"Thank you!"
Chu Qingqing half-rose from her seat to accept the hot tea Shu Lei offered her, placing it slowly on the coffee table.
"Xiaolong has been bright since he was a child, but due to his health, he had to stay home to recuperate after finishing elementary school."
"He read a great deal of literature at home and later became obsessed with web novels and writing."
Chu Qingqing said with a proud tone, "Xiaolong is quite talented when it comes to creative writing."
"Over the past few years, he’s written several screenplays that were bought by film companies and even made it to the screen."
At this, Chu Qingqing heaved a long sigh.
"But as he’s gotten older and his body has developed, his heart has come under more and more strain."
"No strenuous exercise, no extreme emotional highs or lows, no overly greasy or spicy food, no catching colds or running a fever..."
"Too many ’can’ts’ and ’don’ts’ have caused Xiaolong to develop mild depression and a cynical outlook on life..."
Chu Qingqing reached up to rub the bridge of her nose, then looked over at Yan Feifan, who was sitting on a sofa to the side listening intently. A smile appeared on her face.
"Last night, Xiaolong told me he’d met a guy who was even more arrogant and boastful than he was."
"But this morning, he excitedly told me he was wrong."
"Xiaolong said the guy wasn’t arrogant or boastful, but a real-life web novel protagonist who performs one miracle after another."
Hearing this, Shu Lei, who was bringing over a plate of sliced fruit, chimed in, "When I was on long sea voyages, I often downloaded long web novels to pass the time."
"The protagonists in those web novels are always omnipotent, like they’re using cheat codes."
Shu Lei looked at Yan Feifan and gave a slight nod. "Miss Chu, you know, now that I think about it, considering my nephew Feifan’s experiences over the past few years..."
"He really does have the makings of a web novel protagonist. His rate of growth, his money-making ability... it’s like he’s on cheat mode, it’s so fast."
Hearing this, Yan Feifan couldn’t help but roll his eyes at his unreliable uncle.
Chu Qingqing chuckled softly and continued, "This morning, for the first time in a long time, Xiaolong took his pile of medicine without any fuss or delay."
"His mental state has become much more positive too."
"Let me put it this way: I haven’t seen him this optimistic and motivated in the last two or three years."
Chu Qingqing said with great solemnity, "Mr. Yan, your one-year promise to Xiaolong has reignited his desire to live."
"Mr. Yan, thank you!"
As she said this, Chu Qingqing stood up and gave Yan Feifan a deep bow.
Yan Feifan quickly rose to his feet and said, "Miss Chu, there’s no need for that. I’m a doctor; this is my duty."
Chu Qingqing straightened up, sat back down, and reached up to wipe the corners of her reddened eyes with her fingers.
"You might laugh, but the first thing I do every morning is go to Xiaolong’s room to check on him, terrified that he might not have woken up."
"After he became depressed and cynical, my heart would leap into my throat every time I saw a call from home."
Seeing how sincere and emotional she was, Yan Feifan couldn’t help but think of his own sister.
’She’s the exact same type of sister.’
Yan Feifan sighed inwardly and said, "Miss Chu, I have to be honest with you. A year from now, I can’t guarantee that I’ll actually have the ability to perform your brother’s surgery."
"Even if everything goes according to plan, or even better than expected, the chances of your brother’s surgery succeeding won’t be more than forty percent."
Chu Qingqing nodded and said, "Mr. Yan, I understand. With Xiaolong’s condition, it was always going to be a risk, a gamble."
"Even in the worst-case scenario, at least for this coming year, Xiaolong will be living with hope, positivity, and optimism."
After a slight pause, Chu Qingqing added sheepishly, "Mr. Yan, before coming here, I paid a visit to Mr. Liang, the director of cardiothoracic surgery at your hospital."
"His opinion of you is extraordinarily high."
"He said that if anyone else had proposed this one-year promise, he would have immediately dismissed it as delusional and overconfident nonsense."
"But for you, he said, anything is possible."
"Mr. Yan, I’m entrusting my Xiaolong to you!"
At this, Chu Qingqing stood up once more and gave Yan Feifan a ninety-degree bow.
Yan Feifan had to stand up again as well, stating, "Miss Chu, I can’t make any guarantees. I can only say that I will do everything in my power..."
He and his uncle saw Chu Qingqing off. She left behind two bottles of aged French red wine and a box of shark fin and sea cucumber.
Yan Feifan glanced at the business card she had left.
’Assistant to the General Manager of Sunshine Film and Television. That’s not a low-ranking position...’
Mrs. Xia arrived around four in the afternoon.
She volunteered to help Du Qiu, who had returned earlier, prepare dinner.
Yan Ziruo, Yu Suye, and Tian Yu, the three who were supposed to be back early, didn’t return until after five in the afternoon.
Each of them was weighed down with five or six shopping bags of all sizes.
As soon as they got home and saw people busy in the kitchen, they all collapsed onto the sofa like dead dogs, complaining about how tired they were and how much their legs hurt.