treat you to a meal in a few days," Ma Rui said with a smile.

"No need to treat me to a meal. Another day when you see your eldest uncle, just have him bring me some foreign cosmetics. The kind that Lin Wanning uses."

Huang Ying had long since completely treated He Yuzhu as one of her own.

The reason was that Lin Wanning had visited her once, and only then did Huang Ying learn of the relationship between He Yuzhu and Lin Wanning.

She and Lin Wanning had cleared up their past grievances and become good sisters again; she completely treated He Yuzhu as her brother-in-law and no longer needed to be polite about any requests.

Ma Rui hung up the phone, and Yang Jing, who was standing to the side, had heard everything clearly.

She looked at Ma Rui, and a feeling she couldn't describe suddenly arose in her heart. Things she couldn't accomplish despite exhausting her tongue, he had solved lightly with a single phone call.

(The Bitterness Ends and the Sweetness Begins)

Only then did she truly realize what kind of connections and power were hidden behind this teenager, whose smile was a bit infuriating.

But what moved her even more was that he ran back and forth to help, without the slightest condescending savior complex from beginning to end.

In less than half a day, Tao Ran successfully completed the hospital admission procedures.

Before leaving, Ma Rui said, "Sister Jing, I have to go to school to report, so you can use my driver for now; don't forget to feed him."

Yang Jing glared at him and scolded, "Hurry up and go, I will take good care of your big brother!" After she finished speaking, she laughed happily.

Two days later, Professor Guo walked into the ward with the examination report, his expression solemn and serious: "Tao Ran has been diagnosed with MDS. Although your body is weak, you are still in the early stages and can definitely undergo a bone marrow transplant. You should contact your relatives as soon as possible to perform the matching screening first."

Yang Jing held her mother's withered hand tightly and said, "Mom, I will go and bring Auntie and Second Auntie over right now."

Tao Ran was already over forty years old, but at this moment, she could no longer hold back, and tears slid silently down her cheeks. She had only one thought in her heart: there is hope, there is truly hope.