Chapter 378 — Encountering a Fat Man

Wei Zhao had just reached the doorway of the banquet hall when Li Yixun came hurrying in after him, a middle-aged man at his side.

That middle-aged man was Boss Tian, owner of this Seaside Moon Resort. He had come with Li Yixun to offer birthday congratulations to Divine Doctor Kang. Hosting the birthday feast on his own premises, he could hardly fail to appear as the proprietor and offer his good wishes.

But to his surprise, he found that people in the banquet hall had already begun to leave their seats! The banquet had only just begun, had it not? The dishes had not even been served — why would anyone be getting up to go?

Just as Boss Tian was puzzling over this, Li Yixun at his side quietly prompted him: "Boss Tian, this gentleman is Mr. Wei Zhao Lin."

"Ah!" Boss Tian was momentarily taken aback. He looked carefully at Wei Zhao — sure enough, he matched the photograph in the files! He had not paid attention before, but at Li Yixun's reminder he at once went forward with a genial smile: "Young Master Lin, you're leaving already?"

"Heh, you must be Uncle Tian?" Seeing him approach together with Li Yixun, Wei Zhao guessed roughly who he was. "I only came along with a classmate to attend his great-uncle's birthday banquet. The gift has been presented now — only it seems it wasn't to their taste, so there's no need for us to stay and make fools of ourselves any longer."

Boss Tian frowned. Not to their taste — Young Master Lin's gift? Was that not courting death? Still, he had no idea whether Wei Zhao was in the middle of a mission, and did not dare say much. He could only nod: "Then shall I have someone drive you?"

"No need. We can see ourselves out!" Wei Zhao waved a hand and smiled.

"All right, then. If anything comes up, give me a call — or find Xiao Li, that works too." Boss Tian nodded.

This scene at the doorway fell on the eyes of every guest in the hall, and left them all the more astonished! Boss Tian of Seaside Moon Resort was a name in Donghai City's high society, and even he was courteous with Wei Zhao. Just what sort of person was this Wei Zhao?

Could he be the young master of some wealthy family? From the look of things, that seemed likely...

The ugliest expression of all belonged to Divine Doctor Kang. He had never imagined that Kang **'s classmate was a person of standing. Had he known earlier that Wei Zhao was the son of a rich family, he would never have let Kang Jingming crush that pill underfoot!

And that pill, it seemed, really had been genuine.

"Phew—" Once outside the banquet hall, Kang ** let out a long breath and clenched his fists, quivering with excitement. "Boss, I've never felt so proud in my life! You should have seen my great-uncle's face, and Kang Jingming's — they were practically twisted! By now they must be dying of regret that Kang Jingming ground that life-extending, toxin-expelling pill to dust! That idiot — he's probably going home to disaster!"

"Heh..." Wei Zhao patted Kang ** on the shoulder. At the very least, Kang ** had taken his first step today — the step that made him a man who could stand tall.

"Yes, what a waste! If I'd known earlier that the pill came from Mr. Lin, I'd have gone up on stage and snatched it away even if it meant being laughed at!" Liu Tianyi said with regret. "A sheer waste of something priceless!"

Xiao Fen had been worried before, afraid of being humiliated by Kang Jingming's family. But now she understood — it turned out she too could stand on high ground and look down on the Kang family.

Just moments ago, when Kang ** had spoken those words in a cold voice, when he had said he would make Kang Jingming give back the harm he had done — Xiao Fen had been so thrilled! And Kang Jingming's eyes had darted about; he had not even dared to speak.

"Thank you, **..." With that, Xiao Fen turned to look at Wei Zhao. "Thank you... **'s boss..."

"Heh, what's all this for?" Wei Zhao waved a hand. "We're all one family now! **, next I'm going to give you a stage to show what you can do — to put you on a level where you can stand as an equal with Divine Doctor Kang, or even surpass him!"

"Really?" Kang ** was stunned, and in an instant a light of hope flickered in his eyes. He had never once doubted Wei Zhao's words; that "really" was only an expression of his inner astonishment. "Boss, thank you. Rest assured, I won't let you down..."

Just as Kang ** was overcome with excitement, a fat man came running out of the banquet hall, waddling and stumbling, gasping for breath as he chased after them, calling out as he ran: "Young sir, wait — young sir... wait for me..."

Wei Zhao looked at the panting fat man, rather baffled. "Who are you calling?"

"You, young sir!" The fat man ran up to Wei Zhao and dropped to his knees before him with a thud. "Young sir, I beg you, sell me one of those life-extending, toxin-expelling pills. I'll pay any price — a hundred million? No, five hundred million is fine too!"

Wei Zhao looked at the fat man, somewhat at a loss for words. Was this fellow not right in the head? Running out here to buy pills from him? He believed it was real?

"Young man, I'm begging you!" Seeing that Wei Zhao gave no answer, the fat man suddenly flung his arms around Wei Zhao's leg and burst into noisy tears, sniveling and weeping. "Sell me one, any price you name! So long as you'll sell it to me, you'll be the savior of Fat Lai's life — I'm begging you..."

"Good God... stop crying first!" Wei Zhao was genuinely at a loss. He had meant to shove the man aside and pay him no mind, but he had never expected him to start crying on the spot, and crying so bitterly at that. A grown man on his knees weeping before him left Wei Zhao with no idea what to say.

"Young man, if you say yes, I'll stop crying..." Fat Lai gave a great sniff, and the mess ran down onto the cuff of Wei Zhao's trousers, sending a shudder of disgust through him.

"Then cry yourself to death," Wei Zhao said, speechless.

"So if I stop crying, you'll sell it to me?" Fat Lai cut off his sobs at once and asked.

"Old Lai, what do you think you're doing? If you have something to say, just say it — what sort of spectacle is this?" Liu Tianyi spoke up. Clearly he knew the fat man.

"Old Liu, it's easy for you to talk when you're standing on the sidelines! Your father's illness is cured and you're delighted, but my old man is still lying in a sickbed, boo-hoo..." Reaching the depths of his sorrow, Fat Lai began wailing again. "I begged you to tell me the name of the miracle doctor who treated your father, and you kept it secret! If I don't fight for my chance now, it'll slip through my fingers again! You sly old fox!"

Wei Zhao understood. So the fellow had a sick father of his own! And he knew Liu Tianyi, and knew that Liu Tianyi's father had been cured, so he had taken an interest too. He had probably asked Liu Tianyi before, but Liu Tianyi, lacking Wei Zhao's permission, had not dared reveal his affairs to anyone, and so Fat Lai harbored considerable resentment toward Liu Tianyi.

Yet Fat Lai was no fool. From nothing more than the longevity-and-detox pill Kang had brought out earlier and the way Liu Tianyi behaved toward Wei Zhao, he had deduced that Wei Zhao was the man who had cured Liu Zhenhu! Faster, and safer!