Chapter 1

Shimen City, First People's Hospital, Inpatient Department, 1st Floor.

It was lunchtime, and the families of hospitalized patients were all downstairs getting food. A crowd gathered at the elevator doors, all holding lunch boxes and various takeout meals, waiting to ride the elevators.

Wu Jun tried several times to squeeze into the elevator but failed, and someone even spilled millet porridge on his pants.

Seeing the two elevators full of people, stopping at each floor as they climbed, he knew it would take a long time for them to come back down, stopping at each floor again. It would be a long wait before the elevators were available.

The crowd, which had thinned out as the elevators ascended, quickly grew again within a minute.

Wu Jun felt a sense of despair, thinking that even if he waited a long time for the elevators, he might not be able to squeeze in.

"Forget it, I'll take the stairs." He took out a tissue from his pocket, wiped the millet porridge off his pants, and squeezed out of the crowd, heading for the stairwell.

A month ago, Wu Jun's father, Wu Guangqiang, had an accident while cutting down a dead tree in the mountain forest they had contracted. He was crushed under the tree, with half of his body trapped beneath it.

The workers who were helping panicked but managed to push the tree away and rushed the blood-covered Wu Guangqiang to the county hospital in a tricycle.

He had a skull injury, several broken ribs, and a fractured shoulder blade. His injuries were severe.

The emergency room light flickered for over ten hours before the doctors at the county hospital managed to save half of Wu Guangqiang's life. He was then urgently transferred to the First People's Hospital in Shimen City, which was several dozen kilometers away from PS County and had better medical facilities.

After a month of treatment, the total expenses amounted to over 200,000 yuan, and Wu Guangqiang's condition stabilized, but he remained in a coma.

At the beginning of next month, he would need another craniotomy, which would cost 300,000 yuan. Whether he would wake up depended on this surgery.

If the surgery was successful, there was a 30% chance he would wake up. If not, he would remain a vegetative state, dependent on intravenous nutrition for the rest of his life.

Wu Jun and his mother, Ma Dongmei, had exhausted their savings and borrowed from all their relatives and friends, managing to gather another 200,000 yuan, but they still needed 80,000 yuan more.

They had less than a month to raise the remaining 80,000 yuan before the second craniotomy.

Panting heavily, Wu Jun climbed to the 14th floor, took a break, and then climbed one more floor to reach his father's ward.

Just as he was about to continue climbing, he heard a voice from above, a voice he recognized well.

It was his mother's voice.

"Big Sister, no, no, you eat it yourself. I have a small appetite and can get full easily."

Hearing his mother's voice, Wu Jun felt as if his heart was being squeezed tightly.

"Big Sister, I've heard about your situation. This kind of disaster is expensive, but you can't be so frugal. Eating just one steamed bun won't fill you up! You'll exhaust yourself!"

"Big Sister can't help much, but I can at least offer you a simple meal. Don't be so polite, eat it."

"Big Sister, really, I don't need to."

"Are you going to let me throw it in the trash? I've already eaten downstairs."

"Okay, I'll eat, I'll eat. Thank you, thank you, Big Sister."

Wu Jun's legs felt heavy as if filled with lead. He leaned on the stair railing and looked up, seeing a scene he would never forget.

His mother was sitting on the steps, holding half a steamed bun in her right hand and wiping away tears. With her left hand, she took a disposable plastic lunch box from an aunt in a cleaning uniform.

Wu Jun's eyes welled up with tears. He turned around and leaned against the wall on the 14th floor, unable to stop the tears from flowing.

When his father was being rescued, he, as a man, had to stay calm, comfort his mother, and give her hope. He couldn't cry.

When raising money, he had to be the pillar of the family, borrowing money from relatives and friends, even if it meant losing face. He couldn't cry.

But when he learned that his mother was eating only one steamed bun per meal to save money, and even a cleaning aunt felt sorry for her and offered her a meal, Wu Jun's tears flowed uncontrollably.

If he had any skills, his family wouldn't have fallen to such a state.

He felt deeply guilty.

Wu Jun had never felt such a strong desire to make money, to make a lot of money, to make more money than he could spend.

To have his father treated in the best hospital, in the most expensive ward, by the best doctors, and with the most advanced international treatments.

To have his mother eat well and drink well, without worrying about money.

Money was truly a good thing.

Although money wasn't everything, it could make thousands of possibilities come true.

The 80,000 yuan for the surgery was the first hurdle. Even if the surgery was successful, the subsequent rehabilitation would be a bottomless pit.

But as a son, as long as there was a glimmer of hope, he couldn't give up, even if it meant going bankrupt.

Hearing the noise upstairs quiet down, Wu Jun composed himself, put the money issue aside, and walked back down the stairs.

The goods in the hospital's convenience store were much more expensive than outside. After leaving the hospital, he bought a large bag of bread, ham, and vacuum-packed chicken legs and returned to the hospital.

This time, he was lucky enough to get on the elevator. At the 15th floor, he got off and walked to Room 1521.

As soon as he entered the ward, he saw his mother, red-eyed, coming out of the bathroom. Her face was still wet, and their eyes met.

"Xiaojun, why are you here? Is the supermarket okay without you?"

Ma Dongmei wiped her hands on her clothes and said, "I can manage on my own. The supermarket is our main source of income now. You need to focus more and can't be so careless anymore."

Wu Jun put the large bag he was carrying into the cabinet by the door and turned around. "Mom, I've decided to sell the supermarket. The 80,000 yuan for the surgery should be enough."

"Xiaojun..." Ma Dongmei's eyes welled up. "Xiaojun, without the supermarket, what will you do? You haven't done anything else in recent years. You can't take the hardship. Maybe... I'll go to your aunts and uncles again."

Wu Jun shook his head. "Mom, you know the situation with the aunts and uncles. They've done their best. We shouldn't trouble them anymore."

"The small supermarket may not make a lot of money, but it's a stable income. We've borrowed so much money already. If we sell the supermarket, how will you live?"

"It's my fault and Dad's fault..." Ma Dongmei said, her eyes red, and she wiped her tears.

"Don't say that, Mom. You and Dad raised me, and now it's my turn to do something for the family. Everything will be fine." Wu Jun hugged his mother's shoulders, trying to comfort her, but she cried even harder.

Ma Dongmei tried to persuade Wu Jun to think about his future, saying that she and Wu Guangqiang were old and useless, and hinted that they might have to give up the treatment.

But Wu Jun was determined. He would spend whatever it took to treat his father. If he gave up, he would never be able to sleep or eat in peace.

At 9 PM, before leaving, Wu Jun comforted his mother and reminded her to eat on time.

The bread and ham he bought at noon would last for three days, and he told his mother he would come back in three days.

He talked to his comatose father, telling him not to give up and that he wouldn't give up either.

His father's eyes welled up with tears, and Wu Jun wiped them away.

He said goodbye to his mother and left the hospital.

He took the bus back to Tianyuan Community, located at the intersection of the northwest second ring in XH District, Shimen City.

Wu Jun had attended university in Shimen City and stayed there after graduation.

After graduating, he used the money he saved from working for two years to open the small supermarket, which had been steadily operating for three years and had a loyal customer base.

The small supermarket, after deducting rent and Wu Jun's monthly expenses, made a profit of 4,500 to 5,000 yuan per month, which was very stable.

In the month before the New Year, when people bought New Year's goods and gift boxes, Wu Jun's income would double, allowing him to have a good New Year.

In Shimen City, where the average salary was around 3,000 yuan, his income was decent.

The key was that he didn't have to be controlled by others, didn't have to deal with a boss's attitude, and didn't have to engage in office politics.

The job was easy and comfortable, and it had made Wu Jun a bit lazy.

Arriving at the supermarket, it was already past 10 PM. Normally, the supermarket would be closed by this time, and since he was late today, Wu Jun didn't plan to open.

He took out his keys, opened the door, and entered the supermarket without turning on the lights. He felt his way through the shelves and entered the bedroom at the back of the supermarket.

The small supermarket was located on the ground floor of a residential building, originally a three-bedroom apartment. The living room and two bedrooms were used for shelves, leaving one room for living, making it a combination of a business and a home. There was also a small kitchen for cooking, saving on rental costs.

He turned on the light and checked his phone, which had only one bar of battery left, indicating low battery.

Wu Jun picked up the charger from the bedside table and plugged it into his phone.

"Bang!" A muffled sound like a firecracker, and Wu Jun felt a tingling in his hand. The phone in his hand smoked and then went completely black, and the room filled with the smell of burnt circuit boards.

Seeing that the phone was unusable, and at a time when he desperately needed money, his phone had exploded!

"Things go wrong when you're down on your luck!" Wu Jun sighed and threw the broken phone into the trash can by the wall.

He sat on the bed, feeling defeated, and began to consider selling the supermarket.

The supermarket's annual rent was 60,000 yuan, paid in full for two years. With a year left before the rent expired, it could be valued at 60,000 yuan without a transfer fee.

The items in the supermarket, though not valuable individually, added up to about 20,000 yuan.

Without a transfer fee, it shouldn't be hard to find a buyer who could start making money immediately.

If it weren't for the desperate situation, Wu Jun wouldn't have considered selling the supermarket.

Running the supermarket was a comfortable job, sheltered from the elements, with a stable income. The more he worked, the more regular customers he gained, making it a good career for the long term.

"Father's surgery is the priority. Everything will be fine." After a long moment of contemplation, Wu Jun decided to go to a copy shop the next day to print some transfer notices.

He turned off the light, and the room was pitch black. Just as he was about to go to sleep, he noticed a faint light coming from the trash can.

The phone had exploded and smoked, hadn't it?

What was glowing?

Wu Jun turned on the light, got out of bed, and approached the trash can, puzzled.

To his surprise, the phone, which had gone black, was now lit up and loading something.