Returning from the Immortal World

The man in front in front of Tang Xiu nodded unctuously while holding the phone next to his ear. “We’re indeed on the liner already, Boss. For you to call us now, do you have any instructions for us?”

“Stop collecting protection fee and take all the boys to Guangyang. Don’t do anything rash and come back immediately to my place. We are not to collect protection money on the liner anymore starting today. I… I just got a call from Brother Lei,” the man replied from the phone.

Brother Lei? As in… Ouyang Lei?

The man instantly understood. It must be that Tang Xiu made a phone call to Ouyang Lei in advance, as such coincidence as Ouyang Lei calling his Boss at this time was otherwise unlikely.

“I understand, Boss. I… I just promised Boss Tang that I won’t be collecting protection money anymore later,” replied the man bitterly with shivering lips.

“Boss Tang? Which Boss Tang are you talking about?” The man’s tone on the phone was full of curiosity.

“It’s Divine Doctor Tang, Miss Ouyang’s man?”

“Come again?!!”

A scream was heard from the phone. After a short while, the man hurriedly said, “You haven’t offended Boss Tang, have you? If you have, do apologize to him at once. You must calm his anger even if you must kneel and beg for his mercy!”

“Ah Hu did say some rude things to Boss Tang, but… I’m not sure what happened, he got thrown into the sea by something. But I myself have acted humble to Boss Tang, Boss,” said the man bitterly.

“Alright, do keep in mind to serve him well like you’re his servant. Try as best as you can to satisfy any of his requests. Also, send him my regards too.”

The man put the phone in his pocket after the call ended. He then looked at Tang Xiu and cautiously said, “Boss Tang, my Boss just said that we are to never use the Ouyangs’ name to collect protection money on the liner anymore from now on. Also, I’d like to thank your magnanimity and please feel free to tell me if there’s anything you need. I’ll do anything to accomplish it for you.”

“I’m fine by myself. You can go back!” Tang Xiu waved.

BAM…

Someone heavily slammed on the deck’s floor with his whole body wet and particularly shivering. His face, in particular, was flushed red with a visible print of a palm, which was obviously from the slap that hit him before.

The man’s pupils kept contracting at this time; he would have definitely thought that it was some ghost or spirit who just hit his underling if it wasn’t for these many people being around. Nobody knew who had slapped his underling and sent him flying into the sea. And yet, the man inexplicably flew back on the deck. That was the most bizarre incident he had ever seen in life!

However, he was also a smart man and secretly glanced at Tang Xiu. Seeing his indifference, he conjectured that it must be related to Tang Xiu, so he bade farewell unctuously to him, then grabbed his underling and run towards the cabin.

A short interlude of this trivial episode concluded quickly just like its arrival.

However, the hundreds of people around on the deck now looked at Tang Xiu in a completely different light. Many of them felt that he looked familiar, but none could recall his true identity. Therefore, nobody came to greet him even though they looked at him with admiration.

Time fleeted by.

It was at 2:30 AM when the liner finally docked at the port of Guangyang. The tens of burly men who collected the protection money before lined up to escort Tang Xiu to the shore with reverential attitudes. Only after Tang Xiu finally drove his car and left did they eventually relax secretly.

As night painted the sky dark, the BMW X5 was stopped in front of the gate of the South Gate Town in Star City. A security guard on duty there quickly greeted him while holding an electric baton. The guard looked at Tang Xiu on the driver’s seat, giving a salute and respectfully saying, “Are you looking for someone or do you live here, Sir? The detector installed at the gate didn’t seem to have registered your car.”

“I own a house here, but this car is someone else’s.” Tang Xiu smiled at him and explained, “Please register it since it’s likely I’m staying here for some time and will use this car for a while.”

“Which villa do you live in?” asked the security hurriedly.

As Tang was about to answer him, another security guard rushed over from the distance and spoke to Tang Xiu with a reverential face, “Mr. Tang? Is it really you?”

“I remember you. You’re Xiao Hu, right?” Tang Xiu replied with a smile.

Xiao Hu quickly smiled and replied, “Yeah, that’s right. I’m Xiao Hu. Our Manager, Ms. Long, mentioned about you a few days ago, Mr. Tang. She said you haven’t returned for some time.”

“You mean, Long Xueyao?” asked Tang Xiu.

“Yeah! Manager Long Xueyao.” Xiao Hu confirmed. “Unfortunately, she just left and said that she’s going to the hospital. Else she would be excited to know that you’ve returned.”

Tang Xiu was slightly stunned and asked him, “Long Xueyao went to the hospital. What happened?”

Xiao Hu hesitantly replied, “I have no idea about the details, but I heard that Chief Long was injured and is hospitalized. She should be heading there to see him!”

Tang Xiu jolted inwardly and pushed the car’s door, asking, “Which Chief Long? Long Hanwen or Long Zhengyu?”

“It’s Young Master Long Zhengyu,” answered Xiao Hu quickly.

Tang Xiu was reticent for a moment and then took out his mobile phone to dial Long Zhengyu’s number. After a few seconds, his call was connected and a tired voice greeted him. “Tang Xiu? It’s Long Hanwen here.”

A bad feeling suddenly appeared in Tang Xiu’s mind and he hurriedly asked, “Uncle Long, I just heard Long Zhengyu got injured, is it true? What happened and why is his phone with you?”

“You’re quick to hear the news. I didn’t expect that you would hear the incident happened in the morning right at this evening,” said Long Hanwen with a wry smile. “Zhengyu is indeed injured, and it’s quite serious too. He has been in a coma in the ICU since this morning and I don’t know when he’ll wake up.”

“What exactly happened?” asked Tang Xiu in a deep voice.

“The situation in Star City is now rather chaotic with crooks and good people mixed together,” said Long Hanwen helplessly. “Let alone the average people, even the authorities—both the First and the Second person here kind of getting suffocated and want to control the situation. But the pestilential atmosphere kind of binds their hands to act. Alas…”

Tang Xiu was silent for a moment and then asked, “Is this related to my Magnificent Tang Corporation?”

“That’s right! The people who injured Zhengyu are from the Harbo Group from the U.S.” Long Hanwen said, “That guy is really rampant. I sent my men to catch him, but that company sent someone to contact some officials and the authorities and I’ve been under pressure from them since.”

A cold light flashed in Tang Xiu’s eyes and asked again, “Which hospital is Zhengyu hospitalized in? I just returned to Star City, so I’ll rush over.”

“Star City Chinese Medical Hospital,” said Long Hanwen.

Tang Xiu hung up and bade farewell to the security guard, Xiao Hu. Then, he sat back on the car and sped up towards Star City Chinese Medical Hospital.

***

At the Star City Chinese Medical Hospital.

In the spacious and brightly lit President’s office, Li Longji was holding a cup of hot tea and comfortably leaned against his chair with a train of thoughts in his mind. Ever since Tang Xiu brought a great reputation to his hospital, he had aggressively recruited domestic and foreign medical experts alike, purchased a large number of the latest medical equipment, as well as personally visited senior Chinese medicine practitioners to invite them to work at the Star City Chinese Medical Hospital. He even invited a retired Chinese medicine expert who worked for the hospital before to be an expert consultant of Chinese medicine here.

As of now, the scale of the hospital had simply leaped up several levels; even its area had been doubled and firmly positioned itself right behind the Star City First Public Hospital. However, the current President of the Hospital, Li Longji, who should have retired, was jointly commended by the Municipal and Provincial Health Bureau that made an exception to make him stay in the position as the President of Star City Chinese Medical Hospital.

“Pity that Tang Xiu isn’t here, though. If he was still here, it’s very likely that even the Provincial First Public Hospital wouldn’t be able to rival the Star City Chinese Medical Hospital. There’s also that Dai Xinyue girl. She unexpectedly left the hospital for a trip and will only come back after a while.”

The old man somewhat complained about the situation inwardly. But the grateful feeling he had toward these two people was more evident. He realized that the hospital could progress and thrive day by day due to the merits of this pair of Master and disciple. But the biggest credit he could give to was to the charity fund project of Star City Chinese Medical Hospital itself.

It was because the charity fund project had always been carried out in a fair and transparent manner, where all the flow of funds would be announced in time and appeared on the LED display installed on the hospital square to be clearly seen by the public. Further, be it every patient, social workers, or the public, they also had the right to check the entire financial statement of the fund in the hospital consultation lobby. It was that practice that made them receive wide acclaim from society.

Therefore, the hospital, many philanthropists and even the foundation in the country directed their donations to the Star City Chinese Medical Hospital. Some were anonymous and some others became famous because of it. Hence, the hospital now received over 10 billion yuan from donations annually, and over 90% of the 10 billion funds were used to subsidize patients from the poor.

Li Longji even established an investigation team in order to ensure that the patient came from a poor household, and every patient who applied for a charity fund would receive a corresponding investigation.

“It’s time to go home and eat.”

He then put the teacup which had turned cold on the desk, relaxedly stretched out and slightly moved his lower body. Then, he got up and grabbed his coat on the hanger.

Ring, ring, ring…

His phone rang when he put on his coat. He just casually took it out since many related households would find him due to his identity. Some people who were not familiar with him even used every means to find his number in order to climb up the relationship and make their sick family be well taken care of in the Star City Chinese Medical Hospital.

It was a society governed by favors and face, to begin with.

Li Longji himself was not a pedantic person, either. He would act to take care of some people better, but he never crossed his bottom line.

“Ehh…”

But when he saw the caller name on the screen, he stiffened with contracted pupils immediately as an excited expression covered his whole face. He directly pressed the answer button and rapidly shot a question, “Tang Xiu? You’re Tang Xiu, right?

“It is me, President Li,” confirmed Tang Xiu. “I’m now on the way to Star City Chinese Medical Hospital. I’d like to meet you there if you’re still in the hospital.”