The corridor lights stretched Wang Xiaodong’s shadow into a long silhouette.
He paused for a moment. From inside the ward came Mother Li’s gentle voice, mingled with Li Weiwei’s tearful laughter.
The tension in his shoulders unconsciously eased. He turned toward the stairwell, his steps noticeably lighter than when he had arrived.
Tuzi clutched the little daisy in her hand and tilted her head. “Master, aren’t we waiting for Sister Weiwei?”
“Let her spend more time with her aunt.” Wang Xiaodong’s voice softened slightly. “Tell the driver to wait at the entrance.”
Downstairs in the garden, the early autumn sunlight filtered through the plane tree leaves, scattering mottled patches of light around his feet. Wang Xiaodong sat down on a bench, and his thoughts drifted back to five years ago.
Back then, Li Weiwei had worn her hair in a low ponytail. She had been so nervous during her report that her palms were sweating, yet when he pointed out the problems, she stubbornly declared, “I’ll revise it three more times. I’ll definitely make it satisfactory for you.”
Later, her mother was diagnosed with uremia. That stubborn young woman handled company affairs with decisive efficiency during the day, then stayed beside her mother’s hospital bed at night.
Once, late at night, Wang Xiaodong happened to pass the break room. He saw her secretly wiping away tears while staring at a photo of her mother on her phone, an unfinished report still clutched in her other hand.
‘This girl really was born with the Innate Corporate Slave Sacred Physique!’
Daoist Master Xuanqing’s appearance had indeed been part of Wang Xiaodong’s calculations. However, what truly made him decide to act was the exhaustion Li Weiwei had been unable to hide in her voice during last week’s report.
Tuzi suddenly pointed at his face, her eyes sparkling. “Master is smiling!”
Wang Xiaodong rubbed her little head, the softness of her hair brushing against his fingertips. Then he took out his phone and sent Li Weiwei a message, [Spend more time with your aunt. Take tomorrow off.]
A reply quickly appeared, [Thank you. 🙂]
There was even a tiny smiling face at the end.
His meticulous assistant, who was usually serious about everything, had never used an emoji with him before.
The corners of Wang Xiaodong’s lips lifted slightly.
He wasn’t devoid of warmth. He was simply accustomed to burying his emotions deep inside.
His concern for Li Weiwei was genuine. He worried that she would work herself into the ground, and seeing her stubbornly forcing herself to endure everything made his heart ache.
Wang Xiaodong stood up. “Back to the company.”
Holding the medicine chest, Tuzi asked curiously, “Was a thousand-year-old Snow Lotus really used to make the Blood-Replacement Pill?”
Some tricks were unavoidable, but the sincerity hidden within them was just as real.
A villain didn’t have to remain cold and ruthless every moment of the day. Showing a little warmth might make the people around him more willing to follow him wholeheartedly.
…
One month later, Lin Chen attended a banquet hosted by the wealthy businessman Zhao. There, Daoist Master Xuanqing publicly exposed him, claiming that “the medical casebook had been stolen.” Lin Chen became a laughingstock throughout Yangzhou’s business circles, despised wherever he went.
He fled back to his rented apartment. The light bulb flickered overhead, illuminating the bloodshot veins in his eyes.
Several crumpled business cards were scattered across the table. They belonged to the “connections” he had spent the past month traveling throughout Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui Provinces to find.
Yet every attempt ended the same way. Either the other party’s bodyguards threw him out, or their attitude immediately turned cold the moment he mentioned his medical skills.
To avoid being humiliated over something so trivial, Lin Chen had even prepared a legitimate medical license in advance, hoping to save himself unnecessary trouble.
But he was still rejected.
Only later did he learn that all those people had recently been cured of their hidden ailments by someone called Daoist Master Xuanqing. After experiencing Xuanqing’s abilities, they had no interest whatsoever in other doctors.
“Wang Xiaodong…”
Lin Chen tightly gripped his phone. In the end, he dialed his master’s number.
Never before had he hated someone this deeply.
That man was like an enormous mountain pressing down on him, suffocating him. Even his final path to turning his life around through medicine had been completely blocked.
The instant the call connected, Lin Chen’s voice trembled uncontrollably. “Master… this disciple is useless…”
An aged yet powerful voice came through the phone. “What happened? Has someone wronged you?”
“It’s a rich second-generation heir named Wang Xiaodong!” Lin Chen gritted his teeth, blaming Wang Xiaodong for every setback he had suffered over the past month.
Lin Chen had no evidence, but deep down, he was convinced that Wang Xiaodong was behind everything.
“He keeps targeting me and has cut off every path I had! Master, if you still don’t intervene, your disciple truly won’t have any way to survive!”
The other end of the call fell silent for a moment before a cold snort sounded. “He dares bully my disciple? Wait there. Your master will descend the mountain immediately and get rid of that eyesore for you.”
Lin Chen’s eyes lit up. “Master! You must be careful. Wang Xiaodong has powerful experts around him!”
After hanging up, Lin Chen collapsed onto the floor. He stared at the pitch-black night sky outside the window, then suddenly began laughing until tears streamed down his face.
His master was an expert who had lived in seclusion for many years. Back then, with a single palm strike, he had forced back experts from the major sects who had come to challenge him.
Dealing with a mere Wang Xiaodong would be more than easy enough!
What Lin Chen didn’t know was that after hanging up, the old Daoist on the other end didn’t even bother packing his luggage. He simply tucked a wine gourd into his clothes and immediately headed down the mountain.
Of all the people in his life, this disciple was the one he cherished most. When Lin Chen had stubbornly insisted on descending the mountain to make his way in the world, the old Daoist had repeatedly warned and instructed him to be careful.
Now that his disciple had been wronged, how could he possibly spare any thought for investigating who Wang Xiaodong was or what kind of background he possessed?
All he wanted was to avenge his disciple as quickly as possible.
The mountain wind swept across the old Daoist’s gray robe. His steps were swift as the wind, and after only a few leaps, his figure vanished into the forest.
He hadn’t even asked for Wang Xiaodong’s exact address.
In his mind, once he reached Yangzhou, he would naturally be able to locate Wang Xiaodong by sensing his aura.
After all, anyone capable of making his disciple suffer such a devastating defeat must surely possess an extremely powerful “baleful aura.”
Meanwhile, in Yangzhou, Wang Xiaodong had just finished a video conference and was listening to Tuzi chatter excitedly about how miraculous the new pills Daoist Master Xuanqing had refined were.
[Detecting that Lin Chen’s connections have been intercepted by the host. Lin Chen’s Destiny -100. Lin Chen’s master is about to descend the mountain.]
Wang Xiaodong’s fingertip slowly slid across the surface of the desk. “I finally lured him down the mountain?”
It wasn’t as though Wang Xiaodong had ignored Lin Chen these past few days. Everything he had done was precisely to force Lin Chen’s master to descend the mountain so he could eliminate this future threat once and for all.
Suddenly, Tuzi sprang to her feet. “Master! There’s an extremely powerful aura approaching from the northwest! It’s moving really fast. It feels like… someone who practices hard-body martial arts!”
Wang Xiaodong’s gaze darkened.
‘He’s here.’
He had thought Lin Chen would endure for a little longer. He hadn’t expected him to call for reinforcements so quickly.
Wang Xiaodong asked, “Where’s Xuanqing?”
Tuzi replied, “He’s refining pills in the backyard.”
“Tell him to get ready.” Wang Xiaodong rose and walked over to the window, gazing at the distant skyline. “Looks like there’s going to be a good show tonight.”