Chapter 793 — Kang Jingming's True Purpose

"Demolishing the building?" Wei Zhao was briefly taken aback. Following the direction the men were pointing, he looked over — wasn't that Xiaofen's building?

Kang Xiaofeng was startled too when he heard what they said. These people were going to tear down Xiaofen's building? But Xiaofen was still inside! What were they supposed to do now?

"Boss—" Kang Xiaofeng had barely opened his mouth when Wei Zhao silenced him with a look, patted him on the shoulder, and gave him a reassuring glance.

"Oh, so when do you plan to start work?" Wei Zhao asked, glancing at Xiaofen's building without betraying a thing.

"Who are you? Why so many questions?" The bulldozer driver immediately turned to Wei Zhao with a wary look.

"Oh, I just figured I'd head over after you're done. I need to fetch a few things from my old place — the single-story house over there. Weren't they saying it's slated for demolition? I don't care about the compensation money and all that. Once I've got my things out, you can tear it down however you like." Wei Zhao spoke in the tone of a spoiled rich kid, putting on quite the show.

"Oh, we start at eight on the dot and should be finished by a little past ten. But we're only demolishing this one building today, not the single-story ones. You could come get your things tomorrow too," the man said, his wariness easing the moment he heard Wei Zhao's words.

"That works too. I'll come tomorrow." Wei Zhao turned the car around, drove it away from the spot, circled through the shantytown, and parked somewhere relatively out of sight.

"Boss, they're going to tear down the building, and Xiaofen is still inside!" Kang Xiaofeng said urgently.

"It's only seven thirty-five. We've still got twenty-five minutes. Plenty of time." Wei Zhao got out of the car with a smile. "Come on, let's go see Kang Jingming."

"But boss, why didn't you tell them there was still someone in the building?" Kang Jingming asked, not quite understanding.

(Note: the speaker here is Kang Xiaofeng, not Kang Jingming.) "If we told them, where would the fun be? You'll see in a moment." As Wei Zhao spoke, he hurried toward Xiaofen's three-story red-brick building and entered Xiaofen's stairwell.

Kang Xiaofeng was still completely in the dark, but seeing how certain Wei Zhao was — and trusting him as he did — he said nothing more and followed him hastily up the stairs.

"When we get in, let me do the talking. Don't say too much." Wei Zhao instructed Kang Xiaofeng as he knocked on the door.

"Got it, boss." Kang Xiaofeng nodded. Whatever Wei Zhao said, he obeyed without question.

Wei Zhao knocked, and Xiaofen came to the door quickly. Seeing it was Kang Xiaofeng and Wei Zhao, she was overjoyed. "You're here!"

Kang Jingming hurriedly rose from the sofa too. When he saw Kang Xiaofeng and Wei Zhao, a flicker of hatred passed through his eyes, but it vanished at once. "Xiaobo, Wei Zhao, I've come today with the utmost sincerity to apologize to you both!"

Wei Zhao had naturally caught that fleeting hatred in Kang Jingming's eyes. He didn't believe for a moment that the man was sincerely here to apologize. Coming here, he must have some other purpose in mind.

Kang Xiaofeng kept Wei Zhao's words in mind and said nothing once they were inside. He ignored Kang Jingming entirely and turned to Xiaofen instead. "Xiaofen, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Kang Jingming's been very polite since he got here. He hasn't done anything out of line." Xiaofen shook her head.

Only then did Kang Xiaofeng relax. What he'd feared was that Kang Jingming would say something insulting and set Xiaofen off again. She had only just recovered — how could she take any more agitation?

"Kang Jingming, is it? If you've got a purpose, just say it." Wei Zhao sat down on the sofa, leisurely checked his watch. "I'll give you ten minutes."

It was now seven forty. Ten minutes would put them at seven fifty — still plenty of time.

Kang Jingming was seething inwardly. What kind of attitude was this? I've come to give you money, and this is how you treat me? Absolutely unreasonable!

But seeing that neither Kang Xiaofeng nor Xiaofen seemed inclined to speak, it was clear Wei Zhao was still the one in charge here. If he wanted to achieve his goal, he had no choice but to talk to Wei Zhao. So he said, "I feel I wronged Xiaofen in the past, so this time I've come to make it up to her with some money — as a way of atoning for my mistakes..."

"You say all that, and you expect me to believe it?" Wei Zhao gave a cold laugh. "Enough. Just tell me what you're really after. Xiaofen doesn't need your compensation."

"Uh..." Kang Jingming was struck dumb for a moment. He had not expected Wei Zhao to be so unyielding, yet he truly could not leave now even if they wanted him gone. He had not achieved his goal yet — how could he go? In other words, the money had to be given out today, no matter what.

Kang Xiaofeng and Xiaofen, standing off to the side, were also taken aback by Wei Zhao's hard line. At this rate, wasn't he just driving Kang Jingming away? Hadn't he said just before that they should take the money?

Still, since Wei Zhao was the one calling the shots here, they did not interrupt and simply waited for him to handle it.

"All right, then. Our Kang family is about to be elevated to a great clan, so I don't want any gossip about me floating around out there!" Kang Jingming pondered for a moment, then said, "I want Xiaofen to stop mentioning what happened between her and me to outsiders — especially in public places, like at the hospital, and with the nurses and so on. Just don't talk about it..."

Wei Zhao listened to Kang Jingming's half-true, half-false speech, and only when he reached that last sentence did he understand the man's true aim. The hospital nurses? Didn't that mean Guan Xin? Wei Zhao sneered inwardly. This creature wanted to court Guan Xin, but feared she might learn of the sordid things he had done before. Add to that his having likely noticed that Xiaofen and Guan Xin knew each other, and that was why he had come to Xiaofen to buy her silence. This five hundred thousand was, in effect, hush money.

"There, wasn't that simple? If you've got a purpose, just say it straight — it's hush money, isn't it? Fine, we'll take it." Wei Zhao waved a hand and said with some impatience, "Where's the money?"

"It's early in the morning, I had nowhere to withdraw cash, but it's already deposited on a bank card." Kang Jingming fished a bank card out of his pocket and said to Wei Zhao.

"On a bank card? How are we supposed to know whether there's actually money on it?" Wei Zhao retorted, unconvinced.

"That... you can go check at the bank. There's one just nearby," Kang Jingming said.

"Fine, then. We'll go to the bank and check first. If there really is money in there, we'll come back and sign the agreement!" Wei Zhao took the bank card from Kang Jingming's hand and said to him.

"How about I go with you?" Kang Jingming was somewhat uneasy.

"This is Xiaofen's home. Are you afraid we won't come back?" Wei Zhao said with a laugh.

"That..." Kang Jingming hesitated, but then reflected that he was sitting right there in Xiaofen's house — even if the monk ran, the temple couldn't, and in the end they would still have to come back, wouldn't they? So he nodded and said, "All right then. Go quickly and come back quickly. I'll wait here for you!"