"Shuyuan did well on this matter." Ji Shan praised.
Ji Shan’s praise only earned another eye roll from Deng Juan, her eyes reddening as she said, "Yes, yes, in our family, I’m the bad one, and you two are the good ones!"
Deng Juan repeated everything Ji Shuyuan had just said, especially about borrowing money and then paying it back, having thought everything through, it only clogged her heart even more.
Ji Shan remained silent.
Ji Shan sat beside her, looking at her reddened eyes, and said, "Shuyuan has grown up by dad’s side since he was little. When we first came to South City, Shuyuan and dad were at the countryside. Their bond is indeed closer than that of ordinary grandparents and grandchildren. Dad was ill, and Shuyuan was more anxious than anyone."
"Shuyuan is loyal and affectionate, you should feel happy about that."
Ji Shan’s words allowed Deng Juan to see from another angle, realizing she only focused on Shuyuan borrowing money and the difficulty in repaying it, forgetting that Shuyuan had always loved grandpa since he was young.
"In the past, dad contributed a lot of money to our family, even gave you a gold ring. Now that dad is ill, are we to just watch him suffer?"
Ji Shan’s words were like a sharp arrow, piercing Deng Juan’s heart. She knew very well that the old man had indeed contributed a lot of money living with them, which greatly helped them save, given their own salaries.
"I—I didn’t say I wouldn’t give money," Deng Juan said uneasily as she prepared to get up and go to the room to bring the money.
Ji Shan held her hand and said, "Juanjuan, let’s contribute four hundred."
Deng Juan’s eyes widened as she looked at him.
Ji Shan explained, "We were lacking too much before, so I didn’t bring it up. But now, I want to contribute an extra hundred. We can’t let all the burden fall on our little sister."
Ji Ying had a tough life before, and Ji Shan was well aware of it. Even though things had improved now, spending a thousand and borrowing another thousand was a significant amount.
Ji Shan thought about contributing an extra hundred. It would make their family’s life a bit harder, but they would still manage to get by.
"Ji Ying, how is dad doing? I heard from Ji Shan that you managed to gather the money for the surgery?" As soon as Ji Feng arrived at the hospital, he happened to run into Ji Ying filling water in the hospital corridor.
"Big brother, sister-in-law." When Ji Ying saw Ji Feng and his wife, she updated them on Ji Xinghua’s situation, and also mentioned the borrowing.
"Ji Ying, dad has really adored you so much." As soon as Chen He finished speaking, Deng Juan and her husband also came over.
Chen He and Deng Juan exchanged glances before Chen He spoke, "Our family has gathered all our savings. Shuhong is still going to university. The thousand you borrowed..."
Chen He hadn’t finished speaking when Deng Juan continued, "Ji Shan and I discussed it, we’ll give four hundred. We can’t afford to give any more than that."
Chen He’s face changed instantly. Her family was already contributing less, and now, Deng Juan was going to give an additional hundred?
She looked at Deng Juan incredulously. Deng Juan’s face was all smiles, showing a willingness to do anything for their father’s treatment, which made Chen He extremely uncomfortable.
On ordinary days, Deng Juan lived with their father, which sounded nice as being filial to an elder, but who didn’t know that Ji Xinghua had secretly contributed a lot of money?
Unfortunately, Ji Xinghua preferred to stay with Ji Shan, and she was helpless about it.
"Well..." Chen He said awkwardly, "I just remembered, Shuhong only needs living expenses for school. I’ll also use the reserved tuition to pay for dad’s treatment, right, Ji Feng?"