Chapter 3223 — Mother...

But Xu Shilan's eyes were filled with an incredulous shock, and that look only deepened by the moment. She even wanted to cry out loud, yet feared to disturb Wei Zhao's treatment, so she could only force down the excitement and astonishment surging inside her and stare fixedly at the old director's face!

Beside her, Cheng Yiyi's face was likewise written all over with disbelief. She looked at the old director, then at Xu Shilan, and wanted to say something, but held herself back.

The old director herself did not know that her appearance had changed. All she could feel was the change within her body: her ruptured and damaged meridians were recovering at an inconceivably rapid pace!

This bodily recovery left the old director deeply shaken. She had not expected Wei Zhao to possess such a wondrous ability. True, he had treated Yu Xiaoke before, but at the time the old director had thought little of it—Yu Xiaoke's injury had been fresh, after all, not the same as her own old complaint of many years.

"Whoosh..." At last, Wei Zhao let out a long breath, then said to the old director, "That's done, Old Director. Give it a try. Your meridians are all repaired. What was your strength before?"

"It's recovered, just like that?" The old director was momentarily stunned. Though she had already felt her injuries heal completely, it was only now, with Wei Zhao's words, that she seemed to wake from a dream and realize this was no dream but reality!

"Yes. Would you like to check?" Wei Zhao nodded.

The old director was overcome with emotion. "No need to check—I can feel it. Before I was injured, I was an early Earth-rank expert... But now I'm only Yellow-rank. Even with my meridians restored, the highest level I can reach is the peak of late Yellow-rank. At my age and with my aptitude, never mind returning to Earth-rank—even Mystic-rank would be very difficult!"

Here she could not help but sigh. "Without cultivation resources to support me—rare treasures and heavenly materials—there is simply no way I can return to my former peak!"

"Heh, if that's the case, then let me restore your strength for you while I'm at it!" Wei Zhao smiled and once again pressed his fingers to the old director's pulse. The present Wei Zhao had no need to conceal such things. The more forcefully he displayed his power to the world, the more his enemies would fear him!

Of course, once they truly learned that Wei Zhao was not so powerful after all, all his concealment would mean nothing—they would still put him to death. Kang Jingming and An Liwen had probably long wanted to do exactly that, and there was still Zhong Yongliang watching him like a tiger.

These three rivals of his had never once thought of making peace with him! As for Zhao Qibing, he was no longer worth fearing now—nothing but a stray dog.

So Wei Zhao did not care whether he might expose some of his wondrous abilities.

"Restore my strength?" The old director was slightly taken aback, somewhat shocked.

"Yes..." Wei Zhao nodded, but as he looked at the old director, he frowned! Why did she seem so familiar? As though he had seen her somewhere before? It was not that she resembled the old director of before—after all, her present appearance was as different from the old director's as heaven from earth!

Just as Granny Sun had once looked and looked now—there was no comparing them at all. Even those closest to her could not have guessed they were the same person.

"Mother..." Just as Wei Zhao was puzzling over it, Xu Shilan could finally hold back no longer and cried out, her voice breaking. As the word "Mother" left her lips, her tears rolled down her lovely face like beads from a broken string.

That abrupt "Mother" from Xu Shilan left everyone present dumbfounded—Yu Xiaoke, Cheng Yiyi, and Wei Zhao all froze! Cheng Yiyi, though, had guessed something of it earlier, so she was not quite so astonished.

Yu Xiaoke, however, stared at Xu Shilan in disbelief, then at the old director, an expression of utter absurdity spreading across her face.

Wei Zhao's brows were tightly knit. He had thought before that the old director resembled someone, and now, turning to look at Xu Shilan, he realized that the old director before him was none other than a mature version of Xu Shilan!

The two were simply too alike! Their face shape and features might have been carved from the same mold... Could it be that the old director was Xu Shilan's mother? The moment the thought came to him, Wei Zhao felt it was highly likely!

In Xu Shilan's childhood, her mother had been gravely wounded by attackers and vanished without a trace; and the old director, too, had been wounded in her youth, then hidden her name and lived in an orphanage. The two had so much in common that, by now, they must surely be one and the same.

The old director trembled from head to foot. She did not know how Xu Shilan had recognized her! Wei Zhao's guess was right: the old director was indeed Xu Shilan's mother, once the beloved of Feng Tianqi, gravely injured by Dongfang Xiaocui and the Dongfang family's people, and driven to flee for her life to the ends of the earth!

Though she had been separated from her daughter, she dared not search for her openly, lest she be marked by the Dongfang family. So she had opened an orphanage, hoping that among the orphans she might somehow come across Xu Shilan!

Of course, the result had disappointed her. In the vast sea of people, how easy was such a meeting? And hers was not the only orphanage. In the end, the old director never found her daughter...

Until one day, the old director suddenly saw a report in the newspaper about the rising star Xu Shilan, and tears welled in her eyes! For Xu Shilan was her daughter! That name had been chosen for her by Feng Tianqi himself!

Xu Shilan's original name had been Feng Shihan, and "Xu" was the old director's own surname! Of course, a name proved nothing by itself; what convinced the old director most was that Xu Shilan's appearance was identical to her own in her youth!

She could be a hundred percent certain that Xu Shilan was the daughter she had lost for so many years! Yet even knowing this, the old director had not dared to contact Xu Shilan or reveal herself! For she knew Dongfang Xiaocui was a jealous woman—back then, Xiaocui had brought her brother's four great enforcers, Dongfang Jian, Dongfang Ying, Dongfang Cha, and Dongfang Song, and had nearly beaten her to death!

Any one of those four could have killed her. Had Feng Tianqi not rushed over and fought desperately to shield her, she would never have escaped! But Xu Shilan had vanished—no doubt Feng Tianqi had secretly protected her and raised her to adulthood afterward!

Thinking that Feng Tianqi was, after all, a man of feeling and honor, the old director felt comforted. So long as she could see that her daughter was well, her heart was at ease!