Chapter 1: Your Mother's Life Is Not Even Worth More Than a Dog's

Pengcheng—First People’s Hospital.

Han Yang waited anxiously outside the operating room.

An hour ago, his mother-in-law, Xu Li, had been in a serious car accident. She was now in surgery.

At that moment, the lead surgeon walked out. Han Yang hurried forward. “Dr. Qin, how is my mother?”

“Auntie’s condition is extremely critical. There’s massive intracranial bleeding, and the risk of surgery is very high. I can’t guarantee the outcome. You need to call Dr. Gu—she’s the best neurosurgeon in Pengcheng. Only she can handle this operation.”

The Dr. Gu in question was Han Yang’s wife, Gu Shuyao.

Today happened to be the birthday of her first love, Li Qiukai.

Gu Shuyao had left early in the morning to spend the day celebrating with Li Qiukai.

Han Yang had already called her, but she hadn’t answered.

There was no time to lose. Han Yang dialed Gu Shuyao’s number again.

This time, she finally picked up.

“Han Yang, are you insane? You keep calling me! I told you today is Qiukai’s birthday—I’ll be with him all day. Don’t you understand plain speech?” Gu Shuyao snapped at him from the other end.

“Your mother’s been in a car accident. Massive intracranial bleeding. She needs surgery now. You have to come to the hospital and do it.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. How could my mom be in a car accident? You must be making this up to trick me, you bastard. Just to stop me from being with Qiukai on his birthday, you’d curse my mom like that? Have you lost all conscience?”

Han Yang pressed on, “I swear I’m not lying. If you don’t believe me, we can video call right now. It’s true—your mother’s been in an accident.”

“Ugh! You just want to video call so you can see what Qiukai and I are doing together. Do you think I don’t know what you’re really after?”

In the background, Li Qiukai’s voice came through, “Shuyao, come over here! Who are you talking to—Han Yang, that pathetic lapdog?”

“I’m coming!” Gu Shuyao replied, then said coldly, “Han Yang, stop calling me. You’re so disgusting.”

The line went dead.

Han Yang’s eyes reddened with anger.

He was a skilled doctor, but for Xu Li’s kind of injury—bleeding inside the skull after a car accident—what she needed was a craniotomy, and that required a neurosurgeon.

Gu Shuyao, for the sake of her first love, was willing to ignore her own mother’s life or death. She would regret it one day.

At that moment, the operating room doors swung open again. A young nurse rushed out. “Dr. Qin, the patient is crashing!”

Han Yang dashed into the operating room, with the lead surgeon following close behind.

“Mom, you have to hold on. I’ll get Shuyao here to operate on you.”

Xu Li’s consciousness was fading. Her gaze was murky as she looked at Han Yang.

“Han Yang, I won’t make it. I know now that Shuyao isn’t worthy of you. You’ve suffered so much these past four years—maybe this is karma.”

“There’s something I have to tell you before I die: Shuyao wasn’t the one who saved you all those years ago.”

Han Yang felt as if the sky had collapsed. Four years ago, when he’d been poisoned, it hadn’t been Gu Shuyao who’d risked herself to save him!

The past surged back into his mind.

Back in his second year of high school, Han Yang’s father had gone missing after business failures left him with massive debts. His mother, overwhelmed by grief, soon passed away as well. Forced to fend for himself, Han Yang left the country and became a mercenary to pay back the debts.

It was during those years that he met a mysterious mentor who taught him everything he knew.

From then on, Han Yang was unstoppable on foreign battlefields. He even established a renowned mercenary group called White Shade.

After the war, Han Yang founded the White Shade Consortium overseas, managed by his four trusted lieutenants, while he remained the secret mastermind behind it all.

Four years ago, on his way back to China, he was ambushed and poisoned by an enemy. He collapsed on a roadside, the venom coursing through his veins.

He needed to be with a woman to survive.

His memory was vivid: in his delirium, he had dragged a woman into a dark alley.

When he awoke, he was at the Gu family’s house.

Gu Shuyao’s father told him that she had saved him, and she had not denied it.

Her father wanted Han Yang to marry Shuyao.

To repay the debt of gratitude, Han Yang agreed.

He secretly helped Gu Shuyao establish Gu Pharmaceuticals.

Later, Gu Shuyao’s father passed away in an accident.

Now, Xu Li had revealed that Gu Shuyao had not been the one to save him.

Han Yang wanted to ask more, but Xu Li breathed her last.

Everyone in the room stood frozen.

Just like that, Xu Li was gone.

There was nothing more to be done but accept it.

Her body was quickly taken to the crematorium.

Han Yang carried her ashes home.

He began making arrangements for her burial.

When all was done, he sat alone on the sofa, staring at the urn.

Dawn broke on the second day.

Han Yang had spent the entire night on the sofa.

The morning sun spilled across his weary face.

Just then, there was a noise at the door.

Gu Shuyao had returned. She stretched and looked exhausted.

“Han Yang, I’m hungry. Go make me some noodles,” she said languidly, flopping onto the sofa.

Han Yang ignored her, still staring at the urn.

“I’m talking to you. Didn’t you hear me? I said I’m hungry!”

Han Yang’s gaze was icy. “Let’s get a divorce. The car, the house—you can have them all. I want nothing.”

“What’s wrong with you now? Are you really so petty? I told you two days ago that I’d be with Qiukai for his birthday. Yes, I spent the night with him, but nothing happened. He’s been my only close male friend since childhood. What’s wrong with me celebrating his birthday?”

“You’re right, you’ve done nothing wrong. I’m the one at fault. Open your eyes and look at what’s on the coffee table.”

Gu Shuyao glanced at the urn. “Why did you put an urn on the table?”

“It’s your mother’s ashes. She’s dead.”

Gu Shuyao jumped up, furious. “You’re worse than an animal! Just because I spent time with Qiukai, you curse my mother and even put an urn here to disgust me? My mother was always good to you. Have you lost all shame? I must have been blind to marry you.”

“Believe what you want. I don’t want to argue. I just want a divorce,” Han Yang replied coldly.

“If you divorce me, you’ll have nothing—do you really think you can survive on your own? I must’ve spoiled you too much, you ungrateful wretch.”

Just then, her phone rang.

She glanced at the screen—it was Li Qiukai.

“Hello, Qiukai!” Her tone instantly softened.

“Shuyao, Babao is dead. I’m so sad…sob…”

Babao was Li Qiukai’s dog. He’d had it for years.

Gu Shuyao’s eyes filled with tears. “How could Babao die? What happened?”

“I was crossing the street with him just now. He was hit by a car. I’m devastated. Can you come keep me company?”

“Don’t be sad, I’ll come right now. No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you—sob!” she replied.

She hung up, wiped her tears, and hurried to the door. After a few steps, she stopped.

“Han Yang, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear your nonsense just now. Write a thousand-word letter of self-reflection. When I get back, hand it to me. I want you to understand who’s really in charge in this house. You need to know your place.”

With that, she slammed the door and left.

Han Yang let out a cold, bitter laugh.

His own mother-in-law had died, and Gu Shuyao hadn’t shed a single tear; but for the death of her first love’s dog, she was sobbing uncontrollably.

In the end, his mother-in-law’s life was worth less than a dog’s.

Han Yang pulled himself together, picked up the urn, and prepared to go to the cemetery.

After seeing Xu Li off on her final journey, his ties to the Gu family would be completely severed.

Everything he had lost, he would make Gu Shuyao pay back in full.