The night before my uncle’s surgery, my aunt called me into the emergency stairwell and pressed an envelope into my hands.
“There’s one hundred thousand yuan in here. Go pay the deposit tomorrow morning. That way, your uncle can rest easy.”
I squeezed the envelope.
It felt strangely thin.
In my previous life, I had chased after her to ask about it, and she had said, “The bank is closed. I’ll make up the full amount tomorrow morning.”
I took out all my savings to cover the shortfall, scraped together the full one hundred thousand yuan, and deposited it into my uncle’s hospital account.
Three days later, my aunt posted a photo of the payment receipt in the family group chat.
It clearly stated: Advance Payment: 1,000 yuan.
Weeping, she cried out, “I gave that girl the entire one hundred thousand yuan meant to save his life, yet she only paid one thousand! Where did the rest of the money go?!”
Overnight, I became a thief who had stolen money meant to save a life.
No one went to the hospital to request a transaction statement.
No one called the police to investigate.
They simply said, “How can anyone prove what happened with cash?”
My mother was so furious that she had to be rushed to the emergency room.
My father was forced to kneel in front of the family ancestral hall and apologize.
After the surgery, when my uncle learned how badly the family had fallen apart, he was so enraged that he pulled out his own oxygen tube and died on the spot.
I knelt before his grave and explained myself for an entire year, but not a single person believed me.
In the end, I jumped from the eighteenth floor.
When I opened my eyes again, I was standing in the emergency stairwell once more, with my aunt’s hand pressing the envelope into mine.
In this life, I accepted it, opened it right in front of her, then turned and headed straight for the inpatient payment counter.
“Excuse me. Could you deposit all the money in this envelope into the hospital account and print me a receipt?”
…
My aunt froze for two seconds before hurrying after me.
“Wanwan! Where are you going?”
“To pay the hospital.”
Without looking back, I continued toward the counter.
“Wasn’t the payment supposed to be made tomorrow morning? If I pay tonight, you can stop worrying sooner.”
My aunt grabbed my arm so hard that it hurt.
“It’s so late! What’s the point of paying now? Tomorrow! We’ll deal with it tomorrow!”
I stopped and looked at her.
“Auntie, the sooner we pay, the sooner we can put our minds at ease.”
Her voice suddenly rose to a shrill pitch, making everyone waiting in line at the counter turn around.
“You’d better keep the money in my hands if you want me to feel at ease!”
“One hundred thousand yuan in cash! You’re a young woman wandering around with that much money in the middle of the night. What if something happens to you? Who’s going to take responsibility?”
A middle-aged woman waiting nearby immediately chimed in.
“Exactly! Why are you being so stubborn?”
“The older generation trusts you enough to hand you their money. Why can’t you just do as you’re told?”
“They only want what’s best for you! Be a good girl and listen!”
My aunt had always been good at this.
No matter what the truth was, a few carefully chosen words were enough to make my mother and everyone else believe her.
Then she would turn around and accuse me of being an ungrateful niece.
It had been the same in my previous life.
When I said there wasn’t enough money in the envelope, she immediately retorted, “Look at you, growing wings and getting bold enough to complain that your elders haven’t given you enough money!”
When I said I only wanted to count the money in front of everyone, she fired back, “Count it? Are you accusing me of stealing the money meant to save your uncle’s life?”
For every sentence I spoke, she had ten more ready.
Every word came wrapped in the name of filial piety, pushing me deeper into the pit of being labeled ungrateful.
Someone recorded the confrontation and posted it online with the caption:
“Niece complains that the money meant to save a life isn’t enough and openly argues with her elders in the hospital.”
The video went viral for three days straight.
My company fired me.
On the day my mother was so enraged that she had to be rushed to the emergency room, my father had knelt in the ancestral hall all night.
And later, I stood on the windowsill of the eighteenth floor and jumped.
“Wanwan! I’m talking to you!”
My aunt leaned closer and lowered her voice.
“How about this? Be a good girl and give me the envelope back first.”
“I’ll get to the bank at six tomorrow morning and transfer the money directly into your account. That’s a hundred times safer than carrying all that cash around, don’t you think?”
She deliberately emphasized the words bank transfer.
A thought stirred in my mind.
In my previous life, she had insisted that cash was more convenient and that she didn’t want the trouble of making another trip to the bank.
Why had she suddenly changed her mind this time?
Still uneasy, I pried her fingers off my arm one by one.
“Auntie, we can still make the payment tonight.”
She tugged at me again.
“Everyone’s finished work for the day. Don’t bother them.”
The nurse on duty frowned.
“Are you making a payment or not? There are people waiting behind you.”
I raised my hand and passed the envelope through the payment window.
“Could you deposit all the money in this envelope into Chu Jianjun’s hospital account and print me a receipt?”
“Uh…”
My aunt lunged forward to snatch it back, but I shifted sideways and blocked her.
I opened my camera and calmly started recording.
“Could you please announce the amount as you count the money, Nurse? My aunt is getting older, and I’m worried she might not hear you clearly.”
The nurse had no idea what was going on, but she cooperated.
“One hundred, two hundred, three hundred…”
The money passed through the counting machine with a series of mechanical clicks.
Behind me, my aunt’s breathing grew heavier and heavier.
The nurse neatly stacked the bills.
“There’s a total of one thousand yuan in the envelope. Shall I deposit all of it?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not right!”
My aunt suddenly screamed.
“There’s also a card and some documents in that envelope! It’s your uncle’s medical insurance card…”
I turned around, and the camera followed my movement.
“Auntie, I opened the envelope right in front of you just now. There was no card inside.”
“Or did you drop it somewhere? In that case, I’ll call the police right now and ask them to help us look for it!”
My aunt immediately panicked and grabbed me.
“No! Don’t call the police!”
“Maybe… maybe I remembered wrong.”
“Just pay this much for now. We’ll pay the rest tomorrow. Come on, let’s go!”
Her face flushed red as she hurried out.
I didn’t follow her.
Instead, I took a photo of the receipt the nurse had just handed me and sent it straight to the family group chat.
The group was called The Lin Family Compound.
There were forty-seven relatives in it.
[Everyone, the one hundred thousand yuan that Auntie just gave me to save Uncle’s life actually amounted to only one thousand yuan.
I’ve deposited the entire amount into Uncle’s hospital account.
The receipt and a video of the entire process are attached below.
Auntie said she would make up the remaining ninety-nine thousand yuan tomorrow morning when the bank opens.]
The moment I sent the message, my aunt’s phone, not far away, began vibrating incessantly.
After more than a dozen notifications, she finally lost her temper.
“Lin Wan! Have you lost your mind?!”
She raised her hand to snatch my phone.
“Who gave you permission to post that in the group? Family matters stay within the family! Don’t you understand that?”
I took half a step back and slipped my phone into my pocket.
“Auntie, when it comes to money, the elders in the family have every right to know.”
“You…”
Her face turned purplish red.
She pointed at me and trembled for a long time, unable to form a complete sentence.
Suddenly, she stamped her foot, turned around, and made a phone call.
Her voice was so loud that everyone in the corridor could hear her.
“Hello! Chu Hao, get to the hospital right now! I gave your cousin one hundred thousand yuan to pay for your father’s treatment, but the moment she turned around, she paid only one thousand!”
“Your father’s surgery is tomorrow! If we don’t pay the full amount, he could die!”
“I can’t control someone like her anymore. You come and deal with her!”
After hanging up, she immediately made another call.
I didn’t need to hear it to know she would be calling my mother next.
Sure enough, ten minutes later, my mother called me.
I put the call on speaker and set my phone on the counter.
Her voice was choked with tears.
Clearly, she still had no idea what had happened.
She had simply listened to my aunt and was beside herself with worry.
“Your aunt called me crying, saying you were giving her a hard time at the hospital.”
“Wanwan, your uncle is still in the hospital. Whatever happened, couldn’t you have waited until you got home to discuss it as a family?”
I interrupted her, deliberately raising my voice so that everyone nearby could hear.
“Tonight, Auntie gave me an envelope and said it contained one hundred thousand yuan to save Uncle’s life.”
“I opened it right in front of her and deposited the money into Uncle’s hospital account right in front of her.”
“One thousand yuan.”
“The receipt and video of the entire process are ready. I’ll send them to you right now.”
Silence fell over the other end of the line.
I sent my mother the original receipt and video privately.
She didn’t call back.
Sometimes, silence weighs more heavily than tears.
The family group chat had erupted into chaos.
My eldest aunt:
[Wanwan, could there have been some misunderstanding?]
My third uncle:
[How did one hundred thousand yuan turn into just one thousand?]
My cousin:
[That’s your uncle’s life-saving money!
Whoever took it has no conscience!]
My cousin Chu Hao immediately joined the discussion.
[Lin Wan, what are you trying to do?
My mother has devoted her entire life to this family, and this is how you repay her?
By stabbing her in the back?]
I didn’t respond to a single message.
Instead, I opened the group announcement settings and pinned my message with the receipt to the top.
[Auntie said she would deposit the remaining ninety-nine thousand yuan tomorrow morning when the bank opens.
I’ll be waiting at the payment counter, and I hope the elders in the family will bear witness as well.]
Gradually, the questions in the group began to shift.
[Tulian, will you really be able to pay the rest tomorrow morning?]
[Sister-in-law, what exactly happened to the money?]
Footsteps suddenly sounded behind me.
The doctor in charge of my uncle’s treatment had come looking for me.
“The family must pay the full deposit before surgery. His operation is scheduled for eight o’clock the day after tomorrow. The entire amount must be paid by tomorrow at the latest.”
My cousin’s stream of insults abruptly stopped.
I replied, “All right, Doctor. My aunt will go to the bank tomorrow morning at nine and get the money.”
I hadn’t spoken loudly, but my aunt, standing in the corner of the corridor, heard every word.
“Auntie, the bank opens at nine tomorrow morning. I’ll be waiting for you.”
She glared at me, her lips trembling, but she couldn’t utter a single word.
The next day, I waited from the moment the bank opened at nine thirty.
Nine thirty.
No one came.
Ten o’clock.
My aunt was still nowhere to be seen.
At ten fifteen, she sent a voice message to the family group.
Her voice sounded exhausted, as though she hadn’t slept all night.
“There are too many people taking queue numbers. I’ve got mine, but there are still more than thirty people ahead of me…”
“Wanwan, could you ask the hospital if they can extend the deadline by another two days?”
In my previous life, she had used the same excuses, dragging things out day after day.
Until I had to pay out of my own pocket.
Until the surgery was delayed.
Until my uncle’s health deteriorated further and further.
In this life, I replied with just two words:
“No rush.”
After that, I posted an update in the group every two hours.
[It’s noon.
There are still ten people waiting at the counter.]
[Two p.m.
Six people left.]
[Four p.m.
No one is left at the counter.]
[Auntie, there are only four hours left before the deadline to pay for Uncle’s treatment.
Are you still not coming?]
My third uncle could no longer sit still.
[Tulian!
Have you gotten the money or not?!]
My eldest aunt was growing impatient, too.
[Tulian, why are you refusing to withdraw the money?]
[Your husband is the one who’s sick.
Do you really not want him to get treatment?]
My aunt immediately seized the opportunity and burst into heart-wrenching sobs.
“Third Brother, I’ve been standing in line all day! The bank says large withdrawals have to be arranged in advance. I can’t get the money until tomorrow!”
“My legs are so swollen from standing! And Wanwan keeps hounding me in the group as if she’s trying to drive me to my death. You’d think I was trying to steal the money…”
“What did I do to deserve such a miserable life? I take care of the older generation, then the younger generation, and in the end, no one appreciates anything I do!”
“Eldest Sister, how could you say something so hurtful? He’s my husband! How could I possibly not want him to get treatment?”
My aunt’s sobs sounded utterly genuine.
Sure enough, someone in the group softened.
My eldest aunt:
[Wanwan, why don’t you pay upfront again?
Your aunt has a hard enough time as it is.]
Looking at the words pay upfront again, I laughed.
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