Chapter 435: The Devil in a Designer Suit
"An angel investor? You're dreaming."
Shen Anyu smiled faintly, a hint of mockery and playfulness in his expression.
'Do you understand the value of anti-fraud and card freezing? Do you understand the value of being a great Child of Destiny?'
…
'This act of providing timely help will surely earn me Lu Ran's trust and friendship. Hehehe, that's a future Medical Immortal! This investment will definitely yield a huge return!'
Long Hao's heart hammered against his ribs, his face flushed with the thrill of a predator closing in on its prize. He felt like the protagonist of his own story, a shrewd investor spotting a future giant in its infancy. Waving his arm with uncharacteristic confidence, he hailed a passing taxi, the yellow car screeching to a halt beside him.
"Follow that man! To the city hospital!" he barked, sliding into the back seat, the worn fabric doing little to dampen his excitement. He chased after Lu Ran's retreating figure, a triumphant grin plastered on his face. This was it. This was the moment his destiny would turn.
Soon, the taxi pulled up to the bustling entrance of the Magic City First People's Hospital.
"The fare is sixty-six. Thank you," the driver said, his voice a gravelly monotone.
"Scan the code," Long Hao replied breezily, pulling out his sleek smartphone. He felt a surge of superiority, a man of the modern age about to make a life-altering investment. He opened his payment app, aimed the camera at the QR code, and waited for the familiar chime of a successful transaction.
But the next moment, Long Hao's expression subtly changed. The confident smirk froze, then faltered.
The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror, his brow furrowing slightly. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing at all," Long Hao stammered, his mouth twitching into a forced smile. "The network signal must be bad in this area."
He tried again, his thumb tapping frantically on the screen. He switched from Zhifubao to Weixin, his heart beginning to thud with a new, unpleasant rhythm. Denied. Denied again. What in the world was going on? His accounts were full.
Beep!
A text message notification slid down from the top of his screen, and a sliver of hope bloomed in his chest. Perhaps it was just a network issue notification. He tapped it open.
"Your account has been flagged for abnormal risk transactions. To ensure the security of your funds, and in accordance with the Card Freezing Action, all your transaction activities have been temporarily suspended. Please bring your ID card, bank card, and transaction proof materials to any of our bank branches for verification…"
What???
The words burned into his retinas. Long Hao's eyes widened in sheer disbelief, his face draining of all color. Abnormal risk? Card Freezing Action? It was a string of bureaucratic jargon that translated to one simple, horrifying reality: he was broke.
Up front, the driver's voice took on a heavier, more impatient tone. "The fare is sixty-six Yuan. Thank you!"
A cold sweat broke out across Long Hao's forehead, pasting his hair to his temples. His bank card was inexplicably frozen. Both Weixin and Zhifubao, the lifelines of modern commerce, were completely useless. How was he supposed to pay?
Cash? In this digital age, who carried wads of cash anymore? He certainly didn't. His wallet was just a slim leather holder for his ID and cards—cards that were now nothing more than useless rectangles of plastic.
Long Hao looked at the driver's hardened face in the mirror and managed a painfully awkward smile. "Driver uncle, my… my card was inexplicably frozen. I can't pay right now. How about this, leave me your phone number, and I'll pay you double, no, triple!—later today."
The driver let out a short, harsh laugh that sounded like grinding gears. "Heh, you wish. You think I was born yesterday? I don't fall for empty promises! I quit my last job because of some manager's BS promises about promotions and bonuses. Now I'm driving a taxi to make an honest living, and you want me to fall for more promises? Didn't I quit for nothing then? Don't even think about taking advantage of me, kid. Go on back!"
Click!
The sound of the central locks engaging was sharp and final. Before Long Hao could protest, the driver threw the car into reverse, swung the wheel, and peeled away from the hospital curb. The building, and his golden opportunity with Lu Ran, receded with terrifying speed as the taxi sped back in the direction they came from, towards the Magic City Antique Street.
[Ding! Child of Destiny Long Hao's mentality has exploded, plundering +9999 Destiny Points!]
[Ding! Child of Destiny Long Hao's investment opportunity has been destroyed, plundering +50000 Destiny Points!]
…
At that moment, a low-key Rolls-Royce Phantom glided to a silent stop across the street from the hospital entrance. From within the climate-controlled sanctuary, Shen Anyu's gaze passed through the tinted window. He watched the yellow taxi make its abrupt U-turn and speed away, a faint, amused smile gracing his lips.
'This driver is truly a talent,' he mused, appreciating the man's cynical, no-nonsense approach to life. He was an unwitting, yet perfect, instrument of fate—or rather, an instrument of Shen Anyu's will.
Of course, the outcome was never in doubt. Even if the driver had been a more trusting soul, Long Hao would have arrived at the hospital a pauper. The card freeze was absolute. He would have stood before Lu Ran, unable to offer a single yuan, his grand gesture of aid turning into a pathetic display of incompetence.
This was, naturally, Shen Anyu's handiwork. A simple command, a few digital strings pulled in the background, and a Child of Destiny's grand plan was reduced to dust.
Shen Anyu withdrew his gaze from the street and turned his attention to the imposing hospital building. His eyes, deep and unreadable as the abyss, held a calculating glint. 'Lu Ran isn't a Child of Destiny, just a key supporting character. So what about his sister, Lu Qiong? Time to test her importance in the grand narrative.'
…
Inside, the hospital corridor reeked of antiseptic and quiet despair.
Lu Ran, having just settled his grandfather and reassured his sister with lies he could barely voice, found a deserted corner. His broad shoulders, which had seemed so strong just moments before, began to shake. He slid down the wall, squatting on the cold, polished floor, and buried his face in his hands. A silent, gut-wrenching sob tore through him.
The attending doctor's words echoed in his mind, each syllable a clinical, merciless hammer blow.
"Lu Ran, your grandfather has late-stage colorectal cancer. The cancer has metastasized. The sooner he has surgery, the better. If you delay, I'm afraid he won't live past three months."
"The surgery must be performed within half a month at the latest, otherwise… sigh."
Each word was a steel needle piercing his heart, but it was that final, weary sigh from the doctor that shattered him completely. It was the sound of professional pity, the sound of a death sentence delivered with a regretful shrug.
Colorectal cancer wasn't an immediate death sentence like advanced pancreatic cancer. With surgery and treatment, there was a real chance. A chance that cost two million Yuan.
Two million. The number felt impossibly large, a mountain he could never hope to climb. How could he possibly come up with that kind of money? The family home had been sold years ago to pay for his sister's medical treatments. They were living in a cramped, rented apartment. Every last cent of their savings had already been bled dry by the relentless onslaught of medical bills.
It felt like a curse. His parents, taken in a car accident when he was just a boy. His sister, plagued by a chronic illness. And now his grandfather, the bedrock of his life, was crumbling away. He had thought—naively, foolishly—that graduating and finding a job would be the start of a better life.
"No," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I must find a way. I have to get that two million. I can't just watch Grandpa die."
He wiped the hot tears from his face with the back of his hand and pushed himself to his feet, his jaw clenched with grim determination. His grandfather and sister were the only family he had left. They were his entire world. He would trade anything—his life, his soul, his dignity—to keep them safe.
Especially his dignity.
With trembling fingers, Lu Ran pulled out his phone and dialed a number. His voice shook as he spoke.
"Uncle… Aunt… Grandpa has late-stage colorectal cancer. He needs money for surgery…"
He couldn't even finish the sentence before a sharp, screeching voice erupted from the other end of the line, so loud it made him flinch.
"Go away, go away, you stinking beggar! Our family has no money, not a single cent! That old man deserves to die! Don't you dare call here again!"
The words fell, and the line went dead with a deafening click.
Lu Ran stood frozen, trembling with a mixture of rage and heartbreak. That was his biological uncle, his grandfather's own son. The man had struck it rich in business years ago. Lu Ran knew for a fact they had just bought a brand-new BMW. How could they not have money?
But his aunt was a vicious shrew who controlled the family's finances with an iron fist, and his uncle was too cowardly to stand up to her. They wouldn't spare a single yuan for the man who raised them, but they would lavish endless amounts on themselves.
A chilling coldness seeped into Lu Ran's heart. He shook his head, scrolling through his contact list. One by one, he dialed the numbers of other relatives and friends. The responses were a blur of polite evasions and cold refusals. His family had become a bottomless pit of medical debt, and everyone had long since grown tired of it. Some so-called friends even had the gall to gently suggest that letting his grandfather pass away might be… easier. For everyone.
A bitter, broken smile twisted Lu Ran's lips. This was his grandfather they were talking about. The man who had raised him, who had held him when he cried, who was the only father he had ever known.
His thumb hovered over one last name. "Tan Rong."
The name tasted like ash in his mouth. Tan Rong was his college girlfriend. He had poured his heart and soul into their relationship, doing everything for her, only for her to throw him away the moment they graduated, leaping into the arms of a rich second-generation heir. Calling her was the absolute bottom of the barrel. It was the final sacrifice of his pride.
He pressed the call button.
"Tan Rong," he began, his voice raspy, "my grandfather needs money for surgery. Can you… can you lend me some money?"
Each word felt like it was being carved from his flesh. A moment of silence was followed by a cold, mocking laugh.
"Heh, asking me for money? Lu Ran, you've really made something of yourself, haven't you? Don't you think that's ridiculous? What does your grandfather's life or death have to do with me? No, I won't lend you anything!"
Her voice was laced with contempt, a stark contrast to the sweet tones she used to use.
"Also, Lu Ran, don't call me again. I'm afraid Young Master Wang might misunderstand!"
Beep, beep, beep...
Lu Ran stared blankly at his phone, listening to the desolate sound of the disconnected line. His mind was a complete blank. He had swallowed his pride, begged his family, and debased himself before the woman who broke his heart. And he hadn't managed to borrow a single cent.
What now? What could he possibly do? How could he raise two million Yuan in half a month? It was impossible. He was completely and utterly helpless.
Just then, as despair threatened to consume him whole, a calm, impossibly steady voice cut through the silence.
"If I can cure your grandfather, what can you give me?"
Lu Ran's head snapped up. Standing before him was a handsome young man in a perfectly tailored suit, a faint, unreadable smile on his face. He looked so out of place in the dreary hospital corridor, like a deity who had descended into the mortal realm.
Wiping the last of his tears away, Lu Ran looked the man straight in the eye and said, his voice raw but firm, word by word:
"My life. My soul. Everything—I can give it all!"
"Even if it means signing a contract with the devil, I am willing."
At this moment, having sacrificed every last shred of his dignity for nothing, Lu Ran was utterly desperate. If this man wanted to harvest his kidney, he would lie on the operating table himself.
"Good. Then let's sign the contract!"
Shen Anyu's smile widened slightly. He extended his left hand and made a slow, deliberate gesture in the empty air before him.
Instantly, the air shimmered. Blood-colored, tadpole-like characters materialized from nothing, glowing with an eerie crimson light. They swirled and coalesced, forming a dense, bizarre script that seemed to drink the very light from the corridor.
Lu Ran's eyes widened, looking at the scene before him in disbelief.
'Wait, you're serious???'
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