"mom!"

Wu Ruixue pushed open the door to the ward, her expression panicked.

Upon entering the room, I saw that the entire ward was filled with smoke and fumes. Several hooligans were lounging around, some sitting on the bedside, and others sitting at the counter.

Many people were carrying small axes and glancing sideways at Wu Ruixue at the door.

On the hospital bed, Yin Hong's face was pale, and next to her bed, a gorilla-like man was smiling at Wu Ruixue.

"Xiaoxue, you're here?"

"I heard that Mom is sick, so I came to see her."

"You must take good care of Mom."

Yin Hong forced a smile to comfort Wu Ruixue.

"Xiaoxue, I'm fine, you can go out now."

Wu Ruixue looked at the man beside the bed, her face pale, and could only grit her teeth and call out.

"elder brother."

The gorilla man laughed heartily.

At that moment, a passing nurse saw the ward was filled with smoke and fumes and sternly reprimanded the nurse.

"No smoking in the ward!"

"You guys, put out your cigarettes!"

"Didn't you know this was a hospital?!"

These words immediately enraged the people in the ward.

One of the men, carrying a kettle of hot water, suddenly stood up and stared intently at the female nurse at the door.

"What did you say?"

The nurse immediately understood what these people did when she saw their expression.

Adhering to the principle of "better to avoid trouble than to cause trouble," the female nurse didn't say much and turned to leave the ward.

The gorilla man, however, pretended to scold him.

"I'm talking to you guys, what are you doing smoking!"

"You guys smoke, right?"

"Put out your cigarette!"

Several people around threw their cigarette butts on the ground to extinguish them.

At that moment, a young man at the door was looking Wu Ruixue up and down, a wicked smile on his lips.

"Oh, Xiaoxue has grown up."

"Tsk tsk tsk, she's grown into a young lady in the blink of an eye."

"Brother Wang, when are you going to introduce Xiaoxue to someone?"

Wu Ruixue subconsciously shrank her neck, deliberately keeping her distance from the person at the door.

The gorilla man also frowned.

"Mind your own business. Who she likes is her choice."

The group chuckled mischievously, knowing full well how he would ultimately deal with Wu Ruixue, this girl who was not related to him at all.

Inside the room, the gorilla man patiently comforted Yin Hong.

"Mom, you know how bad Dad's temper is, that's just the kind of person he is."

"We are sorry for this."

"Just bear with it a little longer, give him the money, that's better than anything else."

Yin Hong gritted her teeth, her eyes showing a hint of hesitation.

When Wu Ruixue saw that her mother was about to lower her head again, she cried out in alarm.

"Mom! No! That's my brother's school money!"

"How many times has this happened already?!"

"mom!"

The gorilla-man's expression suddenly changed drastically, and he turned around to glare fiercely at Wu Ruixue.

"Why are you interrupting when adults are talking!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Ruixue was speechless and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Yin Hong could only lower her head silently as she looked at the gorilla-like man grinning at her.

For the sake of her family and for a better life in the future, Yin Hong had no choice but to compromise.

Just as he was about to speak, a shout suddenly came from outside the door.

"You lot!"

"What are you doing!"

"Don't you know this is a hospital?"

Several peaked caps appeared at the ward door, and next to them was the nurse who had just been scolded by the group.

The young nurse pointed at the people inside the room with a pitiful expression.

"It's them."

"Not only do they smoke, they also disrupt the order here."

The thugs inside sat up straight obediently, not daring to utter a word in front of the police officer.

Just as the gorilla-man was about to explain, he heard Wu Ruixue shouting to the guys around her.

"They came to threaten my mother!"

At this moment, Wu Ruixue's eyes were filled with resentment as she looked at everyone in the room.

She also decided to stand up for Yin Hong this time.

Hearing this, the gorilla man had no choice but to give up and waved to his henchmen around him, preparing to leave.

After the group left, Wu Ruixue ran to Yin Hong's bedside to check on her mother's condition.

Yin Hong complained somewhat reproachfully.

"Xiaoxue, you can't treat your brother like this."

"You're doing this..."

Wu Ruixue stared intently at her mother with red eyes, her tone becoming increasingly agitated.

"Mom, it's because of you that they act so recklessly."

"They took the money, and you know exactly what they're going to do with it."

“That’s my brother’s tuition.”

Yin Hong gripped the hospital's snow-white sheets tightly, staring blankly at the words "hospital" on them. At that moment, no one knew what this mother was really thinking.

...

Meanwhile, Lin Yifeng was drinking tea in Yan Bingshan's office.

Inside the room, Li Baoshan held a teacup and shook his head as he looked at Lin Yifeng.

"Xiaofeng, Xiaofeng, you've done way too much."

Even Yan Bingshan couldn't help but complain at this moment.

"You're so active, it's really too flashy."

"I suggest you calm down for a while."

Lin Yifeng smiled and scratched his head without responding.

He had already explained the Hope Project to the two of them once.

Before coming, Lin Yifeng was very confident that he could persuade the two men to let the plan pass easily.

After all, this is Project Hope, a beneficial project for the people.

Unfortunately, Lin Yifeng miscalculated one thing.

Yan Bingshan and Li Baoshan weren't refusing to help Lin Yifeng; rather, they were genuinely worried about Lin Yifeng's future.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!