Chapter 448 — A Very Poor Attitude

The moment Fatty Lai heard Wei Zhao's question, his expression froze for an instant; he could scarcely believe his own ears. But once he was certain his hearing was not playing tricks on him, he was overjoyed! Fatty Lai burst into tears on the spot, his eyes brimming. He felt that all his effort and persistence had finally been repaid. Before this, Wei Zhao had shown him such disdain and would not even give him the time of day; yet now he was asking of his own accord about his father's condition, and Fatty Lai was quite overwhelmed.

"Boohoo... Divine Doctor Lin, I knew you were a good man, that you would care about my father!" Fatty Lai said, and made as if to kneel before Wei Zhao: "On my old father's behalf, thank you..."

"All right, stop! Stop it right now!" Wei Zhao was badly startled by this display, and he was thoroughly cowed by the fellow: "Don't do that. If you do that again, I won't ask next time. I shouldn't have opened my mouth at all..."

"No... I've stopped crying, boohoo... I'm just moved, weeping for joy!" Fatty Lai hurriedly got to his feet and wiped his eyes dry. Fatty Lai well deserved his reputation as the king of the crybabies; his tears came fast and went fast, and in another moment his face was all smiles again.

"As long as you don't cry, you can call me as usual next time..." Wei Zhao was somewhat at a loss for words, and he really had to hand it to the fellow. To spare himself a few crying fits, Wei Zhao granted him a special telephone privilege.

"Really? Wonderful, Divine Doctor Lin..." Fatty Lai was so excited he was about to cry again, but at the thought of what Wei Zhao had just said—that only if he did not cry could he call—he hastily choked the sobs back down.

"Now tell me about your father's situation. It's uremia, isn't it?" Wei Zhao waved a hand to cut him off. Even when he was not crying, the fellow was a terrible dawdler.

"Right, uremia. After he took that half of the Longevity Detox Pill, there was a marked improvement—he's woken up, his spirits are much better, and every indicator has begun to improve. But the doctors say it isn't fully cured. Treatment can keep it in check, but there's no telling whether it will get worse again..." Fatty Lai said worriedly.

"Has he ever had a kidney transplant?" Wei Zhao nodded and asked.

"No. At his age they were afraid he wouldn't survive the operating table, and the doctors didn't recommend surgery either," Fatty Lai said truthfully.

"Then it's simple enough," Wei Zhao said. "Here's what we'll do. I'll write out a few Chinese medicines; you go out and buy them for me. I'll decoct them, and your father is to take them for a week. Come back to me in a week to have the prescription changed."

"Ah! Yes! Thank you, Divine Doctor Lin..." Fatty Lai was beside himself with excitement. He felt he had finally backed the right horse! It seemed Divine Doctor Lin was kind at heart after all—under his relentless pestering, the man had at last agreed to help!

Wei Zhao still could not trust Fatty Lai completely, so the first time he did not have him buy all the important medicines needed. He wrote only the names of the Chinese medicines required for the first course of treatment, and the dosages were not too precise—about five taels of each—and he even slipped in several extra medicine names that served no purpose.

Fatty Lai carefully took the prescription from Wei Zhao, afraid of losing it, tucked it into his coat, and dashed out at once to buy the medicines.

Once Fatty Lai had been sent on his way, Wei Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and said to Guan Xuewen: "Grandpa Guan, are the formalities for the pharmaceutical company and the approval for those few medicines all taken care of?"

"Yes, those are all trifles—I didn't even have to appear in person. I had Xiao Xiang handle it; it will be delivered shortly." Guan Xuewen nodded. Even as he spoke, a knock came at the door of the study, and then the door was pushed open.

"Dad, I've brought the materials you asked for..." The man who entered was middle-aged, and his face bore a faint trace of Guan Xuewen's features. This, presumably, was Guan Xuewen's son, Guan Xiaopeng.

"Just put them here. Oh, and let me introduce you—this is the Wei Zhao, Mr. Lin, I mentioned to you." Guan Xuewen said, introducing Wei Zhao to Guan Xiaopeng.

"How do you do, Uncle Guan," Wei Zhao said, rising hastily to greet him. Guan Xiaopeng was, after all, his elder, and Wei Zhao did not dare presume too much.

Guan Xiaopeng's attitude toward Wei Zhao, however, seemed rather flat. He gave him a nod and said, lukewarm: "Hello, Mr. Lin."

If Wei Zhao was to address Guan Xiaopeng as uncle, then the man ought not to be calling him Mr. Lin; even out of mere politeness, he would not have been so cold.

Wei Zhao smiled wryly, at a loss as to where he had offended Guan Xiaopeng. He felt awkward, and did not know what more to say.

It was Guan Xuewen who smoothed things over: "Xiao Xiang, is the company busy?"

"So-so," Guan Xiaopeng said indifferently. "Dad, what made you think of starting a company? Haven't you always disliked doing things under your own name? Don't go muddled in your old age—mind that a lifetime's good name isn't ruined in a moment."

"Xiao Xiang, what nonsense are you talking?" Guan Xuewen's face darkened at once; he glared at his son. "Do you have any business here? If not, you may go."

"My company is very busy. I only came back to deliver the materials to you, so of course I have to hurry back." Guan Xiaopeng spoke blandly. "I'm just reminding you not to be taken in."

With that, Guan Xiaopeng glanced at Wei Zhao, turned, and left the room without another word. He walked briskly out of the villa, and the sound of the front gate closing came from outside.

"That boy!" Guan Xuewen was thoroughly exasperated. He shook his head with a bitter smile and said to Wei Zhao, "Xiao Yi, I hope you won't take offense!"

"Ha... Uncle Guan only meant well for you. He was just afraid I might be a swindler." Wei Zhao smiled faintly to show he understood. In truth, there was nothing unreasonable in what Guan Xiaopeng had said. Though it was a little blunt and showed scant regard for face, he had indeed been speaking from the standpoint of a family member, warning Guan Xuewen not to be fooled.

It was only that the way he expressed it had been rather too direct. He could easily have waited until Wei Zhao had left before saying anything. But Wei Zhao was not about to hold that against him.

"It's not directed at you," Guan Xuewen said with a shake of his head. "That boy is still holding a grudge against me. He's never been able to let go of what happened back then!"

"What happened back then?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback.

"My eldest son—I've told you about him. A lazy good-for-nothing with no job, who traded on my reputation to rope in some medicine dealers and go into the pharmaceutical business. He's done quite well for himself," Guan Xuewen said. "So when my younger son was about to graduate from university, he joined forces with a close classmate of his. They wanted to set up a clinic and trade on my name, and I refused them in the sternest terms... So he has never been able to get over the fact that this time I used my name to set up a pharmaceutical company with you..."

Hearing Guan Xuewen's explanation, Wei Zhao could not help but laugh. "So Uncle Guan is jealous of me!"