Chapter 518 — Strength Restored

Wei Zhao knew perfectly well what line of work Feng Tianlong was in—it differed little from his own old life. More often than not the man had no say in his own schedule, so if he still had not come back by this hour he was not coming back tonight, and there was no point in Wei Zhao waiting any longer.

"You... you're leaving?" Seeing Wei Zhao on the verge of walking out, Feng Xiaoxiao flared up in annoyance. Honestly! The man had seen her all bare, and now he was turning and strolling off—what was that supposed to mean?

Wei Zhao nodded, pushed the door open and stepped out of Feng Xiaoxiao's room, leaving her nothing but his back.

"Hmph!" Feng Xiaoxiao stamped her foot in a fury. "Damn Wei Zhao, watch out or I'll gouge your eyes right out and stomp on them like bubbles!"

She fumed, but then she recalled Wei Zhao's remark that her figure was rather nice, and a small glow of pleasure crept in. Her figure was pretty good after all, it seemed—Wei Zhao was not entirely uninterested in her! Given time, perhaps she could capture Wei Zhao's heart too?

At the thought Feng Xiaoxiao brightened again, and especially at the photo she had just snapped on her phone—it could serve as her trump card! If Tang Yun ever saw it, heh heh, Wei Zhao would be done for!

Wei Zhao had no idea what Feng Xiaoxiao was thinking, nor did he have the leisure to wonder. Only after he had left the Songjiang International Hotel where she was staying did he begin to check his own strength.

The early stage of the Yellow Rank? A smile spread across Wei Zhao's face. Back in the day it had taken him nearly five years to go from an ordinary man to the early Yellow Rank—and now it had taken a mere handful of hours!

Jiao Yazi had been right after all: his level had not been lost, only the energy. With the energy restored, his strength had naturally returned.

The early Yellow Rank was not exactly formidable, but it was more than enough to keep him out of trouble. Wei Zhao flagged down a taxi and headed back to his own hotel.

Fatty Lai and Guan Xuemin had not gone to bed yet; the two of them were drinking together in the room. One old, one young, they did not have many topics between them—but with Wei Zhao and the pharmaceutical company as a shared subject, the talk never really died.

Seeing Wei Zhao push the door open and walk in, Fatty Lai said, "Boss, you're back? Have a couple of drinks with us?"

"Then I'll have a couple." Wei Zhao did not decline. One of them was an elder; the other, though nothing more than his own underling, was a man the pharmaceutical company would have to go on relying upon.

Fatty Lai had only thrown the invitation out casually, never imagining Wei Zhao would actually accept. Hearing him agree, Fatty Lai was taken aback on the spot.

But Wei Zhao had already come over and sat down. Back at the hotel he had done nothing but watch Feng Xiaoxiao eat while having almost nothing himself, and now he was genuinely hungry.

"Let me get something to eat first; you two carry on drinking." Seeing that a few dumplings still lay on the table, Wei Zhao pulled them over and fell upon them ravenously.

"Boss, didn't you eat while you were out?" Fatty Lai stared in astonishment. He had assumed Wei Zhao had gone out for a meal; he had never expected him to come back and wolf food down like a starving beast.

"Heh..." Wei Zhao laughed. "I did eat. It's just that one little lady eats far too much—she polished off every last bit herself."

"Uh..." Fatty Lai's eyes went wide. "Don't tell me that was Feng Xiaoxiao, from just now?"

"Yes, her." Wei Zhao made no attempt to hide it.

"Oh... I wonder what her background is—even Wu Gonggao fears her old man!" Fatty Lai certainly remembered Feng Xiaoxiao. He was a businessman; every last one of those powerful figures he committed to memory.

"Heh, her father and I go back a little ways. As for what her background is, you had better not ask me about that for now." Wei Zhao waved a hand. "That is classified."

Wei Zhao had known Fatty Lai for only a very short time, and so could not bring himself to trust the man completely. Some things he could tell him now; others, no.

Guan Xuemin, however, understood what Wei Zhao meant. He already knew of Wei Zhao's connection with Yang Huaijun, and remembering how Wu Gonggao had addressed Feng Tianlong, he instantly pieced together the man's identity.

Feng Tianlong was almost certainly an agent as well, though which department he belonged to was anyone's guess.

Fatty Lai said nothing more on the subject, and instead began discussing the auction with Wei Zhao. "Boss, take a look—this is tomorrow's auction catalogue. See if there's anything on it you want!"

Fatty Lai held a red invitation, which entitled him to the auction list only on the day of the sale itself. Guan Xuemin was different: he held a gold invitation, which got him the list of auction items in advance.

Guan Xuemin had not cared about it at first, but on the thought that Wei Zhao might have some use for it, he asked for a copy.

"I've been through the list. Of everything on it connected with medicine, there is only one item—a thousand-year snow lotus," Guan Xuemin said. "I wonder whether it might be of any use."

"A thousand-year snow lotus?" Wei Zhao started slightly. That was a rare thing indeed. "Many ancient prescriptions use the thousand-year snow lotus as a catalyst, and for repairing scars on the human body it has effects you would never expect..."

"Oh? In that case, it would be useful to us as well?" Fatty Lai asked, a little excited. "Shall we take it tomorrow?"

"That won't be necessary." Wei Zhao waved a hand. "The cost is far too high—it could never be mass-produced."

"That's true—one snow lotus really isn't enough to do anything with!" Fatty Lai's disappointment showed on the spot.

"Heh—take our premium wound medicine, the scar-repairing kind we're putting up for auction. The original formula did contain a thousand-year snow lotus, but I replaced it with something else." Wei Zhao said, "In fact, many of the ingredients in the old prescriptions are extremely hard to come by these days—but substitutes can always be found!"

"Good heavens! Boss, you're incredible!" At Wei Zhao's words Fatty Lai was so awed he nearly bowed to the floor. "Even that can be swapped out? Does it affect the results at all?"

"Perhaps it does, perhaps it doesn't—I haven't noticed any." Wei Zhao smiled. "It should be negligible."

"Boss, you truly are a miracle doctor!" Fatty Lai knew nothing of medicine himself, but he understood this much: plenty of doctors could diagnose a patient and write out a prescription, yet a doctor who could alter a prescription at will and find substitutes for its ingredients was rarer than rare.

Even Guan Xuemin wore a look of shock. The surprises Wei Zhao had given him were simply too many to take in. The old saying had never rung truer: one is never too old to learn, and there is always someone better. He had been called a miracle doctor all his life, yet compared with Wei Zhao he was nothing but a frog in a well.

"It's nothing—simple things, really." Wei Zhao waved a hand. "Let me look over the catalogue first."

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