chapter 1 Humanity is bleak

Golden Pond Residential Complex, Building 2, Apartment 602.
After hesitating at the door for a long time, Ashburn Xanthos decided to press the doorbell. This was the last relative he could find. His mother was lying in the hospital, still waiting for his money to save her life. He knew there was not much hope, but he still couldn't give up.
"Who was it?"
"Uncle Grover, it's me."
Grover Xanthos opened the door and saw Ashburn, with disgust that could not be concealed on his face. He did not invite him in, but asked directly, "What's wrong with you?"
"Uncle Grover, can you lend me some money first? My mother is still waiting for money for surgery." Ashburn said with difficulty.
"Ashburn, are you crazy? Your mother has liver cancer, which is incurable. Are you still going to throw money into it?"
"Dad is gone, and I only have my mom left. I can't give up on her. Uncle Grover, please lend me a little, and I will definitely pay it back."
"Are you kidding me, Ashburn? Aren't you a live-in son-in-law of the Willow family? Why don't you ask the Willow family for money? You insist on becoming a live-in son-in-law, the Xanthos family had been completely embarrassed by you. From today on, you have nothing to do with me!" Grover's words were not merciful at all. Bang, he slammed the door directly. He was disgusted with such poor relatives like Ashburn.
Although he was already mentally prepared, and his Uncle Grover, who was famous for being shrewd and cunning, would not borrow money easily, Ashburn still felt very upset. Blood relationships were as thin as paper, and in the face of money, the so-called family love was really worthless.
He came down from upstairs and sat at the door of the unit building. He held his mobile phone in hand and looked at the business cards in his address book. He had already contacted everyone he could contact. There were no wealthy people in his circle. He raised a little money. But it's just a drop in the bucket.
The only one who can turn to for help right now was the Willow family.
He was the son-in-law of the Willow family. Although a son-in-law was barely half a family member, this cannot be true for that of the Willow family. He had no status at all there. In order not to be looked down upon, he had never said this to the Willow family.
But now he was at the end of his rope, and he could not watch his mother, who had worked hard all her life, pass away like this. She had not even enjoyed a single day of happiness.
Making up his mind, he dialed Gina Willow's number.
What came over the phone was the voice of his mother-in-law Hebe Yandell, "Hey, you still know how to call back, where have you been for so many days? No one at home cooks, and you don't know how much housework has not been done? Our family didn’t raise you so that you could be lazy!”
"Mom, is Gina here? I have something to tell her." Ashburn was upset and didn't want to have a useless argument with his mother-in-law.
"She's taking a shower. What do you want to tell me."
"I want...to borrow some money."
Hebe sneered bitterly, "You think the strong wind brings the Willow family's money? You married into our Willow family and treated our Willow family as an ATM, right? You haven't made any contribution to the family. Every time you open your mouth, I know you're asking for money, we Willow family owe you?"
"Mom, my mother is waiting for money for surgery. Please help me, and I will definitely be grateful to you."
"Be grateful? Gratitude is worthless, you useless trash! I can't count on you! Let me tell you, the company is encountering a bit of problems now, and Gina is worried about it. Don't bother her with the troubles in your poor family. Save her the distraction, okay?" With that, Hebe hung up the phone roughly.
Ashburn was disheartened, and a single tear rolled down his cheek after twenty years of not shedding one.
But he quickly wiped away the tears. Now was not the time to cry. Crying would not solve any problems.
…
Rushing to the hospital, Ashburn decided to go to the hospital for help.
As he walked into the front yard, he stepped on something, looked down, and found out it was a wallet.
Picking up the wallet and opening it, there were two or three grand in cash, which was barely enough for a course of medical treatment.
What he needs most now was money, but he had no intention of this money. Maybe the owner of the wallet was just like him, waiting for money to buy medicine or pay for surgery.
He wanted to see the wallet owner's information, maybe he could find contact information and return the wallet to the owner.
Pull out an ID card inside.
"Eric Yates!"
It was the fucking attending physician.
Looking up, he saw Eric in a white coat striding over, followed by a graceful figure in a goose-yellow long-sleeved shirt with a doll collar and a pink diagonal slit skirt. It turned out to be his ex-girlfriend Abigail Payne!
When he was stunned, Eric had already arrived in front of him, and without any explanation, he slapped him in the face.
Ashburn was beaten and staggered.
Eric snatched the wallet from his hand, "Damn, you stole my wallet, you shameless thief!"
"Ashburn, why are you here?" The moment Abigail saw Ashburn, she was slightly startled, but she quickly returned to normal, showing her usual sense of superiority.
"Honey, you know this guy?"
"He is the trash ex I told you about."
When he figured out the relationship between Abigail and Ashburn, Eric's eyes became more vicious because Abigail was no longer a virgin when she had sex with him. He could not blame Abigail, but Ashburn.
"You loser, I know you can't afford the surgery fee, so you stole my wallet. I will call the police and arrest you!"
"I didn't steal your wallet, I found this wallet!" Ashburn retorted loudly. Although he was poor, he would not steal anyone's money.
"Is it yours if you pick it up?"
"I didn't say it was mine, I was just trying to give the wallet back to you."
"What the hell are you saying? Who would believe it?" Eric took his wallet and swiped it at Ashburn's head.
Ashburn dodged it subconsciously.
This made Eric even more angry, "Damn, you dare to elude?" He kicked Ashburn with anger.
Ashburn fell into the bushes nearby. The thorns of the date palm dug into the wrists and backs of hands exposed outside the sleeves, and blood oozed out from small traces.
"Eric, don't stoop to the level of this loser... It will have a bad influence on you in the hospital." Abigail pulled Eric away and looked back at Ashburn with contempt. A loser was a loser forever. He was beaten so badly by Eric but he didn't even dare to fight back.
Abigail's look broke Ashburn's heart. It wasn't that he didn't dare to fight back, but because Eric Yates was the fucking attending doctor, and his mother's life was in Eric's hands, he could only accept it.
He stood up from the bushes with a bracelet hanging on his left hand, which was slowly absorbing the blood from his wrist.
Although this bracelet was not valuable, it was made of irregular pieces of jade, which seems to be often seen on street stalls, but it was given by his grandfather who was a Taoist monk before his death, who said it could keep his grandson safe, so Ashburn kept wearing it.
At this moment, the bracelet that had absorbed blood suddenly glowed brightly, which surprised Ashburn.
These rays of light shot straight into the center of his forehead. Something new appeared in Ashburn's mind, and the complicated information almost blew up his brain.
"The Five Techniques of Taoism... Immortal, Medicine, Fate, Physiognomy, Divination ...what the hell is this?"
With a splitting headache, Ashburn couldn't help but hold his head, almost rolling on the ground.