In 1992, a small village owner became the richest man in the village by owning a car.

Chapter 366 Raising Money
Yu Dawei was speechless. When Dafeng was fourteen or fifteen years old, which was four or five years ago, he was still fighting in Hohhot.

What money could the family have back then? If they did, it would probably have been used for his living expenses, since his other younger siblings also needed money.

“This tumor has now transformed from benign to malignant.” Professor Zhang stared at the scans in front of him, his brows furrowing in a rare display of worry. “If it were just a malignant tumor, it would be fine, but malignant tumors also have different grades.”

Professor Zhang turned to Yu Dawei and explained, "Based on my speculation, your sister's malignant tumor was probably only grade two before, which means it was less malignant and had a relatively low postoperative risk. After the removal, the prognosis will naturally be good, and there will be no sequelae."

"But for some reason, her malignant tumor jumped directly from stage two to stage four, which is the most dangerous type, in a recent period of time. Not only does surgery pose a life-threatening risk for her, but if she does not recover well after surgery, she may also experience some sequelae, such as headaches and dizziness."

"Most importantly, the location of the resection was also problematic; the slightest mistake could have resulted in..."

To be honest, even Professor Zhang himself didn't expect the girl's condition to be so dire.

He took off his glasses and wiped them with the corner of his white coat: "If I don't have surgery, and I keep a good mood, it's hard to say whether it will be her in three months or three years. If I do have surgery, I can't do it on my own. I'll need to find several experts in this field and use the medical equipment that our hospital recently imported. Maybe that can reduce the risk."

Professor Zhang put his glasses back on, looked at Yu Dawei with a complicated expression, and continued, "But Dawei, if we do it this way, the cost of the surgery may increase."

"Approximately, how much?" Yu Dawei pursed his lips and licked his chapped lips with his tongue.

Professor Zhang didn't speak, but instead flipped through the pages, calculating, before finally giving his answer: "The total cost, including pre- and post-operative care, will be at least 500,000."

At that moment, Yu Dawei felt as if his heart had been struck a heavy blow.

Five hundred thousand! That's far more than I imagined. I originally planned to go back to my hometown and wait if I didn't have enough money, but Da Feng's condition is so serious right now, can I really afford to wait?

"Can I go back and think about it first?" Yu Dawei asked.

"Of course, no problem." Professor Zhang didn't know what to say. Even for him, a local from Kyoto, it would be difficult to come up with 500,000 yuan, let alone for a young car mechanic.

Yu Dawei took the report that Da Feng had examined, put it in a bag, and turned to leave.

On the way back, Dafeng became even more silent, turning her head to look at the scenery outside the window.

"What are you thinking? The doctor was just talking to your brother about the surgery timeline. He was worried that knowing the details would make you too nervous. Don't overthink it. When the surgery comes, you just need to lie in bed and take a nap, and everything will be fine." Yu Dawei forced a smile, trying to appear nonchalant, afraid that she would overthink things.

"Hmm." Da Feng knew all too well how good her older brother was at making up stories, so she didn't believe a word he said.

“Brother, how about… we go home?” Da Feng suddenly turned her head and explained, “Anyway, I’ve been like this for so many years, whether I get treatment or not, I’m not going to die now.”

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Yu Dawei jerked the steering wheel, slammed on the brakes, and pulled the SUV over to the side of the road. Then, he glared angrily at Da Feng. "I won't allow you to back down, and I certainly won't allow you to give up on yourself here!"

"What's the big deal? You're so worried your whole face is twitching! With your older brother here, the sky won't fall down!" Yu Dawei looked at his younger sister with a serious expression.

As she watched, Da Feng's eyes suddenly reddened, and tears began to well up in her eyes: "Brother, am I not going to live much longer?"

Yu Dawei was stunned for a moment. He should have thought of it earlier. How could such a smart girl as Dafeng not have noticed it at all?

But he still didn't dare tell her the result, and just pretended to scold her, "What are you thinking? We were really just discussing some surgical details. Stop overthinking, you hear me? I'll take you guys out for something nice to eat later, have some fun. Only when you're in good shape can you perform the surgery well, and the success rate will be higher, you hear me?"

"Hmm." Da Feng rubbed her eyes and nodded.

Yu Dawei returned to the hotel and, together with Dafeng and the other two little ones, went to eat authentic local fried noodles.

At noon, while the children were napping, Yu Dawei went to his second uncle's SUV and pondered what to do.

Surgery carries risks; it's possible the surgery will be unsuccessful and the person could die.

Without surgery, it's like drinking poison to quench thirst, or like someone walking down a dead end.

When traveling with his younger sister, as the older brother, he has to take on the responsibility of caring for her, just like a father.

He found half a pack of cigarettes and a lighter in the SUV's handbag, couldn't resist taking one out, rolling down the window and starting to smoke.

After finishing his cigarette, he finally made a decision and picked up his phone to call He Huihui.

What followed was a two-hour long talk with the old man.

"Dad, Fengfeng's surgery can't be delayed any longer..."

----

After hanging up the phone, Yu Dawei arrived at the hotel, glanced at the three sleeping children, then quietly closed the door and walked to the deserted stairwell.

He took out his phone, hesitated for a long time, and finally took a deep breath before pressing the call buttons.

"Hey, Xiaobai, do you have any money? My little sister needs surgery, and we don't have enough for the surgery fee... we're short 300,000."

"Hey, Second Uncle, do you have any spare money?"

----

"Hey, Lao Chang..."

----

"Hey, Brother Xu..."

----

Yu Dawei really wanted to laugh at this moment. He thought that now that he had money, he would no longer have to beg others for money like in his previous life. He had picked up the dignity that he had lost, but now it seemed to have been trampled on again.

"Hey, Brother Duan..."

Unbeknownst to Yu Dawei, at that very moment, a girl was crouching by the wall at the stairwell, covering her mouth tightly, her eyes wide open, sobbing uncontrollably…

Half an hour later, Yu Dawei hung up the phone with his last acquaintance.

After calculating everything, the money I had and the money I borrowed still wasn't enough.

"Not enough..." Yu Dawei paced back and forth on the stairs with his arms crossed, muttering to himself.

“Brother!” Yu Feng stood at the top of the stairs, looking at her older brother with red eyes.

I don't know when it started, but that self-centered older brother, that older brother who never thought about his younger siblings, that older brother who only liked to relax and be lazy... disappeared.

He has changed. He has become more considerate of his wife and children, more thoughtful towards his parents, and more caring towards his younger siblings.

"Feng'er?" Yu Dawei was momentarily at a loss, holding the Nokia 2110 in his hand, unsure whether to continue holding it up or put it down.

“Brother…” Da Feng ran to the middle of the stairs, hugged her older brother tightly, buried her head in his arms and cried bitterly, “I don’t want the surgery anymore, it’s okay if we can’t borrow the money, let’s go home.”

Yu Dawei lowered his head, watching his younger sister cry heartbrokenly. He felt a pang of sadness in his heart, and his nose began to sting.

"It's alright, you have to trust your older brother, these are all minor matters." Yu Dawei reached out and touched his younger sister's short hair.

Just then, Yu Dawei's phone rang, and it turned out to be an unfamiliar number.

Yu Feng wisely released Yu Dawei and quietly leaned against the wall beside her.

"Hello." The phone connected, and a familiar yet unfamiliar voice came through.

"Hello, who is this...?" Yu Dawei was a little confused when he heard the voice on the phone, but it gave him a very familiar feeling.

"What, you brat, you can't even recognize my voice?" The woman's voice on the other end of the phone sounded slightly displeased.

"Aunt Huang?!" A memory flashed through Yu Dawei's mind, and he said with a guilty look, "My crappy phone doesn't have a good receiver. How have you been lately?"

"I'm doing well lately, thanks to you, I've figured out a new way to do business." The person on the other end of the phone was clearly very happy talking about business, then she changed the subject, "By the way, I heard your sister needs money for surgery, is that right?"

"Ah, this... how did you know?" Yu Dawei scratched his head sheepishly.

"Hmph, it's all because of that little vixen." Huang Ma's tone was unfriendly. "She called me directly and told me about your situation. But to be honest, I owe it all to her this time, because that's how I found out you were in trouble."

“You, you, what did Huang Ma tell you when you were with me? If you have any financial problems, just tell Huang Ma. Huang Ma may not have much else, but she does have some money. I'm just an old woman living alone in Qingcheng, and I don't have to worry about food or clothing.”

"Aunt Huang, I know I was wrong." Yu Dawei was deeply moved. Aunt Huang's words really sounded like a mother nagging and scolding her silly son.

“I have your bank account number. I’ll transfer 300,000 yuan to you before the bank closes. I don’t know if you’ve asked anyone to borrow money. If you have, just return it. It’s not worth it to borrow money from someone and incur their favor.”

"Don't worry about Huang Ma. We'll talk about it when we have money. If we don't have money, just leave it at that for now." Huang Ma's voice on the phone was still full of concern. "Sigh, you're not much older than Manzi, yet you have to bear so much. If you have any difficulties, just call Huang Ma anytime."

"Aunt Huang has also written down your phone number."

"Thank you, Aunt Huang. Don't worry about the money. I'll pay you back as soon as I have it," Yu Dawei replied earnestly and firmly.

"This silly child, I told you there's no rush," Huang Ma complained again. "By the way, you have to keep an eye on that little vixen for me. I heard from Manzi the other day that you got her to stay at your place, and she doesn't follow Huang Man around during the day. I'm quite happy about that."

My computer broke down and only fixed this afternoon, so it's a bit late. I also need to finish my draft tomorrow, so I'll try to get it out before noon.

May all bosses have good fortune and great success!
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(End of this chapter)