Li Tianyang wore a playful smile. "Tang Yanran, you threw the Australian air-freighted golden-edged roses I sent you straight into the trash, and you tossed designer bags worth hundreds of thousands to beggars.
How is it that today you deliberately crashed into my car? Could it be that you've had a change of heart?"
A flash of disgust crossed Tang Yanran's eyes. "This was just an accident. I will pay for whatever the losses are."
"Pay for it? Can you afford to?"
Li Tianyang sneered. "Top-of-the-line Porsche 718, nearly three million on the road—can you afford that?
Besides, this car has helped me pick up dozens of girls; it's a monument to my youth. Money can't even begin to replace it."
Tang Yanran's face turned ashen. "Then what do you want?"
"It's simple. Be my woman, and this account is settled. On top of that, I'll buy you a limited-edition Porsche."
"That's impossible. I'm calling the police."
Tang Yanran pulled out her phone and was about to call the police when Li Tianyang snatched it right out of her hand.
"I've already booked a hotel room. Call whoever you want after we sleep together.
When the time comes, I'll just say you couldn't afford to pay for my car and used your body to clear the debt. No one will doubt it, and your Tang Family won't dare let out a single peep."
Li Tianyang laughed triumphantly, raised his hand with a wave, and his thugs swarmed forward, baring their fangs and claws as they lunged at Tang Yanran.
"Don't come over..."
Panic instantly overwhelmed Tang Yanran, a wave of utter helplessness rising within her.
Chen Wanli shook his head, stepped forward, and shielded Tang Yanran behind him.
Li Tianyang let out a scoff. "What? Does the village idiot want to play the hero saving the beauty? You think you're worthy? Bah..."
Yet, right after that, a truly astonishing scene unfolded. Those ferocious thugs were sent flying to the ground in the blink of an eye, wailing and crying like slaughtered pigs.
Almost in the span of a single breath, all dozen or so men were knocked flat on the ground by Chen Wanli. Tang Yanran didn't even catch a glimpse of how he threw his punches.
The guys Li Tianyang brought along were experts who frequently fought and brawled—how could they not withstand even a few moves from him?
Chen Wanli curled his lips. Ever since he received his inheritance and spent three years studying hard in his sea of consciousness, dealing with a few thugs was simply using a butcher's cleaver to slaughter a chicken.
"This..."
Tang Yanran stared in utter dumbfounded astonishment, never dreaming in a million years that one day she would be protected by her idiot husband.
Li Tianyang, previously sneering all over, now turned pale as a sheet.
As a notorious playboy who had slept with countless women, hitting a dead end time and again with Tang Yanran left him extremely frustrated.
After chasing her for so long, he had completely lost his patience, which was why he decided to force the issue today.
Everything had been meticulously planned, and everything had gone smoothly—he thought his dream was about to come true right then and there.
Never in his wildest dreams did he expect that the one who was scared out of his wits would end up being himself.
Tang Yanran was a famous beauty in Nanbin City, and everyone in the city felt it was a pity she had married an idiot. But who could have imagined that this idiot would be so terrifyingly capable?
Seeing Chen Wanli's gaze shift toward him, Li Tianyang shivered violently and retreated seven or eight steps. "Don't come closer! What are you trying to do?"
Chen Wanli shook his fist. "You try to bully my wife right in front of my face, and you ask what I'm trying to do?"
Li Tianyang swallowed nervously. "Don't do anything rash! She hit my car, so paying for the damage is only right and proper..."
By this time, Tang Yanran had also regained her senses. She hurriedly grabbed Chen Wanli's arm. "Don't hit him! I was the one who crashed into his car; I should pay for it."
Although her driving skills weren't great, she still knew the rules of the road. Since she had been driving while on the phone and making a turn, she should bear full responsibility.
Chen Wanli shook his head. "You're still far too naive. Turn on your phone and record a video."
"Record what?"
Tang Yanran didn't understand what he was up to, but she still instinctively picked up her phone and switched it to video mode.
Chen Wanli grabbed the punk who had been driving the Porsche by the collar and hauled him up. "Tell me, what really happened? Why did you ram my wife's car?"
"I..."
The punk had originally been one of Li Tianyang's most loyal lackeys, so naturally he had no intention of telling the truth. But the moment he saw a flash of light in Chen Wanli's eyes, his expression instantly turned vacant.
"Young Master Li told me to crash into it. He had people watching near the intersection while I waited here. As soon as we confirmed Miss Tang's car was turning the corner, I was supposed to plow right into it..."
The words were few, but they laid the matter out completely. This was no accidental traffic collision at all—it was a pre-planned conspiracy.
Listening clearly from the side, Tang Yanran understood precisely what was going on and let out an enraged shout, "Li Tianyang, you are utterly shameless!"
"I..."
Li Tianyang wore a bewildered expression, the situation having far exceeded his comprehension. He never imagined that his fiercely loyal lackey would sell him out directly.
Chen Wanli kicked the punk flying, then strode right up to Li Tianyang.
"You..."
Li Tianyang originally wanted to toss out a few tough lines to intimidate the other man, but before the words could even leave his mouth, resounding slaps landed on his face in rapid succession, beating him so badly he couldn't get a single word out.
"Alright, stop hitting him."
Although Tang Yanran was furious, her reason still held. She hurriedly pulled Chen Wanli back—after all, this was someone from the Wang Family, and they couldn't afford to provoke them.
Beaten black and blue, Li Tianyang found a surge of courage from Tang Yanran's intervention and roared angrily, "You idiot, how dare you hit me! The Wang Family won't let you off the hook for this!"
"You said it yourself, I'm just an idiot. Why would I care whether you're from the Wang Family, the Li Family, or the Zhao Family?"
Chen Wanli grabbed him by the collar and delivered two more loud, crisp slaps to his face, teasingly saying, "Idiots don't even commit crimes when they kill people, let alone beat someone up. What do you think would happen if I finished you off right now?"
"I..."
Meeting that sharp, fierce gaze, the courage Li Tianyang had just recovered vanished into thin air.
It was known all over town that the Tang Family had an idiot son-in-law. If Chen Wanli really killed him, absolutely nothing would happen to him.
With that thought, he instantly caved. "Let's talk this over! Don't be impulsive. Whatever you want, you can have it."
"That's more like it. Don't push my buttons, or I really will kill you."
Chen Wanli continued, "You schemed against my wife and crashed into my wife's car. Don't you think you should pay for it?"
Li Tianyang nodded repeatedly. "I'll pay, of course I'll pay! I'll have people take the car to the repair shop right now, and no matter how much it costs, it's on me."
Chen Wanli raised his hand and delivered another slap. "Is fixing the car the end of it? You look pretty ugly, but you sure have high hopes!"
"I... I'll pay for everything! I'll pay the price of a brand new car! A Beetle, right? I'll transfer three hundred thousand to you right now!"
Tears filled Li Tianyang's eyes from the beatings. Right now, he just wanted to get rid of this idiot as quickly as possible. Revenge could wait until later—he had to ensure his own safety first.
"Is three hundred thousand enough?"
Chen Wanli delivered two more slaps across his face, drawing blood from the corner of his mouth.
Li Tianyang's head was buzzing from the blows. He had already offered to pay the price of a brand new car—why was that still not enough?
"Stop hitting me! How much do you want? Name your price."
Chen Wanli said, "This isn't just any ordinary Beetle; it's the witness to the love between my wife and me. Without it, we never would have ended up together—it's our matchmaker!
Now you've gone and wrecked the witness to our love, you've destroyed our matchmaker. You have to pay at least one million!"
"I..."
...
...
...
Chapter 4: You Don't Mess with the Crazy Martial Artist
Li Tianyang almost coughed up a mouthful of old blood. This extortion technique was cut from the exact same cloth as his own! Just moments ago he had claimed his Porsche was a monument to his youth, and now this guy comes up with a witness to their love—and turns it into a matchmaker, for crying out loud!
Chen Wanli's expression turned cold. "Well? Are you paying or not?"
"I'll pay, I'll pay! I'll transfer it right now."
Though filled with bitter resentment, Li Tianyang didn't dare utter a single word of refusal at this moment.
Chen Wanli let go of him, reached out and took the phone from the stunned Tang Yanran, and opened the payment collection code. Moments later, the sound of a one-million-yuan transfer notification rang out.
"Get lost! And don't let there be a next time, or it won't end this cheaply."
With the money safely in his account, Chen Wanli kicked Li Tianyang flying.
Trembling with rage, Li Tianyang happened to see Liu Bing, the head of the hospital's medical affairs department, rushing over with seven or eight security guards.
A malicious scheme instantly formed in his heart. He shouted at the top of his lungs toward Liu Bing, "Director Liu! I was beaten by a doctor from your hospital, you have to take responsibility for this!"
The Li Family supplied the hospital with medicine, and in his pursuit of Tang Yanran, Li Tianyang had frequently visited the hospital, becoming well-acquainted with Liu Bing long ago.
Seeing Li Tianyang's miserable state, Liu Bing's expression grew even sterner. "What happened here?"
Pointing at Tang Yanran and Chen Wanli, Li Tianyang distorted the facts completely. "She crashed into my car and had this idiot beat me up, claiming that psychiatric patients can't be charged with murder! They extorted a million yuan from me!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Bing flew into a rage. "This morning you misdiagnosed a patient with total disregard for human life, actually sending a living person to the morgue! And on top of that, you illegally brought a psychiatric patient's family member into the hospital.
For those two offenses alone, your medical license is gone! You'll spend the rest of your life behind bars!"
"Now you're resorting to physical violence inside the hospital? Is there no law left in this place?"
Liu Bing immediately slapped a heavy, inescapable label onto Tang Yanran.
The commotion had grown too large, and a crowd of onlookers had long since gathered around the hospital entrance.
Hearing Liu Bing's words, they immediately began pointing and whispering.
A living person sent to the morgue? Car crash extortion?
Is this a doctor? This is nothing short of a local tyrant!
Hearing the surrounding chatter, Liu Bing was thoroughly satisfied.
Zhang Debiao was his brother-in-law. The moment he heard about Song Jiaojiao's misdiagnosis and the morgue incident, he knew he had to act aggressively and make a big scene to intimidate Tang Yanran and cover for his brother-in-law.
After all, his future career advancement still depended on his brother-in-law Zhang Debiao's connections.
Adding fuel to the fire, Li Tianyang chimed in, "Director Liu, we're old acquaintances. I'll leave this matter in your hands; I have things to do and need to head out. Make sure you give me a proper account of this later, you hear?"
"Don't worry, leave it to me!" Liu Bing replied.
Li Tianyang immediately turned around and got back into his Porsche.
The lackey who climbed into the car with him chimed in, "Those security guards look like a bunch of old, weak, and disabled men; can they really take that guy down?"
Li Tianyang curled his lips. "What do you know? I want him to blow this matter completely out of proportion. It would be even better if he beats a couple of security guards to death!"
"When that happens, Tang Yanran will have no choice but to come crawling to me on her knees!"
...
Once Li Tianyang left, Liu Bing put on full official airs as he looked at Tang Yanran. "Well? Are you two going back on your own, or should I have them drag you back?"
"Detain the two of them until Song—ahem, until the hospital holds a meeting. Anyone who needs to be punished will be dealt with without leniency! Send the rest straight to the police!"
The head nurse of the outpatient department happened to walk past. She had a pretty good relationship with Tang Yanran and couldn't help asking, "Director Liu, isn't there some kind of misunderstanding here?"
"Everyone knows Dr. Tang's medical skills. How could she make such a low-level mistake?"
Liu Bing gave a grand wave of his hand, dripping with bureaucratic arrogance. "Go back to whatever you're supposed to be doing. Is this any of your business to go poking around in?"
"Even the best medical skills can't make up for a deficit in medical ethics. Her negligence sent a living person to the morgue—what is that? That's taking human life lightly, a major medical malpractice incident!"
Not knowing the inside story, the head nurse found herself unable to speak up any further.
"You're talking nonsense! When I took over my shift this morning, Song Jiaojiao had already been pronounced dead by Zhang Debiao."
Driven to utter fury, Tang Yanran couldn't help refuting him publicly.
A trace of greed flashed across Liu Bing's eyes as he looked at Tang Yanran, mixed with a hint of vengeful pleasure.
Back then, he had taken a fancy to Tang Yanran and hinted at having some fun together, only to have this little beauty slap him right across the face.
Now that she had fallen into his hands, he wanted to see what kind of high-and-mighty act she could put on!
"Whose responsibility it is, the hospital will naturally investigate thoroughly!"
"Do it! Grab the two of them and lock them in the conference room first!" Liu Bing sneered.
Seeing four or five security guards close in, Chen Wanli said leisurely, "If I remember correctly, the hospital's medical affairs department doesn't have the authority to arrest people, right?"
Liu Bing laughed out of sheer anger. A psychiatric patient was trying to lecture him on the rules here?
"What kind of thing are you? Do I need to explain myself to you just because I want to detain someone?"
"A freak who molests female corpses in the morgue dares to jump out now? Ask everyone here—is there anything wrong with locking up a creep like you?"
Hearing the words "molests female corpses," the surrounding onlookers all shuddered! That was simply too perverted!
Instantly, not only did the finger-pointing resume, but some people even began shouting for the police to hurry up and arrest this pervert!
Tang Yanran frowned and glared fiercely at Chen Wanli. He was a master of ruining things and achieving nothing; jumping out at a time like this was just handing Liu Bing ammunition.
She pulled out her phone, intending to call her father to see if she could find someone she knew to handle the matter fairly—or at least prevent Chen Wanli from being arrested on charges of corpse molestation.
No sooner had she dialed the number than Liu Bing slapped the phone right out of her hand.
"Bah! Trying to make a phone call to pull strings? Let me tell you, it won't work! Women like you rely on your looks to play power-and-sex games..."
Liu Bing spat heavily at Tang Yanran's feet.
Tang Yanran's face flushed crimson, and she trembled with rage.
Chen Wanli's expression darkened.
Over the past three years, although they had only been husband and wife in name, Tang Yanran had taken good care of him.
Seeing her being bullied like this stirred a surge of anger straight to his head.
"Apologize!" Chen Wanli said in an icy voice.
Liu Bing scoffed, his face full of utter contempt.
Slap!
Chen Wanli backhanded Liu Bing across the face twice.
"How dare you hit me?" The veins on Liu Bing's forehead thundered with rage. "If I don't make you rot in a prison cell, my name isn't Liu!"
"Hit you? Didn't Li Tianyang just tell you? Psychiatric patients don't even commit crimes when they kill people!"
As he spoke, Chen Wanli's hand clamped tightly around Liu Bing's neck. With just a slight application of force, Liu Bing's face turned beet red, and pure terror filled his eyes.
"Chen Wanli, let go!" Tang Yanran hurriedly tried to pull him away.
Yet Chen Wanli's face remained utterly cold and stern. As Liu Bing began to suffocate, kicking and thrashing with his limbs, he couldn't break free at all.
Seeing this, several security guards rushed forward.
To everyone's surprise, Chen Wanli held Liu Bing with one hand while easily swatting away all four or five guards with the other.
The gazes directed at Chen Wanli shifted completely—you really couldn't afford to mess with a crazy martial artist!
"Are you apologizing or not?" Chen Wanli asked coldly.
Struggling to draw breath, Liu Bing nodded frantically. Scared out of his wits, he bumbled out an apology before scrambling away toward the outer edge of the crowd.
Once he ran far enough away, he turned back and stomped his feet, shouting, "You just wait!"
Chen Wanli gave a mocking laugh. "I'll wait. Let's see what you can do!"
Tang Yanran frowned deeply. Chen Wanli had never shown violent tendencies before! With things blown up to this scale, she had no idea how it was all going to end.
Right at that moment, outside the perimeter of the crowd, Zhang Debiao and Song Siming walked over, flanked by several bodyguards.
...
...
...
Chapter 5: Melancholia
Liu Bing hurriedly rushed up to them, pointing at Chen Wanli as he lodged a complaint. "Director, call the police quickly! He—he almost killed me! And he extorted a million yuan from Li Tianyang!"
"..." Looking at Liu Bing's bedraggled and pathetic state, Zhang Debiao's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Song Siming looked Chen Wanli up and down. He couldn't care less about who Chen Wanli had beaten or what he had done! All he wanted to know was whether his daughter could be saved!
If nothing else, Chen Wanli remained completely unfazed even while surrounded by a crowd like this—his composure was rock-solid.
Song Siming spoke up, asking, "Was it you who discovered my daughter was still alive?"
"No, to be precise, I discovered your daughter was still worth saving, and I saved her!" Chen Wanli lifted his chin.
"Bullshit! You're a psychiatric patient—did you ever go to medical school? Do you have a practicing physician's certificate?" Zhang Debiao immediately shot back.
"No. But I'm the one who saved her. Since you went to medical school and have a physician's certificate, why don't you go save her yourself instead of coming over here?" Chen Wanli sneered, having already guessed the reason for their arrival.
A bad premonition arose in Zhang Debiao's heart.
Song Siming raised his eyelids. "If you go save my daughter right now and prove what you said is true, I can let bygones be bygones!"
Chen Wanli raised an eyebrow, looking displeased. "Not going, not in the mood! If it weren't for me, your daughter would have kicked the bucket half an hour ago, and you wouldn't be qualified to talk to me like this!"
Song Siming clenched his fists. With the status and standing he possessed today, no one had ever dared speak to him like that.
Yet very quickly, his spirit deflated; his daughter's life was hanging by a thread, and he had no choice but to treat a dead horse as if it were still alive.
"What will it take for you to be in the mood to treat my daughter? Name your conditions—as long as you can cure her, I have no objections whatsoever!"
Chen Wanli nodded. "Now that's the attitude of someone asking for help!"
With that, his gaze swept across Zhang Debiao and Liu Bing as he said coldly, "My condition is that you clear my wife's name. Whoever made the mess has to clean it up!"
Tang Yanran's feelings were deeply conflicted. She was touched that Chen Wanli still wanted to protect her even now, but she was also terrified. It looked as though even the national medical master Li Jiang hadn't been able to cure Song Jiaojiao—what on earth could Chen Wanli possibly cure?
Liu Bing was completely dumbfounded; the situation had far exceeded his imagination.
He had expected Song Siming to give Chen Wanli a hard slap across the face upon arrival, but who could have imagined he would instead treat him with such polite deference and invite him to cure his daughter?
He stole a glance at Zhang Debiao and, seeing his face turned the color of a pig's liver, was suddenly seized by panic.
As a shrewd man of the business world, Song Siming guessed seven or eight parts of the truth on the spot. "Director Zhang, if you don't tell the truth right now, I'll have the disciplinary inspection department step in to investigate!"
"..." Cold sweat poured down Zhang Debiao's forehead in a torrential cascade. He could act as a tyrant ruling the hospital single-handedly, but once the disciplinary inspection department got involved, there would be no covering it up.
After only a brief hesitation, Zhang Debiao spilled the whole story. As he finished, he couldn't help emphasizing, "Miss Song really did have zero respiration and heartbeat this morning..."
Song Siming gave a grand wave of his hand. "We'll settle our scores later. Who is it that you should be apologizing to right now?"
"I—I'm sorry! I was momentarily blinded by greed!" Zhang Debiao turned his head and blurted out an apology to Chen Wanli.
Chen Wanli curled his lips. "Huh?"
Zhang Debiao immediately turned to Tang Yanran and apologized repeatedly.
Seeing this, Liu Bing panicked as well, showering Tang Yanran with a torrent of apologies.
Tang Yanran remained silent.
Both men turned pleading gazes toward Chen Wanli.
Chen Wanli gave a mocking smile. "If an apology was all it took, what would we need the police for? Right, Mr. Song?"
Song Siming urged anxiously, "I will definitely give you a satisfactory account regarding their illegal activities! Please go help me treat my daughter first!"
Chen Wanli nodded.
Tang Yanran grew increasingly anxious inside. The Chen Wanli before her eyes felt both utterly unfamiliar and deeply worrying! Outwardly calm, she gave a slight, imperceptible shake of her head and gripped Chen Wanli's arm.
Chen Wanli grinned, turned his hand over to clasp Tang Yanran's hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry. I've got this handled!"