Chapter 4: Reunion

  The big and brave eyes of Sang Da, always reminding Sang Hong of his incompetence and shamelessness, really want to pour wine on that face, of course, it's just a thought, after all, he is her old father.

  If she dares to walk away now, she can be sure that he will definitely chase after her, grab her hair and give her a big slap, at which point there won't even be any dignity left, let alone face.

  She almost inaudibly sighed and lifted her head to objectively examine him.

  A grey, indistinguishable, and crumpled jacket, sparse hair barely covering a shiny bald head, a red nose, and sunken cheeks that reveal the ravages of excessive drinking.

  She couldn't understand why her mother would marry a man like him.

  A furious incompetent, dull and utterly irresponsible man.

  Sang Dawei ate a few more bites of vegetables, swallowed a few cups of wine, and shook the empty bottle. He regretfully smacked his lips and put it down, holding the cup with a little bit of leftover wine to touch the rim of Sang Hong's cup in front of him: "Come on, let's have one together."

  Under his gaze, Xiang Hong pursed her lips and tilted her head back, pouring the wine from the cup into her throat. A hot, spicy, and scorching rush surged straight to her lungs, almost instinctively making her want to spit it out, but she pursed her lips tightly and forced herself to swallow.

  Swallowing wine, swallowing bitterness.

  "Bring another bottle of baijiu!" Sang Dawei boomed loudly, raising his arm towards the counter.

  Xiang Hong grasped his arm: "Don't drink anymore, you have something to say."

  One of the waiters nodded in response and waved his hand, and the fat woman knowingly stopped her action of taking wine.

  Sang Dawei was taken aback by his daughter's gaze, regretfully clicking his tongue, and unusually not getting angry, even smiling kindly at her with a hint of a smile.

  "The doctor said your mother's heart bypass surgery can't be delayed any longer, this month is her deadline."

  Xiang Hong's breath caught in her throat, her fingers digging tightly into her flesh.

  "I was thinking too, just let her be and let her go quietly, it's better than lying there half dead. But she's not even 45 years old yet, how can I bear to do that?"

  She couldn't bear it and he still didn't care about her reckless gambling, she coldly stared at him waiting for him to continue.

  He looked very old, hunched over with his back, bitter face, and a somewhat choked voice. He was not good, but after all, he had raised her, and he was the closest person to her.

  "She insisted on marrying me despite her family's objections back then, and I vowed to love and cherish her for the rest of my life. If only I had known that having you would leave her body in this state, I wouldn't have wanted her to get pregnant even if it killed me. It was me who harmed her, it was me who harmed her."

  Tears glistened and flowed down the furrows of his face.

  Xiang Hong stared at the man in front of her with a hint of despair. What was he saying? Was he questioning why she existed?

  He has always been unapologetically hostile towards her, having said similar things countless times before, but never as viciously as today.

  Xiang Hong held back her tears, her fingernails digging into her palm so hard it hurt and felt numb. Her voice was cold and detached: "I shouldn't have been born, but now that's not the issue. How are we going to borrow money for Mom's surgery?"

  "How can I borrow? If there's no return after borrowing, where can I borrow money from again?"

  "How much?"

  "Three hundred thousand."

  "So much!" Xiang Hong was somewhat desperate, this number to her was no less than astronomical figures, she even thought that if she and her father were sold together, they probably couldn't get that much money.

  "The surgical risk is extremely small, the doctor said that after her heart stent surgery, even at worst she will be able to take care of herself and may even be able to go downstairs for a walk. Sang Dawei couldn't help but imagine a bright future."

  "What's the use of saying these things if we can't get any money?"

  "Red, Wang Jinhua from the mahjong room next door is actually willing to lend us money."

  "Aunt Wang? She's willing to lend us so much money?"

  Xiang Hong was shocked, that woman and they were not close, just acquaintances, at most her father was a regular customer of hers, and she looked up and down at her father, unable to find any place worth looking up to or trusting.

  "Uh, just that she said to let you help her do something, if things go smoothly, this money doesn't need to be repaid, including the debt I owed her from gambling before also doesn't need to be repaid, and an additional 50,000 yuan will be added for us."

  Sang Dawei carefully looked at his daughter, after all, this matter still had to rely on her.

  Xiang Hong was stunned, she wasn't a naive girl who didn't know the ways of the world. With such high stakes, would what they wanted her to do be simple?

  He immediately said in a cold voice: "She's indeed kind-hearted, what is that thing she mentioned?"

  "This I couldn't find out, she said to let you go find her tonight to talk." San Dawei faced his daughter for the first time with a lowered head, he was also anxious and apprehensive, but could only be at a loss.

  "Okay, I'll go find her now."

  Xiang Hong wasn't unaware of human malice, but she had no choice, this money was her mother's life!

  "Dad, you go home first."

  Xiang Hong stood up and pulled out the chair to leave, but was caught by Xiang Dawei's arm. He struggled with a difficult expression for a long time before saying:

  "Red, if her conditions are too harsh, then we won't lend it to her. Your mother's life is like that, you don't need to ruin yourself to fulfill her wishes, how can she live on if she finds out?"

  Xiang Hong turned around and looked at him, was he worried about her?

  "Then don't let mom know."

  ……

  In a luxuriously decorated private room, Wang Jinhua and one of his female employees, who was exceptionally beautiful and revealingly dressed, were accompanying two distinguished guests in playing mahjong.

  The waitress in black uniform came in, whispered a sentence to her ear, she frowned, turned around and smiled: "Let her come in."

  It wasn't long before Sang Hong was brought in.

  She lowered her head and stood behind Wang Jinhua, taking advantage of the automatic mahjong machine's shuffling sound, and quietly leaned forward to whisper: "Auntie Wang, is your luck still good?"

  "Ah-yo, it's Honghong! You've come just in time. I'm having a streak of bad luck. Can you help me turn things around?"

  Wang Jinhua turned her head and saw that it was her, a smile squeezed out of her chubby face, she leaned back on the sofa, speaking in a warm tone.

  A fat man opposite her raised his head at the sound, and his sharp eyes carefully looked around Sang Hong's face, saying with a mixture of trust and doubt: "Wow, Wang sister, letting such a little girl save your scene, you're really clever to think of this, don't laugh!"

  "Fatty, don't underestimate this little girl. She's been playing mahjong here since she learned to crawl. A bunch of gamblers raised her, but when she grew up, she didn't want to come to this place easily. Come on, Honghong, show off your skills and let this ignorant guy take a look."

  Wang Jinhua's plump and delicate hands grasped Sang Hong, warmly praising her as she pressed her into the soft sofa.

  "Aunt Wang, I have class tomorrow and can only play for an hour at most."

  Xiang Hong knew she couldn't push it away and didn't hesitate, softly speaking out her difficulties.

  "Alright, alright, just one hour will do. This 10,000 yuan is a gift from Auntie, so go ahead and have fun. If you win, buy yourself some beautiful clothes to wear. Just look at your gambler dad, who knows what kind of virtue he's accumulated, to actually have a lovely daughter like you..."

  "Wang Yi - tell me about the rules on the table."

  Xiang Hong's voice was soft and drawling, blocking the words behind her, keeping her gaze on the neat pile of cards. Although she occasionally pitied herself, she extremely disliked others speaking to her in a sympathetic tone.

  This is what I meant, Wang Jinhua was overjoyed and hastily opened the drawer, threw a wad of money in, and pressed her down without saying a word: "Compared to your dad and them, this one is a bit bigger..."

  A low male voice chuckled and said:

  "Since this sister's time is precious, let's change the rules a bit. Let's double the number of sticks and cards, so we can have some fun with our sister and learn from her expertise at the same time."

  Slightly frivolous tone with a few degrees of coolness.

  The man sitting at the lower house scanned with a glance, and saw that the speaker was the man whose face was stained with bright laughter, but his smile did not reach the bottom of his eyes. She raised an eyebrow and said, "Is it you?"