"So, Doctor, you mean his heart function is failing?"
"You could say that."
"Then does that mean he..."
"You want to ask how long he has to live, right?"
The doctor pushed up his glasses.
"You're young, and I won't beat around the bush. Medically speaking, we generally don't give exact answers because there are always exceptions."
"But based on big data, it won't be long. The family should be prepared."
Zhou Jinbei exploded.
"Prepared for what? Prepared to let him die?"
"No. We want to save him! I don't want him to die!"
The doctor raised his hand, signaling her to be quiet.
He saw all sorts of families every day, and no reaction surprised him.
"Alright, since you want to save him, there's only surgery as an option."
"We'll do a pathological analysis as soon as possible to confirm the cause of his heart failure."
"If it's arterial stenosis, it can be improved with a stent."
"If there's a problem with the heart valve, it can also be improved by replacing the heart valve."
As long as the doctor said it could be improved, Zhou Jinbei felt relieved.
She asked about the price of stents and heart valve replacement.
"About 500,000. Prepare up to 500,000, and it should basically cover it."
500,000.
For Zhou Jinbei, who had been pampered since childhood, spending tens of thousands on skincare and over a hundred thousand on a bag, it wasn't really much.
But that was in the past.
A year ago, she would have dismissed this figure with disdain.
But now...
With less than 5,000 yuan in her account, being asked to prepare 500,000 was like a fantasy.
Zhong's father was sleeping, and Zhou Jinbei leaned against the windowsill, looking out.
She couldn't help but think about her future again.
From a young age, her father had instilled in her the idea that money was earned, not saved.
Only by doing business or entering politics could one change their destiny.
Relying on working for others was impossible.
Thanks to the care of Zhan Bei Jue and Jiang Nan Fang, she had been very happy working at Zhan's for the past few months.
She had no worries about food or clothing.
Although she always told herself to work hard and learn from Jiang Nan Fang, she hadn't taken any practical action.
Until today, she had an epiphany.
She couldn't continue like this.
She couldn't always expect others to help her when problems arose.
If she didn't start worrying about making money, she would be too ashamed to face anyone when future problems occurred.
In this world, one could live without a man, but without money, one absolutely couldn't survive.
She couldn't keep thinking about romance every day.
When it came to starting a business and borrowing money, the first person Zhou Jinbei thought of was Chen Jiaojiao.
Because she had been in Jin Cheng for the past few days, she really wanted to meet up with her.
However, she was too busy, and their positions were different, so it had been delayed.
Today, she had to make the call, whether she wanted to or not.
Unexpectedly, Chen Jiaojiao was in Nan Cheng at that moment.
An hour later, they met at a coffee shop two streets away from the hospital.
Chen Jiaojiao was as glamorous as ever.
She wore a black spaghetti strap top, wide-leg jeans, and strappy sandals.
With exquisite makeup, wavy hair, sunglasses, and a designer bag, she walked in with the air of a celebrity.
Then she looked at herself.
Barefaced, with her hair in a bun.
A dress she had worn for two days and hadn't had time to change.
The contrast was stark.
Zhou Jinbei couldn't help but mock herself.
"We're both called rich second generation by others. Look at you, then look at me."
"You're a rich second generation rolling in wealth, and I'm a negative second generation in debt. People really can't be compared."
Since the night of her wedding, Chen Jiaojiao hadn't seen Lu Mingzhe again.
Of course, she hadn't seen Hu Jiasheng either.
She spent her days alone in the marital home, sleeping, drinking alone, drinking alone, sleeping.
Like a lonely ghost.
If her condition wasn't so bad, she wouldn't have bothered to put on such heavy makeup to see Zhou Jinbei.
No one knew the specific situation of anyone else.
She also smiled self-mockingly and said,
"After not seeing each other for so long, you didn't just ask me out to complain, did you?"
"What's wrong? Why are you in debt?"
Chen Jiaojiao knew everything about Zhou Jinbei and Ah Zhong, so she didn't hide anything from her.
She told her about her father's accident.
"He's currently swamped in Jin Cheng, and I don't want to distract him."
"Consider this as me settling my debt to him after this is done, and I won't think about him anymore. Help me out. Lend me 500,000."
Chen Jiaojiao was currently very disappointed with love and life.
Seeing Zhou Jinbei carrying someone else's child and rushing to treat someone else's father, she looked down on her.
"You're as beautiful as a flower, usually as shrewd as a rabbit, but why do you act foolish when it comes to men?"
"What do you owe him? Because you didn't give birth to the child for him, you owe him?"
"Compensate him? Lend money to treat his father? Zhou Jinbei, don't you know that the words 'Saint Mother' are practically written on your forehead?"
Zhou Jinbei knew.
Given her relationship with Ah Zhong, she had no standing to treat his father.
It was normal for Chen Jiaojiao to look down on her.
She was mentally prepared for it.
"There's no other way, I just like him."
"No wonder your parents didn't agree to you being together. Men who are incompetent only make women worry endlessly and suffer endlessly!"
Chen Jiaojiao felt it was unfair to her.
"Fortunately, he only has a father and no mother. If he had a mother too, and later you had children, with elders above and children below, relying on him alone to support the family by working? Hah!"
Zhou Jinbei looked at her. "So, are you going to lend it or not?"
Chen Jiaojiao thought for a moment.
"He'll find out about this later. Do you think he'll return the money to you?"
Zhou Jinbei had a feeling Ah Zhong was a person with dignity and would definitely return it.
But she was also conflicted; she didn't want him to return it.
"I'm willingly helping him. We'll deal with the future later."
"Then record a video for me. Promise this is the last time you'll help him, otherwise, I won't lend you the money."
Zhou Jinbei felt a bit embarrassed saying these things to her.
Although Chen Jiaojiao meant well for her, she went too far as she spoke.
Zhou Jinbei felt her dignity was hurt.
"Chen Jiaojiao, don't you think you're hurting my self-esteem?"
"I'm hurting your self-esteem? Who ever cared about my self-esteem?"
In the end, Chen Jiaojiao was just feeling miserable.
She wanted to get Zhou Jinbei's attention and have her comfort her.
"You keep saying we're good friends. Why didn't you come to my wedding with Lu Mingzhe?"
Zhou Jinbei shivered, almost spitting out the coffee in her mouth.
"What? You got married to Lu Mingzhe? When did that happen? I didn't know!"
Chen Jiaojiao took off her sunglasses, letting her see her eyes.
They were swollen like peaches.
"I've just experienced the bitterness of love. I just don't want you to go down the same path as me, to be heartbroken and lose money."
"There isn't a single good man in the world, not one! Beibei, I advise you to stop being foolish."