"A Feng, stop wasting time! The company is waiting for me to attend a meeting. Give him five thousand and get him out of here!"
The beautiful woman frowned, ordering the driver in a cold voice. Clearly, she also assumed Lin Fei was a scammer. Besides, since there were no injuries and it was only an old tricycle, five thousand was more than enough compensation.
The driver dared not disobey his employer’s command. He quickly counted out five thousand yuan and tossed it at Lin Fei. "You little brat, consider yourself lucky! Now get lost!"
Lin Fei’s jaw muscles tightened. He didn't pick up the money; instead, he steadied his tricycle and headed toward the hospital. The driver watched him leave, stunned that Lin Fei hadn't taken the cash.
"Miss, I'm not a scammer. As for you, you're already terminally ill—you'd be better off resting."
As he passed the car window, Lin Fei suddenly stopped and spoke to her in a cold, detached voice. In truth, he didn't need to add that last part. But for some reason, seeing a girl of such radiant beauty suffering from a terminal illness, Lin Fei felt a profound sense of regret.
Upon hearing his words, Luo Xiaowei’s expression hardened. Her eyes, fixed on Lin Fei, were filled with shock. Aside from her private physician, she had never told a soul about her brain tumor—not even her family. How could this total stranger, a little farmer, possibly know?
Luo Xiaowei reasoned that the hospital must have leaked her medical records. Because she was worried about her family finding out, she had intentionally traveled to this remote Longwang Town Hospital for her check-ups, taking her CT scans to show her private doctor. It was entirely possible that a small-town hospital with lax management had compromised her privacy.
"By the way, miss," Lin Fei added. "If you want to live, you can go to Longquan Village and look for a miracle doctor named Lin Fei."
He truly wanted to save her life; after all, healing the wounded and rescuing the dying was a doctor's sacred duty. Furthermore, he believed he now possessed the ability to cure terminal illnesses. However, he wasn't about to beg anyone to let him treat them. He had pointed out a path to survival; it was up to her whether she took it. Naturally, this was also a way to create a source of income for himself. The girl was clearly the daughter of a wealthy family; if he saved her life, couldn't he charge whatever he wanted for the consultation fee?
"Hmph, I see! You aren't just trying to scam me for the car—you’re trying to scam me personally!" Luo Xiaowei squinted, her voice sharp with disdain. She concluded that this little farmer must have discovered her illness somehow and was now trying to use that information to extort money from her. There was no such thing as a "miracle doctor" in this world; the scam was as mindless as it was pathetic!
"Beside the red table, a balding man, a cup of black water poured on a fair face. Driven by wealth, blinded by power, the fledgling phoenix struggles to hold the sky."
Lin Fei didn't bother to argue. He just curled his lip, recited the bizarre doggerel, and pedaled his tricycle away.
"Psychopath!" Luo Xiaowei muttered under her breath, immediately rolling up the car window.
Luo Xiaowei was the daughter of the former chairman of Wenshan County Luo's Pharmaceutical Company and currently served as the board chair herself. Her father, Luo Yingqiu, had become too ill to manage the company, and the elder of the Luo Family had entrusted the chairmanship to his granddaughter, Luo Xiaowei, on his deathbed. This was effectively handing her the inheritance of the entire Luo Family.
Her second uncle, Luo Dajun, was deeply resentful of her appointment. He and his son, Luo Chao, often colluded in secret with high-level executives to create problems and sabotage Luo Xiaowei, even pulling petty stunts to humiliate her in hopes that she would quit, allowing him to take the chair himself.
Luo Xiaowei was under immense pressure. Compounded by her late-stage brain tumor diagnosis, she was on the verge of a breakdown. She couldn't let the family know about her illness, or the Luo Family assets would fall into Luo Dajun’s hands. Luo Dajun was a man of wicked intentions; if he were to take control of the company, the consequences would be unimaginable.
When she arrived back at the company in the county, the conference room was already full, everyone waiting for the chairwoman, Luo Xiaowei.
"Hmph, you haven't even been chairwoman for long, and you're already putting on airs! Luo Xiaowei, everyone here is very busy!"
"As chairwoman, you're setting a terrible example by being late to a meeting. How are you supposed to manage the staff?"
Luo Dajun wouldn't miss this chance to belittle her. In front of the company's senior management, he rapped his knuckles against the table and scolded her, showing her no respect at all. The others remained silent, but their eyes were filled with disdain and disappointment.
"I am very sorry. There was an incident on the road earlier. Being late for the meeting was wrong of me, and I apologize to everyone. It won't happen again." Luo Xiaowei blushed and bowed in apology.
She had just sat down when her secretary brought a cup of coffee and placed it beside her. As Luo Xiaowei reached for the coffee to take a sip, she was horrified to see a large, disgusting cockroach floating in it!
"Ah!" Luo Xiaowei had been afraid of cockroaches since childhood, and she shrieked in terror. In her fright, she accidentally tipped her chair over, and the entire cup of coffee splashed squarely onto her face.
"Hahaha!" Seeing the chairwoman in such a pathetic state, everyone burst into laughter, especially Luo Dajun and Luo Chao, who laughed the loudest. Luo Chao had planted the cockroach; he had only wanted to humiliate her, never expecting the result to be this spectacular.
Luo Xiaowei was mortified. She gripped the mahogany conference table, stood up, and glared at Luo Dajun. When her eyes landed on Luo Dajun’s balding head, she froze.
"Beside the red table, a balding man, a cup of black water poured on a fair face..."
The doggerel the little farmer at the hospital gate had recited began to echo in her mind. Wasn't that exactly what had just happened?
"...Driven by wealth, blinded by power, the fledgling phoenix struggles to hold the sky."
Wasn't that exactly the situation she was currently facing?!
Luo Xiaowei was stunned. She realized she had encountered a legendary master! Even if someone could have predicted her general situation, her falling and the coffee splashing on her face—that was an absolute accident! To predict such a specific, coincidental event with such chilling precision—if this wasn't a master, what was he?
Luo Xiaowei suddenly remembered that the little farmer had told her if she wanted to survive, she should go to Longquan Village and find a miracle doctor named Lin Fei...
In truth, when Lin Fei discovered Luo Xiaowei was terminally ill, he had cast a hexagram for her. It was the "Conflict" hexagram—Heaven over Water. The omen signified strife and discord, and the text indicated a battle for power and wealth, suggesting a position in decline. The "red" symbolized wood, the "balding man" was the lack of hair on top, and the "black water" was the coffee—all pointing to the events that unfolded within the hour.
Lin Fei had composed the doggerel based on this hexagram. Even he hadn't realized how precisely it would come to pass.