Chapter Forty-Eight: You Are Ye Qiu

"Let go. Don’t destroy the last good memory I have of you."

"I..."

Peng Tao subconsciously loosened his grip. Her words struck him like a blade. He wanted to use all his strength to win Huimin back, yet he feared that he might truly shatter the last decent image of himself in her heart.

At that moment, a man stepped out of the car, his arm around Huimin’s waist. He raised his middle finger at Peng Tao in blatant provocation.

"You son of a—"

Peng Tao’s eyes blazed with fury, nearly shooting flames. He knew that man all too well.

Duan Qingshu.

Since college, this guy had relied on his wealthy family not only to snatch away Peng Tao’s position in the student council, but also to fawn over Huimin at every opportunity. Yet Duan was far too fickle; back in their student days, neither of them had much in terms of material possessions. Even though the two had quarreled over him more than once, Huimin would always be coaxed back by Peng Tao after every fight, and so their relationship endured, on and off.

After returning from studying abroad this time, Peng Tao noticed that Huimin and Duan were in increasingly frequent contact. He had tried to ignore it, but unexpectedly, Huimin broke up with him.

"Better behave yourself," Peng Tao growled, his fist raised. But before he could strike, his arm was seized and twisted behind his back, pain and rage contorting his face.

"Ah..." Peng Tao shouted in anger, but his fury only seemed to make Duan Qingshu more delighted, a pleasure that even surpassed the thrill of romantic conquest.

"Why don’t you try acting tough again?" Duan Qingshu sneered, his eyebrows merging into a smug slit.

"And by the way, have you ever heard that poem? ‘The singing girl knows not the pain of a fallen nation, across the river...’ How does it go? That feeling really is..."

A sly, ambiguous expression appeared on Huimin’s face. She gave Duan Qingshu a gentle punch. "Stop it, why are you saying such things?"

"You two..." Peng Tao shouted in fury, "Duan Qingshu, one day I’ll make you penniless! When that day comes, you won’t even be fit to be a dog!"

"You?" Duan Qingshu doubled over with laughter, mocking him. "Give you ten lifetimes, you still couldn’t reach my little toe. Don’t think that just because you have a respectable job you can put on airs in front of me. A wage slave like you, even after ten lifetimes of hard work, will always be just that—a wage slave."

"Why?" The flames in Peng Tao’s eyes gradually faded, replaced by a coldness he had never known. "No reason. I just have a good boss."

Peng Tao pulled out his phone and called Ye Qiu.

"Boss, I remember you promised me that if I was willing to join your hospital, you could give me the life I wanted."

"Didn’t you say you wanted to rely on your own efforts?" came Ye Qiu’s voice from behind him.

"I was wrong. I beg you for just one thing. If you can do it, I’ll give you my life in return," Peng Tao said, looking at Ye Qiu as if he had finally made up his mind.

"All for this person?" Ye Qiu glanced lazily at Duan Qingshu and Huimin. Before deciding to recruit Peng Tao, Yun Yan had already investigated his background. Besides his achievements in surgery, Ye Qiu knew a bit about his romantic entanglements too.

He just hadn’t expected the prideful Peng Tao to bow his head over something like this.

"It’s disgusting," Peng Tao said coldly, staring at Duan Qingshu. "Someone so vile doesn’t deserve wealth."

"Alright then," Ye Qiu nodded.

It was far too simple for him.

At that moment, Duan Qingshu was still utterly clueless. His eyes had gone wide upon seeing Xiao Yuru and Lin Wan’er, his masculine instinct compelled to show off in front of these women.

"You’ve all shown off for long enough, now it’s my turn," Duan Qingshu swaggered up to Ye Qiu. "Kneel and kowtow three times, and I’ll let you off today."

"Alright," Ye Qiu replied, landing a kick on Duan Qingshu’s knee.

With a thud, Duan Qingshu knelt directly in front of Ye Qiu.

"I don’t care for that. You’d better kneel to Peng Tao," Ye Qiu said, twisting Duan Qingshu’s ear and spinning him around until he knelt before Peng Tao.

Duan tried to stand and curse them, only to find a hand pressing down on his shoulder, as immovable as a mountain.

Smack.

Peng Tao slapped Duan Qingshu across the face.

"This is just interest."

"My father is Duan Ping," Duan Qingshu spat through a swollen cheek, glaring furiously at them. "I’ll see to it that none of you can survive in Linhai."

"Professor Duan, is it?" Ye Qiu replied coolly. "I know, your family owns two hospitals."

"Glad you know," Duan Qingshu retorted. "With a word from my dad, that Peng guy will never work in this field again."

"So that’s who it is," Lin Wan’er, who had been watching with interest, suddenly said. "That’s the professor who made the bet with Ye Qiu, right? Your father still hasn’t delivered on the twenty million donation he promised."

Duan Qingshu froze, finally realizing what was happening. He stared at Ye Qiu in disbelief. "You’re Ye Qiu?"

"Go home and tell your father, and that stick of a Professor Park, that if they don’t hand over the donation, forget about being a dog—he won’t even be fit to be a dead dog. Now get lost."

With another kick, Ye Qiu sent Duan Qingshu sprawling. He then turned to Peng Tao. "That twenty million will likely clean him out. As for whether you can ruin that old man’s career, I think you’d rather do it by your own strength. That would be more satisfying."

Ye Qiu was not exaggerating. At the current rate of development, it wouldn’t be long before the field of medical aesthetics was completely rewritten.

"Thank you," Peng Tao said, unable to hide the gratitude in his eyes. If Ye Qiu hadn’t intervened, he didn’t know how long it would be before he could repay Duan Qingshu for today’s humiliation.

"No need for thanks. Just do your job well," Ye Qiu said, turning to Xiao Yuru. "Second Sister, don’t be fooled by this kid’s awkwardness—he’s got real talent in surgery. Several hospitals in the States wanted to keep him, but for some reason he insisted on coming back here to suffer."

"I..." Peng Tao began, but Ye Qiu silenced him with a gesture.

Just then, Yun Yan informed Ye Qiu that Tong Tiexing was holding a shareholders’ meeting, publicly declaring that the Ye Liu Group’s artificial intelligence project was a sham—a scheme with Deep Sea Corporation to swindle shareholders. A mass of reporters was already gathering at the group’s entrance.

"Second Sister," Xiao Yuru had also received the news from Mistress Eleven. She nodded. "That old man is really getting out of hand. You’d better put a swift end to him."

"Don’t worry, the net is already set. I’m just waiting for him to walk into it," Ye Qiu replied.

Xiao Yuru nodded. "Go on, I’ll handle things here."

...

"Ladies and gentlemen, please look. This is the so-called artificial intelligence that Liu Yiran has been touting. In reality, it’s nothing more than a set of pre-written codes. Go beyond the set instructions, and the program cannot compute anything at all."

Tong Tiexing displayed the code on the big screen.