002. Mother Serves the Dishes, Sister Brings Good News

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Lin Shan pulled his phone from his pocket and opened WeChat.

The first thing he saw was a voice message from his elderly mother. He played it.

“Son, I served food today and earned a hundred yuan. I’ll transfer it to you first. I’m old now and no longer useful. I can only do this kind of work...”

Lin Shan’s eyes stung. He lifted the phone to his lips, wanting to say something, but his throat felt as though an invisible hand had seized it. Three minutes later, a notification arrived: a transfer of one hundred yuan.

He could almost see his elderly mother carefully entering and double-checking the payment password, one digit at a time.

Standing in the middle of the crowd, Lin Shan burst into tears. The mad thought that had filled his mind was suppressed once more.

“No. I can’t trade my life for the lives of those two dogs. If I die, what will happen to my family? There’s still a long road ahead. As long as I’m alive, I’ll have a chance to make them pay. Lin Shan, pull yourself together!”

Lin Shan rubbed his face with both hands and wiped away the tear stains. Then he spoke into the phone, saying to his mother, “Mom, you’ve worked hard. Don’t worry. These difficult days are only temporary.”

His mother replied soon after.

“Son, don’t wear yourself out.”

Lin Shan brushed the dust from his clothes and headed toward the hospital.

His father had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer. Fortunately, it had been discovered relatively early, but the cost of continued treatment was enormous. The first three hundred thousand yuan had already been spent, and the hospital had urged them several times to pay the next two hundred thousand.

Lin Shan worked as a programmer. After graduating, he joined a medium-sized company. Following several job changes, his after-tax salary last year had reached three hundred thousand yuan.

His mortgage cost eight thousand yuan a month.

The rest had to cover Zhang Wan’s everyday expenses and social obligations, while his younger sister’s education also depended on his support.

He was practically living from paycheck to paycheck and had little ability to withstand sudden financial trouble. His father’s illness had therefore left him struggling almost at once.

And then, at precisely this moment, the internet industry entered a downturn, and he was laid off.

He had reached the end of his resources.

As he walked, Lin Shan scrolled through his phone contacts. He decided to borrow money.

He had already called around to borrow money once not long before. Some people had lent him money; others had brushed him off.

Unless absolutely necessary, he truly did not want to humble himself again.

But in circumstances like these, what were dignity and pride compared with family?

At last, Lin Shan made up his mind and began dialing one number after another.

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“Ah-Shan, sigh... You know Evergrande didn’t collapse, right? My properties are all stuck, and my leverage has blown up!”

...

“Brother Shan, I was laid off too. I’ve been unemployed at home for a year, and I can barely keep up with my mortgage. Do you want my house? You’d only have to take over the mortgage!”

...

“Brother Shan, my mother has terminal lung cancer. Do you have any money?”

...

Lin Shan silently lowered his phone. Once he started making those calls, he realized that everyone in the world was suffering in one way or another.

After walking along the street for a while, Lin Shan felt a chill spread through his entire body, despite it being a summer night.

Just then, his phone sounded again. He tapped the notification and saw that it was a message from his younger sister, Lin Wei.

“Brother, our family has money now.”

“One of my classmates knows about our situation and is willing to lend us two hundred thousand yuan, interest-free.”

Lin Wei was twenty years old and exceptionally beautiful, with a face full of youthful vitality. This year, she had been admitted to Qiantang University, the finest university in Qiantang City and, indeed, in the entire province.

In truth, Lin Wei was not Lin Shan’s biological sister. Eighteen years earlier, a friend of Lin Shan’s father had entrusted her to their family.

When Lin Shan saw her message, he felt no joy at all. Instead, his heart grew heavy.

Two hundred thousand yuan was by no means a small amount. After entering society, Lin Shan had come to understand that there were not many people in this world who treated you well for no reason.

With Lin Wei’s looks, she had never lacked admirers since middle school. Fortunately, she had always been obedient, and the Lin family kept a strict watch over her.

Lin Shan had already guessed that this two hundred thousand yuan must have come from someone with ulterior motives.

However, he did not alert the other party. He simply left Lin Wei’s message unanswered.

Half an hour later, Lin Shan arrived at the hospital and made his way to his father’s ward. It was a four-bed room. At nine-thirty in the evening, most of the patients were already asleep, and the room was silent.

Curtains separated the beds.

Lin Shan went to the innermost bed and drew back the curtain. Lin Wei was holding her phone. When she saw him arrive so suddenly, a flash of panic crossed her eyes, and she began to lower the phone. But Lin Shan reacted quickly and snatched it from her hand.

She had been chatting with someone. When Lin Shan saw the conversation, anger surged through him, accompanied by an endless ache.

“The two hundred thousand will arrive tomorrow. Come to Junmao and stay with me three days later. This two hundred thousand is only the first payment. After that, I’ll give you fifty thousand every month.”

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Lin Wei’s reply was simply:

“Okay.”

Lin Shan scrolled upward. The man named Shen Yanmo appeared to be the son of a wealthy family. He had begun harassing Lin Wei when she first entered university. Later, she deleted him, but she had added him back recently.

Lin Shan took a moment to steady his emotions.

Then he replied, “I’m Lin Wei’s brother. Don’t transfer the two hundred thousand. We’ll find another way ourselves.”

There was no reply.

Lin Shan set down the phone. Lin Wei kept her head lowered, afraid to meet his eyes. When his scolding did not come, she nervously raised her head and found herself staring into his bloodshot eyes.

In a small voice, she asked, “Brother... aren’t you going to yell at me?”

Lin Shan gave a self-mocking smile. “What right do I have to scold you? Everyone has their own responsibilities. As a man, a son, and an older brother, raising money for Dad’s medical treatment is my responsibility. Yours is to study hard. It’s because I’m useless that you came to think of something like this. The only person I hate is myself...”

Tears streamed down Lin Wei’s face. She pressed her lips tightly together and cried in silence, unwilling to disturb their father, who was sleeping soundly nearby.

“I’m sorry, Brother. I only wanted to help the family,” she sobbed.

Lin Shan gently rubbed her head and said softly, “It’s all right. I’ll find a way. Never think of doing something like this again. If Dad found out that the money saving his life had been obtained this way, he would wish he were dead.”

Lin Wei nodded repeatedly. She buried herself in Lin Shan’s arms and cried for a long while before finally lifting her head.

“Brother, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? I’ll go heat up a bowl of instant noodles for you.”

Lin Shan nodded, and Lin Wei immediately left the ward.

She was dressed simply: a black printed T-shirt, light-blue jeans washed nearly white, and white canvas shoes.

But the purity and youthful vitality she radiated were things no designer clothes or expensive cosmetics could ever replace.

After eating the instant noodles, Lin Shan lay down on the hospital attendant’s bed, tossing and turning until sleep eluded him.

“It seems I can only sell the house first. But the property market is sluggish this year. I’ll probably have to take a loss.”

In a daze, Lin Shan drifted into sleep. He dreamed that he had come before a white door. Without giving it much thought, he walked straight through.

A mechanical voice echoed in his mind.

“The passage between the two worlds has been opened!”

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