Chapter 22 Gratitude of an Ungrateful Female Lead 22: Decision

Pouring money into the hospital bit by bit had, after all, produced results. Xie Lingge underwent surgery, and after the first stage of observation, her recovery looked fairly good.

On New Year’s Eve, with the doctor’s approval, they even brought her home temporarily to celebrate the holiday.

The reunion dinner was held at Zhou He’s place.

At the New Year’s Eve dinner table, Father Xie raised his glass, overwhelmed with emotion.

This past year had felt like fighting a war. Every single matter had been a major one.

He had too much to say, and in the end did not know where to begin. It all turned into a sigh. Father Xie lifted his glass and said, “In the new year, may the whole family stay healthy.”

It was a simple wish, and a hard-won one.

Everyone raised their glasses and echoed, “To good health.”

At midnight, there was a government-organized fireworks show on Binjiang Road.

Zhou He wanted to go. But with her big belly, she was afraid of getting jostled and hurting Little Watermelon.

Xie Lingge wanted to go too. But moving around was even more inconvenient for her.

So they could only scroll through other people’s livestreams online, watching the crush of the crowd through a screen.

Xie Qingjia stood on the balcony with Zhou He in his arms, enjoying the night breeze. Every so often, the sound of fireworks shooting into the sky rang out. When they looked up, all they could see were rows upon rows of tightly packed buildings, nothing else. There was no telling who was still setting them off despite the bans.

At first, Zhou He had stood on tiptoe to try to see, but after realizing she could not, she simply treated it as background sound while taking in the night view.

Leaning against Xie Qingjia’s shoulder, she felt him turn and press a light kiss to her forehead. Softly, he called, “Wife.”

“What is it?”

“This year… you’ve worked hard.”

Pulling the little blanket more tightly around herself, Zhou He replied in a soft voice, “Isn’t that just what life is? One problem piled on top of another, and you get through it day by day. We’re partners. We’re supposed to support each other.”

Xie Qingjia said nothing more. The two of them simply leaned against each other in silence. It seemed that even like this, they could draw strength from one another.

Inside, Xie Lingge and the others were watching the Spring Festival Gala¹. When the hosts on TV began the countdown, Zhou He felt Xie Qingjia shift beside her.

“What are you doing?”

Xie Qingjia said nothing. He pulled out a long package from under the chair and shook it at her as if showing off.

Zhou He did not get a good look at it at first, not until he tore off the packaging and lit it with a lighter.

It was a sparkler².

The silver-white sparks lit up his smug, childlike face.

Zhou He let out a cheer. She had not expected a surprise like this.

Xie Qingjia handed the sparkler to her. “Mama Xiao He, Happy New Year.”

Zhou He smiled until her eyes curved. “Papa Xiao Jia, you have to be happy in the new year too~”

From inside the room, Xie Lingge had apparently noticed what was happening on the balcony and immediately began whining for one too.

“Brother, brother, brother… I want a sparkler too~”

Xie Qingjia lit two and took them inside to placate his sister. “What are you, a hen? All you know how to do is cluck.”

Xie Lingge rolled her eyes. For the sake of the new toy, she decided not to hold her own brother’s sharp tongue against him.

But when it was time to sleep, Xie Lingge insisted on sleeping with Zhou He and even made a face at her brother.

She said with great justification, “It’s not that retribution won’t come, the time just hasn’t arrived yet… Brother, your little sister advises you to be a decent person.”

Xie Qingjia: I want to hit someone.

One was a patient, the other was in late pregnancy. Both were people who needed to be cared for.

So on New Year’s Eve, three people slept in the master bedroom’s big bed. The third was the ever-fretful Mother Xie.

Outside the master bedroom, the father and son who had been left out could only stare at each other.

While chatting before bed, Xu Meijuan brought up the three hundred thousand yuan Zhou He had paid in advance again.

“Mom, we’re all one family. Things are hard at home right now, so why split hairs over yours and mine?” Zhou He warned Xu Meijuan, “Mom, whatever you do, don’t believe those loan people. The daily interest may sound low, but the calculation formulas are very complicated, and later on the interest grows exponentially. Right now, when these people come to pitch it, they seem very polite because they’re the ones asking people to borrow. But if payments are overdue and you can’t pay it back, the debt collectors who come afterward will be a different group entirely, and they’ll be terrifying.”

Afraid her words would not be convincing enough, she even looked up several cases that had made the news online and showed them to Xu Meijuan.

“We’ve put you through so much, child.” Xu Meijuan said it solemnly, her voice catching.

“We’re family. Don’t say things like that.”

–

The New Year passed relatively smoothly.

Then they were faced with a new problem. Zhou He’s due date was only a month away. Originally, the plan had been for Xu Meijuan to come take care of her and help her through postpartum recovery once she got further along.

But now, how could Xu Meijuan possibly get away? Xie Lingge needed someone by her side even more.

Father Xie was relatively free, but whether it was taking care of his daughter or his daughter-in-law, neither would be convenient for him.

Zhou He felt her physical condition was still fine, and that she would not need anyone to care for her before giving birth. If there was no one to cook for her and she did not feel like cooking herself, she would just eat at the cafeteria. The food was prepared to the standard used for the country’s precious little flowers. It might not be especially tasty, but it was healthy and safe.

As for the other housework, she could do what she was able to. And if she could not, wasn’t the baby’s father still there? He could come home at night and put in overtime cleaning up the place.

It was the postpartum month³ that really posed a problem.

At such short notice, they could not book a postpartum care center or a good maternity nanny, and she was not willing to spend that kind of money anyway.

Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law worried over it for several days, until Xie Qingjia solved the problem. He talked it over with Aunt Xie and arranged for her to come take care of Zhou He for two months.

Everyone was happy.

Aunt Xie was hardworking, loved cleanliness, and was quick and capable. She was also straightforward by nature, and Zhou He felt they should get along well.

Zhou He also found time to book full physical examinations for Father and Mother Xie, Aunt Xie, and Uncle Xie, who would be bringing Aunt Xie over. Right now, every single person in the family was part of the workforce, each one filling a necessary spot. What worried Zhou He most was one of them collapsing.

Fortunately, when the exam results came back, all four elders had their own minor issues, but nothing serious.

That let her breathe a sigh of relief too.

One day, after Aunt Xie came back from delivering food to the hospital, she said to Zhou He, “You have no idea. When I got there today, I ran into your mother-in-law chatting with someone in the hallway. She was saying you’d arranged an expensive physical exam for her, and that only after getting a daughter-in-law could she enjoy such good fortune. Her son had never been that thoughtful.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Everyone was envious of her. Even your uncle and aunt got to benefit from it, so as the mother-in-law, wouldn’t she be over the moon? In the countryside, who bothers with things like physicals when they’re not sick? And if a checkup actually finds something wrong, then you have to treat it, don’t you? That costs a lot of money. Who’d want to go?”

“You can’t put it that way. Physical exams are meant to catch problems early. Isn’t Little Sister a perfect example? Good thing it was discovered early. Otherwise…”

Aunt Xie said, “That’s true. Anyway, by now even the hospital janitors probably know your mother-in-law has a good and filial daughter-in-law.”

–

The speed at which the medical bills were piling up made Zhou He wish she could pick up money off the street.

One time, after Xie Lingge finished a checkup, the doctor said she was recovering very well and encouraged her to keep maintaining a positive mindset. The whole family was delighted. All they could hope for was that it would not recur.

The doctor asked Xie Qingjia and Zhou He to stay behind in the office.

He closed the door and said to them, “The current situation is very encouraging. As long as it doesn’t recur, her life in the future will be no different from anyone else’s. But as you know, whether it recurs varies from person to person. No one can guarantee it. I asked you to stay because I want to tell you that there is now a new anti-recurrence treatment technology. For patients whose condition is not too severe, the success rate in preventing recurrence is very…”

The doctor gave them a general explanation of the treatment principle behind the new technology. It mainly depended on the equipment.

“If you choose this method to prevent recurrence, it works best during the first stage of recovery. For patients who have already had a recurrence, we do not recommend it. Whether to do it is up to you, and you can discuss it with your family… I’ve already explained the advantages. As for the downside, it’s expensive. It requires a one-time payment of more than a million yuan, and it still can’t guarantee one hundred percent prevention of recurrence. We can only say the success rate is very high.”

The doctor concluded, “A lot of families don’t choose it either. Mainly because the cost is just too high for an ordinary household.”

Xie Qingjia: “Doctor, may I ask what the success rate of this treatment plan is?”

Doctor: “Cruel as it is, the recurrence rate for most cancers is over 70 percent. Based on this hospital’s data, for patients who use this plan, the recurrence rate drops to around 10 percent.”

“I understand. Thank you, Doctor. We’ll think it over.”

The doctor had already explained things very clearly. On the way back to the hospital room, Xie Qingjia didn’t discuss it with Zhou He. After they returned, he didn’t bring it up either.

Mother Xie asked, “What did the doctor say?”

Xie Qingjia said, “We just talked a bit about what to watch out for in the follow-up recovery.” Then he looked at Xie Lingge, who was listening attentively from the hospital bed. “Xie Lingge’s been doing pretty well lately. Keep it up.”

Seeing that he didn’t want to say more, Zhou He followed his lead. “Exactly. Little sis has been amazing. The doctor praised her a whole bunch of times.”

Xie Lingge reflexively rolled her eyes at her brother. “You don’t even know how to say something nice. Why don’t you learn from Sister-in-law?”

Xie Qingjia said, “You little brat, I’m too lazy to bother with you.”

Xie Lingge said, “Like I want to bother with you either. Good thing my sister-in-law can put up with you.”

This was probably what they meant by siblings repelling each other on sight.

The brother and sister bickered, and neither of the two parents intervened. They’d long since gotten used to it after all these years.

Mother Xie took Zhou He’s hand and asked how she was feeling, then reminded her not to come here every day. She also told Xie Qingjia to hurry and take her back. “You came over and went through all those checkups too, you’ve been tired out all day. Hurry up and take Xiao He to eat something good.”

The two of them took the cue and said their goodbyes.

After they got in the car, Xie Qingjia asked, “What do you want to eat?”

Zhou He wasn’t in the mood to eat either, so she said, “Let’s just go home and cook some noodles. I don’t really want anything.”

Xie Qingjia: “Mm.”

He didn’t insist.

He didn’t say a word the whole way back, and Zhou He didn’t disturb him either. Whatever the issue was, he had to think it through himself.

When they got home, he cooked two bowls of plain noodle soup. The two of them sat facing each other and finished eating.

Watching him eat noodles like he was swallowing medicine, Zhou He almost wanted to tell him not to eat. But if she said anything, he probably wouldn’t listen, and would just make up some excuse to comfort her instead.

Xie Qingjia stood by the sink washing dishes, while Zhou He bent over beside him gathering up the trash.

The water was running hard, and the kitchen was filled with the rushing sound of it.

Xie Qingjia suddenly spoke. “Xiao He, I…” He stopped before he could finish even half the sentence, as if he didn’t know how to continue.

Without even lifting her head, Zhou He said, “Okay, I agree. Let’s sell the house.”

“You…”

After tying up the trash bag, Zhou He leaned against the counter and looked at him calmly. “If there’s a chance to lower the recurrence rate, then we have to try. Otherwise, if anything happens to your sister, we’ll never have peace of mind for the rest of our lives. So that settles the first question, whether to treat her or not. Then comes the second question, where the money will come from. More than a million yuan, we might not be able to scrape it together just by borrowing, and the repayment pressure would be huge. To be safe, the only option is to sell the house, then borrow a bit more.”

Xie Qingjia’s eyes instantly reddened, and he stared at her blankly.

After calmly laying it all out, Zhou He walked over and hugged him. “I’m not so fragile that you have to protect me every second. You don’t have to carry this all by yourself. I can help you bear it.”

Her tone was gentle, yet firm.

The unsettled heart that had been drifting ever since Xie Qingjia left the hospital was finally soothed and steadied.

Holding this silly girl, who was pregnant and still saying she wanted to help carry his burdens, he couldn’t hold back his tears any longer.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Zhou He knew how much pressure he had been under lately. Crying now was actually a good thing.

“If you feel sorry toward me, then spend your whole life making it up to me.” She said it jokingly. “Didn’t I already say it? My life goal is to make money and support you. What’s a house? Stick with your big sister, and later I’ll buy you three.”

Translator’s Notes