Chapter 382 — Go Phone and Ask

The same held true for host and guest alike—Kang the Divine Doctor had never once shown Kang Xiaofeng's parents a kind face. Kang Xiaofeng's parents were helpless about it too. Though the scene Kang Xiaofeng had kicked up earlier had been loud enough, they knew in their hearts that it was not really his fault.

Kang Xiaofeng had brought his second granduncle a grand gift, a precious pill. It was meant kindly, but Kang Jingming would have none of it and callously crushed the pill underfoot—and when Kang the Divine Doctor saw it, he did not so much as stop him. That told them everything.

It told them that in Kang the Divine Doctor's heart there was a vast gulf between Kang Jingming, his own grandson, and Kang Xiaofeng, merely a cousin's grandson. However outrageous Kang Jingming's conduct, he was still his grandson, and he could forgive him. But Kang Xiaofeng had done nothing wrong at all—he had only harbored a little doubt that Kang Xiaofeng had brought a fake pill to undercut his reputation as a divine doctor—and yet he had let Kang Jingming carry out such an insolent act.

Even if a few of Kang Jingming's later remarks had been somewhat over the line, they were excusable. Boys will be boys—there is no boy who does not get into fights. So Kang Xiaofeng's parents understood, and what gladdened them more was that Kang Xiaofeng's good friend seemed a formidable figure: so many great personages knew him and treated him warmly, and with such a man at his side, Kang Xiaofeng could surely never come to harm.

So although Kang Xiaofeng's parents had been given cold looks and indifference by Kang the Divine Doctor's family, they still took some comfort in their hearts.

Kang the Divine Doctor's family gave them no welcome either. After the birthday banquet broke up, Kang Xiaofeng's parents left—and no one so much as acknowledged them with a word. Clearly the family was still seething over the loss of face.

"If you ask me, what kind of relatives are these?" Kang Xiaofeng's mother, no Kang by blood, was utterly disgusted with the day's events. "Once they've made their fortune, fine, they don't help us out—we don't hold that against them. But to go to a birthday banquet and press our warm faces to their cold backsides—what was the point of any of it? Relatives like that, we should cut off for good!"

"Let it go. If Father hadn't told me to come, I wouldn't have wanted to either," Kang Xiaofeng's father said with a bitter smile. "Though your son really did make my second uncle lose face today."

"Hmph—my son? Isn't he your son too?" At the mention of her son, Kang Xiaofeng's mother could not help a note of pride. "Look at the friend our son has made—how loyal he is! He's not even kin, yet he stood up for him and spoke out for what was right, and he knows all sorts of important people! And then look at your cousins—what a worthless lot!"

"By the way, that girl our son was holding on to today—why does she limp a little? And the things Kang Jingming said..." Kang Xiaofeng's father looked awkward, unwilling to bring the topic back to his own family. Second Uncle was blood kin after all, an elder; whatever he was, it was his own father who had come to take him to task, and there was little he could say.

"I saw it too..." Kang Xiaofeng's mother was worried as well. "The things Xiaobo said today—he couldn't really be in love with that girl, could he? The way he acted, it was as if he was deliberately standing up for her..."

"I think so too..." Kang Xiaofeng's father nodded. "So what are we to do? The boy's not only carrying on a puppy love affair, he's picked a girl who limps! I can't imagine what's going through his head."

"Exactly. Should we go home and have a proper talk with our son? What if it's just a passing infatuation and that girl is taking him in?" The more Kang Xiaofeng's mother thought, the more worried she became.

"A talk about what?" Kang Xiaofeng's father gave a helpless snort. "Our son being taken in? I'm not so sure."

"Oh? What do you mean?" Kang Xiaofeng's mother blinked in surprise.

"Think about it. Kang Xiaofeng is a hothead, but that good brother of his—is he a hothead? The way I see it, this whole business was probably his design, all to stand up for that girl called Xiaofen!" Kang Xiaofeng's father had seen it clearly. "That man's family background is probably out of the ordinary—Liu Tianyi and Guan Xuewen both know him, and the owner of the resort too... So I rather think he supports Kang Xiaofeng being with that girl. As for why, I can't say for certain—it's only a guess."

"Now that you mention it, thinking it over, it really does make sense!" Kang Xiaofeng's mother said, the truth dawning on her. "Be that as it may, let's go home and ask Xiaobo..."

In Donghai City's Seaview Villa District, inside a lavish villa, the whole Kang family had gathered in the living room. Kang Laicai, the Divine Doctor Kang, sat in the seat of honor, his face dark as he looked over the sons and grandsons standing nervously before him.

"Zhaoming, where is that so-called Life-Extending Toxin-Expelling Pill?" Kang the Divine Doctor asked, casting Kang Jingming a glance.

Kang Jingming's heart was in his throat. Gingerly he produced the "dog mess" he had picked up and, cupping it in both hands, presented it before Kang the Divine Doctor. "Grandfather, the Life-Extending Toxin-Expelling Pill is right here!"

Kang the Divine Doctor nodded. He pinched up the dark brown object from Kang Jingming's hands, meaning to examine it closely—but a stench struck him full in the face, and he nearly vomited on the spot. "What is that smell? Why does it stink so?"

"Grandfather, the Life-Extending Toxin-Expelling Pill smells exactly like this. It nearly choked me too when I had it..." Kang Jingming explained cautiously.

"It's not some swindle, is it?" Kang the Divine Doctor frowned. "That young fellow doesn't seem reliable to me! Guifeng, aren't you on good terms with Liu Tianyi? Liu Tianyi seemed quite familiar with that young man today. Go and sound him out for me!"

As he said this, Kang the Divine Doctor was plainly displeased, for Liu Tianyi had come to his birthday banquet only to leave halfway through. He might be of the Liu family, but it had still cost Kang the Divine Doctor considerable face.

As for Guan Xuewen, Kang the Divine Doctor did not dare say a word against him—the man's very attendance was a great honor. He knew well enough what kind of divine doctor he himself was: a fake one. Guan Xuewen was the real thing.

"Very well, I'll telephone and ask right now." Kang Guifeng nodded, took out his mobile phone, and stepped aside to make the call.

While Kang Guifeng was on the phone, no one in the room spoke; they waited quietly for the result.

"Hello? Brother Tianyi? This is Kang Guifeng!" Kang Guifeng was still somewhat ingratiating toward Liu Tianyi—much of the Kang family's business in Yanjing depended on the Liu family's influence.

In the end, Kang the Divine Doctor possessed only a single divine prescription; he was no true divine physician. There was no need to curry favor with these great families! Rather, it was Kang the Divine Doctor's household that, for the sake of its own development, had to curry favor with them!

In the eyes of ordinary people, these great families were lofty and mysterious beings—folk counted themselves lucky even to buy a single vial of Golden Wound Medicine. Yet for these great families, Golden Wound Medicine could be bought in any quantity they wished; they never worried about running short.

This, too, was why no one had any real reliance on Kang the Divine Doctor. Had there been any such reliance, things would never have come to this.