Chapter Five: A Fraud?

Ye Wushang was momentarily stunned, then realized—she was here to question him over what happened?

“Yes, I hit him, but—”

“Ye Wushang!”

Hearing him admit it with his own mouth, Lan Ruoxue’s disappointment was palpable. “I can’t believe you’re this kind of person! Just because we’re divorced, you hold a grudge and go after my family in revenge? How petty can you be?”

I’m petty?

Ye Wushang gave a bitter laugh. He hadn’t expected that, in her eyes, he could be so despicable. She didn’t even bother to ask what had happened, just jumped to her conclusion.

It suddenly struck him that, after three years of marriage, all his sincerity had been wasted on the wrong person.

“I hit him because he deserved it. Do you even know what he did to the workshop?”

“That still doesn’t give you the right to hit someone!”

Lan Ruoxue had no interest in his explanations. In her world, right was right and wrong was wrong.

Her tone was cold, though she tried to keep her composure: “Listen, for the sake of our former marriage, I’ll smooth things over for you this time. But you must come to the hospital immediately and apologize to Sun Chuanlong and my sister! Otherwise—”

“Otherwise what?” Ye Wushang’s voice grew as cold as hers. “Will you call the police on me, or send someone after me?”

“Ye Wushang, can’t you grow up?” Lan Ruoxue’s voice shook with anger. She had always thought Ye Wushang was just weak and unambitious. She’d hoped the divorce would make him reflect and change.

But now, instead of remorse, he’d resorted to violence, and was even self-righteous about it.

He had truly given up on himself.

“You need to understand, I’m giving you a chance here. You hit Sun Chuanlong—the Sun family will not let you go easily…”

“They can do whatever they want. Or you can, for that matter,” Ye Wushang replied indifferently. “Just don’t call me again—I'm busy.”

With that, he hung up the phone.

“Unreasonable!” Lan Ruoxue gripped her phone, trembling with fury. But her years of self-control allowed her to calm herself gradually.

She had once felt guilty for their hasty divorce, but now, it seemed it had been the right decision.

“President Lan, please calm down,” Xu Wei quickly tried to soothe her, seeing her so agitated. “Let me call someone right now. We’ll drag that loser back here. If he won’t apologize to Young Master Sun and Miss Ruoshuang, I’ll have his hide!”

She pulled out her phone again, but Lan Ruoxue pressed her hand down and shook her head. “Forget it. Let him go.”

“After all, he helped me once. This time, consider it me repaying that debt for him.”

“Xu Wei, go and talk to Sun Chuanlong. Ask him not to mention this to his family. Let’s end things here.”

“I’ll also speak to my parents and agree to his marriage with Ruoshuang. That should settle everything.”

“President Lan!” Xu Wei protested indignantly, “Aren’t you being too lenient with that loser? He not only hit Young Master Sun, but that woman he brought—”

“Enough!” Lan Ruoxue cut her off. “I’ve made up my mind, don’t try to persuade me.”

She drew a deep breath, not wishing to dwell on it. “What matters now is the auction.”

“President Lan, you mean the business agency auction hosted by the An family tomorrow?”

“Exactly.” Lan Ruoxue nodded, gazing at the lights outside the window. Her tone was pensive.

“In my plan, divorcing Ye Wushang and regaining my freedom is only the first step. To expand and strengthen the group and help the family rise, we must consolidate our market share.”

“Right now, our best opportunity is to win the An family’s business agency rights at the auction. Only then can we focus our efforts on expanding into the provincial capital.”

Xu Wei sighed inwardly. Facing Lan Ruoxue’s resolute attitude, she knew there was no changing her mind.

She put her phone away and said respectfully, “Don’t worry, President Lan. I’ll go talk to Sun Chuanlong right away.”

…

A manor on the outskirts of the city.

“Hurry up—let everyone know, they all have to use this body odor neutralizing spray. And make sure every bright light in the manor is replaced with dim ones. If it’s not done in ten minutes, everyone can pack up and leave!”

At the entrance, An Lan’s cousin, An Hailong, was barking orders at the staff.

An Lan approached with Ye Wushang, asking with suspicion, “Cousin, what are you doing? Is it something to do with Grandfather?”

“Lanlan, you’re back. Don’t worry, Grandfather isn’t in any immediate danger.”

When he saw An Lan, An Hailong’s expression shifted slightly, but he kept his voice low and sighed.

“The doctors inside are all useless—they can’t even wake Grandfather up, let alone cure him. My father just called the renowned Dr. Xu Lang from the medical college to come again. He’ll be here soon.”

“Dr. Xu is very skilled. Every time Grandfather has an attack, he’s the one who stabilizes him. But he hates any strange smells while treating a patient and is afraid of people stealing his techniques, so he never practices with the lights on.”

“So I’m making sure everything is ready, so he won’t be displeased.”

Hearing this, An Lan frowned deeply. Ye Wushang couldn’t help but mutter, “Never heard of curing patients this way. Is he really a genius doctor, or just a charlatan putting on a show…”

“Shut up!” An Hailong snapped, glaring at Ye Wushang. “Who do you think you are, daring to slander Dr. Xu?”

“Cousin, calm down,” An Lan interjected quickly. “This is Mr. Ye Wushang, whom I invited specially to treat Grandfather.”

“Him?” An Hailong looked Ye Wushang up and down, sneering, “A kid who’s barely grown up claims to know medicine?”

“Age has nothing to do with medical skill—”

“Cut the act in front of me.”

An Hailong shot Ye Wushang a disdainful glance, then turned to An Lan with a grave tone.

“Lanlan, I know you care about Grandfather and want to help. But you can’t just trust anyone when you’re desperate! This guy is clearly a fraud. Don’t let him fool you!”

“Grandfather’s been ill for years. Every doctor we’ve called has been a leading figure in the medical world. If none of them could help, what can this guy do?”

Crude as his words were, they weren’t wrong. The truth was, An Lan herself had no certainty, but she trusted Sheng Changchun. After all, he and her grandfather shared a bond forged in life-and-death situations.

He’d sworn to her that if Ye Wushang took the case, her grandfather would recover.

With that in mind, she replied firmly, “Cousin, appearances can be deceiving. Mr. Ye may be young, but his skills are exceptional. I believe that if he intervenes, Grandfather will recover.”

“Will recover?” An Hailong gave a cold laugh and shot Ye Wushang a mocking glance. “So you claim age means nothing in medicine. Fine. For Lanlan’s sake, I’ll give you a chance to prove yourself.”

Ye Wushang’s expression remained calm. “How would you like me to prove it?”

He had always gone with the flow, even with his medical practice. Normally, he would have turned and left. But the An family’s old man had something he needed—Hanlong Grass. It was crucial for his recovery and for finding his father.

So, even if others were trying to make things difficult, he had to endure for now.

“It’s simple. I have an illness. Diagnose me. If you can tell me what it is, I’ll let you treat my grandfather. Well? Do you dare?”

Ye Wushang frowned. “Are you sure you want me to say it out loud?”

“Stop stalling! If you have the skill, say it. If you can’t, get lost! Lanlan is young and easy to fool, but I, An Hailong, am not!”

He was certain this man was a fraud. Even if he did know some medicine, there was no way he could see through An Hailong’s problem.

And yet—

“You’re quite open-minded, being so willing to share your impotence in front of everyone. Admirable.”

Boom.

An Hailong’s mind went blank at those words.

Before he could retort, Ye Wushang continued, “Of course, most men have such issues because of overindulgence and physical exhaustion. But you’re different—you rely on medication, fake ones at that.”

“This just goes to show, getting older doesn’t necessarily make you wiser, does it?”