Less than ten minutes to three, Lin Jie stepped into Xinyu Cafe and immediately spotted Zhou Xuehui, exuding an aura of sunshine and health from inside out.

After losing weight, Li Ting resembled her by about sixty to seventy percent, though with even fairer skin. Standing together, they looked more like sisters than mother and daughter.

Zhou Xuehui's nearly perfect figure made it hard to believe she was a mother of two.

She stood up to greet Lin Jie and asked, "Coffee, juice, or something else?"

"A glass of lemon water is just fine!" Lin Jie replied politely.

Zhou Xuehui ordered a lemon water for him and said with a smile, "It's been a while since I last saw you at the gym. Is there something wrong with the service or conditions?"

"Neither!"

Lin Jie explained, "I found a job in Zhujia Port in the eastern suburb, and the schedule is a bit tight, making it hard to come to the gym specifically. But the aerobics you taught me, I practice it every day."

Zhou Xuehui nodded lightly and said, "As long as you develop good fitness habits, everywhere can be a gym! Has Tingting contacted you recently?"

"Yes."

Lin Jie suddenly felt a bit nervous and explained, "I moved house once during the National Day period, and Li Ting came over to help me. Um... during the National Day, she mainly played with my younger sister Miaomiao."

"Miaomiao had an accident recently, causing her vision to suddenly recover. She and Li Ting get along quite well."

Zhou Xuehui chuckled and said, "That's good news, I'm happy for your sister."

"Tingting didn't have many friends before due to her health. You're one of the few people she can talk to, and now she has gained a friend in your sister too, which makes me very happy."

Zhou Xuehui twirled the juice glass in her hand and asked, "Do you know that Tingting and I are currently in a cold war?"

Lin Jie nodded and said, "Li Ting mentioned that she had an argument with you, but she didn't elaborate on the reason."

"Oh, let me explain it to you then, as I still need your help with this matter!"

After taking a sip of her juice, Zhou Xuehui said softly, "Tingting's academic performance has always been good, and the educational conditions abroad are relatively better. Her father and I thought about sending her overseas to study."

"But unexpectedly, this girl is adamantly against it."

She gave a slightly awkward smile, "The reason we thought of studying abroad just now is because of her health recovery."

"To put it realistically, with her previous condition, even if she had the halo of studying abroad, she'd be too proud to accept those with lesser conditions than her, and those with better conditions wouldn't accept her either. The result would be a lifetime of not being able to get married."

"Now that my family's Tingting has recovered, with her looks and the halo of a prestigious foreign university, the outcome would be different."

Lin Jie was displeased to hear this but had no way to retort. He could only take a sip of water.

Zhou Xuehui continued, "Actually, Tingting's health recovery is largely thanks to you. Thank you!"

Lin Jie modestly responded, "No need to thank me, it was just a lucky guess on my part! Even without me, Li Ting's issue would have been discovered eventually, just maybe a bit later."

Zhou Xuehui disagreed, "You can't say that. If it were just a year later, it would still be manageable. But what if it was five or six years later, or even seven or eight years later? By then, Tingting's life would have been almost set in stone!"

"Therefore, this timing is extremely important. You essentially saved my family's Tingting from leading an ordinary life."

Lin Jie smiled faintly without saying anything.

Zhou Xuehui then asked with a smile, "Lin Jie, have you thought about your future plans?"

Lin Jie casually replied, "With Li Ting's help, I am currently studying high school knowledge, hoping to get into Binhai University Medical School and become a doctor in the future!"

Zhou Xuehui made a long sound of acknowledgment and smiled, "That's a very nice idea!"

"To make a mark as a doctor, at least a master's degree is needed. That's five years of college, three years of a master's program, and at least one year of internship..."

She suddenly stopped, hesitated a bit, and then said, "Lin Jie, I've come across some reports by chance, not sure if they're true, but please don't mind me saying this..."

By this point, Lin Jie already understood what she wanted to say and stated directly, "Auntie, you want to talk about the survival rate of heart transplant patients, right? I am aware of that."

"Currently, the ten-year survival rate is around fifty percent."

With a philosopher's poise, he proudly remarked, "I understand what you mean, Auntie, but everyone has to chase something in life. Every person in this world will die after a hundred years, yet most of their time is spent on learning."

"My life expectancy is relatively shorter, but that is just a probability, not a certainty. Perhaps, in ten years, there might be breakthroughs in medical science."

"Just because of this probability, giving up everything now, merely enjoying life, and even preparing for death in advance, wouldn't that kind of life be too dull and somewhat sad?"

Intending to say something to elevate his own standing, Lin Jie unexpectedly found himself moved by his own words as he spoke.

Indeed, life is full of endless possibilities.

If you only think about a ten-year lifespan, planning with that deadline in mind, preparing for an expected death, such a life is really very unpleasant.

"I'm happy you can think this way!"

Zhou Xuehui praised him and continued to ask, "Have you considered love, marriage, and having children?"

Lin Jie smiled bitterly and said, "I've thought about it, but I also thought about not wanting to harm others. However, just now, I suddenly realized something; life is not easy, so why set so many constraints on myself?"

"If I like a girl, she also likes me, and is willing to face an uncertain future with me, I would not actively refuse such love."

Upon hearing Lin Jie say this, Zhou Xuehui's expression became somewhat unpleasant.

She lowered her head to drink a few sips of juice, raised her head again with a full smile, "Lin Jie, I asked you here this time to persuade Tingting to accept our plan to study abroad!"

"We have high expectations for Tingting, hoping she can lead a high-level elite lifestyle in the future. Having study abroad experience is a necessary condition to enter that echelon."

"I hope you can persuade her to understand our painstaking efforts."

Lin Jie nodded and said, "I can try to persuade her, but Auntie, I can't guarantee the effect."

Zhou Xuehui smiled widely and said, "It will definitely have an effect. For children of Tingting's age, it's hard to listen to their parents, but they carefully consider their friends' words."

The two of them casually talked about other matters before ending this meeting.

Exiting from Xinyu Cafe, Shen Lanruo's voice suddenly echoed in Lin Jie's mind, "Lin Jie, are you truly stupid or just pretending to be? Haven't you realized this woman's true motive?"

Lin Jie replied sullenly, "Of course, I understand. She specifically pointed out my potential inability to live and nearly said that their ideal son-in-law is someone at the level of a senior CEO of a multinational company, all to make me give up."

Shen Lanruo snorted and mockingly said, "Such ignorance, what's so great about being a CEO or the like. Once your medical skills are recognized, even national leaders will respectfully treat you."

"She'll never understand the esteemed status of a world-class medical expert."

"Lin Jie, this woman wants you to retreat because of difficulty, but you should go against that. I can see that Li Ting has some feelings for you, heed my advice, and charm her, win her over!"

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