Transmigration: On the Gossip Front-Chapter 1919 - 1920: Female Intellectual Youth by the Roadside 62
After work, Zhang Jie naturally went to the hospital to see Zhang Wei. Initially, he intended to offer some comfort, but despite being at work all day, he felt uneasy. He really couldn’t understand how pretending to be sick turned into actually being sick.
He was quite thankful; if it weren’t for this pretense, they might not have discovered the seriousness of the illness. Otherwise, if it dragged on, over time, the situation would only worsen.
The day’s events were quite stimulating for Zhang Jie. He thought the morning’s events had already shocked and amazed him, and he planned to face whatever followed calmly, without overreacting.
But he hadn’t expected, after just a day of work, to receive such explosive news upon clocking out, shocking him completely.
"Me, going to work at the research institute?" Zhang Jie was dumbfounded, staring at Zhang Wei in disbelief, unable to comprehend how he could work there.
He knew there were exchanges between the machinery factory and the institute, but not that many. He definitely hadn’t expected that they wanted to poach his dad. It was truly dizzying.
"But Dad, with your health now, can you work at the institute?" He hadn’t worked there before but knew the job wasn’t easy.
Zhang Jie would have fully supported Zhang Wei switching jobs before, but now he thought it was better not to.
"Actually, I considered going over for some time. But with the old section chief there — he was good to me. Without him, our family wouldn’t have gotten such a big house."
"Plus, you kids were young then, and your health wasn’t great. If you fell sick, sending you to the hospital was convenient."
"Now you’re all grown up, and with everything happening, I’m thinking maybe I should go."
"Of course, I’m willing to go now, but whether they’re willing to take me, I don’t know. Previously, they poached people; now I want to go willingly — it feels different."
"With Dad’s skills, how could they refuse?" Zhang Jie was easily influenced by Zhang Wei, repeatedly emphasizing that his skills were so good that it’d be a loss for the institute not to hire him.
Zhang Yu just watched Zhang Jie talk about how good their dad was. Turns out, this kid is really gullible.
However, it was quite good. Everyone’s mood was heavy anyway, especially with the pressure from tomorrow’s surgery.
Yao Ying glanced at the time. "Alright, you all can go home. I’ll stay at the hospital today."
"Mom, how about I stay?" Zhang Jie thought, regardless of the situation, being a guy, he should step up.
"Go on, with your physique." Without waiting for Yao Ying to speak, Zhang Yu grabbed Zhang Jie and left after saying goodbye to Zhang Wei and the others.
On the way home, Zhang Jie wasn’t feeling great. "Sis, am I useless?"
"I can’t even stay to help." Zhang Jie felt dejected going home.
"Didn’t you notice Mom had something to say to Dad?" Originally, Zhang Wei needed comfort, but unexpectedly, it was actually Zhang Jie who ended up needing it.
"No matter how things go tomorrow, the surgery is major. Both Dad and Mom are tense." After being a couple for so many years, facing such big happenings is hard for anyone to accept.
Zhang Jie agreed, slightly cheering up. "Sis, you think Dad will be okay tomorrow after surgery?"
"We hope for good news, but either way, the earlier it’s discovered, the better." From the protagonist’s memory, Zhang Wei wasn’t in great health, and by the time it was found, it was late stage.
"Doctors also said the earlier it’s found, the earlier it’s treated."
"A change of environment might do Dad good. Otherwise, if some fool were to oppress Dad, he’d definitely be upset, bottling it up is bad for health. A more relaxed environment would be better."
"Don’t ask me what the environment is like there or whether Dad will like it, sorry, I don’t know. But since Dad wants to go, there must be something good about it."
"Just by thinking about research, everyone’s focused on development. Even if there’s some disturbance, the problems shouldn’t be too big."
"Plus, wherever there are people, there’s drama, there’s hustle; worse-case, how could it be worse than now?" Right, Zhang Yu felt the machinery factory would be rough in future.
After listening to Zhang Yu’s analysis, Zhang Jie deemed it reasonable. "True, Sis, what you say makes sense. Worse? Can it get worse than the factory?"
"Exactly, changing places is good." Zhang Jie quickly comes to terms with it, finding comfort.
Seeing Zhang Jie’s mood improve quite a bit, Zhang Yu suddenly felt having a bright younger brother is great.
Suddenly Zhang Yu inwardly chuckled, as Zhang Jie secretly complained about the protagonist being gullible before — in reality, wasn’t he just as gullible?
"If I can’t switch jobs, it’s okay; I can stay in the dorms." Zhang Jie understood Zhang Wei wanting to take him along, worried he might face bullying staying at the machinery factory.
"Mom worked in the finance department all her life. The aunties and sisters there took good care of me," although there were one or two who spoke jealousy, Zhang Jie didn’t mind, ignoring them.
"If switching jobs is possible, then do it. Otherwise, Mom running back and forth is indeed busy." With Zhang Wei having undergone surgery, caring for him was necessary.
Though Zhang Jie seemed alright now, his background wasn’t strong. Who knows when he might fall ill again?
Hearing this, Zhang Jie no longer insisted. "Yes, switching places is also good."
As the two leisurely made their way home, reaching the residential area, they were surrounded by people. "Zhang Yu, we heard your dad is sick."
"Is it serious?"
"We heard your dad has cancer."
Zhang Yu glanced at Zhang Jie, indicating as soon as they arrive home, without speaking any word, surrounding neighbors already knew Zhang Wei was sick, and severely so.
"Yes, my dad’s sick. We thought it was a high fever, but the stomach issues are pretty severe. So naturally, we need to check thoroughly," Zhang Yu no longer cared to figure out who leaked Zhang Wei’s illness; it’s now irrelevant.
Overall, letting them know Zhang Wei’s situation is truly severe, requiring serious treatment.
Although Zhang Yu disliked home matters spreading widely before resolution, now that it’s all out there, Zhang Yu figured, might as well make use of it a bit.
"Whether it’s cancer, the doctors can’t confirm now. We’ll need to wait for tomorrow’s surgery results."
