Ren Deqiu heard this and instantly felt a wave of frustration.

He looked at Xie Jianfeng’s smug expression and felt the urge to kick him.

It was late, far too late.

Their children were already so grown up. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

But his sister hadn’t suffered with Xie Jianfeng. In fact, you could even say she had a very good life.

Even though he looked down on Xie Jianfeng, as long as he treated his sister well, that was all that mattered.

"It’s no use even if you call Xiaofang over. When I say I won’t do it, I won’t. I’m still at work, so I’m leaving."

Ren Deqiu waved, signaling for Xue Rui to take the old lady to the consultation room.

"Dad, don’t go, wait for me!" Xue Rui quickly called out.

He was incredibly curious now. It looked like Xie Jianfeng and Gu Qingshan were old acquaintances.

If they weren’t once good friends, what else would make two men in their thirties get into a huge fight?

You wouldn’t bother fighting a stranger.

Besides, his old man had actually said he was going to "hustle a wife for him." Suddenly, the image of Gu Muxue flashed through his mind.

There was a long line of people in front of the outpatient clinic.

But Xue Rui went in through the back entrance, the staff passage, so he didn’t have to wait in line at all.

"Are we... cutting in line?" Lin Ruoxi asked in a low voice.

She could see many people waiting anxiously at the door.

"Yes," Xue Rui admitted frankly.

He didn’t think it was anything to be ashamed of. If you knew someone, you could cut in line. Even the most virtuous person would do the same.

There are no inflexible people in this world, only people without connections.

Some people watched as Xue Rui’s group walked into the back of the consultation room, their gazes filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment...

Lin Ruoxi averted her gaze, feeling like a thief.

She wanted to wait in line like everyone else, but she knew Xue Rui wouldn’t agree.

"Silly girl," Xue Rui said, ruffling Lin Ruoxi’s hair.

He didn’t explain anything to Lin Ruoxi.

’She’ll get used to this kind of thing eventually.’

"Ma’am, how has your appetite been lately..."

After a round of simple questions, Ren Deqiu wrote out a large stack of orders for various tests.

He waved from the back door, and a young male doctor quickly entered.

"Director Ren," the young male doctor said with an eager-to-please smile.

Xue Rui could tell at a glance that this was an intern.

"Xiaozhang, take the old lady for her check-ups. Go to Director Wang and Director Yan..."

Ren Deqiu gave a long series of instructions.

This wasn’t a routine physical that cost a few dozen yuan, but a comprehensive screening performed by several department directors.

The old lady’s health was very poor. After so many years of neglect in the countryside, she had accumulated numerous ailments.

This was at Xue Rui’s request, and Ren Deqiu didn’t object.

"Here’s money. Take it and pay for the tests." Ren Deqiu pulled a wad of cash from his pocket and placed it in the intern’s hand.

"Oh... Director Ren, this old lady is..." the intern asked quietly, trying to probe for information.

"Don’t ask so many questions. Just get it done," Ren Deqiu said with a wave of his hand.

"Okay." The intern gave a surprised look.

’He’s calling in favors from many department directors. That’s no small debt of gratitude, and Director Ren is even paying for it out of his own pocket. You wouldn’t do this for an ordinary friend from your hometown. This old lady’s identity must be something special.’

"Thanks, Uncle," Xue Rui said with a grin.

In truth, he had already told his uncle about Lin Ruoxi’s situation, adding at the end, "I like this girl."

Although it earned him a lecture from Ren Deqiu, with phrases like "a student’s energy should be focused on studying," his uncle had ultimately agreed.

When Lin Ruoxi saw the doctor take out money, she quickly said, "Doctor, I... I have money."

Xue Rui tugged on Lin Ruoxi’s sleeve, signaling her to be quiet.

"Your younger uncle could fork over a hundred thousand, so if I don’t chip in at all, would that make me worse than that good-for-nothing?" Ren Deqiu said with a gratified smile.

’This money is well spent,’ he thought. ’At least I get to see that our kid has grown up.’

"Uncle, how did you know my younger uncle gave money?"

"Your younger uncle told me."

"..." Xue Rui was speechless.

’It seems Ren Jun got a taste of the good feeling and is now bragging to the whole family about donating a hundred thousand yuan to a poor student, trying to change his image. Didn’t we agree that I was just borrowing that money from him?’

It looked like Ren Jun had no intention of making him pay it back.

Xue Rui pulled a few thousand yuan from his pocket, handed it to the intern, and pointed at Lin Ruoxi. "Get her a check-up, too."

Ren Deqiu asked in surprise, "Where did you get so much money?"

"My dad gave it to me."

Xue Rui passed the buck to Xie Jianfeng, knowing his uncle wouldn’t go out of his way to ask about it.

"That bastard... Why give a kid so much money?"

Walking out of the consultation room, Lin Ruoxi tugged on Xue Rui’s sleeve and whispered, "I... I’m very healthy. You don’t need to waste money."

She felt it was too much of a waste. It was fine to pay for her grandma’s check-up, and fine to pay for Xue Rui’s...

But... spending it on herself just made her feel guilty.

She took out the passbook she had prepared beforehand and stuffed it into Xue Rui’s hand. "I... this is for you."

Xue Rui felt the passbook, warm from being held, and an indescribable wave of emotion washed over him.

He knew this passbook held Lin Ruoxi’s entire life savings.

"Whether you’re healthy or not isn’t for you to decide. We need the check-up to know."

"If you can’t pay me back in the future and I have to take you as payment, what if you’re sickly? Wouldn’t that be an even bigger loss for me?"

Xue Rui said with a straight face, putting the passbook back into Lin Ruoxi’s handbag.

"Oh... okay..." Lin Ruoxi froze for a moment.

She thought about it carefully. From Xue Rui’s perspective, what he said actually made sense.

It was just like trading livestock in the village—a sick animal wasn’t worth much.

"This must be tough. Interning isn’t easy, is it? Which university did you graduate from?"

"The Provincial Medical University."

"Nice. Are you a graduate student?"

"No, I haven’t decided yet."

"You should go for it. Become a department director. Who knows, maybe in the future I’ll be the one asking Director Zhang for favors..."

"Ah, you’re exaggerating, really," the intern said, a little embarrassed by the praise.

Xue Rui chatted with the intern as they walked, just like they were peers.

In the end, he didn’t accompany them for the check-up. He went to find Xie Jianfeng first.

Since his uncle had arranged for the intern to escort them, he wasn’t needed anyway.

...

Xie Jianfeng sat with his legs crossed, staring blankly downstairs.

"That damn kid! He’s kept me waiting for half an hour. Honey, let’s go home and forget about him." Xie Jianfeng pushed the wheels of his wheelchair with both hands.

"Still faking it? Didn’t you just get in a fight with Old Gu? If you’re not hurt, get up and walk," Ren Qunfang scolded, displeased.

"Here, honey, you sit." With a fawning expression, Xie Jianfeng had Ren Qunfang sit down and started pushing the wheelchair for her.

Xue Rui arrived just in time to see this scene. The corner of his eye twitched. ’What are these two playing at now?’

He decided to follow them quietly from a distance.

"Sis, you have no idea. There’s a girl at Xiaorui’s school who looks exactly like you," Ren Jun said with an exaggerated expression.

"I know. Xiaying showed me before," Ren Qunfang replied, unsurprised.

Xue Xiaying had told her about a girl at school who looked a lot like her and had pointed her out from a distance once.

"I’ve seen her too. That’s Old Gu’s daughter," Xie Jianfeng chimed in.

"She’s Old Gu’s daughter?"

Ren Qunfang was stunned. She turned around in the wheelchair and stared intently at Xie Jianfeng.

"We got into a fight yesterday. He showed me a picture of his daughter, and she really does look just like you."

Xie Jianfeng had a nostalgic look on his face.

"Who’s Old Gu?" Ren Jun asked.

"My childhood friend. He was also one of the guys who pursued your sister back in the day. My defeated rival."

Xie Jianfeng said smugly, which, combined with his bruised and swollen face, made him look extremely punchable.

Ren Jun shook his head. Plenty of guys had pursued his sister.

He really had no memory of the name "Old Gu."

Xue Rui’s eyes widened. Although he had already suspected it, he now felt like he’d just stumbled upon some earth-shattering gossip.

’Gu Muxue’s dad was one of my mom’s suitors back in the day. When Xie Jianfeng said he was going to hustle a wife for me, did he mean he was going to hustle Gu Muxue over?’

"The resemblance is just too strong. It almost makes me wonder if she’s the daughter he had with Fangfang," Xie Jianfeng muttered.

"Xie! Jian! Feng!" Ren Qunfang seethed, her beautiful eyes burning with fury.

She was only nineteen when she got pregnant with Xue Rui. Where would she have found the time to have another child? This was slander!

"Honey, that’s not what I meant! Let me finish. The truth is, Old Gu..."

Xie Jianfeng paused here before continuing:

"He married a woman who looks a bit like you..."