Half an hour later, Mr. Li arrived.
"Mr. Li, what's going on today?"
I asked directly, without any pleasantries.
Mr. Li took out a cigarette, lit it, and after a couple of puffs, he said, "Mr. Feng, I recently returned to He Dong!"
"And then?" I asked.
"My dear nephew sold himself for a good price!" Mr. Li said with a bitter smile.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"It's simple. He found himself a good master, and with this master's support, almost all my people have been driven out of the group. Even I am now struggling to protect myself!" Mr. Li sighed and said, "I can guess his next step. He won't stop until I'm completely out!"
"What does this have to do with you wanting to meet Mr. Hua?" I asked.
"My dear nephew can find a master, so can I!" Mr. Li said.
"So, you want to rely on Mr. Hua?" I asked.
"Yes!"
Mr. Li exhaled a smoke ring.
"If that's the case, why did Mr. Hua make you kneel, and why was Li Li beaten?" I was a bit confused.
"I have no connections!"
Mr. Li smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. Feng, don't be fooled by my billions and my ability to rub shoulders with new internet tycoons like Mr. Yang. That's as far as it goes!"
"My connections are all in He Dong. My nephew's master is too powerful. My connections are useless in front of his master!"
"I approached Mr. Yang, hoping to use his connections to find someone, but Mr. Yang never likes to get involved in these disputes. He's fine with eating, drinking, and having fun, but nothing beyond that!"
"After searching around, the only person I could reach was Hua Third Master!"
"So you were punished to kneel because you dragged Mr. Hua into this mess?" I asked.
"No!"
Mr. Li shook his head and said, "Mr. Feng, to be honest, even to get close to Hua Third Master, I had to take a roundabout way!"
"The woman you saw in the villa today is called Xiao Jinyu, known as the first socialite of the capital!"
"Socialite?"
I chewed on the word and asked, "She's not Mr. Hua's first wife, is she?"
Mr. Li shook his head and said, "With Hua Third Master's background, how could he marry a woman of theatrical origins as his main wife!"
"However, Hua Third Master's first wife didn't bear a son, and neither did his other concubines, except for her, who gave birth to a son!"
"She's elevated by her son!"
"I've been studying her for some time now!"
"She's someone who loves luxury, cares about appearances, likes to hear good things, and although she's ruthless, she doesn't have much depth, just a bit of cunning!"
"Dealing with such a woman is actually easy, just cater to her preferences!"
"She likes organizing parties and making a show of fake charity. I originally planned to use this to get close to her, and through her, get introduced to Hua Third Master, but plans can't keep up with changes!"
"My dear nephew made a move against me!"
"Mr. Li, after all this, I still don't know what you did to make Mr. Hua punish you to kneel!" I said.
As for Mr. Hua having several concubines, I wasn't really curious. Nowadays, even in villages, some capable men have wives at home and mistresses outside.
Mr. Li exhaled a smoke ring and said, "Recently, Mrs. Xiao's son fell ill. They've seen countless doctors, but Western medicine doesn't work, and Chinese medicine can't cure him. She's extremely anxious!"
"Later, someone suggested that a marriage might cure the illness, so she started searching everywhere for a girl whose birth chart matched her son's!"
"So, you planned to marry Li Li off to cure her son through marriage!" I immediately realized what Mr. Li intended to do.
The idea of curing illness through marriage has existed since ancient times. From the perspective of birth chart theory, if the patient's marriage or children palace has auspicious stars, marriage can activate good fortune and improve health.
Moreover, if the couple's birth charts complement each other, it can counteract the illness.
In my opinion, Mr. Hua's son hasn't reached the point of needing a marriage cure.
The capital is full of hidden talents, with no shortage of good Chinese doctors.
Not to mention others, even Old Liu, I believe he could cure Mr. Hua's son.
The reason he hasn't been cured is simple: the doctors are too cautious, afraid to prescribe strong medicine.
For them, failing to cure the illness doesn't affect their status and won't impact them negatively.
But in Mr. Hua's son's case, if the medicine is too mild, it won't be effective; if too strong, and something goes wrong, not to mention Mr. Hua, Mrs. Xiao would definitely hate them.
The main issue is that Mr. Hua's son is only eight years old, too young and too weak. His body can't withstand strong medicine.
That's the main reason they're afraid to prescribe.
Moreover, with Mr. Hua's status, the doctors he can access are all well-established old experts, who are the most cautious.
If it were some young doctors, they might take a gamble for their future, but those old experts have no need to gamble.
So, Mr. Hua's son's illness has been dragged on.
"Exactly!"
Mr. Li nodded.
"Do Li Li's birth charts match Mr. Hua's son's?" I asked curiously.
"They don't match!" Mr. Li shook his head.
"Then why did you take Li Li there?" I was a bit puzzled.
"I forged Li Li's birth chart!" Mr. Li said.
"What?" I thought I misheard.
"I forged Li Li's birth chart to match the one Mrs. Xiao was looking for!" Mr. Li repeated.
"Mr. Li, you're treating Mr. Hua like a fool!" I found it unbelievable. Mr. Li was quite a shrewd person. How could he do something so foolish?
"I was desperate!"
Mr. Li smiled bitterly and said, "I didn't think it through. I specifically asked someone to alter Li Li's records. I thought this would be foolproof, but I was still found out!"
"Mr. Hua didn't find out by checking the records, did he?" I asked thoughtfully.
"No!"
Mr. Li shook his head and said, "Hua Third Master has a feng shui master by his side. When I brought Li Li over, he took one look at her and compared her with Hua Third Master's son. He said that judging by her appearance, Li Li wouldn't bring prosperity to Hua Third Master's son and suggested that the birth chart might be fake!"
"After hearing this, Hua Third Master asked me to confess if I had faked it!"
"I wanted to argue, but forgery always leaves traces. With Hua Third Master's power, if he wanted to investigate, he would definitely find out!"
"I had no choice but to admit it!"
Mr. Li said with a bitter smile, "When that feng shui master appeared, I already knew it wouldn't work, but it was too late!"
"And then you were punished to kneel?" I asked.
"Yes!"
Mr. Li nodded and said, "Being punished to kneel was a minor issue. Little Li got slapped several times by Mrs. Xiao. I was really worried she'd remember that incident!"
I shook my head, speechless.
Mr. Li handled this matter too crudely.