"50,000 for the operation, once paid, we can schedule the surgery."

Inside the corridor of Qinyuan County's First Hospital, Xia Yang took the invoice from the doctor, tears welled up in his eyes and dropped.

"By the way! If you can't pay the surgery fee within three days, your mother's life will be in danger."

Hearing the doctor's words, the pain in Xia Yang's heart was as if a knife had been thrust into it.

Three months ago, just as he was preparing to get married, his mother suddenly fell ill. In order to cure her, Xia Yang had sold off everything that could be sold in the house.

He also went through the hassles of online loans, now he's utterly out of options.

Xia Yang's body was leaning against the wall, and he slid down uncontrollably. He looked completely exhausted.

"No way! I must get the money. I can't succumb to despair." Just as Xia Yang was crying his heart out, he suddenly stopped, wiped his tears, and stood up from the ground.

With this thought, Xia Yang put the invoice in his pocket, ran out of the hospital, and rode back to the village on his beaten-up old bicycle.

"Xiaojuan, are you home?"

Xia Yang got off his old bicycle and pushed it into the house of his fiancee, Du Xiaojuan.

He and Du Xiaojuan had known each other since they were children, both grew up together in the Liuye Village, and Du Xiaojuan's father was the village headman.

Before Xia Yang's mother fell ill, they were the couple everyone in the village envied.

"Why are you here?" The moment Xia Yang walked into the room, he noticed strangers in Du Xiaojuan's house.

She was sitting across from a young man dressed in brand-name clothes, and when she saw Xia Yang come in, she looked tense and bewildered.

"And who might you be?"

Seeing the young man, there was nothing unusual about him, but Xia Yang saw the unusual nervousness in Du Xiaojuan's expression. Her eyes kept flickering towards him, and she even tried to block Xia Yang's line of sight.

"Nothing... nothing! Why are you here instead of taking care of your aunt in the hospital?" Du Xiaojuan stood up, grabbed Xia Yang's arm, and began to lead him towards the exit.

Xia Yang had no interest in anything else at that moment. He grabbed Du Xiaojuan's hand and begged, "Xiaojuan, I would like to discuss something with you."

"Go ahead!"

"I...” Xia Yang hesitated. It was tough for him to broach the subject. After all, she had already received the bride price. Asking for it back would be very difficult but...

"Xiaojuan, could you lend me the bride price money?" Xia Yang decided to be straightforward. His mother's life was more important than his pride. "Don't overthink it, I just need to borrow it. My mother is in the hospital, and she needs money for the surgery within three days.”

“However, I promise, once my mother is better, I'll work and pay you back double."

Xia Yang was afraid that his fiancée would misinterpret and quickly made a promise.

But after he finished speaking, he noticed that Du Xiaojuan's face had turned very unpleasant, and even carried a trace of mockery.

"Xia Yang, what does your mother's sickness and her urgent need for money have to do with me?" Finally, Du Xiaojuan spoke.

It was a bolt from the blue!

Xia Yang never expected that the woman he deeply loved and was about to marry would utter such words.

"Xiaojuan, what are you saying? My mother is also your..."

"Are you happy now?" Du Xiaojuan broke free from Xia Yang's grasp, stepping back and smirking, "I wouldn’t dare to have anything to do with a college student like you!"

"You are the only one in the village who got into a prestigious university. I feel like I'm not good enough for you. I think we should break up."

"What?"

Xia Yang suddenly felt dizzy and almost lost his footing.

"Didn't you understand?" Du Xiaojuan pointed to the young man she was with earlier, irritably said "I won't bother hiding it anymore. This is Zhang Shihao, the son of the richest man in the county."

"We have already confirmed our relationship. As for you? Don’t bother me in the future."

Following the direction of Du Xiaojuan's finger, Xia Yang's gaze fell upon Zhang Shihao. He was about the same age as him, in his twenties, but obese with a pockmarked face, which was entirely repulsive.

"Xiaojuan, I beg you. I agree with the break-up, but can you return the betrothal gifts to me? My mother desperately needs this money for her life-saving treatment."

Although Xia Yang was furious, his fists clenched so tightly that they creaked, the thought of his critically ill mother compelled him to put his grievances aside and beg for her life.

"Get out of here! I’m warning you to leave now, stop dawdling, my boyfriend is here." Du Xiaojuan was completely devoid of the kind demeanor she used to have, and showed extreme disgust to Xia Yang's plea.

"Xiaojuan, I beg you.” Xia Yang wouldn’t give up, still pleading, “Even if it's borrowing, please help.”

Slam!

At this moment, Zhang Shihao slammed the Zippo lighter he was fiddling with on the table, stood up, walked to Xia Yang and pulled Du Xiaojuan into his arms.

"God damn it! Are you fucking deaf?" Zhang Shihao pointed at Xia Yang and cursed, "If you don’t get out here now, I will make sure you leave horizontally."

"Don't you see what a sorry state you're in? Get out!"

Xia Yang's anger had long since welled up to his forehead, but he forcefully repressed it, squeezing out a bitter smile on his face, not paying attention to Zhang Shi Hao.

"Xiao Juan, considering the good times we’ve had together, can you return the dowry to me?"

"What the hell!"

Zhang Shi Hao pushed Du Xiao Juan away and stepped forward, kicking Xia Yang to the ground, "You bastard, you're asking for a beating."

"You want money, right?" Zhang Shi Hao's foot stepping on Xia Yang's face, he said playfully, "All right! I will give you a chance. I'm not short of money anyway!"

"You can lick my shoe sole clean, kneel on the ground, and call me 'grandfather' three times. I'll give you ten dollars as a reward. How's that?"

Xia Yang's face was firmly stepped on by him, and he failed to break free several times.

"What? You don't want to? You poor bastard, don't you want money?"

Seeing Xia Yang's miserable state, Du Xiao Juan not only felt no sympathy, but laughed out loud from a distance.

"You don’t know, do you? Xiao Juan and I have been together for a while now. We slept together the second day we met. You are not only poor, but also a damned slow-coach!"

"Hahaha!"

"You're pushing me too far!"

Only then did Xia Yang understand why, since his mother fell ill, she disappeared. It turns out that the woman he loved dearly was such a fickle bitch!

"Damn it! I'm done with you, you shameless couple!" Xia Yang used all his strength to jump up from the ground, swinging his fists towards Zhang Shi Hao.

Bang!

What Summer Yang didn't expect was that Zhang Shihao, a rich young man, had learned self-defense from a young age to prevent kidnapping.

Before he could get close again, he was once more kicked to the ground by Zhang Shihao.

At this point, Zhang Shihao's face was filled with rage, he picked up a beer bottle from the table and smashed it on Summer's head.

"Go to hell!"

As the beer bottle shattered, Summer only felt a chill on the top of his head, soon there was blood trickling down his face.

Summer only felt his vision go black, and then he lost consciousness.

Blood was flowing down his face, down to his neck!

Suddenly, the obsidian necklace that Summer was wearing came into contact with the blood, it emitted a light and quickly merged with the blood, and the obsidian slowly disappeared.