The People’s Hospital forcibly transferred the patient, and all the other hospitals refused to take him. If Father Zhang were already terminally ill and beyond saving, this wouldn’t be unusual. But the current situation is that Father Zhang is no longer in critical condition, yet not a single hospital dares to admit him. This is obviously against the rules.

Liu Cheng pondered for a few seconds, and immediately grasped the key point.

The only possible reason for this situation is that the Zhang Family has offended someone.

But the Zhang Family clearly looked like honest, dirt-poor people. A family like that—what kind of powerful figure could they possibly have offended to make all the major hospitals in Fucheng so wary?

Liu Cheng recalled what he’d discussed with Zhang Chao before leaving, and directly pinned the mastermind behind this on that boss surnamed Jiang, the one the Zhang Family’s Young Aunt had brought in.

Although this guess had not been confirmed, putting together everything Zhang Chao had said earlier, that Jiang fellow was someone who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, and he was also a big boss. If there was any candidate at all, the only person who would do such a thing was probably this Jiang; you couldn’t find anyone else.

Liu Cheng’s face instantly turned cold. He never would have thought there could be such a despicable, shameless scumbag in this world, someone who, just to force the purchase of a house, would do something so inhuman.

"Don’t panic. I’ll rush back right now. You stay at the hospital and wait. We’ll talk when I get there!"

Liu Cheng no longer hurried to return to the Imperial Capital. Dragging his luggage, he ran out of the airport, hailed a taxi, and headed straight for the People’s Hospital. After getting in the car, he quickly called Huo Sining.

After Liu Cheng reported everything in detail, Huo Sining on the other end of the line was silent for a moment, then said:

"You stay at the hospital for now. I’ll find someone to ask around and see who’s pulling strings behind the scenes. I’ll call you back in a bit."

Huo Sining didn’t know many people in Fucheng, but Yue Shuwen knew quite a few there. In fact, the Fucheng–Min City region was considered the Yue Family’s home turf.

Back in her freshman summer vacation, when Huo Sining had accompanied Luo Jinzhi to Min City, the first time she met Miss Yue at Mei Yuan in Min City, she was deeply impressed by her.

Later, as Huo Sining and Yue Shuwen grew closer and chatted about Mei Yuan in Min City, Huo Sining realized that Mincheng Meiyuan actually belonged to the Yue Family.

Yue Shuwen grew up in America, but after she tore her face with the Huang Family, with Grandfather Li Jun’s help, she took back all the assets Father Yue had left behind. Among them were several estates and old shops around Fucheng under the Yue Family name—extremely valuable properties.

Although Yue Shuwen kept a low profile, Huo Sining had still heard bits and pieces from her. Now, after hearing what Liu Cheng said, the first person Huo Sining thought of asking for help was Yue Shuwen.

As expected, once Yue Shuwen heard about it and made some inquiries, she immediately flew into righteous indignation. Without another word, she grabbed her phone and made a call. Very soon, information came back.

The one pulling strings behind the scenes really was that man surnamed Jiang.

His name was Jiang Weide, a nouveau riche who’d made his fortune from seafood. A couple of years ago, he used his entire net worth to buy a fishing trawler. Who knew whether his ancestors’ graves were giving off green smoke or what, but thanks to that all‑or‑nothing gamble, he got ridiculously lucky: on one trip out to sea, he ran into an extremely rare school of wild yellow croaker.

In the Min City–Fucheng region, once the lunar August arrives, there’s one dish that will never be missing from a truly rich person’s "tip list": wild yellow croaker.

Because of its glittering, gold-like appearance, wild yellow croaker is called "the local tyrant gold of the sea" by locals. It’s long been believed in folk medicine to have certain therapeutic effects, but its numbers are extremely small, and with increased fishing pressure all along the coast, wild yellow croaker is practically on the brink of extinction.

Precisely because the output of yellow croaker is so low, it’s long been known as "as precious as gold." And if the fish looks even slightly better in terms of size and condition, it can truly be called "a fish that’s impossible to get," so the price is sky-high. There are plenty of people willing to pay five to six thousand yuan per jin for yellow croaker.

Jiang Weide had good luck; on that one trip out to sea, he ran into a school of yellow croaker. By the time he returned to port, he’d hauled back seven or eight tons of yellow croaker. It happened to be lunar August, when the price of yellow croaker is highest. That one trip made him a fortune, turning him overnight into a multimillionaire.

Of course, that kind of money meant nothing to Huo Sining. Under normal circumstances, the two of them would’ve just written Jiang Weide off as a mere nouveau riche. But this time, for some reason, the more Huo Sining thought about it, the more fishy it felt.

If Jiang Weide really were just a nouveau riche, fine. But this man could actually make so many hospitals in Fucheng wary of him, to the point that they wouldn’t dare admit Zhang Chao’s father because of him—that was a bit much.

He was just a nouveau riche worth a few tens of millions. Could he really be that powerful?

Huo Sining faintly sensed something was off. After thinking for a bit, she called Gu Xu and asked him to look deeper into it.

And once he dug, something shady did come out.

It was true that two years ago, Jiang Weide’s net worth had skyrocketed because he caught a boatload of yellow croaker, but that was only the beginning. The man had some schemes of his own. In fact, the load of yellow croaker he caught at sea that day was not just seven or eight tons—that was only the public figure. In reality, he privately held back more than a ton.

He sent all of that fish out under his own name—to officials and sons of hereditary families—as a way to build connections and cozy up to them.

The guy did have some nerve: that ton or so of yellow croaker was worth several million, and he just gave it all away. But the results were remarkable.

Everyone in Min City knew how rare wild yellow croaker was, so after receiving Jiang Weide’s gift, those officials more or less remembered him. Some of the young masters from hereditary families also became friendly with him. What’s more, over the past year or two, Jiang Weide even met a woman through these connections and ended up marrying her. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

That woman was none other than the daughter of Fucheng’s number one official.

"No wonder the moment that Jiang guy spoke up, those hospitals didn’t dare admit Zhang Chao’s father. Turns out what they’re scared of isn’t Jiang Weide himself, but the woman standing behind him."

The corner of Huo Sining’s mouth curled up, and she let out a cold laugh.

Beside her, Yue Shuwen was equally disdainful. "That Jiang really did cut a good deal. Just a ton of yellow croaker, and he actually managed to marry a Princess. That’s a pretty profitable business transaction."