Chapter 20: Answer Your Phone, Daughter

Lin Feng’s words were a spark thrown into a hornets’ nest. The Zhao family erupted in righteous fury.

“We expose you, and you curse the old man? You have no conscience!”

“I’ve never seen anyone so shameless. What a vicious mind, cursing a sick man!”

“Get out!”

Zhao Zhenguo had raised Zhao Shuting himself. They were deeply attached. To her, a few insults had made Lin Feng curse her grandfather, saying he wouldn’t live through the day.

Her earlier courtesy disappeared.

“I appreciate your kindness and Grandpa Kang’s, Lili. But I think you’ve been deceived,” she said coldly.

She didn’t say it outright, but the meaning was obvious.

Kang Lili sighed helplessly. Her grandfather shouldn’t have interfered. Now they had failed to save the city chief and offended the entire family.

Since they were being thrown out, Lin Feng saw no reason to linger. He took Kang Lili away from the City Chief’s Residence without looking back.

Just outside, they passed a resolute-looking middle-aged man hurrying in with an elderly companion. He glanced at them without much interest and quickened his pace.

When he entered the hall, the Zhao family immediately crowded forward to greet him.

“You’re finally back, Zhao Ming. With the old man so ill and you away, we had no one to lead us!” someone promptly flattered him.

He was Zhao Zhenguo’s biological son, Zhao Ming.

Exceptionally talented since childhood, he had entered the martial path young and then joined the military. He had spent most of the intervening years in the army. Only his father’s critical condition had brought him home.

“Dad!”

At the sight of him, Zhao Shuting’s composure crumbled. Tears filled her eyes.

“You’ve had a hard time, Shuting. I’ve brought Divine Doctor Sai Huatuo. With his help, your grandfather will recover,” Zhao Ming said gravely.

The name changed every expression in the room.

Sai Huatuo was one of Daxia’s four great national physicians. His skill placed him on a par with an imperial physician. Ordinary people could never persuade him to attend them.

If Zhao Ming had brought him, surely there was hope for the city chief.

When Zhao Liang learned who the old man was, his expression visibly stiffened.

“Please help my father, Doctor Sai.” Zhao Ming clasped his hands respectfully.

The doctor nodded and returned the gesture.

“No need for ceremony, General Zhao. I came with you, and I’ll do everything in my power.”

He went to Zhao Zhenguo and examined him carefully. Everyone held their breath, afraid to disturb him.

More than ten minutes passed before he finally frowned, his face grave.

“How is my father?” Zhao Ming asked. The doctor’s expression sent his heart sinking.

Sai Huatuo sighed before answering seriously.

“On the surface, it looks like a cold brought on by wind and chill. In fact, he’s been poisoned.”

Zhao Shuting’s mouth fell open. Murmurs spread through the room.

That was exactly what the young man they had mocked had said.

“Could you be mistaken, Doctor Sai? How could my father have been poisoned? More than a dozen doctors diagnosed a cold!” Zhao Liang said hastily.

Sai Huatuo gave him a sidelong look and raised his chin.

“I’ve practiced medicine for decades and treated the capital’s highest officials without error.”

“Do you question my medical skill, or those officials’ judgment?”

Zhao Liang was left speechless. He could only close his mouth. He wasn’t qualified to challenge the man.

“How could my father suddenly be poisoned? Please find a way to save him. If you do, I’ll owe you an enormous debt,” Zhao Ming pleaded urgently.

Sai Huatuo waved his hand and sighed deeply.

“It isn’t that I’m unwilling. The poison is too unfamiliar. I have no idea where to begin.”

“Forgive my bluntness, General Zhao. You should prepare for your father’s funeral.”

He could recognize poisoning, but had no idea what poison had been used. An antidote had to match the toxin. A mistake might not merely fail to save the patient; it could kill him.

Zhao Ming, a hardened soldier who had never flinched before the enemy, visibly collapsed under the news.

If even Sai Huatuo couldn’t help, who in the world could?

Was his father simply going to die?

As despair overwhelmed him, Zhao Shuting spoke timidly.

“Dad, someone said he could save Grandpa earlier. It’s just…”

“Just what?” he asked, suddenly animated.

“He was very young. He only looked at Grandpa from a distance, then said he’d been poisoned.”

“Everyone thought he was talking nonsense, so we drove him away.”

Her voice grew quieter and quieter, like a child admitting a mistake.

“One look was enough to recognize poisoning?” Sai Huatuo exclaimed.

He himself had needed more than ten minutes of examination. If the other man had identified the problem at a glance, he was no ordinary physician.

“From what your daughter says, General Zhao, he really may be able to save your father.”

“That boy was a fraud,” Zhao Liang interjected, seeing Zhao Ming wanted to find Lin Feng. “Don’t believe everything you hear and delay Father’s treatment.”

Zhao Ming narrowed his eyes and gave him a cold look.

“Father is already in this state. What further delay is there to fear?”

“Where is he, Shuting? Call him back at once.”

She opened her mouth, then answered quietly.

“He just left with Kang Lili. They’d barely gone when you arrived.”

Zhao Ming immediately remembered the young man and woman he had passed.

“Contact her right now. Ask her to bring him back. If he can cure your grandfather, I’ll agree to anything he asks.”

Zhao Shuting nodded. Remembering how she had distrusted Lin Feng and sent him away, only to need him back now, she felt her face burn.

After briefly collecting herself, she called Kang Lili.

Meanwhile, Kang Lili was in the car, about to start the engine, when Lin Feng stopped her.

“Wait.”

She paused, puzzled. “What’s wrong? They’ve thrown us out, and you still don’t want to leave?”

She was in a foul mood. Following him had left her thoroughly humiliated.

“No hurry. Within half an hour at most, they’ll call and ask us back,” he said confidently.

“Are you mad? They practically wanted to drown us in spit, and now you say they’ll invite us back?”

“What a joke.”

She didn’t believe a word.

Lin Feng merely smiled, perfectly relaxed. “Care to bet?”

Her temper rose. “Fine! If they don’t call within half an hour, you can clear off.”

“And if they do?”

“I’ll call you Dad!”

His lip curled. “A daughter that grown, without having to raise her? I could live with that.”

“Just wait. I want to see you eat your words.”

As they continued sparring, Zhao Shuting’s call came through.

Kang Lili’s eyes went wide. She wondered if she was hallucinating.

Lin Feng looked as though everything was proceeding exactly as planned.

“Answer your phone, daughter.”