Chapter 318 — A Fleeting Brilliance

"Then... I'll be going...?" Tang Zhi clutched the phone box, a little uneasy. It was the first time she had ever accepted such an expensive gift from anyone - and from a boy, no less - and her heart would not settle for a long while.

"Yeah. I probably won't have my phone on for the next few days; if anything comes up, send a text and I'll check it once I turn it back on," Wei Zhao said. "In a bit, you and Kang Xiaofeng can take a taxi back - make him pay!"

"Heh... all right." At his words, Tang Zhi could not help but break into a smile - a fleeting brilliance, like a night-blooming cereus unfurling.

Something stirred in Wei Zhao's heart. He caught Tang Zhi's hand and drew her back...

"You... what are you doing..." Startled, Tang Zhi instinctively glanced toward Kang Xiaofeng and Liu Xinlan, who had already gotten out of the car. Only when she saw they had not noticed anything did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"On the eve of parting, aren't you going to give me a little something?" Wei Zhao pointed at his own cheek, then asked.

"La... later..." How could Tang Zhi withstand such teasing? She wrenched her hand free and hurried out of the car, only then letting out a long breath as her heart raced. She shot Wei Zhao a reproachful look, pursed her lips, and turned her head away, refusing to pay him any more mind.

Had it been anyone else treating Tang Zhi that way, she might well have run off in tears. But with Wei Zhao, all that remained was shyness... The sudden realization left Tang Zhi a little bewildered... Sinking deeper and deeper - was that really a good thing?

"Yunyun, what's wrong? Why do you look so off?" Liu Xinlan had been chatting with Kang Xiaofeng; when she looked up and saw Tang Zhi, she found her cheeks flushed pink, as if she had heatstroke.

"N-nothing..." Tang Zhi hastily shook her head, careful not to let Liu Xinlan see anything amiss. "Let's... let's go..."

Liu Xinlan shook her head, unable to make sense of what was wrong with Tang Zhi. She glanced back at Wei Zhao's car, only to find it already far away, and so she buried her questions in her heart.

Before leaving the country, Wei Zhao first had to settle Liu Zhenhu's illness - to pry a little money out of him, and at the same time let Guan Xuewen begin planning the pharmaceutical company.

This business taught Wei Zhao the meaning of "better to be lucky than early." He had just been wondering how to scrape together a hundred million in seed capital when, in the blink of an eye, the Liu family delivered it to his door. Few could match such efficiency in raising funds, he reckoned.

Wei Zhao first called Guan Xuewen and told him to summon Liu Zhenhu and the others; he would be there shortly.

"Good. Liu Tianyi is already waiting here; the moment you give the word, he'll have the old man brought over," Guan Xuewen said. "Have you had lunch?"

"Not yet, but there's no rush," Wei Zhao said.

"Then let me have Xinxin prepare something to eat." Guan Xuewen decided on Wei Zhao's behalf without allowing any argument.

"Heh... all right." Wei Zhao did not bother quarreling over such trifles; he simply drove straight to Guan Xuewen's home.

By the time Wei Zhao arrived, Liu Zhenhu was already there, seated in the villa's main hall awaiting him. Seeing Wei Zhao come through the door, the old man rose to his feet himself, supported by Liu Tianyi. "Young divine doctor, we'll be troubling you!"

Liu Zhenhu's manner rather embarrassed Wei Zhao - he had taken so much of the man's money, and still the man treated him with such deference. But he was truly short of funds just now, so he could not afford to soften.

Besides, this was hardly his fault. If blame was to be laid anywhere, it was on their having married a snobbish daughter-in-law and kept a brainless nephew.

"Old Liu, there's no need for such courtesy!" Wei Zhao waved a hand. "Let's go - find an empty room."

"Very well, Divine Doctor Lin. As for the consultation fee..." Liu Tianyi was no fool; if the other man did not bring up the fee, he still could not omit it - to pretend ignorance would be to show a lack of tact.

"Grandpa Guan, do you have a bank account? Just transfer it directly," Wei Zhao said, turning to Guan Xuewen.

"Transfer it to me?" Guan Xuewen was briefly taken aback, then understood that Wei Zhao meant for him to handle the planning of the pharmaceutical company. He nodded. "That works. Then transfer it to me for now. Mr. Liu, you know my account number, I trust?"

"I have it," Liu Tianyi said with a nod. He had already planned to transfer two million yuan to Guan Xuewen as a consultation fee, so he had jotted down Guan Xuewen's number as well. Liu Tianyi called one of his subordinates directly and had him transfer the prepared one hundred million yuan into Guan Xuewen's account. Moments later, Guan Xuewen's phone chimed with a deposit notification.

Once everything was confirmed, Wei Zhao nodded in satisfaction. Liu Tianyi, it seemed, was a man of his word; there was no need to cut all ties with him in the future. It was just that wife of his - she truly defied all praise.

In an empty room upstairs, Wei Zhao had Liu Zhenhu lie flat on his back. He asked Guan Xuewen for a box of silver needles, then quietly fixed his gaze on Liu Zhenhu, in no hurry to begin needling, turning a matter over in his mind.

He had already examined Liu Zhenhu's condition the first time they met, so there was no need to check again. What he was mulling over now was the treatment plan: how to cure Liu Zhenhu's angina pectoris as quickly and effectively as possible.

Of course, a complete cure was impossible - at least not now. Some of Old Man Wei's miracle elixirs were tucked away as jealously as treasures, and there was no way he could get his hands on them even if he wanted to.

But keeping the attacks at bay for ten years - that much was doable. It just carried a faint whiff of deception.

Wei Zhao sighed. Never mind. He would hold it in check for ten years first; later, if Liu Zhenhu really could live to a ripe old age, it would not be too late to think of something else.

With that thought, Wei Zhao swiftly began inserting needles into Liu Zhenhu's body, so fast that even Guan Xuewen, master of acupuncture, was stunned - flowing clouds and running water, done in one continuous breath.

Two minutes later, Wei Zhao began lifting, thrusting, twirling, and rotating each needle...

"Neiguan, Ximen, Yinxi, Juque, Shanzhong - channel your energy and feed it in..." Elder Jiao's voice suddenly sounded at Wei Zhao's ear.

Wei Zhao was overjoyed. He had no idea what manner of being Elder Jiao really was, but with his help, things would clearly go twice as well with half the effort! Wei Zhao hastened to do as instructed...

At that moment, the handles of the energy-fed silver needles abruptly began to tremble with a "buzz buzz," as though driven by something; even after Wei Zhao's hand left the handles, the needles went on quivering over Liu Zhenhu's body without pause...

Guan Xuewen's eyes went wide as he stared in disbelief at the silver needles on Liu Zhenhu's body! What kind of acupuncture was this? He had never seen anything like it - had never even heard of it! He had never known that silver needles, once parted from the practitioner, could still "dance" upon the patient's body!