“Don’t worry. The Qin family has already arranged for me to go back and take another look at the patient next Wednesday. They might give me even more money then. If you can’t handle five million now, what are you going to do when you see even more money in the future? You’ll go crazy.”
After receiving a definite answer, Chen Jianguo no longer asked him to return the money.
Over the years, he had lowered himself and begged countless people for help to pay for his son’s treatment. Now that his son had the ability to earn money through his medical skills, there was no reason for him, as a father, to stubbornly push the money away.
“If it was earned by saving lives, then keep it.”
Zhou Lan still felt uneasy.
“But five million yuan is too much.”
“Mom, this is only the first payment.” Chen Xuan’s tone was calm. “I’ll earn even more in the future. I absolutely won’t let you suffer anymore. We’ll treat these ten years of hardship as nothing more than a bad dream. From now on, our whole family will stay together and live happily and healthily.”
Chen Yan stared at the bank card for a while before reaching out and pinching her own cheek.
Seeing this, Chen Xuan couldn’t help laughing.
“Does it hurt?”
“A little.”
Only then did Chen Yan finally confirm that she wasn’t dreaming.
Just yesterday, she had still been worrying that her family couldn’t come up with the 260,000 yuan demanded by Huangting. In just one day, her brother had not only gotten the contract back but had also earned five million yuan.
The burden that had weighed over their family for ten years seemed to have been lifted slightly all at once.
“Dad, how much money do we still owe?”
Chen Jianguo was silent for a moment.
“We owed much more before. After selling the shop and the house, we paid off part of it. Over the past few years, we’ve borrowed more here and there. The detailed accounts are all written in the notebook at home.”
“About how much is it?”
“More than 400,000 yuan to our relatives and friends, plus the private loans we took out before. Once the hospital bill this time is settled, we should still owe around 716,000 yuan outside.”
Chen Jianguo remembered every single debt clearly.
Some relatives had never urged them to repay. Others had already asked countless times. It wasn’t that those people were heartless—no one’s money came from nowhere.
For Chen Xuan’s sake, these debts had been dragged out for far too long.
Debts had to be repaid. If you owed someone money and refused to return it, then you had no right to resent them for treating you poorly.
Chen Xuan held no grudge against any of them.
Whatever they owed, they had to repay it. They would even calculate the interest properly and pay every cent.
But those who had helped their family selflessly deserved to be repaid several times over.
“We’ll pay everything back tomorrow,” Chen Xuan said. “For the families who refused to charge us interest, we’ll repay double the principal.”
Zhou Lan quickly said, “Repaying debts is the right thing to do, but it would be better to make a plan first…”
“We’ve already owed them for so many years. There’s no need to keep dragging it out. You feel much lighter when you’re free of debt. Don’t worry, Mom. With me here, our family won’t ever have to worry about food, clothing, or daily expenses again.”
Chen Xuan interrupted his mother.
“Besides paying off our debts, we also need to buy a house. The place we’re living in now is too small. I’ve only just recovered, and Dad’s leg is inconvenient. We need to move somewhere with an elevator.”
Chen Jianguo instinctively said, “We can rent a place. There’s no need to buy one right away.”
“We used to have our own house. We sold it to pay for my treatment.”
Chen Xuan looked at his parents.
“Now that we have money, of course we should buy another one.”
The old house had already been bought by someone else, so it was impossible for them to truly get it back. But at the very least, Chen Xuan could give his parents a stable home again—one where they wouldn’t have to worry about the landlord raising the rent, or squeeze into a cramped rental while caring for a bedridden patient.
Zhou Lan opened her mouth, but ultimately did not object.
She lowered her head and began gathering the things beside the bed, yet tears fell onto the neatly folded clothes.
Over the past ten years, her greatest wish had been for her son to wake up.
Now, not only had he awakened, he had suddenly gained extraordinary abilities. He could stand before her and promise to repay the family’s debts and buy them a new home.
Chen Yan walked over and hugged her mother.
“Mom, you really don’t have to suffer anymore.”
Zhou Lan wiped away her tears.
“This is a good thing. I’m not crying.”
Chen Jianguo wanted to stand up and help tidy things. But as soon as he put weight on his right leg, his movements stiffened noticeably. He grabbed the edge of the bed and waited for the pain to pass before standing up again.
Chen Xuan walked over to his father.
“Dad, when did you injure your leg?”
“It’s nothing. I fell at a construction site a few years ago. I already had it treated. It just aches a little whenever the weather turns damp or rainy.”
“If it only aches a little, why couldn’t you stand steadily just now?”
Chen Jianguo avoided his son’s gaze.
“I’d been sitting too long. My leg went numb.”
Chen Xuan didn’t question him further. He reached out and pressed several points around his father’s knee.
At first, Chen Jianguo kept saying that it didn’t hurt. But when Chen Xuan pressed the outer side of his lower leg, his muscles involuntarily twitched, and a thin layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
“How long has it hurt here?”
Seeing that he couldn’t hide it, Chen Jianguo could only answer, “Two or three years. The hospital said I damaged a nerve, and since I let it go on for too long, all I can do is recover slowly.”
Chen Xuan examined the meridians running through his father’s leg. He had already reached a conclusion.
His old injury had never been given enough time to rest. Although the bones had healed, the meridians and nerves had remained compressed. Over the years, Chen Jianguo had continued going back and forth between construction sites and logistics parks, causing the injury to become far worse than it had been at the beginning.
If this continued, the leg would eventually lose the ability to move completely.
However, treating it would not be easy. The leg bone would have to be broken and reset, after which the medicinal properties would be used to stimulate the body’s self-healing abilities and make the incorrectly fused bone grow back in the proper position.
Chen Xuan released his hand.
“Dad, your leg can be cured.”
Chen Jianguo froze.
“Really?”
“Really. Under normal circumstances, we’d have to break the leg and reshape the bone. It will be extremely painful…”
“Ah! Then forget it. I’m not getting treated.”
The moment he heard this, Chen Jianguo immediately panicked.
“I haven’t finished speaking. I’ll find a way to make sure you don’t feel any pain.” Chen Xuan grinned.
In the next instant, his father flicked him sharply on the forehead.
“You brat. Who taught you to leave out the most important part when you talk?”
Seeing Chen Xuan cover his forehead with an aggrieved expression, his mother and sister couldn’t help laughing as well.
It had been a long time since their family had been able to joke and bicker so happily together.
They could feel it now. The good days they had once known really were coming back.
Chen Xuan’s expression turned serious. He looked at his mother’s hair, already streaked with gray, then glanced at his younger sister beside him.
Inwardly, he vowed, The money we owe can be repaid, and the house we sold can be bought again.
I’ll cure every illness you have, too. From now on, just follow me and enjoy the good life.
After the family finished gathering their things, they took a car back to the house they were currently renting.
The house was located in an old residential compound in western Jiangzhou. It was only a little over fifty square meters. Because Chen Jianguo had difficulty walking, they had specifically rented a place on the first floor. A nursing bed, wheelchair, and various rehabilitation devices occupied the living room. Along the wall were piles of unused adult diapers, disinfectant, and nutritional fluids.
For the past few years, Chen Xuan had lain in the middle of the living room.
Zhou Lan slept on a folding bed beside him at night, while Chen Jianguo lived in the smaller second bedroom. Chen Yan had staff housing at Huangting and could only squeeze in with her mother whenever she came home.
The entire house was filled with a distinctly unpleasant smell. Every corner was crammed with household necessities, leaving barely enough room to turn around.
Chen Xuan stood in the living room and stared for a long time.
For a moment, Chen Xuan seemed to see the ten years his family had spent struggling to survive in such conditions.
Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
His mother had told him at the hospital that the sunlight here was good. She hadn’t lied. The south-facing windows did let in sunlight, but another residential building stood right outside, so the room was truly bright for only two or three hours a day.
“Little Xuan, the place is a bit small, but it’s very convenient.”
Zhou Lan was worried that her son would feel upset.
“There’s a market right next door, and a bus stop only a few minutes away. The landlord is a decent person too. He’s barely raised the rent these past few years.”
“We’ll stay here for a few days,” Chen Xuan said, showing no sign of distress. “Once we find a suitable place, we’ll move.”
Chen Jianguo carried the luggage into the bedroom.
“Buying a house isn’t like buying vegetables. You can’t just buy one whenever you feel like it. Five million may seem like a lot, but after paying off the debts and buying a house, there probably won’t be much left. We’ll need money for medical treatment and medicine in the future. Your mother is right—we should make a proper plan first.”
“In three days, I’ll have another substantial income. You don’t need to worry about that.”
“???”
The whole family stared at Chen Xuan in astonishment, but he offered no further explanation. Instead, he urged his parents to bring out the bills so they could look through them.
Zhou Lan took an iron box from the very back of a cabinet in the bedroom. Besides the rental agreement and various medical receipts, the box also contained a black notebook with worn edges.
Chen Jianguo took the notebook and sat down at the dining table.
“All the money we owe is recorded in here.”
Chen Xuan opened the ledger.
Every entry listed the date the money had been borrowed, the amount, and the lender’s name. Some amounts had been crossed out in red, meaning that part of the debt had already been repaid after they sold the shop and their house.
There were still more than twenty uncrossed entries.
The smallest amount was the five thousand yuan Chen Jianguo had borrowed from his colleague, Old Zhao, just yesterday. The largest debt was to Zhou Lan’s older brother, Zhou Chenghai. He had lent them a total of one hundred sixty thousand yuan over several occasions, without asking for interest or ever pressing them to repay.
A few other relatives had also lent them money without charging interest.
The private loans were recorded in even greater detail: how much interest was due each month and how much had actually been repaid were all written down clearly.
“Let’s go to the bank first.”
Chen Xuan closed the ledger.
Chen Yan picked up the bank card.
“Big Brother, I’ll take you to activate mobile banking first. Then it’ll be convenient to check the balance and transfer money. You won’t have to go to the counter every time.”
“All right.”
The family went to a nearby bank.
Only after confirming that there really were five million yuan in the account did Zhou Lan truly grasp the reality of the enormous sum. She stared at the balance certificate printed by the teller and checked it repeatedly, yet her fingers still trembled slightly.
A staff member helped Chen Xuan complete the necessary services.
Chen Yan sat beside him and patiently taught him how to use mobile banking step by step. Chen Xuan only needed to watch once before memorizing the process.
After returning home, they followed the ledger and transferred the first payment to Chen Jianguo’s colleague, Old Zhao.
The five thousand yuan was returned in full, along with an extra five hundred yuan as a token of gratitude. Old Zhao called soon afterward and complained that Chen Jianguo should have simply returned the money. Why had he sent an additional five hundred yuan?
Chen Jianguo spent quite some time explaining before Old Zhao finally agreed to keep it.
Next came the other private loans that had already fallen due.
Chen Xuan paid back every cent of the principal and interest owed.
He did not make things difficult for the people who had once come to demand repayment. Their loans had not exceeded the legal limits, and the money they had lent had genuinely been their own. They had every right to ask for it according to the agreement. Now that the accounts were settled, neither side owed the other anything.
When it came to the final few loans that had not involved any agreed-upon interest, Chen Xuan transferred twice the principal amount directly.
That included Zhou Chenghai—Chen Xuan’s maternal uncle, who immediately received a transfer of three hundred twenty thousand yuan.
As soon as Zhou Chenghai received the money, he called.
“Lan, did you transfer the wrong amount?”
“You didn’t receive the wrong amount,” Zhou Lan replied, glancing at her son. “Our family has money now. Little Xuan said we should pay back everything we owed you.”
“Even if you’re repaying me, you only owe me one hundred sixty thousand yuan. Why did you send three hundred twenty thousand?”
“Brother, you never pressured us all these years. Even when Sister-in-law needed money urgently several times, you never came to ask for repayment. The extra one hundred sixty thousand is Little Xuan’s way of showing his appreciation.”
There was a brief silence on Zhou Chenghai’s end.
“When I lent you that money, I was helping my nephew, not trying to make money from your family. I can’t accept the extra one hundred sixty thousand.”
Chen Xuan reached out and took the phone.
“Uncle.”
The other end of the line fell silent for a moment. Then Zhou Chenghai’s voice became noticeably emotional.
“Little Xuan? You’re really awake?”
“I’m awake, and I’ve recovered very well. Once I’ve finished taking care of things at home, I’ll come visit you in person.”
“That’s wonderful. You’re awake—that’s all that matters.”
Zhou Chenghai repeated the words several times.
“Little Xuan, talk to your mother. There’s really no need to give us that extra money. If your cousin had been the one lying in the hospital back then, your parents wouldn’t have refused to help either.”
“Precisely because you were willing to help us back then, you should accept this money,” Chen Xuan said. “This isn’t interest. It’s my gratitude as your nephew. If you or Aunt ever need anything in the future, you can come straight to me. I’ll do everything I can to help.”
Zhou Chenghai still refused.
The two of them spoke on the phone for a long time. In the end, Chen Xuan could only tell him that if he returned the money, Chen Xuan would personally bring the cash to him.
With no way to dissuade him, Zhou Chenghai finally agreed to accept it for the time being.
Chen Xuan repaid the other families who had sincerely helped the Chen family in the same way. Some were willing to accept the money, while others firmly returned it. After much persuasion, they eventually agreed to keep it.
Money could be repaid immediately, but kindness could not be forgotten so easily.
Chen Xuan engraved the debt of gratitude he owed these people firmly in his heart.
By the time night had fully fallen, the final debt in the ledger had finally been crossed out.
Chen Jianguo held the red pen and stared at the pages covered in red lines, his heart filled with emotion. Those figures had weighed on him for many years.
Every morning when he opened his eyes, he thought either about his son’s medical expenses or about when he could repay another portion of the money. Now that every debt had been settled, he felt strangely unaccustomed to it.
“It’s all paid off?”
Zhou Lan asked softly.
“It’s all paid off.”
Chen Jianguo closed the ledger and let out a long breath.
“Our family doesn’t owe anyone money anymore.”
Zhou Lan sat beside him, her eyes beginning to redden again. Afraid that her children would see, she quickly got up and went into the kitchen.
Chen Yan looked at the ledger in her father’s hands and couldn’t help smiling as well.
“Dad, you can put this notebook away now.”
“Mm. We need to keep it safe.”
Chen Jianguo placed the ledger back in the iron box.
“This book doesn’t just record money. It also records who gave our family a helping hand when we were at our most desperate. We have to remember these kindnesses for the rest of our lives.”
Including the extra amounts they had paid, the family had spent a little over one million yuan clearing all their debts. Chen Xuan still had more than 3.9 million yuan left in his bank account.
For an ordinary family, that was still an enormous sum.
But if he wanted to continue increasing his cultivation, that money was far from enough.