Wei Xiaoyu was speaking when she suddenly felt the world spin around her. Her body swayed violently, and she almost fell.
She hurriedly reached into her pocket for her medicine bottle, eager to shake out a pill, but it slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground.
She reached out toward Zhang Ming's hand.
Zhang Ming had just been about to say something, but in the next second—
Smack!
An elegant white hand suddenly rested on Zhang Ming's right arm. "Please... help me..."
He frowned and said, "I must refuse, Ms. Wei. Please conduct yourself with dignity in public."
Wei Xiaoyu froze. Although she was suffering immensely, the look in her eyes clearly showed her astonishment at Zhang Ming's reaction.
"I don't understand why you would do this," Zhang Ming said sincerely. "While social morals may not be what they used to be, we should still maintain our self-respect."
Just then, a figure rushed over from behind and rebuked angrily, "Shameless wretch! Can't you see our CEO's medicine fell right at your feet? Not only do you refuse to help, but you stand there spouting nonsense... Why don't you just drop dead?"
Zhang Ming was startled. He looked down and saw, sure enough, a medicine bottle lying not far away on the ground, its cap loosened and a few pills scattered beside it.
"Hurry up and hand over the medicine! Our CEO has a heart condition and cannot afford any delays!" the person urged.
"Ah, I see." Realizing his mistake, Zhang Ming felt a slight warmth rise to his face, but he did not pick up the medicine bottle from the ground.
Instead, he took a small porcelain vial from his own luggage, shook out two white pills, and then put one back inside. "This is the Lingshu Pill I crafted myself. It can..."
Before he could finish, the female assistant was utterly furious. "Are you even listening to me? Hand me that medicine bottle right now! If anything happens to CEO Wei, your entire family won't be able to pay for the consequences!"
Faced with the sudden accusation, Zhang Ming merely glanced at her indifferently, not deigning to argue further.
Then, with a light flick of his toe, the medicine bottle seemed to be guided by an invisible force as it flew straight into the female assistant's arms.
"Since you care so much about your CEO's health, you should take better care of life-saving items instead of standing here talking nonsense." With that, he turned away, ignoring her completely.
Zhang Ming's words were like adding fuel to the fire, making the already enraged assistant even angrier.
Yet, given the urgency of the situation, she quickly shook pills out of the bottle and administered them to the endangered beauty CEO.
Once the woman's breathing stabilized, the female assistant turned on Zhang Ming to vent her grievance: "You damned freeloader, you really know how to play the victim after getting your way!" However, her complaints were cut short by a sudden, stern voice: "Impudent!"
Hearing the voice, the female assistant first froze, then was overjoyed to discover that CEO Wei had regained consciousness.
Despite taking the medication, CEO Wei's complexion remained poor, but she was now able to breathe normally.
"Immediately apologize to this gentleman!" CEO Wei ordered.
Though unwilling, the female assistant swallowed her anger when she saw her CEO's frail appearance and apologized to Zhang Ming. Zhang Ming stated that he neither wanted nor accepted the apology, which left the assistant practically speechless with fury: "You're given face and you don't want it!"
"Who do you think you are, demanding an apology from me? If you hadn't blocked our CEO's medicine bottle, how could she have failed to reach her medicine? And now you're still standing here putting on an act—bah!"
"Li Xinglan!" CEO Wei gasped for breath, shouting, "Shut up!"
Seeing the CEO's expression turn ugly, the assistant Li Xinglan was so frightened she immediately clamped her mouth shut. "CEO Wei, are you feeling unwell again? I... I'll get your medicine..."
"No need," CEO Wei waved weakly, then turned to Zhang Ming with an apologetic smile. "I am very sorry for what she just said. She was simply too worried about me and spoke without thinking. Please don't take offense."
"How can you say that!" Li Xinglan felt deeply aggrieved and opened her mouth to protest, but was stopped by a warning glare, forcing her to swallow her words. She muttered under her breath, "CEO Wei, why are you bothering to explain so much to him? The things he said were so harsh, and he even hid your medicine bottle."
CEO Wei frowned and explained, "My medicine fell near his feet when the attack started. We wronged him."
"Ah?" Li Xinglan cast a quick glance at Zhang Ming, her expression awkward, though still visibly displeased.
CEO Wei shook her head helplessly and turned back to Zhang Ming. "Thank you for your help. May I ask your name?"
She said this because, during her attack, she had noticed Zhang Ming attempting to use his own medicine to help her, which indicated he was a kind and warm-hearted person.
Zhang Ming looked Wei Xiaoyu over, feeling no particular animosity toward her—only a strong aversion to her assistant. After a moment of thought, he slowly replied, "Think nothing of it. My name is Zhang Ming."
After pausing for a few seconds, he could not help but add, "If I am not mistaken, you are not suffering from a heart disease. While that medicine is precious, it is not suited for your condition. Taking it short-term may provide relief, but long-term use could be harmful."
"This is utterly intolerable!" Li Xinglan glared at Zhang Ming. "Do you really think you're somebody important? Our CEO was just being polite. Do you even know who prescribed this medicine?
It was a renowned divine doctor of the Xia State! What qualifications do you have to question it? Are you even a doctor? You're nothing more than a fraud, if you ask me!"
Smack!
Wei Xiaoyu slammed her hand heavily on the table, her face blazing with anger. "Li Xinglan, why do you completely ignore my words!"
Feeling deeply wronged, Li Xinglan hurriedly explained, "CEO Wei, I... CEO Wei, what's wrong? CEO Wei!"
Before she could finish, she saw that Wei Xiaoyu, who had just been normal a moment ago, suddenly start convulsing, turning her own face pale with fright.
"CEO Wei, I was wrong, I was truly wrong, please don't scare me like this." Panicking, Li Xinglan frantically rummaged through her bag for the medicine bottle.
At that moment, a resounding voice interrupted her movements: "Step aside!"
Zhang Ming's voice rang like thunder in Li Xinglan's ear. She instinctively looked up, preparing to scold him for meddling, but met his stern gaze and involuntarily shivered.
"If you still want to save your CEO, lay her flat right now."
Sweeping a glance over Li Xinglan, who had been cowed by his imposing aura, Zhang Ming calmly produced a set of acupuncture needles known as the Celestial Crane Divine Needle.
Seeing Li Xinglan still standing there in a daze, he frowned deeply and barked, "What are you staring at? Do you actually want to kill your CEO?"
Li Xinglan started violently and, following Zhang Ming's instructions, carefully laid Wei Xiaoyu flat on the ground.
Without wasting words, Zhang Ming flicked his fingers with lightning speed, driving more than a dozen long needles precisely into the vital acupuncture points along Wei Xiaoyu's heart meridian.
As the long needles went in, Wei Xiaoyu's convulsions stopped instantly, and her complexion gradually returned to normal.
"Goodness!" Li Xinglan watched the scene in shock, her eyes filled with disbelief. "Mr. Li, you... I... Hey, what are you doing? Stop!"
When she saw Zhang Ming's hand reaching toward Wei Xiaoyu's chest, she could no longer hold back her cry. "Mr. Li, you can't do that!"
Zhang Ming's hand paused slightly. He turned his head to look at Li Xinglan, a trace of questioning in his eyes.