"Mom, I'm sorry, but for the sake of the White Dragon Grass, I have to disobey you one more time."
Night had fallen. The alley outside was enveloped in a silent, dark stillness, the clinic's light being the only exception.
Lin Fan stood in the memorial hall, puffing on one cigarette after another in front of his mother's portrait. Even though he had been up for a day and two nights, his eyes were bloodshot, yet he felt no hint of sleepiness. After seven years, he had finally revealed his Medical Skill to outsiders again.
I wonder if Mom's spirit in heaven can see this. Will she blame me for being too impulsive?
A car screeched to an abrupt halt in the alley. "Why are you two back again?"
Immediately, two familiar and alluring figures hurried toward the clinic. Lin Fan, a cigarette dangling from his lips, turned to face the urgent-looking Yuan Youwei and her companion, a slight frown creasing his brow.
"Let's get one thing straight. There's only one bed in the clinic. If you want to stay the night, you'll have to sleep on the floor."
He glanced at Yuan Youwei's blood-stained white shirt but didn't ask any questions, merely nodding toward a corner of the memorial hall.
They came straight back without even changing. They must have been blocked on their way out. But it doesn't matter. Tonight, I wiped out dozens of assassins from the Black Tiger Hall, venting years of pent-up resentment. That alone has already made them my mortal enemies. Taking in Yuan Youwei and her companion again is a trivial matter.
"Mr. Lin, I've come specifically to ask you to save my grandfather's life!" Yuan Youwei said, ignoring Lin Fan's teasing. She stepped forward with a long wooden box and bowed deeply. "This is the White Dragon Grass you wanted. I've brought it. Please accept it, Mr. Lin!"
"I told you, I'm keeping vigil for my mom. I can't leave."
Lin Fan took the wooden box, opened it for a glance, and felt the corner of his eye twitch. Inside was a black medicinal herb shaped like a wheat sheaf, but at its tip was a cluster of white fruit spikes coiled like a tiny dragon.
The White Dragon Grass! It really is one of the three miraculous herbs I desperately need!
Mrs. Xue glared at Lin Fan and snapped, "Don't worry, the Old Master is on his way. He should be here in about ten minutes. Are you satisfied now?"
She and Yuan Youwei had driven at breakneck speed to get here first. The car carrying the Old Master couldn't drive so recklessly for fear of jostling him.
"Hmm? Didn't you say your Old Master couldn't deign to lower himself?" Lin Fan asked deliberately as he stuffed the wooden box into a hidden compartment under the consultation desk.
"You! Can't you show a little conscience? This is a critical time, and you're still making sarcastic remarks!" Mrs. Xue's face flushed with anger, and her chest heaved with indignation.
"Earlier... we were too hesitant. We hope you can forgive us, Mr. Lin," Yuan Youwei said, her own face flushing red as she bowed in apology once more. "In addition, we have prepared a generous consultation fee, which will be delivered shortly..."
She trailed off, her attention suddenly drawn to a group of people storming in through the door. It was one man and four women, each wearing a malicious expression and radiating an air of arrogance. As their eyes met Yuan Youwei's party, they sized each other up, and the atmosphere in the room grew tense and still.
"What are you doing here?" Lin Fan tossed away his cigarette butt and stared coldly at Su Mengqing's group. Behind her stood Yang Tingting and an unfamiliar, skinny-faced woman.
If they dare cause trouble in Mom's memorial hall, I won't hesitate to teach every single one of them a harsh lesson!
"Lin Fan, why the hell didn't you answer my calls?!" Su Mengqing demanded, her gaze shifting from Yuan Youwei and her companion to fix on Lin Fan with an ugly expression. On the way over, she had called him more than a dozen times and sent countless voice messages, but it was like dropping stones into the ocean—not a single response.
"We're divorced. Why would I have to answer your calls?" Lin Fan replied indifferently, unplugging his charging phone and waking the screen.
Instantly, a series of voice messages began to play automatically, bombarding the room.
"Lin Fan, hand over the reagent recipe, or you'll regret it!"
"Return the recipe and apologize to our family, and I might consider letting you work at the pharmaceutical factory again!"
"Lin Fan, don't push your luck. My patience has its limits!"
"I'll give you an extra hundred thousand. In addition to the reagent recipe, give me the ancient Bixia Pill recipe!"
"Five hundred thousand and a promotion to warehouse manager at the pharmaceutical factory. Are you satisfied now?!"
"Lin Fan, don't take advantage of my kindness. Believe me, I can have you thrown in jail..."
The overbearing voice gradually grew desperate, and by the end, it was downright hysterical.
Lin Fan found it all rather laughable and couldn't listen anymore. Right under Su Mengqing's furious glare, he blocked all contact information for the entire Su Family.
"You... you madman, what are you doing?!" Su Mengqing's pupils shook violently. She had never expected Lin Fan to be so heartless.
"What else? I'm blocking you so you won't bother me again," Lin Fan said, putting his phone away, his face cold. "If you have something to say, say it fast! I'm a busy man. Don't come bothering me with such trivial nonsense in the future!"
What? A matter concerning the very survival of our Su Family... is just trivial nonsense in his eyes? And he dares to call it an unreasonable disturbance?!
Darkness flashed before Su Mengqing's eyes, and she nearly exploded with rage. Lin Fan had thrown her own words from last night right back in her face. Instantly, her cheeks burned with humiliation.
"Fine! Fine! Let's not talk about the reagent. Lin Fan, I demand to know, what gave you the right to burn the ancient Bixia Pill recipe that Mom left for me!"
A wave of rage washed over her. Su Mengqing strode forward, pointed a finger at Lin Suxin's portrait, and shrieked her question.
SLAP!
His only response was a swift, unhesitating slap across her face.
Stunned, she clutched her stinging cheek, which already bore the bright red imprint of his hand. She stared at Lin Fan in utter disbelief.
You've always been so weak... You've always groveled before me, so utterly gentle... How dare you hit me? Me, Su Mengqing! And in front of those two beautiful, unfamiliar women, no less!
"Su Mengqing! You still have the gall to call her 'Mom'? You don't fucking deserve to!" Lin Fan's eyes rapidly turned bloodshot and his breathing grew heavy. A volcanic fury raged in his heart, threatening to tear his chest apart. "You must have learned from Old Song that the Su Family's Injury Ointment and reagents were all my mother's life's work! Even in her final moments, she was still thinking about the future of Su Pharmaceutical, specially leaving behind priceless ancient recipes like the Bixia Pill for you!"
He pointed a trembling finger at the shaking Su Mengqing and roared, "But what about you? What has your Su Family ever done for her? You benefited from my mother's grace, yet you show her no respect! Instead, you come here in the middle of the night to cause a scene in her memorial hall! If you dare try it again, I'll burn all those ancient recipes to ashes, and I won't leave you so much as a speck of dust!"
His heart-wrenching roars were like claps of thunder, exploding again and again in Su Mengqing's ears. Her head buzzed, her body swaying unsteadily. She felt a terrible tightness in her chest, so intense it was suffocating.
So, Lin Suxin didn't just leave me the ancient Bixia Pill recipe? Lin Fan, you deserve a thousand deaths! You madman! Do you have any idea what a glorious future you've just destroyed for me, for Su Mengqing?!
Regret, fury, despair, indignation, and a crushing sense of humiliation... a torrent of emotions churned violently in her heart.
SPURT!
Finally unable to bear the overwhelming turmoil, Su Mengqing's mouth flew open, and she sprayed a mouthful of blood.
"Sis!"
"Mengqing!"
"Director Su!"
Seeing this, Su Gang and the others, who had been stunned by Lin Fan's aura, snapped back to their senses. They rushed forward to support Su Mengqing as she was about to collapse.
"Lin Fan, you damned bastard! Not only did you dare to steal our Su Family's reagent recipe, you also dared to hit my sister?" Su Gang turned and glared fiercely at Lin Fan, pulling out his phone with a menacing look. "You forced my hand! Don't blame our Su Family for being ruthless!"
He spoke loudly on purpose, repeatedly glancing at Yuan Youwei and her companion. To his disappointment, the two women didn't seem shaken in the slightest. They merely exchanged looks with complex expressions. Disappointed, Su Gang clenched his teeth and dialed a video call. He wanted to show off his powerful connections, not only to scare Lin Fan into begging for mercy but also to thoroughly impress the two stunningly beautiful women across from him.
"Brother Dao, it's me, Su Gang..." His voice caught in a hiss. "You... why are you in the hospital?"
About ten seconds later, the call was answered. The image that appeared on the screen made the smug Su Gang freeze in shock. The notorious Brother Dao, the number one enforcer of the Black Tiger Hall, was lying in a hospital bed. Worse, his right hand—a hand that had likely claimed many lives—appeared to have been severed at the wrist, and the stump was wrapped in thick, white gauze.