Money Over Love
Copyright© 2026 by RomanticDoaist
Chapter 18: Out of sight, out of mind.
“Lin Fan, Lin Fan, hurry up and open the door!”
“Don’t think we can’t do anything to you just because you’re hiding inside! Pay back the money! Now!”
「The next morning.」
Inside the memorial hall, Lin Fan, who had fallen asleep on the examination table, was jolted awake.
The rolling shutter outside the clinic’s glass door was being pounded on, accompanied by a barrage of impatient shouts.
“ ... Zhang Qiang? What are you doing here?”
As he lifted the rolling shutter, Lin Fan was taken aback. Outside stood more than a dozen familiar neighbors, all of them old customers of Suxin Clinic. At this moment, each of them wore a complex expression, avoiding his gaze.
Leading them was a short, thin man with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. With a small leather clutch tucked under his arm and his right leg shaking incessantly, he had the air of a petty boss.
“If you want to keep causing trouble, I don’t mind giving you another beating.”
Recalling the man’s past actions, Lin Fan’s eyes turned cold.
This guy was Zhang Qiang, Zhang Meili’s nephew from her family’s hometown. Ever since the Su family struck it rich four years ago, he had shamelessly come to borrow money from his aunt, Zhang Meili. Wanting to save face, Zhang Meili always reluctantly gave him whatever he asked for. She had even helped Zhang Qiang open a chain pharmacy selling Su Pharmaceutical products in a nearby neighborhood. Unfortunately, Zhang Qiang had no business sense. He only knew how to arbitrarily hike up prices, which gave the pharmacy such a terrible reputation that it was on the verge of closing. Instead of reflecting on his own mistakes, the man blamed the proximity of Suxin Clinic for his store’s poor business. He had caused trouble here many times before, and after being chased away by Lin Fan, he would invariably run to Zhang Meili to complain.
“What am I here for? You really have to ask?” Zhang Qiang tossed his cigarette butt aside, cocked his head, and shot a look at the men and women behind him.
“Brother Qiang, you’d better say it...”
Under Zhang Qiang’s intimidating gaze, the neighbors exchanged uneasy glances.
Seeing this, Lin Fan’s heart sank with a vague sense of foreboding.
“Fine, I’ll say it!” Zhang Qiang coughed twice to clear his throat and pointed at the memorial portrait of Lin Suxin inside. “Lin Fan, these neighbors all visited your mom at the hospital. They brought plenty of fruit baskets and milk, and some even gave money!”
“What is it you all really want? Just spit it out.” Lin Fan clenched his jaw, his heart sinking further.
Clearly, these neighbors hadn’t come to pay their respects. They were here with Zhang Qiang to cause a scene at the memorial!
“Your mom is dead, so this crappy clinic of yours will definitely close down,” Zhang Qiang grinned, gesturing toward the crowd behind him. “After all, you’re just a handyman at a factory. You don’t have any real medical skills. Since we won’t be neighbors anymore, there’s no need for pleasantries ... Shouldn’t you return what the neighbors gave you?”
Last night, well into the early morning hours, Zhang Meili and Su Gang had spent hours cursing Lin Fan and Lin Suxin in the family group chat. They completely omitted what had actually happened at the memorial, instead just calling the mother and son jinxes. They called them ungrateful parasites, hungry ghosts who had come to the Su family to collect on a debt!
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