Chapter 1: Survival in adversity
The hospital corridor was full of people.
Lin Tian seemed to have heard nothing, squatting in a corner alone, tears bursting out.
"Your mother Sun Xiulan's stomach tumor has become malignant. If you don't pay the 100,000 yuan surgery fee, you may only have one month left to live." The doctor's cold announcement pierced Lin Tian's heart like a sharp arrow.
However, the high cost was an astronomical figure for Lin Tian. His adoptive father Lin Yufeng disappeared while sailing a year ago, and his adoptive mother Sun Xiulan fainted and was hospitalized due to a stomach tumor. Lin Tian, who had just graduated, instantly became the backbone of the family.
In the past year, in order to raise funds for his adoptive mother's treatment, Lin Tian not only exhausted his family savings, borrowed all online loans, and even married into the Xu family, working like a cow and a horse in the Xu family, and suffered humiliation, in exchange for 500,000 yuan. But this money was gone in the hospital like water. At this moment, he only had a mobile phone and ten yuan left.
"One hundred thousand is still missing, one hundred thousand..." When Lin Tian thought of the amount mentioned by the doctor, he was shrouded in despair. How could he get the money to save his life when he was penniless? But how could he bear to watch his mother die.
"No, I have to borrow this money no matter what." Lin Tian wiped away his tears and stood up with gritted teeth, "I can't let my mother get hurt." He was determined to put aside all his dignity to borrow money.
Lin Tian first came to his uncle's house and knocked on the door. His aunt opened the door with an unhappy face.
Lin Tian begged in despair: "Aunt, my mother urgently needs money for surgery..."
"Still asking for money? Isn't it enough to give you two hundred yuan?" Aunt scolded, "Get out, don't bother, we don't have relatives as greedy as you..." Then she pushed Lin Tian out of the door and slammed the security door.
Hearing such sarcastic words, Lin Tian was so angry that he trembled all over and punched the wall. Although he knew the fickleness of human nature, he had never expected that his uncle's family, who had taken away his father's ancestral house, would be so heartless that they would not even help him with one tenth of the favor.
Lin Tian had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask other relatives for help, but they were all turned away without exception. They also warned Lin Tian not to harass him again, otherwise they would call the police to arrest him.
Then, the landlord also called and said that if Sun Xiulan did not pay the rent within a week, her room would be vacated. The online loan company kept asking for debts.
Lin Tian mustered up the courage to call Xu Tianna, who was traveling abroad. When Xu Tianna heard him asking for money, she hung up in annoyance.
Lin Tian was in despair. After blowing the cold wind on the street for a long time, he came to Xingyao Bar. This was opened by his ex-girlfriend Chu Yue. To be precise, it was his former roommate Zhao Gang who lent Chu Yue 5 million to help her realize her dream. It was also because of this 5 million that Chu Yue left him and threw herself into Zhao Gang's arms.
Thanks to Chu Yue's beauty and gimmicks, the bar business is booming and has become a place of entertainment for many rich second-generations in the city. Lin Tian has also become a laughing stock.
Lin Tian stepped into the bar. Although he was full of shame, he had to bite the bullet to enter for his mother's surgery fee. He still had a glimmer of hope that Chu Yue would lend him 100,000 yuan for the sake of their past friendship.
Someone in the bar was playing guitar, singing melodiously, and the atmosphere was warm and luxurious. The pervasive perfume made Lin Tian feel more inferior.
Lin Tian walked into the hall, and the whole audience was silent in an instant. More than a dozen men and women in gorgeous clothes cast their eyes. Lin Tian looked at Zhao Gang and Chu Yue. In Zhao Gang's eyes, he only saw pride and disdain, without any guilt.
Chu Yue was wearing a low-cut vest, with her white belly exposed, and her lower body was extremely short hot pants. Her fair skin and slender legs, paired with a beautiful face, were extremely eye-catching. However, her cold and arrogant look made people dare not look directly at her. She looked at Lin Tian expressionlessly, as if she was looking at an ant on the street.
Chu Yue's best friend Li Mengmeng jumped down from the high chair: "Lin Tian, what are you doing here?" Her tone was full of disgust.
Lin Tian plucked up the courage and said: "I'm here..."
"We don't need a cleaner here." Li Mengmeng sneered, "You go." She always despised the penniless Lin Tian, and it was she who tried her best to match Chu Yue and Zhao Gang.
Lin Tian hurriedly waved his hand to explain: "I'm not here to be a cleaner, I'm here..."
"Lemonade is 28, cocktails are 180, can you afford it?" Li Mengmeng sneered, "Even if you have pocket money given by the Xu family, we don't welcome you here."
Zhao Gang spat: "It's so unlucky, I didn't check the almanac today, and I met this trash who came to my door." Zhao Gang and others already knew that Lin Tian was married into the Xu family.
Everyone burst into laughter.
"I --" Lin Tian stepped forward and looked at Chu Yue. Just as he was about to speak, a beautiful girl shouted again: "Take your dirty hands away, don't dirty the leather sofa." She also waved her hand in front of her nose, as if Lin Tian was emitting a foul smell.
Lin Tian retracted his hand as if he had been electrocuted, his face flushed. Although he expected to be humiliated, he didn't expect it to be so heartless. He gritted his teeth and said, "I'm here to find Chu Yue."
"Chu Yue, let's go out and talk..." Lin Tian tried to save the last bit of face.
Chu Yue raised her legs, her white toes flashing under the light, without sarcasm or movement, but this was precisely the deepest disgust.
Zhao Gang's mouth curled up with a teasing: "Chu Yue is my girlfriend now, you can't see her whenever you want." As he said that, he touched Chu Yue's leg demonstratively.
Lin Tian's cheeks were hot: "Chu Yue, I really have something to talk to you about. Let's go out and talk."
Chu Yue looked at Lin Tian, without responding, only arrogant and indifferent.
"Get out, I feel sick when I see you." Li Mengmeng shouted impatiently, "Don't ruin our mood."
Looking at Chu Yue's ruthlessness, Lin Tian's heart was full of disappointment and sadness, but he still squeezed out a sentence with difficulty: "Chu Yue, I want to borrow 100,000 from you." Lin Tian promised: "Don't worry, I will definitely pay it back. I can pledge my ID card and graduation certificate to you..."
"100,000?" Li Mengmeng shouted exaggeratedly, "Lin Tian, you want to borrow 100,000? You are not worth even 100 yuan, and you dare to borrow 100,000?"
Lin Tian looked at Chu Yue and explained: "My mother needs money urgently for surgery..."
"I know this is very abrupt, but I am really saving my life, please." He also took out his mother's medical records, hoping to impress Chu Yue.
Zhao Gang looked at him like an idiot: "Your father is missing, your ancestral home was taken away by your uncle, and now the house is rented. You are a live-in son-in-law and you don't have a job, how can you pay back the 100,000 yuan?"
Lin Tian still begged bitterly in this endless humiliation. He knew that this was his mother's last hope. Even if there was only a slight possibility, he was unwilling to give up. The ridicule and indifference of the people around him cut his heart like an ice knife. He struggled in this predicament, not knowing where to go in the future. Only the love for his mother and the determination to save her supported him, waiting for a slight turn of fate, or whether it would completely defeat him.
