"Are you the patient's family member? Your father's condition is critical and he needs immediate surgery. You need to prepare 300,000 yuan right away," a nurse said abruptly, shoving a bill into Lin Beichen's hands before turning on her heel and walking away.

Holding the bill, Lin Beichen felt as if he had been struck by lightning. To pay for his father's medical treatments, he had already drained all his savings. Where on earth was he supposed to come up with over 300,000 yuan for the surgery?

In a daze, he walked into the hospital room and saw his father lying on the bed, eyes closed in silence. The sight of his father's emaciated body, ravaged by illness, wrenched Lin Beichen's heart.

Hearing footsteps, Lin Tianhao stirred awake. His eyes, dull and sunken, fluttered open as he turned his pale face toward Lin Beichen. In a weak, barely audible voice, he murmured, "Beichen, did the nurse come to collect the payment again? Son, let's not bother with this treatment anymore."

Lin Beichen's heart clenched. Swallowing the bitterness rising in his throat, he forced a smile. "Dad, don't worry about it. I have the money. Just focus on getting better."

Lin Tianhao knew his son was lying. With a faint sigh, his face ashen, he curled up in pain, his body trembling. Unable to bear seeing his father reduced to such a state by the relentless grip of cancer, Lin Beichen excused himself, claiming he needed to wash some fruit, and rushed into the bathroom.

Leaning against the cold tiled wall, he covered his mouth with his hand, tears streaming down his face. Lin Beichen had grown up in a single-parent household. His mother had passed away from illness when he was just fifteen or sixteen, leaving his father to raise him alone.

To ensure his son never felt neglected, Lin Tianhao, his father, had chosen to remain single all those years. It wasn’t until Lin Beichen successfully enlisted in the military that his father finally remarried. Now, after Lin Beichen’s discharge from the army, he had hoped his father could finally enjoy a peaceful retirement. But fate had other plans—his father was diagnosed with advanced-stage liver cancer.

Determined to save his father, Lin Beichen had borrowed heavily, reaching out to every relative he could think of. Yet, the money he managed to scrape together was barely a drop in the ocean. Now, he was staring down the barrel of another 300,000 yuan needed for surgery.

Clutching his phone, Lin Beichen’s fingers tightened around it as he stared at a number on the screen. “Luo Mei… Luo Mei could come up with the money!” he thought. Without hesitation, he wiped away his tears, made sure his father was comfortably asleep, and left the hospital room.

Standing at the hospital’s entrance, Lin Beichen made the call. The phone rang for what felt like an eternity before someone finally picked up. A voice, laced with impatience, came through. “Who is this?”

“Aunt Mei, it’s me, Lin Beichen. The doctor said today that my dad still needs—” Before he could finish, the voice on the other end cut him off coldly.

"Come to my office if you have something to discuss!"

With that, the call was abruptly ended.

A little over half an hour later, Lin Beichen stepped into the elevator that led directly to the chairman's office on the top floor of the building. His emotions were a tangled mess.

This place, once known as "Tianhao Company," was founded from scratch by his father. Now, it had transformed into the largest real estate company in Yun City, rebranded as "Hanmei Group." It had become the property of Luo Mei, the woman his father had married after his mother.

During the years Lin Beichen was serving in the military, Luo Mei had quietly married his father. Through some unknown maneuvers, she had transferred the company's shares into her own name without a whisper of dissent. Eventually, she had ousted his father from the shareholders' list entirely.

Lin Beichen only learned of this after he was discharged from the army. His father, Lin Tianhao, had always kept him at a distance from Luo Mei, even during his most challenging times.

But now, the 300,000 yuan was a lifeline for his father. Lin Beichen couldn't afford to hesitate any longer!

After stepping out of the elevator, he was led by the secretary to Luo Mei's office. The luxurious office, spanning over two hundred square meters, was occupied by more than a dozen company executives in suits. Luo Mei sat at the head of the table, her expression haughty and amused as she gazed toward the door.

She wasn’t old, perhaps in her mid-thirties, with delicate features and striking beauty. She wore a black off-the-shoulder lace top, her long hair cascading down her back, and the prominent curves of her chest were impossible to ignore. The moment Lin Beichen entered, he was met with the piercing stares of over a dozen pairs of eyes, leaving him momentarily awkward.

"Aunt Mei, I’m here to..."

"Borrow money, right?"

Before Lin Beichen could finish his sentence, Luo Mei tilted her head slightly, her tone dripping with disdain.

Lin Beichen had braced himself for mockery before coming here. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Aunt Mei, it takes ten years to share a bed and a hundred years to share a pillow. I hope you’ll remember our past ties and save my father."

Luo Mei looked at him with a mocking smile, saying nothing. But the tattooed bald man beside her suddenly erupted, slapping Lin Beichen across the face.

"Damn brat! How dare you compare that worthless man to our Sister Mei?!"

Lin Beichen’s eyes narrowed sharply.

Having spent years in the military, he had honed his reflexes to an extraordinary level. Before the slap could land, he swiftly grabbed the burly, tattooed man's wrist and raised his knee sharply, aiming for the ribs.

"How dare you lay a hand on me?!" Luo Mei suddenly barked in anger.

Lin Beichen's foot hesitated, and his grip involuntarily loosened.

Seizing the opportunity, the tattooed man slapped him across the face and followed up with a kick to the back of his knee.

Lin Beichen winced in pain, one leg buckling as he knelt on the ground, his face contorted with agony.

"Well, well, and here I thought you were a retired soldier! Beichen, I really must have a word with your father about this. All those years in the army, and you’ve truly let him down," Luo Mei chuckled as she sauntered over to where Lin Beichen knelt.

Her slender waist swayed seductively, a glint of excitement flickering in her eyes.

An unprecedented sense of humiliation surged within Lin Beichen.

But for the sake of saving his father, he had no choice but to endure, continuing to plead humbly, "Aunt Mei, please help my father. I’ll do anything, just save him!"

"Anything? Oh, what a filial son you are," Luo Mei laughed with a coquettish charm, suddenly looking down at Lin Beichen with a commanding gaze, her delicate finger pointing.

"In that case, why don’t you kowtow to me right here? Let me, as your mother, experience the feeling of having a son bow before me. Not too much to ask, is it?"

Lin Beichen’s hands, resting on his knees, clenched tightly.

His hands clenched into tight fists, the knuckles white with tension. Then, gritting his teeth, he dropped to his knees without hesitation, prostrating himself at Luo Mei's feet. He slammed his forehead against the ground with a resounding thud.

"Aunt Mei! I beg you, please save my father! I’m kowtowing to you!!"

In the face of his father’s life, he was willing to cast aside his dignity like worthless trash. As long as Luo Mei could save his dad, nothing else mattered.

"Ha ha ha ha ha…"

"Truly, a useless father breeds a foolish son!"

Lin Beichen’s humiliating kowtow didn’t earn him a single penny. Instead, it only provoked uproarious laughter from the onlookers. Luo Mei watched with satisfaction as Lin Beichen knelt and bowed before her.

She then swayed her graceful figure and settled into a chair, looking down at the prostrate Lin Beichen with a sneer. "What an obedient son you are. Since you’re so eager, why don’t you crawl over here and bark like a dog? If you manage to amuse me, I’ll cover your father’s surgery expenses in full."

Lin Beichen’s jaw tightened as he met Luo Mei’s mocking gaze. The image of his father lying helpless in a hospital bed flashed in his mind. He took a deep breath, steeling himself. Finally, he bent his knees and crawled forward on the ground, his heart heavy but resolute.

A dozen pairs of eyes were fixed on him, their laughter echoing through the room, each jeer cutting deeper than the last. The humiliation was palpable, but for his father’s sake, Lin Beichen had no choice but to endure it.

"Woof! Woof!"

Every bark he let out felt like another piece of his dignity being trampled underfoot. Luo Mei sat comfortably in her chair, her lips curling into a smirk as she watched him bark several times. Only then did she let out a satisfied chuckle. "Alright, that’s enough. Take the money and get out of here!"

An envelope was tossed at Lin Beichen’s feet. Luo Mei waved her hand dismissively, as if shooing away a fly. "Here’s three thousand yuan. Consider it a reward for your impressive dog impression. Now scram!"

When he heard the amount, a surge of anger boiled within him. He had endured such humiliation, thrown away his pride, and all he got in return was a measly three thousand yuan. Was Luo Mei even human?!

Lin Beichen’s fists clenched so tightly that drops of blood began to seep through his fingers and fall to the ground. Yet, in the end, he remained silent. He bent down, picked up the envelope, and staggered to his feet. Right now, even a hundred yuan was something he desperately needed.

"Didn’t expect this kid to have such thick skin," someone muttered in the background.

"Gotta admit, he played the part of a dog pretty well. Hahaha!" another voice chimed in, followed by a burst of laughter.

"Hahaha, I think it's pretty obvious, isn't it?" The office was filled with piercing laughter.

Lin Beichen, however, seemed deaf to the noise. Clutching an envelope, he slowly made his way toward the door. His peripheral vision caught the faces of everyone present, and he silently vowed to remember each one of them clearly.

This brief walk, lasting no more than a minute, felt like the most arduous journey of his life. He seethed with hatred—hatred for Luo Mei's betrayal, for kicking him when he was down, and hatred for his own perceived weakness and incompetence.

But he swore to himself that one day, he would trample them all under his feet. Today's humiliation—he would not forget it.