Chapter 569 — Operation Secret Theft

"I've heard of them, but wasn't that a long time ago? Haven't the former four young masters all gone their separate ways?" Gao Xiaofu said.

"It was An Liwen, one of the Songshan Four Young Masters, who did it! Gu Mengyao is his childhood sweetheart — that I never saw coming. This time I fell right into his hands!" Zhong Yongliang's voice carried a note of helpless resignation. "I won't be settling this score."

"No way — he's that formidable?" Gao Xiaofu gaped. "Then what do we do?"

"What else can we do? Lie low for now." Zhong Yongliang's tone was flat. "Don't worry. The matter's been settled. It won't drag you into anything."

"Brother Liang, that's not what I mean. I'm not afraid — I just think this is too vicious. Cutting out one of your kidneys!" Gao Xiaofu said the words out loud, but inside he was terrified as well.

"Forget it. Let's keep our heads down from now on. Once Nai Pao comes down the mountain, we'll see who dares cross us!" Zhong Yongliang gritted his teeth, his voice heavy with hatred.

"That's right! Once Nai Pao is back, who do we have to fear? We'll be the new Songshan Three Young Masters — anyone who stands against us, we wipe them out!" Gao Xiaofu too was eagerly looking forward to Zhang Nai Pao's return.

"All right, Xiaofu, focus on your classes. Let's stay out of trouble for the time being," Zhong Yongliang said. He said nothing about getting Young Master Bing to make trouble for Wei Zhao — he was afraid Gao Xiaofu might let it slip. The present Zhong Yongliang had grown far more composed than before.

Donghai City, the villa of Divine Doctor Kang.

Divine Doctor Kang's face was dark with displeasure. At the auction, the Kang family had not reaped a single benefit. Not only had they bought a Life-Prolonging Detox Pill at an exorbitant price, they had burned through most of the family's liquid assets! That was bad enough on its own — but worse still, their hopes of being elevated to a noble house were all but extinguished!

The Beauty and Skin-Nourishing Gold Wound Medicine they had placed such high hopes in had become superfluous in the face of Guan Doctor Pharmaceuticals' premium wound medicine. The thousand-year snow lotus they had purchased at such a steep price might not even recoup its cost!

"Grandfather, I think the great-uncle must have handed the formula over to Kang Xiaofeng. Otherwise, how would Guan Doctor Pharmaceuticals have the formulas for both the wound medicine and its premium edition?" Kang Jinglong watched his grandfather pacing back and forth across the room and ventured cautiously.

"I've already asked him. Ling Tou said he has never even seen the formula, and that Kang Xiaofeng doesn't have any formula on hand either." Divine Doctor Kang shook his head. "I know Ling Tou's character — if he wanted to make money, he would never have fallen out with me in the first place!"

"Grandfather, times have changed." Kang Jingming stepped forward and spoke up. "Back then, the great-uncle had no grandchildren and didn't think that far ahead — he only considered himself! But now he's thinking about his descendants' future! Look at how miserably Kang Xiaofeng is getting by — the women he goes after are leftovers I've already had! The great-uncle probably can't bear to watch his grandson live in poverty either, so he handed the formula over to Kang Xiaofeng! But he's too proud to admit it to your face."

"Zhaoming, there's something to what you say," Divine Doctor Kang nodded. "In your view, what should we do?"

"That..." Kang Jingming was a treacherous, scheming sort by nature — devising sinister plots was second nature to him — but asking him to devise actual countermeasures was something of a stretch.

"Grandfather, I think we need to probe into Guan Xuewen's background. First, to find out where their formula came from; second, if possible, to get hold of the formula for the Life-Prolonging Detox Pill." Kang Jinglong paused. "Of course, our own research into the Life-Prolonging Detox Pill shouldn't stop. If we can develop it ourselves, there's still hope of being elevated to a noble house."

"Naturally. But we have no one on their side — how do we go about probing?" Divine Doctor Kang nodded and asked.

"Grandfather, haven't I said so before? There's a formidable figure in our family!" As he spoke, Kang Jinglong let his gaze settle on Kang Jingming.

Divine Doctor Kang looked taken aback for a moment, then recalled what Kang Jinglong had said back in Yanjing. He nodded. "Zhaolong, go ahead and lay out your plan."

"Zhaoming, I have a critical mission for you." Kang Jinglong looked at his brother with a grave expression.

"Huh? Me? What mission?" Kang Jingming shrank slightly under Zhaolong's gaze, not knowing what his brother was after.

"Seduce Guan Xuewen's granddaughter, Guan Xin. Think you can pull it off?" Kang Jinglong watched Zhaoming as he asked.

"Seduce... a girl?" Zhaoming blinked, then broke into a wide grin. "I may not be good at much, but when it comes to picking up women, I'm a master! That's my specialty — leave this one to me!"

Hearing Zhaoming's words, Divine Doctor Kang did not know whether to laugh or cry. Still, for all his faults, this grandson was not entirely useless — for this sort of offbeat business, he really was the right man for the job.

"Guan Xuewen's granddaughter is no ordinary girl either, not like the women you play around with. You will need to put some thought into this one," Kang Jinglong said. "From what I have found out, this Guan Xin graduated from a nursing school and has been working as a nurse at the hospital ever since. She is quite innocent, though, and has probably never had a boyfriend. A girl like that has simple feelings. She may not be easy to win over, but once you have her, she will be devoted to you for life. Ask her to get you a few secrets, and she will be only too willing to help you!"

"My, big brother, I never knew you were so formidable! So versed in the hearts of girls?" Kang Jingming was astonished. He had not expected his brother, who had never had a girlfriend, to understand women so well.

"This is only theory on my part, while you are the one with practice, so this business still depends on you! Bring me the formula, and you will have done a great service!" Kang Jinglong said.

"All right, big brother. I have no talent for management, but this sort of thing I am confident I can handle. Send me on jobs like this from now on, and I guarantee to bring them off without fail!" Kang Jingming was usually vexed at having no place where he could show his abilities; now at last there was somewhere he could put his hand to work.

Having settled this reconnaissance plan, the members of the Kang family went on to discuss the analysis of the Longevity and Detoxification Pill's formula.

"Zhaolong, judging by the present situation, this Longevity and Detoxification Pill differs from the previous one in both color and taste," Divine Doctor Kang said. "Could it be that we were mistaken last time? That what we brought back was nothing but a piece of dog shit?"

"It is possible! Perhaps after it was thrown into the trash bin it got mixed up with dog shit, and the half Zhaoming ate happened not to be dog shit, while the remaining half was dog shit through and through!" Kang Jinglong guessed.