Chapter 57: The Difficult Hurdle Part 2

She gently laid Gu An’an on the bed and adjusted her pillow.

“Is the air conditioning too cold?”

“It’s not.”

“Is your waist comfortable there?”

“It is.”

“Then I’ll start the massage.”

“…Okay.”

After massaging for a while, Chu Ran suddenly spoke up. “Wang Li and the others are all guys—careless and rough around the edges. There are so many things I just can’t talk to them about.”

“Besides, we’re not going to the same school. Once we’re in university, everyone’s busy making new friends. Who has time to check in on me?”

“I’ve also heard that Tsinghua University isn’t just fiercely competitive—it’s downright brutal. I was number one in Cloud City, but there? Everyone’s number one. Everyone’s a top scorer. Plenty of students crack under the pressure, developing severe depression. Some even get so bad they drop out or take leave.”

Gu An’an’s heart clenched. “Little Ran, don’t scare me like that. You definitely won’t end up that way, right?”

Chu Ran pulled a deliberately miserable face. “Who knows? I’ve grown up by your side since I was little. Suddenly leaving you? I’d definitely struggle to adjust. And if I can’t adjust, all sorts of pressures would build up. Then…”

Gu An’an shook her head frantically, like a rattle-drum. “No! No, you won’t! I won’t allow you to talk like that.” She struggled fiercely to sit up, but Chu Ran quickly soothed her. “Okay, okay. I won’t say it anymore.”

The two fell into silence.

Gu An’an realized then that Chu Ran had said all that for her benefit. She wanted Gu An’an to go with her to the capital.

Her heart ached with a sour pang. She truly didn’t want to embarrass her or hold her back. The things Zhao Haixia and the others had said yesterday cut like knives, sharp and piercing.

After Chu Ran became the provincial top scorer, so many neighbors in the complex had gossiped that Gu An’an had gotten dog-shit luck—picking up a random kid and ending up with a Tsinghua student, plus a free school-district apartment and a few million in inheritance.

She hadn’t paid it any mind before. But now? She’d gone and blown through every last bit of Chu Ran’s inheritance!

Gu An’an’s nose stung, tears nearly spilling over. She quickly turned her face away, forcing them back.

Chu Ran pressed her lips into a tight line.

She felt a deep pang of guilt. She’d only meant to nudge Gu An’an a little, not make her this upset.

Late that night, in the lavish private room of an exclusive little bar.

Qian Hao had claimed an entire sofa for herself. Her eyes bloodshot, she knocked back one drink after another.

Lin Wanfeng tried to talk her down from beside her.

“It’s just some poor student. Are you really going to mope around here like you just got dumped?”

“Especially when you two never even got started in the first place. Come on, sister—pull yourself together!”

She tried for a bit but got nowhere. Standing, she shot Du Fei a look. He jerked his chin back at her. “Watch the young master work his magic!”

He sauntered over to Qian Hao and launched into his pitch.

“Qian Hao, I never pegged you for the lovesick type!”

“The one you like—she’s the girl who danced with us at the bar that night, right? Gotta say, good eye. But since she turned you down, could it be a gender mismatch?”

Qian Hao fixed her reddened eyes on him, waiting for him to continue.

Du Fei got into it. “Look, that girl’s the real deal—tall and leggy, killer figure, Tsinghua brainiac. Total female top student material. Not every girl like that swings that way. She might go for someone handsome and loaded like me. How about this: I’ll test the waters for you. If it flops, you’ve still got a shot. If I score… well, don’t be too jealous…”

He hadn’t even finished before he was clutching his leg and howling. “Ow! Ahh! My foot! My foot!”

Qian Hao’s high heel ground mercilessly into his toes.

Her lovely eyes, rimmed in red, gleamed with unusual ferocity.

“Du Fei, I’m warning you—if you so much as lay a finger on her, I’ll castrate you. Don’t say I didn’t tell you ahead of time!”

Du Fei yanked his foot free and scrambled to the next sofa over. “Qian Hao, you’re not human! How could you go so hard on me? Waaah! I’m telling Uncle Qian you bullied me!”

Lin Wanfeng shoved him aside. “Out of the way! Who told you to poach Little Hao’s territory? She hasn’t even had a taste yet, and you’re jumping the gun? You got a death wish?”

Qian Hao shot her a look. “Lin Wanfeng, watch your mouth. I truly like Chu Ran. It’s not a game to me!”

The two rich kids exchanged dubious glances but finally took her seriously.

Lin Wanfeng said, “If you really like her that much, just throw money at her. There’s no one in this world who can’t be bought!”

“There is!” Du Fei had to contradict her.

“Who?” Lin Wanfeng demanded.

Du Fei grinned smugly. “Someone with even more money.”

“Drop dead!” Both girls kicked him in unison.

Du Fei clambered up from the floor and pressed on. “For real, though—I say throw money at her. She’s a poor student, right? Drown her in it. Dazzle her till she’s spinning, till she can’t live without you.”

Qian Hao thought back to what Chu Ran had said that afternoon before they parted, and a wave of sadness hit her.

“She’s different. Her sister’s in the hospital. I gave her my card, but she didn’t spend a dime.”

She’d bolted out of there at the time. Looking back, if she’d been just a second slower, Chu Ran probably would’ve handed the card right back.

Lin Wanfeng and Du Fei asked together, “Then where’d the hospital money come from?”

Qian Hao paused. “Her parents’ inheritance—a few million, I think. But it must be just about gone by now.”

“There you go,” they said. “With money, she can play the tough cookie. Broke? Keep piling it on. She won’t hold out long.”

Qian Hao bristled. “I don’t like treating her that way. She’s not the type.”

Lin Wanfeng threw up her hands. “Got a better idea? For us rich folks, the most efficient way is the money way. Why take the scenic route?”

Du Fei raised both hands. “Hear, hear. Totally agree.”

Qian Hao eyed her two friends’ “sincere” faces and suddenly saw them for the money-grubbing pair they were—totally out of sync with her.

“I told you, I don’t want to do it that way. I don’t want money to taint things between Chu Ran and me!”

Lin Wanfeng and Du Fei stared at each other.

They couldn’t fathom Qian Hao’s dilemma. After all, people threw themselves at them all the time.

Qian Hao calmed herself after a moment and asked, “Say you like someone who doesn’t like you back—but they’re amazing, and you’re crazy about them. What would you do?”

“Cater to her interests?” Lin Wanfeng blurted.

Du Fei pondered. “I’d pull in my claws and bide my time. Become her friend. Be the shoulder she leans on when no one’s there for her, the confidant when she has nowhere to vent. Once she realizes she can’t do without you… that’s when you pounce like a hungry tiger. One strike, and she’s yours.”

“How so?”

“By then, you’re holding all the cards. You can play her however you want.”

Qian Hao fell silent, gradually lost in thought.

It hit her then—Chu Ran refusing to tell Gu An’an about her feelings. Wasn’t that an opportunity?

A week later, Chu Ran took Gu An’an to the hospital for a follow-up.

After the checks, she wheeled Gu An’an out. Beaming, Gu An’an said, “Little Ran, did you hear what the doctor said? All my bodily functions are stabilizing. Does that mean if I keep up the physical therapy, I’ll be able to stand soon?”

Chu Ran nodded with a smile. “Yeah. We stick with the therapy and regular checkups, and you’ll be good as new in no time.”

Gu An’an grew even happier. She reached out to bask in the sunlight. Seated in her wheelchair, she didn’t notice the smile slowly fading from Chu Ran’s face behind her or the way her expression grew grave.

Chu Ran was mulling over her private conversation with the attending doctor.

“Your sister’s immune system mutation has stabilized.”

“So her legs will recover soon?”

“I ran response tests on her leg nerves today. Barely any sensation. The mutation is holding steady for now, but to restore full immune function, she’ll need more injections.”

“Based on the current symptoms, probably just one more dose.”

The attending doctor saw she wasn’t responding and added, “She could skip it, but recovery would take much longer. We can’t guarantee when—or if—the nerves will wake up.”

Chu Ran looked up sharply. “Is this ridiculously expensive Balance Agent made just for the rich?”

The attending doctor was long accustomed to such pointed questions. “Your sister’s condition is extremely rare,” he explained. “Developing targeted medications for rare diseases like hers requires massive investment for minimal returns, which is why they’re usually priced so exorbitantly.”

Chu Ran said nothing more. With resolute determination, she replied, “Inject it. Of course we’re going ahead with the injection.”

The doctor was aware of her situation with Gu An’an. With a trace of sympathy in his voice, he cautioned, “In that case, you should prepare yourself mentally. It’s not just the cost of the injection—there are also the follow-up physiotherapy sessions, and none of it comes cheap.”

At that thought, Chu Ran’s heart grew even heavier.

The Balance Agent alone cost two million, the physiotherapy would run at least seven to eight hundred thousand, and there were bound to be various unforeseen minor expenses on top of that.

She would need to scrape together at least three million just to barely make it through this ordeal.

Then there was the matter of her and Gu An’an’s life in the Capital City afterward—rent, ongoing rehabilitation treatments. That would be another substantial outlay.

Those could wait, at least. Right now, the pressing concern was getting past this immediate crisis.

Her bank card held less than one hundred and eighty thousand!

Money!

She needed money more desperately than at any other moment in her life!