Beauty and the Bodyguard

Chapter 375 - Disgrace

He didn't know about ginsengs, but he did know what kind of character this younger son of his had- he didn't trust him too much. He'd always skip work at the company and use his shares for food and women- his grandson was the same as well. How was a man like him supposed to dig out some thousand year ginseng? Miracle Doctor Kang didn't really believe it at all.

But regardless of its authenticity, this was his son's gift- even if it were fake, this wasn't something that should be discussed in front of outsiders.

Miracle Doctor Kang felt very humiliated from Lin Yi's comment.

"Kid, why do you say the ginseng's fake?" Miracle Doctor Kang's voice was heated, but he kept his calm and composure the way an elder would. "If you weren't serious about it and just saying it for the fun of it, then an apology would suffice and I'd pretend I didn't hear anything! If not, then I'll have to ask you to leave!"

Miracle Doctor Kang's words sounded very convincing and reasonable to everyone present- they even thought he had a big heart, letting Lin Yi get away with disgracing them with just an apology!

Lin Yi wasn't expecting this big a reaction- even that old man Miracle Doctor Kang jumped out at him! 

But if he didn't say anything about this now, it was sure to affect Xiaobo.

He only stood up helplessly and provided an explanation. "A wild ginseng would have a long reed head and a tight girth- its body should be the same length as its roots. A ginseng with a human form, on the other hand, would have a more horizontal body and shorter length. The main root would have prominent horizontal wrinkles with a deeper color- it'd have a thinner skin and many clear, pearly bumps on the surface."

"An artificially bred ginseng, however, has a short reed head, and less girth. The main body would have a cylindrical shape, splitting off like the Chinese character 'eight'. It's longer, and the wrinkles on the roots would be much less dense. It wouldn't be continuous, its skin would be crispy and thick, and the pearly bumps would be much less prominent."

"As for the authenticity of this ginseng, I'm sure there are ginseng experts present who could look into that. You may not know about ginseng, Miracle Doctor Kang, but I'm sure there are other people that do."

Miracle Doctor's expression changed all of a sudden- he wasn't expecting Lin Yi to sound that knowledgeable! He'd assumed that he was bullshitting!

He'd wanted to come out and give Lin Yi a way to back out of the spotlight and leave this whole thing behind, but now found himself at an impasse.

"You're bullshitting!" Zhaoming jumped out once more. "Grandpa, don't listen to him! He's the bastard Kang Xiaobo brought, he's here to cause trouble! Let's just put the ginseng away first and stop paying him attention!"

Zhaoming's words sounded nothing less than guilty- why would he be rushing the ginseng away if it were real? He'd have displayed it for the experts and proved himself.

Zhaoming, naturally, knew that the ginseng was fake- he'd bought it with his father from an artificial breeding ground! They'd only spent a couple thousand on it, of course it wasn't a thousand-year ginseng!

Both Cuipu and Zhaoming understood that Miracle Doctor Kang wouldn't know whether it was real or not, and the same applied to Guifeng as well. Even if Guifeng could tell that it was fake, he still wouldn't humiliate his own family in front of the guests!

Cuipu never fought for power or anything at the company, either, only taking the bonuses for his own fun- that resulted in a good relationship between the two brothers, and no hate. Guifeng even cleaned up after Cuipu's misdeeds often.

And out of nowhere came this Lin Yi!!!

"Forget it- put it away. Fake or not, it's still a gift from Cuipu!" Miracle Doctor Kang was no idiot- Lin Yi was clearly confident. Taking it out to have its authenticity assessed? It'd make them a laughing stock. 

Might as well admit it cleanly- everyone knew that his younger son wasn't much of a man in the first place. His reputation was bad enough that it wouldn't be affected much by something like this.

Miracle Doctor Kang's straightforward and clean admittance calmed the audience down- there was no point in thinking whether it was fake anymore after what he'd said.

Next was Xiaobo's father- his gift was rather normal, just a simple lingzhi mushroom a couple of years old. Cuipu and Zhaoming had wanted to pick at its flaws due to their frustration, but the guy had made it clear that it was a simple lingzhi mushroom!

It wasn't a rarity or anything in the first place- it'd only attract the disdain of everyone else if they went and attacked it.

They'd have to wait for Xiaobo's turn and dump their frustrations on him.

The sons have presented their gifts, and next was the younger generation. Miracle Doctor Kang was a traditional man who prioritized males- only sons and grandsons could come up and present their gifts.

The first was Kang Zhaolong, Guifeng's son.

He looked older- around twenty. He had spectacles on and seemed very scholarly as he walked up with a certificate in his hand.

"Grandpa, this is my medicine research for my PHD studies- I've recently gotten a patent for it, and this is the university's certificate of merit for me!" Zhaolong said respectfully as he extended the piece of paper.

The host was about to move forward when Miracle Doctor Kang waved him back. He walked up personally, his face red and shiny, the unpleasantries of earlier completely wiped off. "Good, Zhaolong- good job! Grandpa's very proud of you!"

With that, Miracle Doctor Kang received the certificate- he looked at it with a wide smile on his face before patting Zhaolong on the shoulder. "Keep it up! You're the next Miracle Doctor Kang!!"

An applause sounded from the audience- everyone acknowledged him as the heir.

"That cousin of yours studies medicine?" Lin Yi was quite surprised- there really was a medical student in Miracle Doctor Kang's family.

"Yeah, my eldest cousin graduated from a proper medical university. He's now pursuing a PHD in Eastern medicine…" Xiaobo introduced. "He's actually the only one who knows medicine!"

It sounded a bit mocking and laughable, but it was a fact. Lin Yi didn't know what to say- it seemed like that kid was the only properly educated person in the family.

Next was Kang Zhaoming, with a gift even more mysterious- it was some ancient recipe.

The guests weren't very curious about that after Cuipu's example- of course it was fake. How would he have come across an ancient recipe that easily in the first place?

Zhaoming dodged a bullet because of that- if he'd actually displayed the recipe for everyone to see then Lin Yi would be able to tell right away that it was a simple recipe for a coughing medicine, found in many medical books.

Chapter 376 - Stomping

Miracle Doctor Kang didn't know medicine, but he'd read up on quite a bit of medical books so that people wouldn't be laughing at him- was his grandson seriously calling this cough medicine recipe an ancient recipe???

A spoiled child- an absolute spoiled child!!! 

Fortunately for him, there were still his eldest son Guifeng and his eldest grandson Zhaolong- there were still heirs for the Kang family's legacy. The house wouldn't crumble and fall after his death because of them.

Miracle Doctor Kang knew that, at least for the next two generations, there wasn't anything to worry about. The quality of his grandson's descendants, however, would no longer be of his concern after his passing.

He put Zhaoming's recipe under Zhaolong's certificate and nodded as if everything was fine. "Good! Regardless of the recipe's effectiveness, this is a gift Zhaoming prepared for me!"

It was Xiaobo's turn after Zhaoming- he started getting a little panicked as the host announced his name. "Is this gonna work, boss?"

"Yes, it's gonna work! Just go!" Lin Yi patted Xiaobo's shoulder encouragingly.

Xiaobo nodded and walked up with Lin Yi's ancient looking box.

"Second grandpa, in my hand is a rare medicine pellet, the Pill of Life Extension and Toxin Cleansing. Using it would cleanse your body of a large amount of toxins, so as to achieve a bone washing effect- it'd recover your functions to its peak state, giving you up to five or ten years of life!" Xiaobo said as he extended the gift. "I wish you a happy birthday, second grandpa!"

"Oh?" Miracle Doctor Kang frowned, a little displeased. He was Miracle Doctor Kang, apex of the medical world, and yet he never heard about anything like this Pill of Life Extension and Toxin Cleansing! Would this really achieve the bone washing effect? Was that possible?

Miracle Doctor Kang felt that he'd lose face if he just accepted a gift as unreliable as this- it sounded too very mythical.

Yet Zhaoming bounced out all of a sudden before Miracle Doctor Kang could say anything- he snatched the box away from Xiaobo's hand, overjoyed that Xiaobo was giving him an excuse to attack him!

"Kang Xiaobo, what're you trying to pull? Pill of Life Extension and Toxin Cleansing? What? You think you're a pill vendor from a Xianxia novel?" Zhaoming said with a glare. "Who do you think my grandpa is? Miracle Doctor Kang! We have every medicine, and we've never heard about anything like this!"

"There's plenty of stuff you've never heard about." Xiaobo said coldly.

"Hmph, what a joke. I'll open it for everyone to see, then!" Zhaoming raged- this Xiaobo had the nerve to make retorts! "You really don't know when to quit!"

With that, he opened up the box and took out a black pellet- he started laughing. "This is your Pill of Life Extension and Toxin Cleansing?? Bone washing?? You've read too many Wuxia novels, it's time to stop!"

"Second grandpa- I've presented my gift and wishes. If my cousin doesn't believe what I say then there's nothing I can do about it." Xiaobo said as he held down his urge to break with Zhaoming right there and then.

"What's wrong? Scared?" Zhaoming assumed. "Kang Xiaobo, you think I don't know what you came here for? Just to stand up for that slut, right? A girl I finished with, and you're over here treating her like treasure! Throwing this unknown pill to my grandpa as a gift? You just want us to embarrass ourselves! You want everyone else to think that we don't even know about a pill like this despite who we are! That's your plan, right? Unfortunately for you you've miscalculated! My grandpa doesn't want your trash at all!"

With that, Zhaoming threw the pill on the floor and stomped on it. Unsatisfied, he kept squishing it about with his foot until it was reduced to a pile of crumbs. "Alright, you've presented your gift. You can leave now!"

Miracle Doctor Kang didn't say a single word throughout the whole process- he stood there with his face darkened the whole time.

He had his suspicions- he didn't believe his own son would be able to get his hands on a pill ike that, let alone Xiaobo. It had to be fake, that much was obvious.

He could tolerate Zhaoming because he was his direct grandson- Xiaobo was a different matter.

He thought that Xiaobo was here to cause trouble, and it seemed especially so after hearing what Zhaoming had said! Xiaobo was here for something as absurd as avenging his woman!

"Ridiculous!" Miracle Doctor Kang hmphed before looking at Xiaobo's father. "What a son you've raised! What are you still leaving him up here for, to embarrass himself more?"

Yet nothing was said about Zhaoming's actions- nothing at all. Miracle Doctor Kang was clearly playing favourites here.

Xiaobo's father was enraged- Xiaobo's pill gift was a little ridiculous, but it had always been Zhaoming causing trouble! Why was his son the embarrassment here?

"Xiaobo, were you tricked by someone? Who gave you that pill? Hurry and apologize to your second grandpa!" Mr. Kang gave a soft scolding to get Xiaobo out of his situation, pushing the blame for the pill on someone else, stating that the pill had nothing to do with Xiaobo.

"Impossible! There's no way boss' pill is fake! Some people just can't see!" Xiaobo was very pissed off, unbending as he spoke. "What a pity, a waste!!"

Xiaobo had unconditional confidence in Lin Yi- Lin Yi called this a miracle pill, and a miracle pill it was!

Now his own father was blaming him? Xiaobo couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Xiaobo, let's go. You've tried giving the gift, but someone here calls himself a miracle doctor when he's just an old quack." Lin Yi said faintly to Xiaobo as he walked over with Tang Yin and Fen.

"You're not a Kang- this does not involve you!" Miracle Doctor Kang was infuriated that ginseng Lin Yi person was butting in again- he didn't intend on holding back at that point.

Xiaobo and his friends had ruined today's feast!! He decided to just break with them already- where did these people get off causing trouble during his birthday feast?!