Chapter 99
Chapter 99 – Protagonist Showing Up at the Last Minute
The annihilation of the Nie Family was closely related to the change in Huaibei Province. As a titan in Huaibei, the Nie Family not only controlled the Medicine King Garden, they even dipped their feet into real estate, commercial estate, metal mining, and other industries. Nie Haitian had a reputation as a Community Chef. Anyone that wanted to be promoted and gain wealth only had to gain access to Nie Haitian's villa.
For a long time, the bureaucracy in Huaibei was already filled with unhealthy tendencies with elegant briberies. The elegant briberies weren't sending cash or gift cards, but antiques, which the Nie Family had relied on tomb-robbing to start a line of business in antiques near the government. Not only did they peddle antiques, they even recycled them.
To put it briefly, they sold calligraphy from Yan Zhenqing at the price of ¥3,000,000, before repurchasing it for ¥2,900,000 to achieve the elegant briberies. Thus, the Nie Family had a close relationship with those officials that often sold antiques.
The reason why the silver fox, Qin Wude was transferred to Huaibei was due to the Central Authorities being unhappy with the current situation in Huaibei, with how factions were conspiring together. Thus, the higher hierarchy had issued an order to hope to change this situation after putting Qin Wude into the equation.
Newly appointed officials tended to make bold changes on assuming office. When Qin Wude came to know about his transfer, he had already laid out the arrangement beforehand, getting his right-hand man, Chen Shoujin to transfer first and lay out the pathway for him.
According to Chen Shoujun's early-stage investigation, the Nie Family was in the middle of the equation. Traditionally speaking, the Nie Family had the status of a middleman. Not only did they provide the relations to channel things, they even offered a platform for officials to exchange their resources. Although they couldn't change Huaibei's situation completely, he could still show his strength as a warning.
The Physician King Tournament was an important project that the Nie Family had built for Huainan's local officials. So Qin Wude could make use of this junction to stand firm in Huaibei.
Liu Qiao had also received the news two hours ago that Qin Wude would be joining the Physician King Tournament, which he had sorted things out to calm the situation down.
The seats were rearranged. Although Qin Wude was just a temporary Acting Governor, his rank was still in the Minister-level, whereas Liu Qiao was only a Deputy Minister-level official. Moreover, Qin Wude was also a member of the Provincial Party Committee. So due to the difference in their ranking, Qin Wude could only seat at the side.
After Qin Wude sat down, Liu Qiao waved his hand at Xu Tainde and asked in a soft voice, "Have you found Su Tao?"
"Not at the time being, his phone has been uncontactable." Xu Tiande bitterly smiled.
"What about Nie Haitian? Why is he not here in the finals?" Liu Qiao wished at this moment that he could give a slap on Xu Tiande's face.
Inwardly, Xu Tiande felt unhappy that Liu Qiao could only recognise Nie Haitian as he explained, "Chairman Nie's phone is switched off as well!"
The news regarding the Nie Family was still being sealed, so Xu Tiande also had no idea that this former boss of his had been sent to a secret location to be interrogated.
"Screwing up at such a crucial moment!" Liu Qiao's forehead was covered in sweat as he cast a glance at Qin Wude before issuing out orders to the few other officials, "The organising committee must find that missing contestant immediately!"
The Chef of Province Health Bureau, Zhu Zhiyou hurriedly nodded his head, "We'll continue to try and contact them!"
A melodious sound rang out not far away from the workers of the organising committee. A delicate lady finally got a call through Su Tao's phone.
"What? You still need ten minutes for you to arrive?" The lady immediately felt like crying at this moment.
She had called at least fifty times to Su Tao in the past two hours, and through this painful torment, she had already decided that she would no longer ignore the calls of her pursuers in the future. That's simply cruel.
"Although he's finally here, I think that we should punish him." Xu Tiande suggested, "If it weren't for Governor Qin, he would have already forfeited his qualification in the finals! "
Casting a sour glance at Xu Tiande, Liu Qiao replied, "It's fine if he's here, don't bother doing that meaningless stuff. We'll go according to the rules, and we can't have any mistake with the governor here."
Xu Tiande could only accept the reprimand silently. Although he was the Medicine King of the Medicine King Valley, it's nothing in the eyes of Liu Qiao. It was just a matter of Liu Qiao's pen that Nie Family's Medicine King Garden could enjoy billions of subsidies from the government.
He might be powerful in the eyes of the Medicine King Valley's disciples, but he's merely a dog of the Nie Family in the eyes of Liu Qiao.
This was the reality of society, and Xu Tiande could only suck it up and endure. In his plan, getting close to Liu Qiao was an excellent opportunity, since it would be smooth for him to take over the Nie Family's assets if Liu Qiao recognised him.
For him to achieve his motive, he had to endure.
Xu Tainde's mood was pretty good, although Bai Fan did not enter the finals, the Nie Family's assets would soon be under his control. In the future, the Medicine King Valley would be the host for the Physician King Tournament, so there were plenty of chances in the future for him to fight for that title.
Finally, everyone's attention was attracted by a person. He was tall with a solid appearance and bright eyes, along with a vague smile on the corner of his lips. It was only his face that looked a little pale.
Under everyone's expectations, Su Tao had finally arrived.
Naturally, most of them were looking at him with cursing gaze, since that fellow had caused them to wait for two hours.
The host reacted swiftly and music rang out as he walked onto the stage. "After so many days of the tournament, we're finally at the most exciting part! The finale of this TCM Assembly, the Physician King Tournament's finals will soon begin, and I believe that everyone is curious who will obtain the title of Physician King!"
"Firstly, I'd like to introduce our participants. Wang Guofeng, the top-ranked seeded participant of this Physician King Tournament, and is already one of the young leaders. Next, we have Su Tao, the dark horse of this tournament that surmounted all difficulties in his way and displayed astonishing medical skills!"
There was a distinctive trait in the host's voice. Although others might feel that he sounded a little sissy at the beginning, it sounded a bit flirtatious after listening to it for a long time. Especially when he raised his voice, it gave others a feeling of their blood boiling.
At this moment, CCTV-2 and many other channels of Huaibei Province have broadcasted the tournament live. The stage dazzled from the effect as the host walked down while the ambassador of this TCM Assembly, the first-rated celebrity Xia Ruo, wore an ancient costume while gracefully dancing with the melodious Chinese-styled music that resounded, instantly rendering a layer of illusion onto this Physician King Tournament.
Wang Guofeng and Su Tao stood at two sides of the stage with their gazes intertwined. Su Tao showed his symbolic smile, while Wang Guofeng's face was gloomy. Judging from the message that he previously received, this fellow should have just treated a patient. So the chances of him winning were higher since Su Tao was fighting consecutively. As for the smile on his face, it must be a diversion.
Back in the Three Flavour Hall in Hanzhou, the shop was filled with a group of people. None of them were there to purchase medicine or to seek treatment. They're all there to cheer for Su Tao in the Physician King Tournament. Just three days ago, Cai Yan used a messaging software to send a message to all their customers, "On the day of the Physician King Tournament's finals, everyone can enjoy a voucher worth ¥100 in the shop."
As Cai Yan looked at Su Tao on the television, her gaze glittered. Although they're a hundred miles away, she still paid sincere attention to anything that happened there.
"Big Sister, why don't you agree to be his girlfriend if he wins." Wang Peng teased.
Cai Yan rolled her eyes. "Don't talk nonsense, why are you not working faster since there are so many customers around?"
Wang Peng smiled. "Big Sister, I truly admire you. Although we are giving out vouchers nominally, we're actually spreading the fame of the Three Flavour Hall. We have given out quite a lot of vouchers, but we have also sold quite a bit of tonics and earned a huge sum!"
Glaring at him, Cai Yan reprimanded, "Are you stupid? We have so many customers here, and you're still yapping away!"
Wang Peng immediately covered his mouth as he walked out, looking craftily.
Cai Yan had already calculated in her heart that the business for Three Flavour Hall could flip at least double today. If Su Tao could win the Physician King's title, the profits from the Beautifying Cream of the Three Flavour Cosmetics International Limited wouldn't just be as simple as doubled.
Naturally, Cai Yan was also looking forward to seeing if Su Tao could fulfill his promise and save her father.
If her father was really rescued, how should she repay him? Marry him? The more she thought about it, the further her thoughts drifted and she couldn't hold back her smile. But she secretly covered her rosy lips with her hand when she felt that others might see it.
However, Xiao Jingjing had seen everything from the side before her gaze turned to the television and swore in her heart that she wanted to be like her Master in the future, standing on the stage that represented the highest honor of TCM.
Yan Wujin and Yan Jing were seated amongst the spectators, and the former had noticed that the Poisonous Widow who had always maintained her composure looked a little abnormal today. There were drops of sweat on her nose, so he sighed, "You look nervous."
Yan Jing nodded her head with a weak smile on her lips. "Su Tao just helped She Wei to clear the arsenic in her body, so it'd be too hard on him to fight with Wang Guofeng as well in such a short amount of time."
"The more you think about it, the more you'll be paranoid. This doesn't seem to be your usual style." Yan Wujin replied.
Yan Jing was briefly stunned. As the saying goes, the spectators see the matter from a broader view, and Yan Wujin had voiced out the changes in her behavior.
Since when would she care about a man?
Under the host's lead, everyone's attention fell onto the curtains. They're curious about that test for the finals.
Thirty seconds later, the answer was finally revealed, leaving Su Tao a little flabbergasted. Weren't the judges a little too crafty to pose such a question in the finals; treating a vegetative state?