Chapter 178: Desperate
Hearing Fang Qingfei's words, Li Dong didn't press further.
They went upstairs, and Fang Qingfei chatted with Wang Jia's mother for a while. Seeing that the elderly woman looked tired, she said, "Auntie, you should rest now. I'll come back to visit you later."
Wang Jia's mother nodded slightly and replied, "If you're busy with work, don't worry about coming over. Little Chen is here to take care of me."
Fang Qingfei smiled and didn't say anything more. After giving Sister Chen a few instructions, she left the hospital room.
---
Outside the hospital, the two of them found an empty bench in the small square across the street.
Fang Qingfei stared absentmindedly at the bustling square.
Li Dong asked, "Since Wang Jia isn't taking responsibility, why are you?"
Fang Qingfei's eyes suddenly reddened as she choked up, "You don't understand! Jia Jia isn't shirking her responsibilities; she really has no way out, do you understand?"
"When she left, she knelt in front of me and begged. You don't know, my heart shattered when she kowtowed to me."
"She said I'm the only friend she has in this life and asked me to take care of her mother. If there's no other way, she asked me to handle her mother's funeral arrangements. How could I just watch Auntie leave like that?"
The more Fang Qingfei spoke, the more pained she seemed. Her face was streaked with tears as she said, "I really don't have a way out. I borrowed the previous medical expenses from my parents, who are just ordinary workers with little savings. I can't let my parents sell their house just to help a stranger. I can't do that."
"I tried reaching out to Li Qian, but she said she didn't have that much money and that all her funds were tied up in investments, so she couldn't get it out quickly. I'm truly at my wit's end, truly at my wit's end, so I had no choice but to ask you…"
Fang Qingfei sobbed softly for a while, wiped away her tears, and continued, "You don't know, during this time, I've regretted it, thought about giving up, thought about it a lot. Every night I ask myself, why should I save her when she isn't even my family?"
"But I can't get past this hurdle in my heart. I can't forget how Jia Jia begged me."
"You don't know how proud Jia Jia is. Can you imagine her kneeling and kowtowing to me?"
As she spoke, Fang Qingfei's tears flowed again. She had been physically and emotionally exhausted, bearing immense pressure.
The monthly medical and nursing costs, over ten thousand, nearly overwhelmed her.
She was just a counselor who had graduated a year ago and was still in her internship, not even a lecturer. Her family was only average, and she didn't have the means to help others on such a scale.
She wanted to give up, but every time she thought of Wang Jia, she couldn't bring herself to abandon her.
She had to force a smile in front of others, but she was truly worn out.
Seeing her in this state, Li Dong couldn't help but sigh.
After a long pause, he said, "Can you tell me about Wang Jia's situation?"
Although Li Dong had not known Wang Jia for long, he didn't believe she was the type to shirk her responsibilities.
Her mother was seriously ill, and Wang Jia had disappeared. This didn't make sense, and there must be more to the story.
Fang Qingfei had also said that Wang Jia was desperate, and even though she had asked Fang Qingfei to handle her mother's affairs, it seemed too cold-hearted for someone like Wang Jia to do.
Fang Qingfei, now calm, wiped her tears and sighed, "Since you want to know, I'll tell you. It's hard to keep it to myself."
---
As Fang Qingfei recounted the events, Li Dong felt a pang of discomfort.
The downfall of Wang Jia's family was a stark reality.
The story was actually quite simple. Wang Jia's father had been in the cement business and had been doing well for several years, amassing a modest fortune, with assets in the millions.
However, in recent years, Wang Jia's family business had been declining. Wang Jia's father had become desperate.
Desperate people make desperate moves, and that's what happened. Out of nowhere, a Hong Kong businessman appeared, proposing to co-invest in a factory with Wang Jia's father.
The investment was substantial, in the tens of millions. The Hong Kong businessman used some method to persuade Wang Jia's father to believe him.
Fang Qingfei didn't know the exact details, but according to her, Wang Jia's father invested three million for a 50% share in the new factory. The Wang family's total assets were only around a million. Wang Jia's father borrowed money, took out loans, and even sold their old factory, borrowing nearly a million in high-interest loans to come up with the three million.
Li Dong already guessed the outcome without needing Fang Qingfei to explain further.
This was a typical scam, and only people like Wang Jia's father would fall for it.
If it had been in later times, it would have been exposed long ago.
As expected, the Hong Kong businessman disappeared with the three million.
The old factory was sold, the money was stolen, the house was mortgaged, and they still owed nearly a million in high-interest loans…
Such despair is more than most people can handle, especially since Wang Jia's father was older and had been repeatedly harassed by high-interest lenders. In the end, in his despair, he jumped from a government building, leaving this world behind.
He was gone, but that didn't mean the debts disappeared.
The bank was manageable; they took Wang Jia's parents' house, and that debt was settled, the deceased's debt forgiven.
But high-interest lenders wouldn't play by these rules. Wang Jia and her mother were left with astronomical debts.
During that time, the high-interest lenders used intimidation and threats. Eventually, Wang Jia had to sell her own house to repay the debts, which was the property in Wanyuan.
Originally, Wang Jia's father had planned to keep that house as a dowry for Wang Jia. Unfortunately, Wang Jia had no choice but to sell it to pay off the debts.
Even after selling the house, it was a drop in the bucket. With interest compounding, the million-dollar debt had now grown to nearly two million.
The money from selling the house didn't even cover the interest. To make matters worse, Wang Jia's mother suddenly fell ill and was diagnosed with end-stage uremia.
This was a cruel twist of fate. Wang Jia, once a lively and cheerful girl, couldn't handle such a blow.
Adding to the pressure were the high-interest lenders who continued to harass them at the hospital. Wang Jia eventually came up with a desperate solution—she fled and tried to find a way to earn money to repay the debt.
As for her mother, a critically ill old woman, the high-interest lenders couldn't really force her to death.
Thus, the situation Fang Qingfei described at the beginning happened: Wang Jia left, entrusting her mother's care to Fang Qingfei.
After recounting these events, Fang Qingfei tearfully said, "Don't think Jia Jia is heartless. She really had no way out. She even thought of running away, but even if she did, the high-interest lenders wouldn't let her go. They wouldn't leave her with a single penny, and Auntie would really be left to wait for death, with Jia Jia unable to survive as well."
Li Dong, having lit a cigarette at some point, looked somewhat dazed.
Wang Jia's experience reminded him of his own past, when he had been desperate, seeking help as his parents fell ill.
That feeling of being without a way out, that sense of despair, was beyond what most people could imagine.
But Wang Jia's situation was worse. Not only did she lose her father to suicide, but she also had a critically ill mother and was burdened with millions in high-interest debt.
Even someone like Li Dong, a grown man, couldn't handle such pressure. Let alone Wang Jia, a young girl.
Wang Jia's decision to leave was the right one. Li Dong didn't think Wang Jia was heartless. Instead, he saw her as strong and intelligent.
If she hadn't left, her mother wouldn't have been able to live so peacefully.
Only by leaving could Wang Jia avoid the harassment of the high-interest lenders who would focus their attention on her.
And if Wang Jia hadn't left, those lenders wouldn't have spared her.
A young and beautiful woman like Wang Jia—one could easily imagine the methods those lenders would use to exploit her. They wouldn't let go until they had squeezed every last bit of value from her.