Chapter 1105 — The Pi Family's Experts

"Mmm... that much is true. Zhaoming is right. Guifeng, did you hear that? You are the one who bungled this, so you are the one who will mend it! You must find some way to win the Xiao family's forgiveness!" Divine Physician Kang snorted at Kang Guifeng.

"That... yes..." Kang Guifeng was rather at a loss for words. The difficulty of this task was far too great. They had offended the Xiao family to the very marrow back then; could relations between them possibly be repaired now? Besides, the Xiao family now had the Pi family at its side. What use was a marriage alliance with the Kang family?

"Who cannot talk a fine game? Of course relations must be mended, but given the present circumstances, is mending them even possible?" Kang Zhaolong, resentful at having his thunder stolen by Kang Zhaoming, sneered in irritation. Kang Zhaoming was plainly aiming his barbs at Kang Guifeng and himself.

"Whether they can be mended is Uncle's business. There is nothing I can do about it. I was not the one who offended the Xiao family," Kang Zhaoming said in that sly, roundabout way.

"You—" Kang Zhaolong was furious beyond measure, glaring with bulging eyes, unable to get out a word.

"Enough, Zhaoming, stop blaming the others!" After all, Divine Physician Kang still favored Kang Zhaolong a shade more than Kang Zhaoming.

"Grandfather, I was not blaming anyone. As to this first point, only Uncle can carry it out. As the saying goes, whoever ties the knot must be the one to untie it. There is nothing I can do either. But that is only one thing. There are ways by which we may mend relations with the Xiao family. For instance, the Xiao family is now urgently seeking business partners. Is the Kang family not a fine candidate?" Kang Zhaoming waved a hand. "When we cooperate, we can afford to take a small loss. Mending the relationship is what matters!"

In truth, everyone knew all of this; it was merely that the Kang family had lost their heads and had not thought of it. And Kang Zhaoming, who had approached the matter from the start with the intention of showing himself off, kept a fairly cool head.

In fact, this whole affair cost Kang Zhaoming nothing at all. Whether the Kang family rose to aristocratic rank or not made no difference to his eating, drinking, and merrymaking. He was nothing but a profligate son; by Grandfather's design, he would never be permitted to inherit the family estate, so he had all the less to worry about.

"At the crucial moment, we must still rely on Zhaoming!" Divine Physician Kang was overjoyed at his words and said hurriedly, "Come, let us be off. To cooperate with the Xiao family, we must naturally lower our posture and sacrifice a measure of profit!"

Kang Guifeng's eyes lit up as well at Kang Zhaoming's words. He had to admit the boy had some brains. The idea was common enough, but it was solid. Otherwise, to go empty-handed to the Xiao family to mend relations, on what grounds would they agree? You were the one who spoke of a marriage alliance, and you are the one who calls it off. Are you playing them for fools?

"Of course, that is only one aspect. The idea has been put forward, but whether it succeeds still depends on how Uncle handles it!" Kang Zhaoming could not have been more venomous. In truth, even so, the Xiao family might not grant forgiveness. But Kang Zhaoming had in a single stroke shifted the blame onto Kang Guifeng: should the thing fail, it would be Kang Guifeng's incompetence, not the flaws of his idea.

Kang Guifeng's expression shifted slightly. He wanted to explain something, but before he could, Kang Zhaoming continued: "On the other hand, to rise to aristocratic rank, we must still rely on ourselves... in other words, on me. So long as I can obtain the formula for the Life-Extending Detox Pill, then whether the Xiao family supports us or not will be nothing but a passing cloud. With our own pills and our own strength, we need not fear that the Yu family will refuse to approve our rise to aristocratic rank!"

"Zhaoming, you are truly a blessing to the Kang family!" Divine Physician Kang rose excitedly at his words and patted him on the shoulder. "Good grandson, at the crucial moment, it is you who keep a steady head. Your grandfather misjudged you before, took you for a profligate, when in truth you are a great wit disguised as a fool!"

"Grandfather flatters me!" Kang Zhaoming said modestly. In truth, everything he had said was quite ordinary, the very line of development the Kang family had settled upon before. It was only that saying it now carried a different meaning.

"The Kang family will depend on you from now on. I hope that under your hand the Kang family can advance another step and march toward glory!" Divine Physician Kang said with great solemnity.

"I understand, Grandfather! Rest assured, I will not disappoint you!" Kang Zhaoming was instantly wreathed in delight. Grandfather had finally begun to change his mind, and was grooming him as a candidate heir of the third generation!

Divine Physician Kang's words made Kang Guifeng's and Kang Zhaolong's expressions shift slightly. By the look of it, they had indeed mishandled this affair terribly and disappointed him. But there was no point in saying more now. Kang Guifeng gritted his teeth inwardly: he would stop at nothing to rebuild their friendship with the Xiao family, even at the cost of some profit. If this could not be done, then Kang Zhaolong's standing would be in peril.

At that thought, Kang Guifeng did not dare delay. The moment the family council ended, he rushed off with Kang Zhaolong to Songshan City to call upon the Xiao family.

A blue off-road vehicle sped along the highway, driven by Kang Zhaolong, with none other than Kang Guifeng in the passenger seat.

"Zhaolong, this matter is grave indeed. If we fail to handle it well, the standing of our father-and-son pair within the Kang family will plummet," Kang Guifeng said with a sigh, his gaze heavy.

"Father, in truth I do not think we did anything wrong in this. In the situation back then, anyone would have judged that the Xiao family could never recover. Who could have foreseen such a turn?" Kang Zhaolong said. "And Zhaoming had his own private motives from the very start. Only Grandfather fails to see what he was after. Who would have thought that by sheer accident he guessed right!"

"There is no need to speak of that. The victor is king and the loser a bandit. We had best think of a remedy," Kang Guifeng waved his hand. Whether Kang Zhaolong had been right by accident no longer mattered; there was no point in discussing it.

"Yes. And who knows whether the Xiao family will forgive us..." Kang Zhaolong nodded.

The car drew up at the gate of the Xiao family villa. But the Xiao family was now a different creature from before, and an ordinary person could not even get inside! The Pi family's experts had come quickly: on the very night Pi Zhishan and Pi Zhihai returned, the Pi family's finest hands arrived!

"Master Pi, Brother Pi, are these sleeping quarters to your satisfaction?" Xiao Ji, with the utmost deference, led the two Pi family experts to inspect their rooms. This was the third floor of the Xiao family villa, where no one had ever lived before.

The Xiao family villa was of the luxurious sort, with a full storey more than even Gu Mengyao's home.

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