Chapter 1104 — The Kang Family Grows Anxious, Too
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Hmph! You useless fool — a thorough, bottomless fool!" Divine Doctor Kang slammed his palm down on the tea table, gnashing his teeth in fury.
Kang Guifeng did not dare open his mouth. He lowered his head in silence; whatever he said now would do no good. A wrong was a wrong — one false step, and every step that followed went further astray.
"Second son, you speak!" Divine Doctor Kang turned his gaze to his second boy; he did not even call him by his name, addressing him simply as second son.
"Father, I said it before: a starved camel is bigger than a horse. The Xiao family was not entirely without value, which is why I did not support falling out with them. But now things have come to this — what can I do about it? They are beyond saving." Kang Cuipu spread his hands in helpless resignation. He had never imagined that the nonsense he had spouted last time would prove so right.
"Hmm..." Come to think of it, Kang Cuipu had indeed said as much back then; he simply had not taken it seriously, taking it for ravings. But thinking on it now, those words were not without reason — the truth does hurt the ears. For all that this second son was a spendthrift idler, he had a remarkably clear eye for how matters stood. Divine Doctor Kang could only turn to Kang Jinglong and ask: "Zhaolong, do you have any idea what to do? You were all for beating a drowning dog and breaking the betrothal with the Xiao family. Have you a way to make amends now?"
"I... Grandfather, I was wrong..." Kang Jinglong was wretched inside, too. He had never in his wildest dreams imagined that the Xiao family would stage such a comeback — and what a comeback it was! What could he do now? All he could do was pray in his heart that Divine Doctor Kang would not blame him.
"Hmph! What good does it do to admit you were wrong?" Watching Kang Jinglong stand there mute, Divine Doctor Kang could not help snorting coldly. He thought to himself that he had truly misjudged them — one Kang Guifeng, one Kang Jinglong, and both dropped the ball the moment it mattered. What good were they? Who had asked him to rush and admit his fault? The pressing business was to work out a countermeasure! Now that the Xiao family could not be struck from the ranks of the aristocratic families, did that not mean the Kang family had lost its chance? And the feud between the Xiao family and the Kang family was already settled — even if the Kang family had the chance to rise to aristocratic rank, the Xiao family would hardly put in a good word for them; it would be a blessing if they did not work against them! A wave of helplessness came over Divine Doctor Kang, and he turned to Kang Jingming: "Zhaoming, say your piece..."
"Grandfather, I said it last time: even a salted fish gets its day to turn over. The Xiao family may be down on its luck, but they are still an aristocratic family after all — whether they might rise again one day is anyone's guess. But not one of you would listen to me back then; you even said I was trying to dally with my own sister-in-law..." At this, Kang Jingming shot an irritated glance at his elder brother Kang Jinglong. Had his brother not put a spanner in the works back then, he might well already have carried the beauty home as his bride — and the Kang family would not be in such dire straits today!
"Yes, who would have thought it — Cuipu, Zhaoming, it is you father and son who spoke the plain truth! The truth is hard on the ears; that saying is no lie. Had I listened to you then, matters would never have come to this pass!" Divine Doctor Kang, too, was flooded with regret. Even if he had not listened to Kang Cuipu, he should at least have listened to Kang Jingming! The Kang Jingming of today was no longer that idler Kang Jingming — he had won one great merit after another for the family and had become a man of true talent! At the thought, Divine Doctor Kang hurriedly asked: "Zhaoming, then tell me — what should we do now?"