Ch 57 (Part 1): Rebirth of the Tool Man in a Pampered Protagonist Novel

Fang Ziyang sat in Li Xiao’s car.

Since Shi Meijing got in the car, he hadn’t said a word or even smiled. He plugged in his earphones and closed his eyes, appearing emotionless and distant.

Shi Meijing didn’t know what his personality was like before, so she didn’t think much of it. She simply regarded him as one of those snobbish rich second-generation individuals who looked down on ordinary people. Throughout the journey, she couldn’t help but sneer at him inwardly.

However, Li Xiao and Wei Yue were different.

They knew Fang Ziyang from before and knew that he had a friendly and amiable personality. He wouldn’t give people the cold shoulder, and despite being a young master, he could hang out with them like an ordinary person, going to street stalls for late-night snacks and beer. In short, he had a good temper.

But now, Fang Ziyang’s attitude toward Shi Meijing was clearly more than just a dislike. His icy demeanor made people feel uneasy.

Li Xiao didn’t understand why he was behaving like this.

Shi Meijing was Shi Liangchen’s sister, and he wanted to introduce Liangchen to Ziyang so that he could have connections in the software industry. Then Liangchen wouldn’t have to waste any more time and could return to school.

After all, they were from the same hometown and grew up together. Liangchen was also a decent person. How could Li Xiao not help him?

He had thought about asking his older brother for help before, but unfortunately, his brother’s social circle was too high-class. The programs developed by Shi Liangchen didn’t catch the attention of those big bosses. So, it was impossible for his brother to help.

But Fang Ziyang was different.

During their tutoring sessions, Ziyang’s tone hinted that he was interested in meeting talented young people in the field of computer technology, scouting for potential talent to build a team for future graduation and the establishment of a company.

Therefore, Li Xiao thought that he could take this opportunity to help Shi Liangchen establish a connection.

However, looking at Fang Ziyang’s attitude toward Shi Meijing…

Li Xiao worried about whether things would develop smoothly. It seemed like there might have been some previous conflicts between Fang Ziyang and the Shi family. Could it be that the Shi family had offended Ziyang before?

With an anxious heart, the car drove on the expressway, passed through a tunnel, and traveled on a bumpy dirt road for a long time. After approximately three hours, they finally arrived at Li Xiao’s hometown, Bai Xing Village.

Bai Xing Village was relatively remote, but remoteness had its advantages — beautiful mountains and clear waters.

Although Bai Xing Village was secluded, it wasn’t considered too impoverished. With the support of government policies, the villagers had income from fruit trees, and their livelihoods were fairly decent. Many houses in the village were well-built.

Li Xiao’s family was one of the wealthier households in the village.

Although they didn’t own a car, the house was well-maintained because his grandfather was a Chinese medicine practitioner. They wanted the elderly to live comfortably and have something to occupy their time. So, the house was well-built.

It was a three-story building where the second and third floors were occupied by residents, while the first floor was transformed into a small clinic for his grandfather. The elderly wouldn’t feel too lonely with something to do at home.

When Li Xiao brought Fang Ziyang home, his grandfather wasn’t there. He had gone to take care of his precious medicinal field up the mountain. Only his grandmother was at home.

Li Xiao’s grandparents had already heard that their grandson’s friend was coming to visit, so his grandmother warmly received Fang Ziyang, offering water and candies as if he was a little child.

Without Shi Meijing around, Fang Ziyang returned to his usual amiability and greeted the elderly with a smile.

After Wei Yue and the grandmother went to the kitchen to prepare the meat and vegetables for dinner and entertain their grandson’s friend…

Li Xiao looked at Fang Ziyang and hesitated before asking about the situation in the car earlier.

“Ziyang, um, do you know Shi Meijing? Like, have you met her before?”

Fang Ziyang didn’t answer immediately.

He remained silent for a while before nodding. “Yes. And I have a bit of a grudge with the Shi family…”

His behavior today was too obvious. Instead of finding other excuses to evade the question, he decided to be direct with Li Xiao, so as not to affect their friendship.

Li Xiao didn’t expect him to explain it like this, so straightforwardly and clearly.

Fang Ziyang actually had a grudge with the Shi family, but… it was hard for Li Xiao to believe. How could the Shi family have any connection with Fang Ziyang, and it seemed like their relationship wasn’t good? He had never heard anything about it before.

However, considering Fang Ziyang’s attitude, it didn’t seem like he was lying. When Fang Ziyang looked at Shi Meijing with an uncontrollable coldness, it didn’t seem like an act.

This put Li Xiao in a difficult position.

Since Fang Ziyang had a grudge with the Shi family, and it seemed serious, his previous plan regarding the software program was definitely off the table. It was a pity to lose such a good opportunity.

But just when he felt disappointed…

Fang Ziyang took out his checkbook from his backpack and wrote a check, handing it to Li Xiao.

“Here’s five million. Give it to Shi Liangchen. Don’t tell him about my existence. Just say someone wants to buy the rights to his software development… I don’t want any further interaction with their family, and I don’t want them to know about my existence. Consider this check as settling everything.”

His feelings toward Shi Liangchen were incredibly complex.

He hated Shi Liangchen, but Shi Liangchen had saved his life. Their enmity from the past life was considered settled, and in this life, he wouldn’t seek revenge. In the end, Shi Liangchen had become a person under Yan Tong’s control because of his sister’s medical expenses.

Didn’t Shi Liangchen say that if there were choices, everything might have been different?

Okay, he would trust the other person once again.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

He gave Shi Liangchen this choice.

“Li Xiao, I hope you don’t tell anyone about this, especially your older brother, okay?”

If Secretary Li found out, it would mean that Xie Zheng and his brother would know, and they would surely question why he did this and what the grudge between him and the Shi family was. It would lead to unnecessary trouble.

Li Xiao didn’t know what Fang Ziyang was thinking, but since Ziyang had already made his position clear, it wouldn’t be appropriate to ask further.

“Alright, I understand.”

He nodded.

“Okay, let’s not talk about this anymore. When will your grandfather come back? Before he returns, can you tell me more about your grandfather and his disciple Ming Bai? I want to have something to talk to them about when we meet. I’m counting on persuading your grandfather…”

Without dwelling too long on those troubling matters, Fang Ziyang handed the check to Li Xiao and started to show concern for Grandpa Li and Ming Bai.

These two individuals were key to the launch of Dongsheng Pharmaceutical’s new product.

Li Xiao had already heard from Fang Ziyang why he was interested in his grandfather and his senior disciple. Ziyang wanted to invest in a pharmaceutical company and lacked people with strong presence in the research and development team, so he set his sights on Grandpa Li and Ming Bai.

Although Li Xiao was somewhat shocked by the world of the wealthy, where they started investing games with money at a young age… it was still a good thing.

He didn’t know if Fang Ziyang had impressive investment skills, but he knew that Fang Ziyang’s older brother was Tang Xun, and Tang Xun had a good relationship with Xie Zheng. Xie Zheng was in control of the Xie family, and with Xie Zheng and Tang Xun’s support, it would be difficult for Fang Ziyang to lose money, even if he wanted to!

Grandpa Li didn’t care much about having a job at his age, but Ming Bai was still young and in need of such an opportunity.

So Li Xiao was very pleased with Fang Ziyang’s idea and was willing to work hard to make it happen.

According to Li Xiao’s account, Fang Ziyang gained a deeper understanding of Grandpa Li and Ming Bai.

Grandpa Li had a tumultuous life, as he had mentioned before.

The Li family’s ancestors were imperial physicians, but after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the imperial physicians naturally ended up in the civilian population. However, with his superb medical skills, Grandpa Li quickly established himself in the community, created a respected clinic, and brought blessings to his descendants.

But unfortunately, during the land reform at the founding of the country, the well-to-do Li family suffered. In turbulent times, a family with a disadvantaged background like the Li family became the smelly ninth category of the society due to their traditional Chinese medicine background. They lived through difficult times.

Grandpa Li grew up in this environment, which made him especially timid. Being treated as the smelly ninth category terrified him, and he became very reclusive.

It was because of this personality that Grandpa Li remained unmarried his entire life, immersing himself in the study of herbal medicine for his own amusement.

Later, he found a child, Ming Bai, and wanted to pass on the ancestral medical skills to him, fulfilling his duties to his ancestors…

Ming Bai didn’t disappoint his grandfather’s expectations. He had exceptional talent in medicine and was praised as a young genius in their hometown.

However, Ming Bai didn’t perform well in the college entrance examination, so he didn’t get into the medical school he desired. He wasted time and could only attend night school to obtain his traditional Chinese medicine license. After all, a young person like him couldn’t stay in the countryside like Grandpa Li.

“…That’s roughly the situation. My grandfather is not easy to persuade; he always worries about being taken away to a cowshed someday and refuses to leave the village. Ming Bai is more cooperative. He has long wanted to work in a major hospital, but his qualifications aren’t enough, and he learned medicine from my grandfather privately. To practice traditional Chinese medicine, he has to gradually obtain the license.”

Li Xiao also felt helpless.

Although Ming Bai didn’t score well in other subjects and didn’t get into the medical school he wanted, he still attended a regular university.

However, after graduation, Ming Bai still wanted to practice traditional Chinese medicine, so he wasted time and had to gradually obtain the license.

Fang Ziyang nodded.

It was similar to what he knew from his previous life.

Despite Li Xiao’s description, it seemed like Ming Bai was a poor student. However, in reality, Ming Bai had an amazing talent in traditional Chinese medicine. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him a genius.

After all, traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine were fundamentally different.

And most importantly, the medical skills passed down in the Li family were not some makeshift methods but the techniques of the imperial court physicians in the past.

The medicine formulas he had in his golden finger were named as various nutritional liquids and medicinal agents, but in fact, they were all evolved from traditional Chinese medicine principles. That’s why he called them medicine formulas.

To use these formulas, someone proficient in traditional Chinese medicine was needed.

Because some of the medicinal ingredients needed substitution, additional assistance was required for the follow-up formulas.

After familiarizing himself with Li Xiao’s grandfather and Ming Bai once again, it didn’t take long for dinner to be ready at the Li family’s home. Grandpa Li, who had been taking care of his beloved medicinal field in the afternoon, returned with his disciple and adopted son Ming Bai.

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Sandy: I’m a little confused. So, Grandpa Li didn’t marry, but Li Xiao called him grandfather. How are they related? 🤨

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