To marry into the family in place of his brother? Impossible!

Shen Qinghan paused for a moment, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Qinghan!" Jiang Jinhuan walked quickly to Shen Qinghan.

Shen Qinghan slowly raised her head, and when she saw that the person in front of her was Jiang Jinhuan, she suddenly stood up and threw herself into Jiang Jinhuan's arms.

Jiang Jinhuan's arm froze in mid-air, unsure of how to react.

"Jin Huan, what brings you here? Is it really you? Am I dreaming?"

Feeling the gentle touch in his arms, Jiang Jinhuan patted Shen Qinghan's back lightly.

"Qinghan, this isn't a dream, I'm really here. Tell me what happened? You look so haggard! Are you sick? Or...?"

Shen Qinghan shook her head: "It's not me who's sick, it's my dad. He just had surgery, and my mom too..."

"Surgery? How is Uncle?"

"I'm feeling better!"

"And what about your aunt?"

"I'm resting at home, and Xiaoyue will help look after me!"

"Is there anything else you need?"

Shen Qinghan's eyes flickered with panic upon hearing this: "No, it's nothing!"

Jiang Jinhuan frowned. He could tell that Shen Qinghan was hiding something from him.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Jinhuan didn't press the matter further. Instead, he said, "Qinghan, take me to see your uncle and aunt, then you can rest for a bit!"

"Okay!" Shen Qinghan did not refuse.

When Jiang Jinhuan pushed open the ward door, Shen's father was leaning against the headboard, his face sallow, his lips bloodless, and he looked like he had lost a lot of weight.

"Uncle," Jiang Jinhuan called out, walking to the bedside.

When Shen's father saw him, he was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes reddened.

"Xiao Jiang... what brings you here..."

"Qinghan called me, so I came to see you." Jiang Jinhuan sat down by the bed, looking at Shen's father's appearance, and felt a pang of sadness. "What's wrong with you?"

Mr. Shen opened his mouth, glanced at his daughter standing at the door, then shook his head and said, "It's nothing, just a surgery!"

Jiang Jin Huan didn't ask any further questions.

He then said to Shen Qinghan, "Sister Qinghan, I'm a little hungry. Could you buy me something to eat?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Qinghan's face showed a hint of self-reproach. "Jin Huan, wait a moment, I'll go buy it for you right away!"

After finishing speaking, Shen Qinghan hurriedly walked out.

After Shen Qinghan left, Jiang Jinhuan looked at Shen's father.

"Uncle, what exactly happened at home?"

He always felt that Shen Qinghan was hiding something from him.

Mr. Shen sighed, as if he had made a great decision before speaking, "It was my mistake..."

He recounted the story in fits and starts.

Six months ago, a distant cousin of his came to his door, saying that he had opened a company in the south and that business was doing well, but he was having some cash flow problems recently and wanted to borrow some money to tide him over. He said he would repay it in three months and that the interest rate he offered was much higher than that of the bank.

Mr. Shen hesitated at first, but his cousin spoke eloquently and visited several times with generous gifts, saying things like, "We're family, so let's not be so formal," and "Uncle, don't worry, would I ever cheat you?"

Mr. Shen's heart softened, and he lent out all of the family's retirement savings—a full 400,000 yuan—that they had saved up for most of their lives.

When the three months were up, my cousin hadn't paid back the money, so I called and asked for a few more days.

Another month passed, and when I called again, the other party started making excuses.

By the end of the year, Mr. Shen could no longer resist and personally made a trip to the south to find someone.

As a result, the cousin turned his back on him and produced an "IOU" that stated, "All debts have been repaid, and there is no further debt relationship between the two parties."

Mr. Shen was stunned on the spot.

"I didn't sign that! That IOU is fake!" Mr. Shen became increasingly agitated, coughing as he spoke. "He had someone forge my handwriting to create a fake IOU, claiming I had already received the money..."

Jiang Jinhuan frowned: "Did you call the police?"

"I reported it, but the police said there wasn't enough evidence. They need to do handwriting analysis, and there are procedures to follow. It won't be resolved before the New Year..." Mr. Shen's voice trailed off. "I was so angry that I fell ill when I got back."

Jiang Jinhuan remained silent for a moment.

For an ordinary family, 400,000 yuan is almost a lifetime's savings.

Mr. and Mrs. Shen are ordinary people. The money they had saved up over the years was swindled away.

"How much did the surgery cost?" Jiang Jinhuan asked.

Mr. Shen lowered his head and said softly, "It's cost nearly 200,000 yuan in total, and there's another surgery coming up, which will cost more..."

"So you're out of money?" Jiang Jinhuan asked.

Mr. Shen remained silent.

Shen's father lent out all the money Shen Qinghan had earned, and the surgery cost so much money.

Furthermore, Shen's mother is also ill and probably needs money. All these things have fallen on Shen Qinghan's shoulders alone.

How did she get through it?

But even with such difficulties, she didn't think to tell me.

If it weren't for Xiaoyue, he probably wouldn't have known any of these things.

Thinking of this, he felt inexplicably annoyed, angry that Shen Qinghan had kept it from him.

At this moment, Shen Qinghan returned from outside, carrying a lunchbox in her hand.

"Jin Huan, you must be starving! Hurry up and eat something to fill your stomach!" Shen Qinghan helped open the lunchbox and then took out the small stool for eating.

Seeing Shen Qinghan busy at work, Jiang Jinhuan asked, "How much more money do we need?"

Shen Qinghan's busy figure suddenly stopped in place.

Then she turned and glanced at her father.

Jiang Jin Huan said, "Don't underestimate my uncle, I could guess it!"

Shen Qinghan bit her lip: "Don't worry about money. I'll have the money once I sell my house in Jiangcheng!"

Jiang Jinhuan was stunned for a moment. The house in Jiangcheng was bought by Shen Qinghan. Although she was a team leader in Xingyao Group, her salary was not low.

However, the down payment alone took up a lot of money. In addition, there are the monthly mortgage payments, payments to the family, and the costs of the surgery. Plus, he was scammed out of 400,000 yuan. He probably has no money left.

Jiang Jinhuan looked at her haggard face and bloodshot eyes, and felt a pang in his heart.

She must have been so tired carrying all this on her own this year.

Just as Jiang Jinhuan was about to say something, a slightly frivolous voice suddenly rang out, "Qinghan, I've come to see you again..."

Jiang Jinhuan turned his head and narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw the person who had come.

The person who arrived turned out to be the young man he had almost bumped into at the elevator entrance.

She was dressed in an elegant dark coat, her hair was styled with hair gel, and she was still holding that bouquet of red roses and fruit basket in her hand, with what she thought was a charming smile on her face.

He walked into the ward, and his smile froze when he saw Jiang Jinhuan.

"Who are you?" He looked Jiang Jinhuan up and down, his eyes filled with obvious hostility.

Shen Qinghan's expression turned grim. She stepped forward and blocked Jiang Jinhuan's path, saying, "Chen Hao, I've already told you, I have no feelings for you. Please stop bothering me."

"Harassment?" Chen Hao chuckled, placed the fruit basket on the bedside table, and then casually arranged the roses in a vase. His movements were fluid and graceful, clearly indicating that this wasn't the first time he had done this.