Ten minutes later, everyone arrived at No. 89 Wenhe Road.
It was a small shop displaying signs for massage therapy and outpatient services. Wang Yong’s friend, who also happened to be the shop’s owner surnamed Yang, was a tall, muscular bald man. Xiong Ying was helped into the room and laid face down on the medical bed. Wang Yong whispered something to the bald owner, after which the latter started massaging Xiong Ying’s waist.
Shui Miao was just about to enter the room to see how the massage was done, when suddenly he heard the screech of emergency brakes outside. Turning around, he saw an Audi car had pulled up. A tall, thin young man quickly pushed the car door open and rushed in energetically.
Shui Miao had just seen this person earlier—he was the one smoking on the stone block, none other than Sun Jun.
Seeing Sun Jun’s arrival, Wang Yong, who had been about to sip tea, hurriedly put down his cup and went to greet him, “Oh my, Brother Sun, you sure came quickly!”
“Ah, don’t even mention it! I was almost driven mad by Jihong. By the way, where is Master Xiong?”
Sun Jun cast a glance at Shui Miao, dismissing him as a young and irrelevant person, and didn’t bother to acknowledge him.
“He’s inside. Doctor Yang is examining him,” Wang Yong pointed toward the inner room with a hand gesture, shaking his head with a sigh, “Never thought something like this would happen…”
From the room came Xiong Ying’s cries of pain.
“How did the collision happen?” Sun Jun asked, clearly not in the mood for sentimentality.
Wang Yong looked at Shui Miao, “I accidentally hit him while riding my bicycle. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Master Xiong’s apprentice.”
“Master Xiong’s apprentice?”
Sun Jun was taken aback and immediately turned to look at Shui Miao…
“Yes,” Shui Miao replied coldly, “My master was hit pretty badly and probably can’t help you with the feng shui anymore.” Without another word, he turned and walked into the inner room.
Shui Miao felt a bit annoyed at Sun Jun for looking down on him, so he didn’t give him a good look either.
Seeing Shui Miao’s attitude, Wang Yong quickly stepped forward to pull Sun Jun outside, whispering, “Don’t worry, don’t worry. Master Xiong isn’t that kind of person. After accepting your gift, how could he not help you? Don’t be anxious. The little apprentice is just young and doesn’t know any better. Don’t take it personally. I’ll talk to him later. You can rest assured and go back first. When Master is fine, he’ll call you.”
“Alright then…”
Since he wanted Master Xiong’s help, Sun Jun couldn’t say much. From Wang Yong’s tone, he could tell what was really being implied—another bribe was expected.
Compared to the villa, spending a bit of money and enduring some humiliation was nothing.
Sun Jun handed Wang Yong three thousand yuan for immediate use and, following Wang Yong’s suggestion, left in his car.
He had come all the way here but hadn’t even seen Master Xiong. It felt like a wasted trip. However, Sun Jun had actually felt relieved. From Wang Yong’s attitude, he could tell it was merely a matter of money. Wang Yong asking for more money was a good sign—only if he didn’t ask for money would there be a real problem.
After watching the car leave, Wang Yong looked at the money in his hand and muttered to himself, “Didn’t expect this guy to be so generous. Seems like he’s really desperate… Hmm, I should squeeze him for more later.”
Out of the three thousand yuan, Wang Yong first pocketed one thousand himself. With the remaining two thousand, he walked into the clinic and thought for a moment before hiding another thousand…
Soon after, Dr. Yang finished massaging Xiong Ying and came out wiping sweat with a towel, “Alright, no big deal. Everything’s fine now.”
“Here’s a small token of appreciation, brother. Hope you don’t mind it being little.” Wang Yong handed Dr. Yang two hundred yuan. Normally, a massage only cost one hundred, so two hundred was already generous. “Ah, by the way, if that Sun Jun comes asking later, please help me make the problem sound more serious.”
“Hehe, just a few words. It’s a bit awkward to take money for that!” Dr. Yang chuckled, politely declined a few times, and then accepted the money.
Wang Yong took the remaining 800 yuan into the inner room, sighing, “This Sun Jun is really stingy. He only gave one thousand. Here’s the remaining 800, Master. You keep it for now. I’ll think of a way later.”
Xiong Ying had already sat up. His waist had been fine originally, but now it felt a bit sore after the massage. Glancing at the 800 yuan, he took out 400 and directly handed it to Wang Yong, “No need to say anything. It’s not a big issue. Let’s split it evenly.”
“No, no, I don’t want it…”
Wang Yong had secretly pocketed 2000 yuan, so he felt a bit awkward accepting the remaining 400.
Xiong Ying quickly blocked Wang Yong’s hand, “No way. We agreed to split it evenly. How could I possibly keep it all?”
Hearing that, Wang Yong felt even more embarrassed and immediately stuffed the money into Shui Miao’s pocket, “Alright, alright. This 400 yuan will be a gift for Xiao Shui. Xiao Shui, you go outside and keep watch. If Sun Jun comes back, come in and let us know. I need to discuss something with your master.”
Unexpectedly receiving money, Shui Miao quickly looked up at his grandfather, who winked at him…
“Thank you, Uncle…”
Earning 400 yuan unexpectedly, Shui Miao thanked him and hurriedly walked out.
Shui Miao was excited. Although he often accompanied his grandfather when he was young, his grandfather rarely gave him money. Today was an exception. With an extra 400 yuan, the travel expenses back to Hai Cheng were no longer a concern. Although 400 yuan wasn’t a large sum, for Shui Miao, it was significant. After all, how much did one earn in a month working outside? To earn 400 yuan without doing anything was quite a considerable income.
At the same time, Shui Miao’s impression of Wang Yong greatly improved.
Inside the room,
Wang Yong lowered his voice and conspiratorially said to Xiong Ying, “Master, trust me this time. The Sun family is rich. We aren’t stealing or robbing, so there’s nothing to worry about. This time, let me take charge. I guarantee you’ll make a fortune and come back full-handed. Of course, I can also get a little benefit…”
“But, if we don’t do the feng shui for him this afternoon, he might have complaints,” Xiong Ying stroked his beard thoughtfully.
Wang Yong smacked his lips, “Master, you’re the expert in feng shui. As for dealing with the rich, I’m the expert. Think about it, if we go to him first, he’ll definitely act like a boss, looking down on us and unwilling to pay us a high price. Listen to me, let’s stay at my house first. Let him come begging us. Then, he’ll pay whatever amount we ask. Isn’t that better?”
“Alright then, I’ll leave it to you.”
Xiong Ying pretended to be helpless, but in reality, he was secretly delighted to stay at Wang Yong’s house, as it would give him the opportunity to access that treasure.
In fact, Xiong Ying wasn’t particularly greedy. If he were greedy, with his reputation, he would have already become rich long ago.
What he loved most were treasures, especially those with strong spiritual power.
“Great! We should act quickly. Let’s leave now, to avoid encountering that kid Sun Jun again…”
Wang Yong came over to support Xiong Ying and walked out.
Wang Yong called a taxi, helped Xiong Ying into it, and Shui Miao followed behind on his bicycle, feeling a bit depressed. He had originally thought he would witness his grandfather dealing with the powerful yin spirit today, but instead, they were going to Wang Yong’s house. How was he supposed to pass the time this afternoon? Just sitting around would be unbearably boring…
“Right! I’ll ask my grandfather later to find out which factory Chenxiang works at. I’ll go find her and bring her some gifts!”
Thinking of Chenxiang, Shui Miao’s spirits instantly lifted.
It had been three years since they last met. Shui Miao imagined that Chenxiang must have suffered a lot. Her father was such a heartless man. She mustn’t have any decent clothes to wear and would surely be looked down upon at the factory…
The more Shui Miao thought about it, the more anxious he became, longing to see Chenxiang immediately.
Before long, the taxi stopped. As soon as Xiong Ying got out, Shui Miao eagerly asked, “Master, I want to see Chenxiang. Do you know which factory she works at?”
…
Xiong Ying was taken aback, not expecting Shui Miao to suddenly ask about this. Seeing the urgency on Shui Miao’s face, Xiong Ying thought to himself how hard this child must have worked for Chenxiang, enduring much hardship. It was rare for him to return home, and he would have to leave again in a few days. It wouldn’t be right not to let him see Chenxiang. After a pause, Xiong Ying sighed, “Seems like she’s at the Rongwei Clothing Factory in the south of the bridge. You can go if you want. Bring her some nice things. She’s had a hard time all these years alone… I’ll give you some more money…”
As he spoke, Xiong Ying reached into his pockets, but after searching left and right, he couldn’t find any money…
Seeing this, Wang Yong felt awkward and quickly took out two thousand yuan from his stash, pulled out five hundred-yuan notes, and handed them to Shui Miao, “Master, no need to search. Here’s some ready cash.”
“Then, take it. Go quickly and come back soon.”
Xiong Ying actually had money—there was a lot given to him by the hotel manager earlier. He was just pretending not to have any, deliberately forcing Wang Yong to hand over money.
“Oh, thank you, Uncle Wang!”
Excited, Shui Miao carefully pocketed the money and hurriedly rode off on his bicycle.
※※※
At No. 89 Wenhe Road,
Inside the clinic, Sun Jun waved one thousand yuan in front of Dr. Yang, “You said Master Xiong was seriously injured?”
Dr. Yang looked at the money, then at Sun Jun. He smiled faintly and said, “Well, actually, it’s not that serious. He should recover in three to five days.”
Sun Jun threw the one thousand yuan on the table, then took out ten thousand yuan and coldly said, “Then how serious is it, really? I’m going to take him to the hospital for a checkup later. If I find out you’re not telling the truth, you won’t be able to keep this clinic open anymore. You know who I am, right? People who mess with me usually don’t end up well. You don’t think I’m just bluffing, do you?”
“This…”
Dr. Yang glanced at the two goons wearing sunglasses behind Sun Jun. His mouth twitched slightly as he fearfully said, “Actually, I don’t think he’s injured at all. His cries of pain… seemed… fake…”
“Smart move!”
Sun Jun slammed the ten thousand yuan onto Dr. Yang’s bald head and turned to leave.
As Dr. Yang looked at the money, feeling excited about earning so much, one of the goons picked up the money. The other goon pulled out a knife and pressed it against his neck, threateningly saying, “Baldy, if you dare to say a single word about this, I’ll make sure your bald head leaves your shoulders!”
“I won’t, I won’t…”
Scared out of his wits, Dr. Yang’s legs trembled as he waved his hands repeatedly.
Outside on the road, Sun Jun was about to get into his car when he saw Shui Miao quickly riding his bicycle southward…
“Boss, we got the money back!”
The two goons rushed out and handed the money to Sun Jun.
Sun Jun didn’t even acknowledge the goons. He quickly got into the car, his eyes gleaming, “Quickly, turn the car around and follow that kid on the bicycle!”
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