Me! A high-ranking official!

With that thought in mind, he slammed the door shut, strode to his SUV, floored the accelerator, and the car shot off like an arrow, heading straight for the provincial capital.

The highway was nearly empty late at night, and he sped up to the limit. Three and a half hours later, his glaring brake lights came on in front of the provincial surgical hospital building.

He strode down the corridor, his aura menacing, and went straight to the emergency department's VIP ward. Peeking through the glass door, he saw a dimly lit room with Zhou Mingyuan fast asleep on the cot next to him, fully clothed, his brow furrowed with exhaustion. On the other side, on the main bed, Zhou Qingyan was also sleeping peacefully. In the dim light, he could see that her complexion was much rosier than before, and her breathing was steady, clearly indicating that she was out of danger.

He pushed open the door, strode to the bedside, and grabbed Zhou Mingyuan by the collar.

These past two days, Zhou Mingyuan has been physically and mentally exhausted. In addition to his sister being on the verge of death, his mother was also hospitalized after a car accident. Although she only suffered minor injuries, due to certain political considerations, she had to stay in the hospital for observation and recuperation. He dared not make a fuss, nor was he comfortable entrusting his family to caregivers, so he could only take care of both of them himself, working non-stop.

He was fast asleep when he suddenly felt a suffocating sensation. Then he was lifted into the air. He stared in horror, but before he could even scream, Zhao Jianguo had already lifted him high above his head and slammed him hard to the ground.

A muffled "bang" was heard.

Zhou Mingyuan let out a piercing scream, feeling as if his internal organs were about to be shattered. But this was just the beginning. Before he could catch his breath, Zhao Jianguo once again lifted him up from the ground like a chick, and with a sudden burst of strength in his waist, flung him away violently.

Zhou Mingyuan's body flew more than a meter away, his back slamming heavily against the hard wall, before he rolled like mud to the corner.

Zhao Jianguo's eyes were icy cold. He took a step forward, grabbed him for the third time, clenched his right fist, and punched him hard in the stomach with a whooshing sound.

"Ugh..." Zhou Mingyuan curled up like a shrimp in pain, gagging and almost vomiting bile.

The loud commotion finally woke Zhou Qingyan, who was lying in her hospital bed. Opening her eyes, she was shocked by the violence before her and screamed, "Zhao Jianguo! What are you doing?!"

Zhao Jianguo ignored him, gripping Zhou Mingyuan's neck tightly with his left hand, and then clenching his right fist again, mercilessly smashing it into Zhou Mingyuan's stomach.

Zhou Mingyuan was in so much pain that his whole body was convulsing, and he didn't even have the strength to scream.

Zhou Qingyan was both shocked and furious. She struggled to get out of bed, but with several broken ribs, she was extremely weak. The slightest movement caused her to break out in a cold sweat from the pain. She managed to prop herself up on her elbows and shouted hoarsely, "Stop!"

He then stopped what he was doing, turned his head, and looked at Zhou Qingyan with a cold gaze.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy?" Zhou Qingyan was trembling with anger.

He sneered, dragging Zhou Mingyuan to the bedside like a dead dog, and pressed his face against the edge of Zhou Qingyan's bed, his voice filled with murderous intent: "Ask your good brother yourself why I did this."

Zhou Mingyuan felt as if all his bones had fallen apart. The excruciating pain left him covered in cold sweat, his lips were white, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Looking at her brother's miserable state, and then at Zhao Jianguo's murderous expression, Zhou Qingyan asked with a mixture of surprise and doubt, "What on earth did my brother do to offend you?"

"The medicine that saved your life was bought by him for 500 million." He looked down at them and said, word by word, "But he has only paid 336 million so far, and he still owes 164 million. He just told me on the phone that he is going to renege on the debt."

Zhou Qingyan's pupils suddenly contracted, and he gasped in disbelief: "Five hundred million? To buy your medicine?"

Not a penny less.

Zhou Qingyan turned sharply to look at Zhou Mingyuan, who was lying on the edge of the bed, barely alive, her voice trembling: "Brother, you..."

She suddenly realized that this was a VIP ward in the hospital. Although it was a private room, the soundproofing was definitely insufficient to prevent loud noise. Forcing herself to calm down, she lowered her voice, her tone filled with terror: "Brother, where did you, a public official, get so much money?"

Zhou Mingyuan gasped for breath, having recovered a little. He didn't dare look his sister in the eye, and bit his bloody teeth as he intermittently confessed, "The family originally had more than 30 million yuan in savings. I urgently disposed of two properties under my name, raising 20 million yuan. The remaining shortfall... I borrowed from several familiar companies, from friends, and even from your sister-in-law's family. In the end, I had no choice but to... I misappropriated a sum of money from a municipal construction project."

Zhou Qingyan felt a wave of dizziness, and her brain exploded with a "buzz": "Brother! How dare you lend so much money? You even embezzled public funds!"

"You're my own sister!" Zhou Mingyuan roared, his eyes bloodshot. "How could I just stand by and watch you die!"

"Do you understand the consequences of doing this?" Zhou Qingyan asked anxiously, tears welling up in her eyes. "Leaving aside those private accounts, there are hundreds of millions of public funds involved. If we can't pay them back, if this goes wrong, we'll be shot!"

Zhou Mingyuan gritted his teeth, panting heavily: "Don't worry, I'll take full responsibility for this. If it really comes to that, I absolutely won't implicate anyone in my family!"

"Brother!" Zhou Qingyan cried out in anguish, "Is this some kind of question about being involved? You're risking your life for mine!"

Zhou Mingyuan closed his eyes tightly and remained silent.

Zhou Qingyan took a few deep breaths, enduring the excruciating pain in her ribs, and looked up at Zhao Jianguo with an extremely complicated expression: "Zhao Jianguo, what kind of medicine did you use on me? How dare you ask for 500 million?"

"The medicine that can pull you back from the brink of death." Zhao Jianguo said expressionlessly, "Whether it's expensive or not doesn't depend on the medicine, but on how much you think your life is worth. Since he thought your life was worth 500 million yuan and signed the papers, he has to give it back to me with interest. If it's a penny less, I'll pay with his life."

Zhou Qingyan glared at him, both shocked and angry, and pleaded in a low voice, "But you heard the situation. My brother has exhausted all means to save me, and even risked his life. This is really all he can raise now."

Zhao Jianguo remained silent, staring intently at Zhou Mingyuan.

Before this, he had always thought that a high-ranking official like Zhou Mingyuan, who could casually produce 500 million yuan, must be an extremely wealthy and corrupt official. But he never expected that this 500 million yuan was actually obtained by Zhou Mingyuan through a patchwork of various means, even at the risk of losing his head, by embezzling hundreds of millions of yuan of public funds.

Leaving aside the fact that the loans from those companies would ruin his reputation, the mere fact that he embezzled hundreds of millions of yuan in public funds would be enough to put Zhou Mingyuan in grave danger if an audit were conducted. To save his sister, Zhou Mingyuan truly risked everything, his life and fortune.

"Zhao Jianguo." Zhou Mingyuan suddenly coughed violently. He barely managed to sit up, his eyes bloodshot, staring fiercely at Zhao Jianguo: "I gave you more than 300 million. No matter what kind of magic medicine you have, this amount of money is enough to buy you wealth and luxury for several lifetimes. I really can't squeeze any more money out of you. If you're not satisfied, just kill me now."

"Zhao Jianguo, how dare you!" Zhou Qingyan's heart tightened, her heart filled with protectiveness for her brother: "He's my own brother. If you dare to lay a finger on him today, I will absolutely not let you off the hook."

Zhao Jianguo's face instantly darkened, and he stared down at Zhou Qingyan, his eyes cold and piercing as he retorted, "Why can't you let me off? Just because you're lying in bed and can't even turn over?"

Zhou Qingyan was so overwhelmed by this aura that she caught her breath and was immediately speechless.

"That medicine is said to be able to bring the dead back to life and heal the wounded. As someone who experienced it firsthand, you know its value better than anyone else." Zhao Jianguo's tone was icy, devoid of any emotion. "Is five hundred million a lot? With this medicine, I can easily knock on the doors of those top billionaires suffering from terminal illnesses, or I can make connections with those influential figures. The price they are willing to pay is definitely more than a mere five hundred million."

The ward was deathly silent, save for Zhou Mingyuan's heavy breathing.

"But I've chosen to use this only opportunity on you." Zhao Jianguo stared at Zhou Qingyan's pale face: "Not because your life is more precious than those big shots, nor because your Zhou family can bring me much political resources."

He paused, each word striking Zhou Qingyan's heart like a heavy hammer: "Just because you were carrying my child, because you were once my woman, I gave you medicine to save you, entirely out of my sense of responsibility and bottom line as a man."

Zhou Qingyan's face turned pale and then red. She never expected that Zhao Jianguo would tear down this relationship in such a cold way at this time. But his words were logically sound and piercing, leaving her with no room for rebuttal.

After a long silence, Zhou Qingyan lowered his eyes and said in a dry voice, "Zhao Jianguo, our Zhou family acknowledges this debt, but you also heard it with your own ears. My brother is indeed penniless. I am willing to pay the remaining amount, and I will repay you in installments at commercial interest rates."

"Impossible." Zhao Jianguo refused outright, leaving no room for negotiation.

Zhou Qingyan frowned, staring angrily into his eyes: "So what exactly do you want?"

Zhao Jianguo straightened up, straightened his slightly disheveled collar, and coldly swept his gaze over the brother and sister: "I'm only giving you one last day. If you don't see the final payment before sunset tomorrow, you'll bear the consequences."

"I've already told you, I have no money!" Zhou Mingyuan completely broke down, hysterically roaring, "Go ahead and kill me right now if you dare!"