Chapter 111: Beating the Villain, All for a Beauty

A little over a minute later, the golden light within the gauge seemed to come alive. It gave itself a gentle shake, as though mischievously saying:

“Hey, watch closely. Something’s changing!”

And sure enough, the golden light had increased!

The sight sent Li Chao into such a thrill that he felt as though he had won the grand prize. He nearly jumped up and shouted, “Ha-ha! It really works!”

Although Li Chao had no time to personally teach so many disciples, a sudden idea struck him—a wonderful way to “cheat.”

He could personally train two or three apprentices, then have them branch out and teach medical skills to others.

That way, as long as his medical techniques were used to treat patients, all the experience gained would count as his own.

Heh-heh. Wasn’t that cheating in the purest sense?

But whose medical techniques were they, anyway? If he wanted to do it, he would do it!

With that thought, Li Chao eagerly opened his eyes and immediately called Sun Xinglin to ask how many apprentices he currently had.

Sun Xinglin said there were five.

The moment Li Chao heard that, he blurted out, “That’s far too few!”

“Too few?” Sun Xinglin asked in confusion. “Master, what exactly do you mean?”

Li Chao gave a sly chuckle, his eyes gleaming with cunning.

“Take in as many as you can! The more, the better!”

After saying this, even Li Chao couldn’t help making a pleased sound under his breath. His heart was filled with delight.

He could almost see it already: his medical legacy spreading everywhere, while experience points surged toward him like a rising tide. What a beautiful future!

When Sun Xinglin heard his master’s bold declaration, he drew in a sharp breath.

Was Master planning to single-handedly carry traditional medicine to greatness?

How noble!

In an instant, Li Chao’s image in Sun Xinglin’s heart rose as majestically as a mountain peak, so lofty that merely looking up at it made his neck ache.

“Master, if you truly intend to do this, why not open a large medical clinic under your own name?”

Sun Xinglin lowered his voice as he made the suggestion, his eyes shining with anticipation.

Li Chao’s brow twitched when he heard that.

Why not renovate the clinic at home and turn it into a proper medical hall?

It actually sounded feasible.

The more he thought about it, the broader the smile at the corners of his mouth became.

“I’ll think about it. For now, concentrate on practicing your medical skills.”

After saying this, Li Chao ended the call and rubbed the space between his brows.

His family home was already being rebuilt, and the raw-material production base was still under construction. Now there was also the matter of opening a medical hall.

It seemed his future days in Li Family Fort would be extremely “fulfilling.”

But then again, Li Chao reconsidered. Being busy was a good thing.

It not only meant that his own strength was improving, but also that Li Family Fort was becoming better and better.

This counted as using his own abilities to contribute to the village, didn’t it?

The thought filled him with a surge of pride.

Just then, footsteps sounded on the staircase. Liu Jingjing came downstairs in her pajamas.

Her long legs were straight and alluring, making it difficult not to look twice.

Li Chao secretly sighed in admiration. Older sisters had their own charms, and younger sisters had their own delights.

The two exchanged a glance. Neither said anything, yet a faintly peculiar atmosphere seemed to spread through the air.

Li Chao couldn’t help wondering whether the atmosphere had become just a little too subtle.

Liu Jingjing sat down nearby and began eating breakfast. She was completely natural, without the slightest hint of affectation, which reminded Li Chao of an old saying: beauty enough to satisfy the appetite.

As he watched Liu Jingjing eat, a slightly “wicked” thought suddenly arose in his mind.

Heh-heh. What if he trained both beauties into capable assistants?

Then the medical hall would have not only a miracle doctor like himself, but also two beautiful female doctors overseeing the place. Business would surely be booming!

The sight of the two sisters appearing together would be absolutely stunning.

Liu Lele and Liu Jingjing were both beautiful women, each possessing her own unique charm. Together, they were a pleasure to behold.

Still, Li Chao’s little scheme of turning them both into capable assistants was quickly forced back down by his own willpower.

Everyone had improper thoughts from time to time, but that didn’t mean one could act on them recklessly.

Just then, Li Chao’s phone suddenly rang. When he looked at the screen, he saw that it was Liu Dan calling.

“Sister Dan!”

Li Chao answered with a beaming smile.

Liu Dan’s voice came from the other end.

“I’m almost at the Huaxi City Bus Station. Do you have time to come pick me up?”

“Of course! Wait for me at the station. I’ll be right there.”

Li Chao agreed readily.

There was nothing else for him to do at the moment, and Bai Weiwei would contact him whenever she needed him.

“Sister Liu, you two rest here. I’m going out to pick up a friend.”

Li Chao rose as he spoke and was about to leave.

When Liu Lele saw him getting ready to go, she handed him her car keys.

“Take my car.”

Li Chao did not stand on ceremony. He accepted the keys and walked out.

Watching his back, Liu Jingjing lifted a glass of milk, took a sip, and smiled.

“Sis, this is the first time I’ve ever seen you make breakfast for a man. Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for him?”

Liu Lele glared at her.

“Mind your own business! Can’t you keep your mouth shut while you eat?”

After saying that, she couldn’t help laughing herself.

The way these two sisters interacted was genuinely amusing.

They were as close as sisters could be, yet constantly teased and joked with each other, making anyone who watched them smile knowingly.

With the keys in hand, Li Chao opened the car door with practiced ease and climbed inside. He set the navigation system for Huaxi City Bus Station, started the engine, and drove away into the distance.

The Huaxi City station was located on the outskirts, so the drive took some time. Still, after more than half an hour, Li Chao successfully parked.

Once he got out, he called Liu Dan.

“Sister Dan, I’m here. Where are you?”

“I’m beneath a large billboard,” Liu Dan replied. “It has an advertisement for Liu Family Catering on it. You should be able to see it.”

Li Chao looked around and quickly spotted the billboard.

He couldn’t help marveling. As expected of the Liu family—they could afford such a conspicuous advertisement in a place as crowded as a bus station.

After finding Liu Dan, Li Chao realized that she was dressed especially beautifully that day. Her dress clung to her curves, and its neckline was rather low. Her remarkable figure drew lingering glances from nearly everyone passing by.

When Liu Dan saw Li Chao, she walked over and said, “I was actually planning to come by myself, but I heard you were also in Huaxi City, so I called you. I hope I’m not troubling you?”

She sounded slightly worried.

Li Chao immediately smiled.

“With our relationship, how could I possibly find you troublesome? Your coming here is an honor for me!”

Then he asked with concern, “You didn’t eat breakfast before coming, did you? How about I take you somewhere nearby to get something first? The trip from Li Family Fort to Huaxi City takes at least four hours. You surely didn’t have time to eat.”

Liu Dan nodded and smiled.

“I am a little hungry. Fine, then I’ll have a huge meal at your expense today!”

When Li Chao heard that, he leaned close to her ear and said with a wicked grin, “Back in the village, I was always the one eating you. Now it’s your turn to eat me!”

Liu Dan’s face flushed. She stamped her foot.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

The corners of Li Chao’s mouth lifted as he replied with a perfectly serious expression, “I’m not wrong. I really have eaten you before.”

Only then did Liu Dan understand what he meant. She pinched him hard.

“You rascal! You weren’t talking about food, were you?”

Li Chao laughed.

“Of course I was talking about food! Sister Dan, don’t tell me your mind went somewhere else?”

As he said this, he gave her a playful wink.

Liu Dan smiled helplessly. This man was truly incorrigible.

He was always catching her off guard with his teasing, leaving her both annoyed and amused.

After teasing Liu Dan, Li Chao glanced around and fixed his eyes on a restaurant bearing the sign “Bai Family Catering.”

The two-story building was decorated with extraordinary grandeur, completely overshadowing the restaurants around it.

In the past, Li Chao would certainly have been reluctant to visit a place like this. One glance was enough to tell that the prices would not be low.

But things were different now. He was a wealthy man.

More importantly, the restaurant belonged to the Liu family. It would be worthwhile to look around while they were there.

The two entered the restaurant and found that it was not particularly crowded.

Following the waiter’s directions, they went upstairs and chose a table beside the window.

Li Chao went downstairs to order the food while Liu Dan remained there to rest.

After a short while, Li Chao came back upstairs.

However, the moment he saw the table, his expression darkened.

A man in casual clothes, apparently around thirty, was now sitting opposite Liu Dan.

He had short hair, a gold chain around his neck, and an expensive watch on his wrist that gleamed in the sunlight.

The man clearly did not look like someone to be trifled with.

Li Chao’s heart skipped a beat. He had no idea who the man was or why he was sitting there.

Frowning, he walked over to Liu Dan and asked in a low voice, “Sister Dan, what’s going on? Who is this man?”

The man was Yang Fei. Dressed like a wealthy heir, he sat across from Liu Dan with an air of calm confidence, idly playing with his phone.

“Beautiful, I mean no harm. I simply enjoy making friends. Why don’t we add each other and get acquainted? When we’re free, we can go out and have some fun together.”

As he spoke, his eyes brazenly traveled over Liu Dan’s body, as though he intended to examine every inch of her.

After a pause, he continued, “By the way, this restaurant is pretty good, isn’t it? I invested over a million here. Order whatever you like. It’s on me!”

He wore the swaggering expression of a man accustomed to throwing money around.

Yang Fei did indeed have money; otherwise, he would never have been qualified to become a franchisee of Liu Family Catering.

As for women, he had never lacked them. Yet he had rarely encountered a woman with the temperament of He Li—or someone like her.

She possessed mature, alluring beauty tempered by the rustic simplicity and innocence unique to the countryside. He found himself unable to resist drawing closer.

Yang Fei lived by a simple creed: when he found a woman he liked, he never let the opportunity pass.

That was why he had come over at once to strike up a conversation with Liu Dan.

But Liu Dan rejected him without hesitation.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t make friends with strangers.”

Her answer was firm and decisive, clearly taking Yang Fei by surprise.

At that moment, Liu Dan happened to see Li Chao approaching from the distance and quickly called out, “Chao!”

At the sound of her voice, Yang Fei and several men and women nearby all turned to look.

Then they burst into laughter.

Li Chao’s clothes were plain, and he had not a single decent accessory on him. At a glance, it was obvious that he was no wealthy man.

Yang Fei looked Li Chao over, then shifted his gaze back to Liu Dan with an amused smile.

“Beautiful, this isn’t your husband, is it? Don’t tell me you came here for a secret affair? Though what good is a young man with no money or ability? You’d probably have to spend money supporting him. Why not consider me instead? I’m skilled, and I’ve got plenty of money!”

His words were full of provocation and contempt, as though he deliberately wanted to anger Liu Dan.

The man was utterly shameless.

His eyes were sharp enough to see from Liu Dan’s expression that there was clearly something between her and the young man before him.

Since that was the case, he could not be bothered to hide his intentions any longer. He simply laid everything out in the open.

Several men and women nearby joined in the jeering.

“Mr. Yang, you’re amazing!”

“Are you really trying to steal someone’s woman right in front of him?”

“Ha-ha! A woman Mr. Yang takes a fancy to never gets away!”

Their words made Liu Dan tremble with anger. But remembering that they were in Huaxi City, not on her own turf, she did not want to cause Li Chao trouble the moment she arrived.

She rose and said directly, “Chao, I’m not hungry anymore. Let’s go.”

Seeing this, Li Chao hurried over and gently made Liu Dan sit back down. Then he looked at Yang Fei across the table.

“Doing that right in front of me? You seem rather arrogant.”

When the men and women in the distance heard this, they burst into even louder laughter.

“Kid, don’t say ‘seem.’ Take those two words out.”

“I can’t speak for other places, but here at the bus station, Mr. Yang’s word is absolute!”

“That’s right! You’d better convince the woman beside you to cooperate. Otherwise, the consequences will be serious!”

With his companions cheering him on, Yang Fei became even more smug.

He lightly tapped his phone against the tabletop and looked at Li Chao leisurely.

“Brother, I’ve taken a liking to your woman. Fifty thousand. Let her spend the night with me. What do you say?”

Li Chao narrowed his eyes and flexed the joints of his hands without saying a word.

He was already considering how to deal with this arrogant bastard.

Yang Fei assumed Li Chao was thinking it over and spoke again.

“I have plenty of money! If fifty thousand isn’t enough, then make it a hundred thousand! Do you know how long an ordinary person would have to work to earn that much?”

He smiled smugly, as though he had already reduced Li Chao to a helpless target he could toy with at will.

“One night!”

“Just let your woman lie in my bed and you’ll have the money!”

“Easy as that!”

Yang Fei’s words were filled with arrogance and conceit. He even reached out as if to touch Liu Dan, treating her as though she already belonged to him.

In his eyes, ordinary people could never resist such temptation. They would surely obediently send their women to his bed.

But he was wrong.

He had completely misjudged Li Chao.

The other men and women wore contemptuous expressions as well, waiting for Li Chao to surrender.

They seemed already able to picture him kneeling on the floor and begging for mercy, their hearts filled with smugness and derision.

Then, in the next instant, their expressions changed.

A cold glint flashed through Li Chao’s eyes. He casually picked up a plate from the table and smashed it viciously against Yang Fei’s head.

Crack!

Porcelain shards flew in every direction, accompanied by a spray of blood.

Li Chao then seized Yang Fei by the collar, hauled him from his seat, and hurled him into the distance as easily as tossing aside a sack.

Tables and chairs shattered, leaving the area in complete disarray.

Everyone was stunned. No one had imagined that this seemingly harmless young man would suddenly attack—and with such ruthless force.

Several men and women watching from afar screamed in terror, nearly scared out of their wits.

Liu Dan instinctively covered her mouth. Although this was not the first time she had seen Li Chao act so decisively, whenever he defended her, she still felt an overwhelming sense of security.

“Mr. Yang, are you all right?”

“You dare attack him? You’re finished!”

Only then did his companions recover from their shock. They rushed forward and awkwardly helped Yang Fei to his feet.

A bloody gash had been carved across Yang Fei’s forehead, and blood covered his face. He looked utterly disheveled.

He stared at Li Chao with wide eyes, filled with fear and resentment.

He had never imagined that this ordinary-looking young man would possess such courage and strength.

Li Chao, meanwhile, regarded them with icy indifference, as though they were nothing more than a group of clowns.

He slowly walked to Liu Dan’s side and asked softly, “Sister Dan, are you all right?”

Liu Dan shook her head. A trace of worry flickered through her eyes, but she knew that with Li Chao beside her, she had nothing to fear.

The men and women in the distance were now too frightened to make another sound. As they watched Li Chao’s back, he seemed like someone utterly beyond their ability to provoke.

Yang Fei accepted a towel from one of his companions and pressed it against his wound. His face twisted with rage as he glared at Li Chao.

“You bastard! How dare you hit me?”

“If I don’t deal with you today, I’ll change my name!”

Then he turned toward the distance and shouted, “Where are the restaurant staff? Are you all dead? Can’t you see that I’ve been attacked?”

At his cry, all the restaurant employees came running out. Before long, a large crowd had gathered around them.

Even some of the diners were drawn over and began craning their necks to watch.

The companions who had followed Yang Fei earlier now looked at Li Chao with open contempt.

A nobody like you dares provoke Mr. Yang?

You’ll be carried out of here horizontally after walking in upright.

Li Chao, however, remained utterly calm. He picked up several tissues, wiped his hands, then sat down across from Liu Dan.

“I’ll give you one chance. Slap yourself thirty times, then kneel down and apologize with those lackeys of yours. Otherwise, you can wait and regret this.”

The moment Li Chao finished speaking, a chorus of jeers rose from the surrounding crowd.

Clearly, no one believed that this young man possessed the power to back up such a threat.

Yang Fei scoffed contemptuously and shouted, “Regret it? Who the hell do you think you are?”

Li Chao chuckled. Then he reached into his clothes, pulled out a golden card, and slapped it onto the tabletop.

“What? Planning to compare the money in our bank accounts? Let me tell you, even a single card of mine has more money than you—”

Yang Fei spoke with a mocking expression as he casually glanced at the table.

But the instant he saw the golden card, his expression changed.

That card was no ordinary bank card. It was—

Yang Fei suddenly shuddered violently. Even his gaze turned terrified as he cried out:

“A Liu Family Gold Card?”

At those words, his companions and the restaurant employees all froze. Some of the more timid ones even began trembling so badly that their legs shook.

The air seemed to congeal, and the atmosphere instantly became bizarre.

The diners watching the commotion did not understand what they were seeing. They began whispering among themselves.

“What’s going on?”

“Is that gold card really so powerful? Why does everyone look terrified?”

“Can someone explain?”

An elderly man nearby, clearly more knowledgeable than the others, spoke up.

“The Liu Family Gold Card is an identity card issued by the Liu family of Huaxi City. Anyone holding one can freely use any of the Liu family’s resources without paying a single cent. Its holder’s status is second only to Liu Zhenhua, the head of the Liu Group. Now tell me—does that sound powerful?”

The crowd collectively sucked in a cold breath.

They had never imagined that such an unremarkable-looking gold card could possess such tremendous authority.

Yang Fei’s face had gone pale as ashes. He knew that he had caused himself serious trouble.

Li Chao looked at him calmly, the corners of his mouth curling into an amused smile.

He knew that the appearance of this gold card had completely reversed the situation.

Now it was Yang Fei’s turn to be afraid.

“Well, Mr. Yang? Are you going to continue?”

Li Chao’s voice was calm, but it carried an unmistakable authority and force, making everyone present feel a chill run through their hearts.

Yang Fei’s face had turned deathly white.

He knew that he had lost completely.