After paying the emergency deposit of twenty thousand yuan, Lin Yu, nearly frozen to death, staggered back to the entrance of the emergency room.
He shakily sank down onto the bench against the wall, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Struggling to lift his numb eyelids, Lin Yu stared at the red "Emergency" sign glowing above the emergency room door, his mind in utter chaos.
What had happened today was just too strange.
Why did Tang Qinqin have Xia Yueshan’s phone in her hand?
What was she planning when she used Xia Yueshan’s name to lure him to that motel?
What was she trying to capture with the phone hidden in the corner?
And what was the cause of that bizarre fire?
Lin Yu couldn’t make sense of any of it.
Nor did he have the strength to think so much.
The biting cold along the way and the effort he had put into rescuing Tang Qinqin had nearly drained him completely.
Exhaustion crashed over him like a tidal wave, roaring and overwhelming, making it impossible for Lin Yu to even keep his eyes open by half a centimeter.
Leaning against the hospital’s warm radiator, Lin Yu felt a fatigue he had never experienced before.
Drowsy and unable to resist the surging sleepiness, he slowly drifted off to sleep leaning against the wall...
...
“Hey!”
“Wake up!”
“Wake up!”
Roused by the rude shaking and calling, Lin Yu groggily opened his eyes. Before him stood a doctor clad head to toe in a white coat and protective gear. For a moment, Lin Yu forgot why he was even there.
“Are you a family member of the patient?” the doctor asked urgently.
Hearing the question, Lin Yu suddenly remembered Tang Qinqin in the emergency room. He instinctively wanted to shake his head, but before he could, hurried footsteps approached from afar.
Turning his head, Lin Yu saw two women running over—both bearing at least a seven-point resemblance.
Exhaling slowly, Lin Yu mustered his strength and replied to the doctor:
“They are the patient’s family.”
As he spoke, Tang’s mother and Tang Manman had already arrived nearby.
Both glanced briefly at Lin Yu, who was disheveled and covered in dust, then quickly focused their attention on the doctor.
“Are you the family of the patient, Tang Qinqin?” the doctor asked them.
“Yes, we are,” they nodded repeatedly. Tang’s mother’s face was etched with worry as she asked:
“Doctor, how is my daughter now?”
“The situation is very serious,” the doctor said gravely, shaking his head. Then he asked:
“Does your daughter have a history of lung disease?”
“Yes,” Tang’s mother nodded repeatedly. Hearing about her daughter’s critical condition, she was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes. Struggling to control her emotions so as not to delay the doctor’s diagnosis and treatment, she spoke in more detail:
“She was hospitalized for three years due to lung disease and was only discharged not long ago.”
The doctor seemed to have expected this and nodded knowingly before continuing:
“The patient inhaled excessive smoke and harmful substances, which triggered a relapse of her lung disease. Her condition has now worsened.”
“She must undergo surgery as soon as possible.”
“You need to pay the surgery deposit now—three hundred thousand yuan.”
Three hundred thousand?
Those words hit Tang’s mother’s heart like a hammer, instantly draining all the strength from her body.
She collapsed like a bowl of overcooked noodles, slowly sinking to her knees on the cold hospital corridor tiles, her eyes filled with shock and a stunned despair.
Three hundred thousand.
What Tang Yun heard was not just an astronomical figure.
It was also the death notice for her youngest daughter.
“Mom!”
Tang Manman’s voice broke with tears as she hurriedly crouched down to support her mother who was kneeling weakly in the hallway.
But Tang Yun didn’t rise with her daughter’s help. Instead, she turned to look at her, tears streaming down her face, her gaze hopeless and helpless.
“Manman.”
“Three hundred thousand...”
“What are we going to do?”
“What can we do...”
Tang Manman wiped her tears away, facing such a huge sum, she had no idea what to do either.
This kind of money wasn’t something you could just scrape together by tightening your belt or enduring some hardship.
The helplessness in Tang Manman’s heart was no less than Tang Yun’s, but seeing her mother crying uncontrollably, she knew she had to be strong. Supporting her mother, Tang Manman fought back her own tears and gently comforted her:
“There will be a way.”
“Mom, get up first.”
“There will be a way...”
In front of the two women slowly rising, the doctor, his mask pulled down beneath his chin, looked on with a numb expression tinged with sorrow, as if he had seen this kind of thing too many times, yet still couldn’t treat it with detachment.
The emergency room door stood silent, broken only by low sobs and choked cries.
Everyone knew the fate of the girl inside the emergency room.
But as if by clinging to this self-deception, the girl inside might be able to postpone her inevitable fate just a little longer.
Amidst the silence, a hoarse voice slowly spoke up.
“Doctor, I’ve paid a two-thousand deposit. I still have seventy thousand on me, and I’ll pay it all soon.”
“Please operate on the patient first.”
“I’ll pay the rest by this afternoon at the latest.”
Lin Yu looked up at the doctor and spoke calmly.
All eyes in the room turned to Lin Yu, ignoring the shock in Tang Yun and Tang Manman’s eyes. Lin Yu forced himself to meet the doctor’s doubtful and troubled gaze and said:
“Doctor, don’t worry. I have the money. My motorcycle is parked outside the hospital. Any motorcycle shop can easily give me over a hundred thousand for it.”
“Please treat the patient first.”
“I’ll pay the rest this afternoon.”
The doctor hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded in agreement.
“Alright.”
“Pay this portion first, and we’ll start the surgery immediately.”
Then the doctor turned to Tang’s mother and daughter and asked:
“Which one of you will come with me to sign the consent form?”
“I’ll sign!”
Tang’s mother quickly responded. Seeing Lin Yu standing shakily, she urgently turned to her daughter:
“Hurry, help your friend.”
“You know the way around the hospital. Take your friend with you.”
“All right!”
Tang Manman nodded quickly, not caring about Lin Yu’s coat covered in black soot and snow slush. She lifted her arm, wiping her reddened eyes, and carefully reached out to support Lin Yu.
Dizzy and heavy-headed, Lin Yu didn’t resist Tang Manman’s help, afraid of falling.
Walking briskly alongside her to the payment counter, Lin Yu felt completely drained after settling the bill. He found a nearby chair to sit down. Seeing Tang Manman’s concerned gaze, Lin Yu waved his hand gently, signaling her to take the deposit slip and head back first.
Tang Manman glanced down at the thin deposit slip in her hand, then looked back up at Lin Yu.
After one last lingering look at him, she turned and walked away.
Sitting on one of the many waiting chairs scattered around the hospital, Lin Yu took a long moment to catch his breath. Finally, he let out a deep sigh, pulled out his phone, and stared blankly at a number on the screen—one among a long row of missed calls.
For a while, he was unable to make a decision...
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
