Chapter 448 — A Very Bad Attitude; and since this building amounted to Fatty Lai's gift to Wei Zhao, freely given, Wei Zhao felt he ought to repay him something, and so decided to ask after his father's illness.

The moment Fatty Lai heard Wei Zhao's question, he froze for an instant, hardly able to believe his own ears. But once he had made certain that his hearing was not playing tricks on him, he was seized by delight. Fatty Lai burst into tears, his eyes brimming, convinced that all his effort and persistence had at last been repaid. Not long before, Wei Zhao had wanted nothing to do with him, would not even spare him the time of day; and now, of his own accord, he was asking after his father's illness. Fatty Lai was so flattered he could scarcely keep his feet on the ground.

"Wah... Divine Doctor Lin, I knew you were a good man, I knew you would care about my father!" Fatty Lai said, and made to kneel before Wei Zhao: "On behalf of my old father, thank you..."

"Enough. Stop! Stop it this instant!" Wei Zhao had been badly startled by the whole performance and was thoroughly afraid of the fellow. "Don't do that. If you pull that again, I won't ask next time. I shouldn't have opened my mouth..."

"No, no—I've stopped, see, I'm not crying... wah... I'm just moved, weeping for joy!" Fatty Lai scrambled to his feet and wiped his tears dry. Fatty Lai well deserved his reputation as a crybaby of the first order: his tears came fast and departed just as fast, and in no time his face was wreathed in smiles again.

"As long as you don't cry, you may call me as usual next time..." Wei Zhao was rather speechless, and sincerely in awe of the man. To spare himself a few more tearful scenes, he granted him a special privilege where the telephone was concerned.

"Really? That's wonderful, Divine Doctor Lin..." Fatty Lai was so excited he was on the verge of tears again, but at the thought of what Wei Zhao had just said—no crying, or no phone calls—he hastily choked the sobs back down.

"Now, tell me about your father. He has uremia, is that right?" Wei Zhao waved a hand to cut him off. Even without the tears, the fellow was hopelessly long-winded.

"Yes, uremia. After he took that half of the Life-Extending Detox Pill, there was a marked improvement—he's awake now, his spirits are much better, all his indicators have begun to turn around. But the doctors say it isn't fully cured. Treatment can hold it steady, but they can't say whether it will worsen again..." Fatty Lai said anxiously.

"Has he ever had a kidney transplant?" Wei Zhao nodded and asked.

"No. At his age they were afraid he wouldn't survive the operating table, and the doctors didn't recommend surgery either," Fatty Lai said honestly.

"Then this will be simple," Wei Zhao said. "Here is what we'll do. I'll write out a few herbs for you to go and buy, I'll decoct them, and your father will take them for a week. Come back in a week and I'll change the prescription."

"Ah! Yes! Thank you, Divine Doctor Lin..." Fatty Lai was beside himself with excitement, certain now that he had backed the right horse. It seemed Divine Doctor Lin was truly kind-hearted after all; worn down by his pestering, the doctor had finally agreed to help.

Wei Zhao still did not trust Fatty Lai completely, so this first time he did not have him buy up everything that would be needed. He wrote out only the names of the herbs for the first course of treatment, and even the quantities were not precise—about five taels of each—and he slipped in several extra names of herbs that were of no use whatsoever.

Fatty Lai took the prescription carefully in both hands, terrified of losing it, tucked it into the front of his coat, and rushed out to buy the medicine.

With Fatty Lai seen off, Wei Zhao let out a breath of relief and said to Guan Xuemin: "Grandpa Guan, is the paperwork for the pharmaceutical company, and the approval of those few medicines, all taken care of?"

"Yes, those are trifles. I didn't even have to show my face—I had Xiao Xiang see to it, and he'll bring it over shortly," Guan Xuemin said with a nod. Even as he spoke, a knock came at the door of the study, and then the door was pushed open.

"Dad, I've brought the materials you wanted..." The man who entered was middle-aged, and his face bore a trace of Guan Xuemin's features; this, then, would be Guan Xuemin's son, Guan Xiaoxiang.

"Just put them here. Oh, and let me introduce you—this is Wei Zhao, the Mr. Lin I mentioned to you," Guan Xuemin said, presenting Wei Zhao to Guan Xiaoxiang.

"How do you do, Uncle Guan." Wei Zhao rose at once to greet him; Guan Xiaoxiang was, after all, his elder, and Wei Zhao did not dare put on airs.

Guan Xiaoxiang, however, seemed indifferent toward Wei Zhao. He gave him a nod and said, lukewarm: "Hello, Mr. Lin."

If Wei Zhao addressed him as uncle, then he should not have been calling Wei Zhao "Mr. Lin." Even mere politeness would not have been so cold.

Wei Zhao smiled wryly, at a loss as to how he had offended Guan Xiaoxiang, and, feeling awkward, did not know what else to say.

It was Guan Xuemin who smoothed things over: "Xiao Xiang, is the company busy?"

"So-so," Guan Xiaoxiang said flatly. "Dad, what put the idea of starting a company into your head? Weren't you always the one who disliked doing business under your own name? Don't go muddle-headed in your old age—take care you don't destroy a lifetime's good name in a single stroke."

"Xiao Xiang, what nonsense are you talking?" Guan Xuemin's face darkened at once. He glared at his son: "Have you said your piece? If you have nothing else, you may go."

"My company is very busy. I came back only to bring you these materials, so of course I'm in a hurry to get back," Guan Xiaoxiang said coolly. "I am merely reminding you—don't be taken in."

With that, Guan Xiaoxiang glanced at Wei Zhao, turned, and left the room without another word. He strode quickly out of the villa, and from beyond the door came the sound of the front gate closing.

"That boy!" Guan Xuemin was thoroughly exasperated. He shook his head with a bitter smile and said to Wei Zhao: "Xiao Yi, don't take offense."

"Heh... Uncle Guan meant well. He was only afraid I might be a swindler." Wei Zhao smiled slightly to show that he understood. In truth, there was nothing unreasonable in what Guan Xiaoxiang had said; it was a little blunt, but he was indeed speaking as one of the family, warning Guan Xuemin not to be fooled.

He had simply expressed it too bluntly—he could easily have waited until Wei Zhao had left. But Wei Zhao was not one to hold such things against a man.

"It isn't aimed at you," Guan Xuemin said, shaking his head. "The boy still resents me. He has never been able to let go of what happened back then."

"What happened back then?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback.

"My eldest son—I've told you about him. A lazy good-for-nothing with no proper work, who traded on my name to gather a few medicine dealers around him and go into the pharmaceutical business. He has done quite well for himself," Guan Xuemin said. "So when my younger son was about to graduate from university, he and a close classmate of his wanted to open a clinic, hanging my name over the door. I refused him outright... And so he has never been able to get over the fact that this time I have used my name to set up a pharmaceutical company with you..."

Hearing Guan Xuemin's explanation, Wei Zhao could not help but laugh. "So Uncle Guan is jealous of me."