[Thanks: Thanks to Liang, the sentimental schoolgirl, *Years @ Youth Washed by Sweat, and Erasing Your Memory◇◆゛╮ for the rewards. Additionally: As the opening story did not satisfy the third brother, a large portion was deleted, resulting in a lesser word count. Therefore, updates will be once a day for now. Once the plot catches up, the schedule will swiftly return to the daily 6000 words, twice a day. Please bear with the little third brother indulging a bit.]
Qin Manshu had bought three medicine pills from Ding Fan and without delay, headed straight back to the Qin family's seaside villa in Dancheng.
The Qin family had thrived in Dancheng, and ever since Old Master Qin fell ill, he had wanted to return to his roots, so he had been recuperating in Dancheng. Moreover, it was more suitable for recuperation than the noisy Yanjing.
"Hmm? Uncle, aren't you in Yanjing? Why did you come here?"
Upon arriving at the villa, to Qin Manshu's great surprise, the first person she saw was her uncle.
Qin Manshu's uncle, named Qin Qingwu, was a standout among the second generation of the Qin family. He was mainly involved in business and managed most of the family's business deals, being very shrewd.
However, Qin Manshu had never had a good impression of this uncle. When Old Master Qin was healthy, her uncle often visited him, but since he had turned into a vegetative state, this was his first visit.
Even once, when Old Master Qin was critically ill, Qin Qingwu did not come over, only having his secretary call after the condition stabilized.
"Hmph, could I not come? If I hadn't come, the Qin family's reputation might have been completely ruined by you. To think you would believe the words of a charlatan, despite your father having sent you abroad for so many years of study," Qin Qingwu said, sitting on the sofa in the hall, his face gloomy.
Qin Manshu frowned and looked back at Xu Guanjie who had come back with her. Clearly, he had snitched beforehand.
Xu Guanjie, as if he did not notice Qin Manshu's prickly gaze, looked around indifferently. Obviously, he did not want to get involved in the dispute between Qin Manshu and Qin Qingwu.
Qin Qingwu then spoke in a very domineering tone. "Don't look at others. Starting from now, throw away all the things you've bought, and don't ever again do those things that disgrace our Qin family."
"Qin Qingwu, I respect you and call you uncle. What have I done to disgrace the Qin family? Grandpa is seriously ill, and all I wanted was to see him get better sooner. And what have you done? Since he fell ill, have you even spent one day by Grandpa's side? Don't think I don't know that when Grandpa was critically ill, you preferred to stay with your mistress instead of supporting him. What right do you have to lecture me!"
Qin Manshu suddenly burst out, her accumulated dissatisfaction towards Qin Qingwu exploding at that moment.
"Impudent!" Qin Qingwu, hitting the armrest of the sofa, his face turned deathly pale.
At this moment, Xu Guanjie was present, yet Qin Manshu showed no regard for his appearance, directly hitting his sore spot. If it wasn't for preserving his image, he would have slapped her by now.
"I'm not going to argue with you anymore, I'm going to give Grandpa his medicine," Qin Manshu said, ignoring Qin Qingwu and turning to head upstairs to Old Master Qin's room.
"Qin Manshu!"
Qin Qingwu suddenly stood up from the sofa. "You want to feed Grandfather with pills bought from a charlatan outside. Do you understand the consequences if something goes wrong?"
"Of course I do," Qin Manshu said, slowly turning around. "If I don't give Grandpa these pills, then he will definitely continue to sleep forever. But if I give him these pills, then there is a one in a thousand, or even one in ten thousand chance he will wake up. For the chance of Grandpa waking up, I am willing to take the risk and bet on it. If Grandpa really suffers from these pills,"
Qin Manshu paused for a moment, then her eyes suddenly firmed up.
"I am willing to bear all the consequences."
After speaking, Qin Manshu turned away and walked briskly towards the second floor. Qin Qingwu just stood there, his eyes passing a hint of hatred as he watched Qin Manshu.
"If anything happens to Old Master, I certainly won't let you off easily!"
Xu Guanjie initially wanted to persuade Qin Manshu to reconsider, but he glanced at Qin Qingwu who, surprisingly, said nothing to stop her.
After much thought, Xu Guanjie swallowed his words. He really did not want to get unwittingly involved in the Qin family's internal conflicts...
Qin Manshu arrived in her grandfather's bedroom. At that moment, an elder with white hair was lying there quietly.
This elder was Qin Manshu's grandfather, Qin Zhenbang, a founding hero of Huaxia Country and a powerful figure who established the Four Great Families.
But now, as he lay on the hospital bed, Qin Zhenbang no longer possessed the vigorous and spirited demeanor of his military days. His face was haggard, and his features were greatly emaciated.
As Qin Manshu entered from outside, a caretaker greeted her politely before slowly retreating.
Looking at the emaciated grandfather on the bed, Qin Manshu felt a sour surge in her nose. In her childhood, she was often carried on his back, and now her robust grandfather was tortured by illness to such a state.
Manshu carefully took out a Medicine Pill that Ding Fan had given her, which was entirely black and emitted a faint luster under the light.
Although Manshu also doubted whether the Pill was truly effective, just as she had said before, even if there were only a one percent, one thousandth, or even one ten-thousandth chance, she would try it. She was truly adopting the mentality of a gambler now.
At this time, Qin Qingwu was already standing at the door of the hospital room, his expression sullen, his eyes fiercely fixated on the Pill in Manshu's hand.
Although Qin Qingwu had already taken control of most of the Qin family's businesses, Manshu's father, Qin Qingjiang, still controlled the Qin family's businesses in several provinces in the north. At this moment, Qin Qingwu didn't stop Manshu because if the elder suffered any consequences from taking the Pill, he could completely use it to his advantage and eventually take over the businesses in the northern provinces as well.
Even if the Pill caused no issues, Qin Qingwu could manipulate the situation to ensure Qin Qingjiang could not live in peace. Qin Qingwu was certain the Pill Manshu had bought was useless.
A disease that even well-known experts in America had been unable to treat; how could a Pill bought from a roadside stall possibly cure it? That was simply laughable.
Manshu gently fed the Pill to Old Master Qin, and behind her, Qin Qingwu's eyes momentarily flickered with an imperceptible smirk. Now that the old master was seriously ill, it was a prime time to plunder the family resources. Manshu's reckless behavior would surely affect Qin Qingjiang.
Oh, Qin Qingjiang, you have only yourself to blame for having such a stubborn daughter.
However, what happened next made Qin Qingwu's eyes widen in shock - after Old Master Qin took the Pill, his breathing became more vigorous. Soon after, his originally pale complexion began to glow with a hint of rosiness. At this moment, it seemed Old Master Qin might awaken at any moment.
Qin Qingwu started to grow nervous.
As time ticked by, everyone in the room held their breath, and after five minutes –
"Cough cough..." Following a series of coughs, Old Master Qin, who had been in a coma for two years, slowly opened his eyes.
Manshu was completely stunned. Even though she had thought the Pill might be effective, she had not imagined it could be this effective.
A person in a vegetative state for two years had opened his eyes in less than five minutes after swallowing the Pill. Who would have believed it if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes?
Qin Qingwu struggled to maintain his composure, but his expression had already become quite ugly. He had never dreamed that the old master would wake up one day. Remembering everything he had done in the past two years, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Qin Qingwu glanced at Manshu beside him, wondering where she had gotten such an incredible Pill...
...
Zhou Ruoran returned home, and darkness had already fallen completely. The empty villa was pitch black; she glanced at Ding Fan's room door, which was locked from the inside, indicating that Ding Fan was home, although the light in his room was off.
There were no more steamed buns left in the living room, which Ding Fan had obviously eaten. Zhou Ruoran tidied up briefly, then went into the kitchen to start cooking. She worked part-time at Phoenix Building, where she was entitled to one evening meal, so Zhou Ruoran had already eaten her dinner. She was now just preparing food for Ding Fan.
Ding Fan had just been discharged from the hospital, so that day when Zhou Ruoran came back, she specifically bought a fish. Although she had received a call from Huang Xing in the afternoon, knowing that Ding Fan had been jealous over a flower girl,
But Zhou Ruoran thought only of doing her job well, as long as she was there for a day, she would take care of Ding Fan for a day. For Zhou Ruoran, all this was merely an act of repaying a debt.
It took about half an hour, and the food was ready.
Squeak... As Zhou Ruoran was thinking about calling Ding Fan to come eat, he unexpectedly came out on his own.
After coming home in the afternoon with the Fragrant Mind-Consolidating Grass, Ding Fan had wasted no time and performed two Xiao Zhoutian cycles in succession. With the aid of the Second Grade Spirit Herb, Ding Fan had made considerable progress, his meridians had expanded, and his abdominal dantian felt slightly burning.
He stopped there; although Ding Fan was eager to grow stronger, his cultivation was still rudimentary, and he understood that haste would not bring success. The host body was already weak, and overzealous cultivation at this time might not lead to improvement and could even harm the body.
When Zhou Ruoran came back, Ding Fan had naturally heard her, but he had not hurried down because, after practicing, his clothes were soaked with sweat. A man getting himself drenched in sweat inside the house looked somewhat odd.
Zhou Ruoran was momentarily taken aback by the sight of Ding Fan emerging from the room.
At that moment, Ding Fan was dressed in simple sportswear, radiating an indefinable lively energy, and his clear, bright eyes especially spirited. At this moment, Ding Fan looked just like the boy next door, incidentally sporty.
The aura emanating from Ding Fan at this time was particularly tranquilizing.
The former decadence and carelessness of a spoiled young master were nowhere to be seen. Was this person still the flirtatious and wasteful young master from before?!…