At the same time.

Inside Tianshan Hospital.

"Achoo!"

"Is someone thinking about me?"

Xu Liang inexplicably sneezed, and that itch on the tip of his nose lingered without going away, leaving him a little puzzled.

He had a pretty high opinion of his own constitution; logically speaking, he shouldn’t be catching a cold.

A moment later he couldn’t be bothered to think about it, and turned his head to look to the side.

He was in a hospital ward; Feng Nan was sitting on the bed in a hospital gown, with quite a few police officers around her.

"Tell us in detail... mm, mm, we’ll go verify it...."

"Can you repeat again the explanation the hospital gave you for Li Guang’s death?"

"Okay... I understand... mm, I’ll pass this on later."

"..."

A few police officers were asking Feng Nan questions; she would nod from time to time and echo a sentence.

The case was huge; the City Police Department had directly transferred a large number of personnel to sweep through the hospital!

In an instant, all those under–the–table payment notices and the blood–drawing and selling were exposed in front of everyone, and as the fuse of this case, Feng Nan naturally had to be handled with extra care—especially Li Guang, the death of an eight–year–old boy...

It had to be handled with extreme caution!

After a long while, both sides finally finished communicating.

The middle‑aged officer in the lead let out a sigh, then looked toward Xu Liang beside him, paused slightly, showed a gentle smile, and said:

"You must be Xu Liang, Lawyer Xu?"

"If there’s a need later... the police can coordinate with you to some extent."

Coordinate?

Xu Liang was taken aback for a second, then understood what he meant, feeling a bit amused and helpless.

Most likely this was protection arranged for him by his senior brother.

Since the pharmaceutical company had the ability to entrench itself in Lanshan Province, its strength was beyond question. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

And Tianshan Hospital was part of a strategic layout; now that Xu Liang had exposed a scandal like this... he figured those people on the board probably wanted him dead!

"Alright, if I need anything I’ll contact you." Xu Liang didn’t put on any airs.

"Mm, as for the subsequent compensation issue... the plaintiff will probably hand things over to you. We’ll be going now."

Hearing this, the officer nodded, then after leaving two people behind, led the others away.

Once he left.

The ward returned to its previous quiet; even the air felt as if it could pierce into one’s bones.

Feng Nan, sitting on the bed beside him, would drift off from time to time, as if sinking into memories.

Seeing this, Yang Ruoxi felt a bit of heartache; she pressed her lips together and stepped forward to sit beside her.

"Sister Feng, don’t worry, at the very least the hospital will ensure your condition gets treated."

Hearing this, Feng Nan came back to herself.

The look in her eyes toward Yang Ruoxi carried a trace of sorrow; she only gave a bitter smile and didn’t speak.

Treated?

In truth, Feng Nan didn’t really want treatment for herself.

She had only gone to get Wu Fang and Kong Jian out because the people in the Mutual Aid Association still had to live on; after all, there were still many children, and these people always made her think of scenes from Li Guang’s life...

As for herself?

"Li Ye is dead, and the child is gone too..."

Feng Nan mocked herself, her eyes brewing endless sorrow.

Middle‑aged, with no parents.

A husband dead of illness, a child drained of blood and killed... Feng Nan felt there wasn’t much point in living.

Continue treatment? Sure, as long as the hospital was willing to bear the medical costs, with the help of a special drug, leukemia was easy enough to stabilize, even to the point of curing it!

But... that would just be dragging out a wretched existence in her current situation.

"Sister Feng..."

Yang Ruoxi was clumsy with words and didn’t know how to comfort her, becoming anxious on the spot.

If this kind of state wasn’t handled well... taking things to the extreme and committing suicide was definitely possible!

She turned her head to look at Su Yu behind her.

Though that woman could be a bit "tea‑like" at times... there was no denying her eloquence was better than her own!

But Su Yu also shook her head, indicating there was nothing she could do.

There is no greater sorrow than a heart that has died; in this situation, anything she said would be useless...

Until...

"Ms. Feng, just focus on recuperating. After all, if you die like this, your son truly won’t be able to rest in peace."

Not resting in peace...

Feng Nan paused, suddenly opened her eyes wide, and stared blankly at Xu Liang. After a long time, she suddenly asked:

"What do you mean!?"

In the first trial, the other side had already clearly stated that Li Guang’s death was caused by the hospital drawing his blood.

Now Liu Hui and the relevant hospital personnel had all been arrested...

How could Li Guang still not rest in peace!?

Xu Liang simply countered with a question.

"Ms. Feng, in your family and your husband Li Ye’s family, is there any history of people dying from leukemia?"

Feng Nan thought for a while, then shook her head.

She and Li Ye’s parents had died in accidents, not from so‑called leukemia.

And there had been no such news in the three generations before them.

"How did the hospital explain the leukemia to you?" Xu Liang asked again.

"Genetic in..."

As she spoke, Feng Nan suddenly reacted, her pupils constricting; she froze on the spot.

With that said.

Xu Liang didn’t say anything more; he patted her on the shoulder and showed a gentle, contagiously reassuring smile.

"Ms. Feng, don’t worry."

"Leave the rest to me."

Upon hearing this.

Feng Nan hesitated for a long while, wanting to speak but unable to form words; she could only stare at Xu Liang in a daze, until her eyes turned slightly red.

"I... I..."

"Relax, I’m not charging you."

Xu Liang thought she was worried about fees and immediately reassured her:

"Our firm is great value for money."

"You’ll definitely be satisfied with our after‑sales service, whether it’s five million, five hundred thousand, or even fifty thousand."

"As long as the firm takes the case, no matter how hard it is, we’ll see it through for you!"

If another lawyer said this, it might just be hot air.

But hearing it from Xu Liang...

Yang Ruoxi couldn’t help being deeply moved.

Fifty thousand yuan for a capital case and the defendant was found not criminally responsible; sixty thousand for a capital case and the sentence became three years, suspended for three.

Those battle records were all right there in front of her!

"Don’t worry, I’ve got everything under control."

Xu Liang gave her a reassuring look, then got ready to head out to work.

After that little talk, Feng Nan’s emotions had calmed down a lot. She kept wanting to say something, but could never quite put her feelings into words.

Su Yu stared blankly for a while, then muttered under her breath:

"Does Senior even realize how much charisma he has!?"

To be fair.

Su Yu put herself in Feng Nan’s shoes. If she were twenty, and even if she’d never met Xu Liang before, after being on the receiving end of this smooth, seamless speech...

Marriage.

We’re getting married today!!!

An average girl would probably be planning how many kids to have and where to be buried already!

"Tch, he’s just a shyster..."

Yang Ruoxi muttered under her breath, but after a pause, still added:

"Mm... a shyster you can’t really hate."

At that, she suddenly realized something and instantly grew serious.

For the moment, little Xiaoyang had to admit that Xu Liang really did have this damned attractive charm about him.

You had to know, the green-tea bitch in front of her was already hard enough to deal with!

If later more people got drawn in, then she...

In a daze, a huge flashing "Danger!" sign popped up in her mind.

Yang Ruoxi became alert and subconsciously looked at Su Yu.

Only to see Su Yu also giving her a meaningful look.

The two of them locked eyes for a second, and as if reaching some sort of agreement, they both looked away at the same time.

Cease internal warfare.

Present a united front to the outside!

"Sister Feng, focus on resting up. We’ll come see you again tomorrow."

Yang Ruoxi said another line to the others in the ward, then she and Su Yu quickly followed after Xu Liang.

Feng Nan stared blankly at the backs of the three disappearing out the door.

After a long while, a faint smile appeared on her face, her eyes filled with emotion, and there was no longer just that pure client–lawyer, business-only look in them.

There was a trace of feeling mixed in.

...

"Clack, clack, clack."

Xu Liang heard the sharp clack of high heels behind him and turned around.

He saw the two girls walking arm in arm behind him.

"Huh, since when did you two get along this well!?"

He asked in confusion.

"Did you make up or something?"

Weren’t these two on bad terms... Yesterday at dinner they were still giving each other attitude, so how come today they’re sisters again.

"What are you talking about."

Yang Ruoxi said quietly, "Little Sister Su has always been my bestie!"

Su Yu also nodded. "Mm-hmm."

Xu Liang tilted his head.

Forget it. He’d never understood how these two’s brains worked anyway, so he might as well not bother.

"You two go eat first, I need to make a phone call."

Xu Liang said.

Hearing that, the two girls didn’t fuss about it, just nodded and left.

Xu Liang walked to a quiet spot where no one was around.

After thinking for a moment, he took out his phone and dialed a familiar number.

[Dialing: Master!]

"Beep—beep—"

The tone rang in his ear.

After a long while...

The call connected.

"Hello?"

A familiar, aged voice sounded in his ear.

Xu Liang was just about to greet him, but... the next second....

"Who are you?" Wu Chengjun said.

Xu Liang paused, then let out an awkward chuckle. "Teacher, it’s me, your beloved disciple!"

Beloved disciple?

Meanwhile.

Upper City.

In a siheyuan courtyard.

Wu Chengjun was lying on a lounge chair in the yard, face expressionless as he replied:

"I have four students. Which one are you?"

Xu Liang said, "I’m your most beloved final disciple, your fifth student!"

"Heh, is that so?"

Wu Chengjun let out a cold laugh, then continued:

"I remember my fifth disciple got hacked to death for being a shyster, didn’t he!?"

As he spoke.

Wu Chengjun raised the newspaper with a blank face and looked at the photo on it.

The photo captured the moment Xu Liang stood up in court holding a document high in his hand.

The more Wu Chengjun looked, the more familiar it seemed, until he finally realized....

Isn’t that my original manuscript on ’necessity’!?

How the hell did it end up in a courtroom!!!

Wu Chengjun had been completely baffled at the time, and after looking into it... he was even more baffled.

It really did seem to be his student using it, not some random impersonator!

Honestly, in that moment, Wu Chengjun felt like the sky was falling.

His student seemed to be... kind of drifting toward becoming a shyster!!!

Thinking of this, Wu Chengjun couldn’t help saying:

"He died a horrible death."

"Chopped into several pieces, then minced into stuffing!"

Xu Liang: ...

"Teacher, you’re joking..."

Xu Liang laughed dryly.

"I’m joking!?" Wu Chengjun roared.

"No one in our school has ever done shyster crap like that!"

"So how come when it got to you, you started tricking your teacher out of his original academic manuscript on necessity? And even dragged it into court!"

"We’re master and disciple, you know—that’s practically family!!!"