Ye Xiu smiled as he watched the scene unfold. This was the power of a conspiracy!
Years ago, Huang Xinming had used this very tactic, fabricating terrible stories about him for the reporters. Afterward, the masterminds behind the scenes invested vast sums of money. They used the internet, media, newspapers, and every other means at their disposal to build a narrative, making him infamous across the country in an extremely short amount of time.
"Everyone, disperse," the Ghost Doctor announced, his voice carrying over the crowd. "Saint Medical College isn't just a school; it's also a hospital. A gathering this large will disturb the patients' recovery."
The onlookers quickly scattered. Soon, only Ye Xiu, Qin Qing, the Ghost Doctor, Huang Tao, Huang Xinming, and the Qin Family remained.
"You set me up," Huang Xinming snarled, glaring at the Ghost Doctor. He had finally figured it all out. After all, he had used this very same ploy himself ten years ago.
"No, no, no," the Ghost Doctor scoffed. "A brain like mine could never devise such a brilliant scheme. It was all my Master's magnificent plan."
"You?" Huang Xinming whipped his head around to face Ye Xiu. "Why? We have no history, no grudge. Why would you set me up?"
"Dad, he's Ye Xiu!" Huang Tao wheezed, barely conscious.
What? Huang Xinming felt as if he'd been struck by lightning. He stared at Ye Xiu, finally recognizing the faint shadow of the man from ten years ago. "Ye Xiu," he spat viciously, "you disgrace to the medical world! How dare you come back? Do you really think you and the Ghost Doctor can frame me and get away with it? The moment I reveal your identity, I'll turn this whole situation around!"
Ye Xiu only smiled coldly. "Perhaps you should read that contract in your hand more carefully."
A contract? Huang Xinming froze, a cold sweat instantly breaking out across his skin. He scrambled to open the contract and began reading it word for word. It was the employment contract for Saint Medical College, the one he had signed in the Ghost Doctor's office. At the time, he was so excited about becoming the Ghost Doctor's apprentice that the thought of betrayal never crossed his mind. He had signed it without even glancing at the contents.
Looking back now... there had to be a catch in the contract!
"The contract is quite long. Allow me to summarize," Ye Xiu said with a playful tone. "It's a fifty-year contract. It clearly states that within these fifty years, Saint Medical College can assign you any work it sees fit. If you try to resign, you will be required to pay the college 10 billion in damages."
Hearing Ye Xiu's words, the members of the Qin Family all sucked in a sharp breath, their scalps tingling with shock. This was a slave contract. Huang Xinming had essentially sold the freedom of the rest of his life to Ye Xiu! Furthermore, since the contract allowed Saint Medical College to assign his work arbitrarily, Ye Xiu could very well order him to clean toilets…
Ye Xiu's methods of revenge… they were too vicious!
"Impossible… This is impossible… No, no…" Huang Xinming stared at the contract, his body trembling violently as his expression became crazed. The thought of being humiliated by Ye Xiu for fifty years filled him with the urge to kill himself.
"What? Thinking of suicide?" Ye Xiu's face was a mask of ice. "After everything you put me through, how could I possibly bear to let you die so easily?" He turned to the Ghost Doctor. "Take Huang Tao to the City of Asura. If Huang Xinming kills himself, kill Huang Tao too."
"Understood." The Ghost Doctor nodded, raising a hand and snapping his fingers. A van immediately pulled up. A burly man stepped out, knocked Huang Tao unconscious with a single, practiced blow, stuffed him into the trunk, and drove away. He didn't say a word from start to finish, his movements clean and efficient, as if this were a routine task for him.
"No, please, don't!" Huang Xinming panicked. He dropped to his knees before Ye Xiu and began kowtowing frantically. "Don't go after my son! It was me who framed you back then! He had nothing to do with it, he's innocent…"
"Shut up!" Ye Xiu kicked Huang Xinming to the ground and pinned his head under his foot. "Your son is innocent?" he seethed. "Then were my mother and my grandparents not innocent? When you hired hitmen to run them down and kill them, did you ever imagine you would face retribution like this?"
At this moment, Huang Xinming couldn't care less whether Ye Xiu's mother and grandparents were innocent. He had to find a way to save Huang Tao. He screamed, "I'll tell you who the mastermind was! I'll tell you everything, just please, spare my son!"
"There's no need," Ye Xiu rejected him without a shred of hesitation. "I've already conducted a thorough investigation of the masterminds and everyone who participated in framing me. I will find every single one of them. You are merely the first."
At these words, Qin Qing, the Qin Family, and Huang Xinming finally understood why Ye Xiu had returned after a decade. He had spent all ten years preparing for this moment. Despair washed over Huang Xinming. He realized that no matter what he did, Ye Xiu would never let him or Huang Tao go. The hatred Ye Xiu had suppressed for a decade, a profound blood debt for his family's murder, could not be erased by an enemy's repentance.
"Aren't any of you going to plead for Huang Tao?" Ye Xiu looked at the Qin Family with mockery, his gaze finally settling on Qin Anruo's face. The family felt his stare slice across their faces like a knife, leaving a trail of burning shame. They all bowed their heads, daring not to meet his eyes. Not a single person spoke up for Huang Tao, as if he were a complete stranger.
"A bunch of worthless opportunists," Ye Xiu sneered. "When I was at my peak, your entire family flocked to curry my favor, but when I fell from grace, no one fled faster than you. Just this morning, you were gloating about finding such an excellent son-in-law in Huang Tao. Now that he's in trouble, you don't even dare to utter a single word to defend him…"
Utterly humiliated, the members of the Qin Family wished a hole would open up in the ground and swallow them whole.
Qin Qing quietly tugged on Ye Xiu's sleeve. "Please, save me some face," she whispered. Although she had been expelled from the Qin Family, she was, after all, still a Qin.
"Alright," Ye Xiu nodded. He then asked, "Am I being too cruel to Huang Xinming and Huang Tao?"
"They both deserve to die," Qin Qing said, her voice like ice. No one knew better than her what Ye Xiu had suffered. What he was doing to Huang Xinming and Huang Tao now was far kinder than what they had done to him back then.
"As long as you understand, I don't care if the entire world turns against me." Ye Xiu smiled, then turned to the Ghost Doctor. "Are the things ready?"
"Everything is prepared, Master!" the Ghost Doctor replied respectfully.
"What things?" Qin Qing asked.
"The offerings I asked the Ghost Doctor to prepare," Ye Xiu explained. "I haven't had a chance to pay my respects since you helped me bury my mom and grandparents. And now that we're married, we should tell them the good news."
"Okay, let's go," Qin Qing said.
Ye Xiu nodded. He took her hand, and they walked toward the entrance of Saint Medical College.
Watching Ye Xiu's retreating back, the Qin Family had a sudden realization. He hadn't returned after ten years to redeem himself, clear his name, or even to kill his enemies. He had returned to play with them, to torment them.
"What are you looking at? Get to work!" the Ghost Doctor snapped, kicking Huang Xinming. "From this day on, all the restrooms in this college are your responsibility. You will clean them every single day. If I find them even a little dirty, I will skin Huang Tao alive." With that, he turned and left.
Huang Xinming sat numbly on the ground. He waited until the Ghost Doctor was long gone and the Qin Family had departed before taking out his phone and dialing a number. "Young Master Ming, Ye Xiu is back…"
Huang Xinming was a ruthless schemer. As long as he drew breath, he would not give up hope. In his mind, if Ye Xiu died, Huang Tao would be saved, and he would have a chance to reclaim his former glory.
Meanwhile, inside the Ming Corporation, Ming Hao sat in his office chair, his face dark as he stared into space, lost in thought. A moment later, a woman whose beauty was in no way inferior to Qin Qing's strode into the room. It was Ming Yue, the eldest daughter of the Ming Family, and once upon a time, Ye Xiu's number one fan.
"Is it true? Is Ye Xiu really back?" Ming Yue asked.
"It's true," Ming Hao confirmed with a nod. He rose from his chair, retrieved a bottle of XO from the liquor cabinet, and poured two glasses. After handing one to Ming Yue and taking a sip from his own, he continued, "He's back for revenge."
"Him?" Ming Yue scoffed. "He's as naive as a blank slate. He wouldn't even step on an ant. How could someone like him possibly get revenge?"