Charity - Chapter 6

Everything back home was just as it had been.

When we got off the train, a driver holding a sign was there to meet us. I praised Huo Qishuo’s thoughtfulness.

“It’s really inconvenient in the village these days without a car.”

He gave me a speechless glance.

“You’re so young and handsome. My family will definitely think you’re my boyfriend.” Before we went to the hospital, I warned him again. “If they say anything, please don’t take it to heart.”

“I’ve always respected the elderly and been kind to children, all right?”

I ignored him and checked the money in my account again.

I’d come back both to see Grandma and to pay for her surgery. It was a huge sum to me. I didn’t feel safe transferring it straight to my uncle. Only paying the hospital myself would put my mind at rest.

When Huo Qishuo wasn’t smiling, he had a powerful presence. And anyone who wasn’t blind could tell that he was rich. My uncle and aunt happened to be snobs; their one good point was their ability to judge whom to treat well.

They were astonishingly polite to him.

Grandma didn’t look well, but she was delighted to see me. Holding my hand, she chattered on and on, then asked when Huo Qishuo and I were getting married.

Married? Your granddaughter wasn’t planning to marry anyone in this lifetime.

Huo Qishuo was wonderfully kind to her, humoring everything she said. I thought he’d probably been telling the truth about respecting the elderly and being kind to children.

Outside the ward, I spoke to her doctor again. Her injury wasn’t too severe, but because she was elderly, the operation would be quite difficult.

Huo Qishuo listened beside me, then went out to make a call. When he returned, he said he’d arranged for a visiting specialist surgeon to operate on Grandma.

I didn’t know the name he mentioned. Clearly, her doctor did. He must have been a very eminent surgeon, because the doctor practically jumped with excitement.

“Don’t look at me with those grateful eyes,” Huo Qishuo said, unable to bear it. “Could you stop acting as though you’re worth nothing?”

“It’s because you’re always making that face that you make yourself look so cheap. Understand?”

“But you’ve paid for the surgery, found Grandma an excellent doctor, come home with me, and been so kind to me.”

“I’m not short of money. Your grandma’s surgery costs less than one meal for me. That supposedly excellent doctor was just a phone call.”

“I came home with you because the countryside interested me.”

“I’m nice to you because I’m a normal person. You haven’t done anything to annoy me. Why would I keep getting angry with you?”

“The stories you tell me, your personality, the way you make me feel—they’re worth every bit of what I’ve invested in you.”

“In that respect, at least, we’re equals.”

“If I didn’t think you were worth it, I wouldn’t do anything for you.”

“So stop putting yourself in the worthless category.”

“Of course you’re worth a bit less than I am. But you’re not that cheap.”

The more he said, the more moved I became. So he hastily added a warning.

“I’m warning you. Plenty of women fall in love with me because I’m nice to them. I suggest you don’t follow their example.”

“I could lose interest in you at any moment. Our relationship could end at any time.”

“I’d advise you to stay true to yourself and behave sensibly.”

I began to laugh. This time, there truly wasn’t a trace of darkness in my smile.

“Don’t worry. No one is more honest and sensible than I am.”

Having brought Huo Qishuo to my hometown, I also showed him the old house where I’d once lived. It was made of mud. With no one living there now, half of it had collapsed.

“Where do you stay when you come back, then?”

“At my uncle’s.” I smiled, embarrassed. “But only for a few days at most. And I pay for my upkeep.”

“They don’t treat you very well, do they? They look like a bunch of leeches clinging to you and sucking your blood. With living conditions in your village, how could your grandma spend three thousand a month?”

“I can understand them, actually. Uncle has two sons. One’s married and has just had a baby. The other hasn’t graduated yet.”

“Neither Uncle nor Aunt works away from home. They pick up odd jobs nearby sometimes.”

“And they have to take care of Grandma.”

“They’re under a lot of pressure.”

“They haven’t exactly been kind to me. But when I was little, they did buy me a few sets of new clothes. They also went to parent-teacher meetings for me.”

“That’s life when you’re poor. A mess of endless little troubles. You want to get something out of other people, but you don’t really wish them harm.”

Huo Qishuo said nothing.

I touched my nose awkwardly. “Do you think I’m a bit of a bleeding heart?”

“A bit.” He nodded. “Try to work on that. Otherwise, you won’t be able to hang on to your money either.”

“I do have my limits,” I said. “I used to think I’d save as hard as I could and rebuild the house.”

“I might not look like much, but I own land too. If I really can’t make it in the city, I can go back to the village and farm. At least I won’t starve.”

“But I have to support Grandma now, so I need to work hard and earn money.”

“Oh. Is that why you asked me for another five thousand last night?”

“I didn’t…” My face flushed. “I’d hit my bank card’s limit. That’s why I asked to borrow it. I told you, once I go to the bank and raise the limit, I’ll…”

“Oh, if I actually took that five thousand back, you’d be calling me a miser like Grandet in your head. Making you repay a mere five thousand.”

“I wasn’t thinking anything like that!”

“Besides, asking me for money is fine. But could you be a little bolder? You had such a good opportunity last night. I’d have said yes to whatever you asked for. And what did you do? You went for a tiny grab instead of a big one. Just five thousand.”

I stopped talking.

After all, I was an honest, sensible woman. I couldn’t speak as freely as he did, without a single inhibition or taboo.