The discussion was held after the banquet and the whole process was as dry as kindling. The leaders of the corporate and government businesses first gave a talk, followed by some industry representatives. Xia Lei played mobile games on his phone and read the PDF of ‘Compendium of Acu-moxibustion’ by Yang Ji-Yuan of the Ming dynasty.
Having settled the matter of the intelligent lathe, Xia Lei moved his attentions to the medical field. His first motivation for doing so came from consulting work for Bureau 101. As a consultant for Bureau 101, there was no avoiding the hail of bullets in the future so he would have some additional security with medical skills. He became more fascinated and motivated by this subject after spending more time on it and developing some internal strength in Wing Chun.
No one could understand how he felt because only he could see the human body’s internal organs and circulatory system with his own eyes. He understood the human body even more clearly than the most advanced machines in the medical field; he could easily find the root of a patient’s illness. If he grasped the techniques needed, he would be able to become a G.o.dly doctor!
His main focus in learning traditional Chinese medicine was acupuncture treatment. He did not go into detailed study of Chinese herbs - he just read ‘Shennong’s Compendium of Materia Medica’ to give himself an understanding of some herbs and their uses. His plan was to get a grasp of acupuncture and moxibustion, then gain knowledge of Western medicine. Western doctors had almost replaced traditional Chinese medical masters; it was more suitable for the modern man.
His plan was actually simple - combine both Chinese and Western medicine to fuse them into one.
TIme pa.s.sed more quickly when reading a book; he only realised that the discussion was over when others stood to leave the room. He had gone through the whole discussion in a haze and had no idea what had been discussed.
Xia Lei followed the guests out and left the Golden Kaidi Hotel, then stood by the road to wait for a taxi. He’d come by Hu Hou’s car so he had to take a taxi back.
A taxi did not come after standing there for a while but a Rolls Royce Phantom did.
The back window of the Rolls Royce Phantom wound down and Shentu Tian-Yin poked her head out. “Please get in, Mr Xia. I’ll send you home.”
“Thanks.” Xia Lei did not stand on ceremony; he opened the door and got into the car.
The person in the driver’s seat was Fu Chuan-Fu. He entered the flow of traffic after Xia Lei got on and went at a speed of 50 km/h. This was obviously so that Shentu Tian-Yin and Xia Lei in the back could have a chance to talk.
“Earlier…” Shentu Tian-Yin broke the silence, “My Second Uncle was rude. I apologise on his behalf.”
Xia Lei smiled. “It’s nothing; just a few words. I can take it. You don’t have to apologise on his behalf.”
“Our first meeting was at Far East Heavy Industries. I heard the engineers there say that your German is very good and that you could read fairly specialised German equipment manuals. Why didn’t you tell me what that German man actually said earlier?”
“I do know some German, but… That German just said something trivial. It wouldn’t have been nice of me to let everyone know what he said,” said Xia Lei somewhat awkwardly.
“Can you tell me now, then?”
“He said ‘Your niece doesn’t seem happy".” Xia Lei translated Konrad’s words.
“That was indeed a trivial sentence but he covered it up with a lie. Interesting,” said Shentu Tian-Yin evenly.
“Miss Shentu, can I ask if you have a good relations.h.i.+p with your Second Uncle?”
Shentu Tian-Yin looked at Xia Lei with curious eyes. “Why do you ask this?”
Xia Lei hesitated but still spoke of what had troubled him. “I saw a tiny receiver in your Second Uncle’s ear. There was someone interpreting Konrad’s words for him in real-time. He obviously understood what Konrad said but he said he did not know German. I feel like something’s off.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“I’m not surprised he did this,” said Shentu Tian-Yin, “Do you know why I was mad at him today?”
Xia Lei shook his head. He’d found it odd earlier that Shentu Tian-Yin had let an outsider like him stay while she chased Shentu Yi, her Second Uncle, away. Why had she done that? It was not easy to ask her a question like that though.
Shentu Tian-Yin was quiet for a bit before she spoke. “He is the person who most wants to replace me in our Shentu clan. The female a.s.sa.s.sin you discovered when we first met? I suspect that she’s somehow related to my Second Uncle. I haven’t uncovered any evidence to prove this, unfortunately.”
“Why do you keep him by your side when you know that he wants you dead? There are so many people in your Shentu clan - do they all tolerate his behaviour?”
Shentu Tian-Yin smiled wryly. “Our situation is complicated. My grandfather has just my father and uncle to succeed him. My father suffered a stroke three years ago and has been in a vegetative state since so my grandparents are more partial to my Second Uncle. His son, Shentu Tian-Feng is the direct male descendant of my grandfather and is seen as the one to carry on the family name. My grandparents love him even more. What can I do with him in this situation? Every time I try to move him, my grandparents kick up such a fuss that I can do nothing.”
“What about your cousins? Don’t they care?”
“Them? They only care about money. This may be laughable but out of all the dozens of people in the Shentu clan, I can only trust one - Uncle Fu.” The corners of Shentu Tian-Yin’s lips were faintly downturned in bitterness.
“How about your mother?”
“My situation is the same as yours. My mother pa.s.sed away when I was still little. My father never remarried. He sent me to England to study till three years ago, when he suffered a stroke and I returned to take on the mantle of managing Vientaine Group. Since then, my Second Uncle has been agreeing with me overtly but opposing me in secret; he cannot wait for me to die.”
“With your father in a vegetative state, you are the only one left in your household. If you die, all the businesses will fall to the clutches of your Second Uncle’s family. Of course he’d like you dead. However, he wouldn’t be so stupid as to place bombs to a.s.sa.s.sinate you at Far East Heavy Industries, would he? The police would have easily placed suspicion on him if the female a.s.sa.s.sin succeeded.”
“I thought of that too but I have not found an answer yet,” said Shentu Tian-Yin.
Xia Lei had even less of a clue than she did. This was his first time having a deeper conversation with Shentu Tian-Yin but the topic was rather negative and full of conspiracy. He could sense Shentu Tian-Yin’s bitter loneliness.
The two of them sank into silence and the atmosphere in the car was heavy. Fu Chuan-Fu kept driving forward. A few minutes later, Xia Lei suddenly discovered that Fu Chuan-Fu was not bringing him home but to somewhere by the sea.
“What is this, Miss Shentu?” asked Xia Lei, “Where are you bringing me?”
“What?” A small smile appeared in the corners of Shentu Tian-Yins’s lips. “Afraid that I’d hurt you?”
The smile was charming and added an ordinary womanly-ness to her. Xia Lei had never heard her make a joke before and he momentarily forgot how to speak to her.
“We are going to General Island,” said Shentu Tian-Yin, “We, the Vientaine Group, have our wind power project on that island. I shall not bother scheduling something with you tomorrow - we will stay on the island tonight. You don’t have anything on, do you?”
Xia Lei smiled wryly. “You already have everything arranged. How can I have anything on?”
“Speed up, Uncle Fu. Ming-Mei is waiting for us at the dock. Let’s not make her wait too long; she has a temper,” said Shentu Tian-Yin to Fu Chuan-Fu.
Fu Chuan-Fu gave a sound of agreement and stepped on the accelerator. The Rolls Royce Phantom flew forward.
Xia Lei took out his phone to send Liang Si-Yao a message but Shentu Tian-Yin said, “No.”
“Why?” asked Xia Lei in surprise.
“I don’t want people to know that you’re with me or where I am.”
Xia Lei put his phone away. “You’re worried about someone gaining an advantage from the knowledge of your whereabouts?”
Shentu Tian-Yin said nothing but she gave a slight nod.
Xia Lei sighed. “You have a tiring life.”
Countless people envied her for being the president of Vientaine Group and having a net worth of hundreds of billions but who could see the bitter truth behind all that glory? Her own Second Uncle was constantly plotting against her for her a.s.sets and Gu Ke-Wu had designs on her. She was just one woman but she had to fend off these wolves while her father was bedridden. She was not happy - not one bit!
Fu Chuan-Fu drove to a fis.h.i.+ng village by the sea about ten minutes after and the three of them alighted. A bodyguard stationed there drove Shentu Tian-Yin’s car away. The trio walked to the seaside. After a distance of at least 50 metres, Xia Lei saw a small yacht and a woman on the deck of the yacht. The woman looked about the same age as Shentu Tian-Yin and was dressed in a womens’ suit. She had short hair and looked strong; she looked valiant and formidable.
‘She should be the “Ming-Mei” that Shentu Tian-Yin spoke of,’ thought Xia Lei.
The three of them headed to the yacht. “Ming-Mei is Uncle Fu’s daughter. She’d just retired from the Special Forces this year. I got her to work for me.”
So she was a retired Special Forces officer - no wonder she had such a valiant air.
Fu Chuan-Fu finally opened his mouth to speak. “Mr Xia, my daughter has a short fuse. Please be lenient when you interact with her. Tell me if she makes any mistakes; I’ll hit her.”
Xia Lei laughed. “Stop joking, Uncle Fu. I’m not that petty.”
Fu Ming-Mei jumped from the yacht before the three of them reached it and went up to them. “Who is he, Big Sister Tian-Yin?”
“Xia Lei, my friend,” said Shentu Tian-Yin, “Call him ‘Mr Xia’.”
Fu Ming-Mei frowned slightly but she still greeted Xia Lei politely. “h.e.l.lo, Mr Xia.”
Xia Lei smiled as he said, “No need to be so polite, Miss Ming-Mei.”
Fu Ming-Mei looked Xia Lei over closely, her eyes alert and wary.
“Get aboard. Let’s go,” said Shentu Tian-Yin.
A few minutes later, Fu Ming-Mei drove the yacht to a small island not far from the coastline.