Chapter 373 — The First Round Is Won

Kang Jingming was likewise convinced that Wei Zhao was behind it all, yet without evidence he had no way to prove a thing.

If Wei Zhao had not known Li Yixun, it would have been easy enough — invent some excuse and have security haul him away. But Wei Zhao did know Li Yixun, and the two seemed to be on excellent terms.

"Wei Zhao, is it? I'll remember you." Kang Jingming fixed him with a venomous stare, then glanced at Kang Xiaoyinbo and Lan Zhi. "So you're the one speaking up for them, eh? I hope you won't live to regret it."

"Ha — some people have done things they ought to be ashamed of. I wonder whether they're regretting it now?" Wei Zhao smiled, not the least bit troubled by Kang Jingming's threat.

"Let's go!" Kang Jingming waved a hand and turned away with Zhu Xiaozhang and Wang Shubin in tow, unwilling but resigned, and headed for the banquet hall.

Kang Xiaoyinbo could have thrown up his arms and shouted "Long live!" three times over. He had expected this meeting with Kang Jingming to be a grueling affair, steeped in humiliation and helplessness. He had steeled himself for everything, for after all this was the man's own turf, and he could never have been a match for Kang Jingming. He knew well enough that an arm cannot twist a thigh.

But who would have thought that in this first exchange with Kang Jingming, his own side would come out on top, sending Kang Jingming away slinking off with a silent loss he could not even voice.

"Xiaofen, now you've seen how formidable our captain is, haven't you? With him here, we won't come out the worse." Kang Xiaoyinbo took Xiaofen's hand and spoke with conviction.

"Mm..." Xiaofen was utterly disillusioned with Kang Jingming now. Seeing that ugly face of his a moment ago, she had felt, all at once, a sense of release — she saw her haggard years for what they were worth, and her own past leap from a building for what it was: absurd.

How could she ever have fallen for such a heartless wretch? In that instant, Xiaofen truly stepped out of the shadow that had hung over her heart; from now on she could face her life with courage. Kang Jingming was not worth a thing she had given him... all those years of devotion she could only chalk up to having been blind.

Seeing the smile break across Xiaofen's face, Kang Xiaoyinbo breathed a sigh of relief, and Tang Zhi was glad for her too. "Xiaofen, have you come around?"

"Mm, I've come around. I was so foolish before..." Xiaofen shook her head in self-mockery. "A man like that... how could I have liked a man like that? I should have cherished what I had right in front of me..."

As she spoke, Xiaofen gripped Kang Xiaoyinbo's hand even tighter.

Kang Xiaoyinbo was thrown into a fever of excitement. Before this, though the two of them had shared a spark of feeling and had tacitly acknowledged their bond, he knew that a shadow had always lingered in Xiaofen's heart — and that shadow was Kang Jingming. Unless she crossed that threshold, he would forever remain a mere substitute for Kang Jingming. It had sat ill with him, and it was precisely why he had insisted on bringing Xiaofen to meet Kang Jingming.

But now Kang Xiaoyinbo knew that Xiaofen had, in her own way, confessed her feelings to him and made her heart known. How could he not be stirred?

"Young Master Lin, if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way. Call me directly if anything comes up." Seeing that he was no longer needed, Li Yixun nodded to Wei Zhao and said politely.

Wei Zhao nodded. "Sorry to trouble you, Brother Li."

Li Yixun made a gesture as if to say it was nothing, then rode off again on the electric cart.

Wei Zhao, Tang Zhi, Kang Xiaoyinbo, and Xiaofen walked into the banquet hall, and the crowd that had gathered to watch followed them in.

Some among them knew Kang Xiaoyinbo and Kang Jingming and were aware that they were cousins; the squabbles of the younger Kang generation were, to them, mere spectacle for amusement.

The banquet for the renowned physician Kang was a Western-style buffet reception. Kang Xiaoyinbo led Wei Zhao to a corner of the hall. In truth, their purpose had already been served: Xiaofen had seen Kang Jingming's true face, stepped out of the shadow in her heart, and gained a new life for herself.

Once inside the hall, Xiaofen's spirits sank somewhat, no doubt from all that had come before. Though she was utterly disillusioned with Kang Jingming, anyone in her shoes would be out of sorts.

Especially after so many foolish years, so many years of holding on, only to find it had all come to nothing — anyone would feel wretched. Tang Zhi stood at her side, offering quiet comfort, though matters like this needed no comforting; in a few days she would be herself again.

"Captain, since we've come, it wouldn't do to leave right away — but once the younger generation have paid their respects to the birthday elder, we can go. We'll leave straight after. A place like this, I don't want to linger a single minute longer." Kang Xiaoyinbo loathed Kang Jingming's true face with every fiber of his being.

"Is that man your father?" Wei Zhao did not answer Kang Xiaoyinbo, but pointed instead at a middle-aged man not far off and asked. At the man's side stood Kang Jingming, gesticulating as he said something.

"It's my dad. But what's Kang Jingming doing?" Kang Xiaoyinbo was taken aback, unable to fathom why Kang Jingming had gone to see his father. Had he gone to lodge a complaint? Surely Kang Jingming wasn't that spineless — after being rebuffed at the door, had he really run off to tattle to the grown-ups?

"I'd guess it's about Xiaofen!" Wei Zhao frowned. "I never thought Kang Jingming would be this nasty — going to your father to badmouth Xiaofen!"

"Screw his ancestors for eighteen generations!" Kang Xiaoyinbo flew into a rage. If what Wei Zhao said was true, then this Kang Jingming really was a little too despicable, wasn't he?

"Ha... his ancestors for eighteen generations are your ancestors for eighteen generations, aren't they?" Wei Zhao laughed. "It's really nothing. Look on the bright side — sooner or later you were going to have to lay your cards on the table with your parents about this. Now that he's said his piece, you go and tell your parents the whole story of what happened to Xiaofen, exactly as it was. I don't think they're unreasonable people!"

Wei Zhao observed that Kang Xiaoyinbo's father had the look of a good-natured old fellow. He might care about saving face, but he was certainly not the hard-hearted, wicked sort.

So long as one appealed to his reason and moved him with sentiment, Wei Zhao believed it would be no difficult matter to get him to accept Xiaofen.

"Really?" Kang Xiaoyinbo was overjoyed at Wei Zhao's words. "Leader, you're not pulling my leg?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Wei Zhao shook his head. "If it doesn't work, I'll put in a word for you."

Wei Zhao's grasp of human nature was still quite accurate, and he could indeed be of help to Kang Xiaoyinbo.

And over on Kang Jingming's side, Wei Zhao had guessed correctly! He had gone to see Kang Xiaoyinbo's father, and it truly was to talk about Xiaofen! Only he did not dare admit that he had toyed with Xiaofen and then cast her aside; instead he painted Xiaofen as a shameless, cheap woman who, after seducing him, had gone on to seduce Kang Xiaoyinbo...