Chu Yi returned to his villa, where Boss Feng from the medicine garden happened to be visiting. Lately, Boss Feng had taken a liking to strolling around the herbal field in the backyard of Chu Yi’s villa, even sitting at the specially made stone table to sip tea, which made him feel refreshed all over.
He was getting on in years, after all. Though he took good care of himself, he still had various minor ailments. It wasn’t worth treating them formally, but taking medicine harmed the body. By chance, he discovered that Chu Yi’s backyard was a great spot, so he came over often under the pretext of supervising, making Xiao Wang, the herbal field manager, think he’d done something wrong and that the boss didn’t trust him.
The herbal field was growing beautifully, though. In just half a month, the fleeceflower roots had shot up to twenty or thirty centimeters tall, looking like little people—over ten times faster than their original flowering and fruiting cycle.
Then there was the cluster of bamboo that Young Master Chu had planted himself. Though only three or four stalks, they had already surged to the height of a person. The bamboo stems gleamed with a lustrous green sheen, resembling fine jade more than bamboo. Who knew what special variety it was?
Boss Feng had learned that Chu Yi was coming back today and had specially brought his young grandson along. “Young Master Chu, you’re back?”
“Mm.” Chu Yi glanced at the tigerish, lively little boy Boss Feng held by the hand. “This is Xiao Bao?”
Boss Feng’s little grandson seemed to be named that.
“Yes, I brought him especially for you to take a look, Young Master Chu. Is our little Xiao Bao all right now?” Boss Feng asked a bit sheepishly.
He didn’t want to bother Chu Yi, but after Xiao Bao’s close call last time, his wife kept worrying and nagging about it at home.
“Xiao Bao, hurry and thank the Master. Last time, you nearly got kidnapped, all thanks to the talisman the Master gave you.”
Xiao Bao blinked his big, round black eyes and shyly repeated the words.
Chu Yi ruffled his head. “This child is blessed with good fortune. Having dodged this disaster, he’ll have a smooth life from here on out.”
Boss Feng beamed with joy. “Thank you, Young Master Chu! Xiao Bao will borrow your auspicious words!”
He acted as if his grandson had received a golden blessing from Chu Yi’s own mouth. He left behind the thank-you gift he’d prepared earlier and happily led his little grandson away.
Chu Yi: “…”
After just a couple of sentences, Boss Feng had gifted him a whole crate of premium medicinal materials—century-old ginseng, lingzhi mushrooms, deer antler, cordyceps… It was probably not just thanks for checking the boy’s fortune but also payment for last time.
Chu Yi accepted it without qualms. He needed it to refine the antidote for Young Master Fu, and Boss Feng’s crate had arrived just in time.
“How is it? Does Huaiyan feel any better?”
At the Fu Family Mansion, Old Master Fu, Fu Huaiyan’s father Fu Zhao, and the Fu family’s uncles and elders had all gathered. Everyone stared wide-eyed at Fu Huaiyan seated in the chair.
Chu Yi had just given him the medicine and lit some incense auxiliary medicine in the burner beside him. But half an hour later, Fu Huaiyan showed no reaction—he was even idly playing with Ouyang Yuyuan’s fingers.
Ouyang Yuyuan: “…” He was mortified!
Seeing the uniforms on the Fu uncles, elders, and Fu Zhao, along with their increasingly impressive shoulder patches and badges, he finally understood why Big Cousin said even he had to be polite around Fu Huaiyan… This family exuded tremendous pressure!
Just as Ouyang Yuyuan awkwardly reached for his phone, Fu Huaiyan suddenly frowned and “wah”-ed as he spat a mouthful of black blood into the basin.
“Master, why is Huaiyan vomiting blood?”
“It’s detoxification. Spitting out the poisoned blood should fix it.”
“Wait, look at Huaiyan’s neck—is something moving under there?”
“Wu wu, it hurts…” By now, Fu Huaiyan’s face was bulging with prominent veins. He suddenly gripped Ouyang Yuyuan’s arm hard. Ouyang Yuyuan yelped in pain, and his phone clattered to the ground.
Chu Yi: “Quick, hold him down. Don’t let him thrash.”
The Fu uncles and elders hurriedly pinned Fu Huaiyan down every which way, not sparing Ouyang Yuyuan beside him. Ouyang Yuyuan’s arm was dug into by Fu Huaiyan’s fingers, pain making him grimace, but the Fu relatives hemmed him in tight—he couldn’t escape even if he wanted to.
Worse still, his phone got stepped on by someone, its screen shattered, and it skidded around on the floor from people’s kicks…
Ouyang Yuyuan: “…QAQ!”
For him, the pain in his arm paled compared to the heartbreak of his phone being trampled. He wondered if the Fu family would compensate him for a new one afterward!
Finally, the thing in Fu Huaiyan’s neck crawled up through his mouth. It resembled dodder—or rather, it was the man-eating flower’s dodder form. With its last burst of strength, it slithered out of Fu Huaiyan’s body into the blood-soiled basin, where it swiftly withered into seeds.
“All good.” Chu Yi tossed a fire talisman into the basin, and the seeds ignited instantly, burning to clean ash.
