Chapter 35: The Big-Mouthed Owl of Qingtang Street

After dinner, Lu Feng took Chen Lan and Xiao Xiao to the mall and bought them a new LCD television. After dropping them off at home, he hailed a cab and returned to the Su family residence.

Little Xiao Xiao waved goodbye reluctantly, insisting they pinky swear to meet again for playtime over the weekend.

When Lu Feng arrived at the Su household, Su Daoan was sitting in the living room, sipping tea as if he had been waiting for him on purpose.

“Were you waiting for me?” Lu Feng asked directly.

“Yes. There’s an annual meeting this weekend organized by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association. Our Yun’an group is a sponsor, and we’ve received an invitation. I wanted to ask if you’d like to attend,” Su Daoan replied.

“The Traditional Chinese Medicine Association?”

“That’s right. Nowadays, Chinese medicine lags behind Western medicine in clinical practice. The Association is dedicated to finding ways to help Chinese medicine break through these limits and flourish. There are many highly respected scholars within the Association. The King of Acupuncture, Li Guhe, is the honorary vice president,” Su Daoan explained.

Lu Feng knew that Yunshan’s medical skills were formidable, but even the greatest physician shouldn’t shut himself off from the world. Engaging with other scholars of Chinese medicine was the best way to make progress. Moreover, the old man hoped he would interact more with other renowned families in the field.

After a brief moment of thought, Lu Feng nodded. “Alright, I’ll go. Will you attend as well?”

“Yes, all of us will. Xiaoyu is also majoring in traditional Chinese medicine at the medical university, so she’ll be there. If Xiaoyu goes, Xiaoqing will definitely tag along. I’ll head over from the company; you take Xiaoyu and Xiaoqing with you, and help keep an eye on Qing—don’t let her cause trouble,” Su Daoan said.

“Alright,” Lu Feng agreed with a nod.

...

On the weekend, the annual exchange meeting of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association was held at the Lihua Hotel in the Haizhu District of Yangcheng.

Su Muyu was eagerly looking forward to the meeting. She hoped to pursue a master’s, or even a doctoral degree, in traditional Chinese medicine, and had already set her sights on a doctoral advisor—the national master of acupuncture, Li Guhe.

She’d heard Li Guhe would be attending this year, and hoped to meet him in person, at least to make herself known. If she could get on his radar, it might help when applying for graduate school.

Su Muqing, on the other hand, was like a little tagalong, always trailing after her sister. With her muddled knowledge—unable to tell the difference between notoginseng and pseudo-ginseng—she insisted on attending the annual meeting as well.

This time, Lu Feng was to accompany the two sisters to the exchange. Because the backseat of the Beetle was uncomfortable, he specifically requested a different car.

The Su family didn’t own any particularly luxurious sedans; the most expensive was the Phaeton driven by Su Daoan. There was also a Highlander—nothing flashy, but quite comfortable inside.

Assistant Chen was once again assigned to drive the three of them. Lu Feng always thought of Assistant Chen as nothing more than a driver, since every time they met, he was behind the wheel.

Although the event was within the same city, it still took nearly an hour to drive to the Lihua Hotel.

Once they were on the road, Lu Feng received a call from Xiao Xiao. In her childish voice, she asked when he would come play with her.

Only then did Lu Feng remember his earlier promise to spend the weekend with her. But with the Association’s annual meeting taking place, he had to apologize, “I’m busy these two days. I have to attend an exchange organized by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association. I’ll come see you the day after tomorrow, alright?”

On the other end of the line, Chen Lan was helping her daughter with the call. She felt too shy to call Lu Feng herself, so she had her daughter do it. With the phone on speaker, Xiao Xiao sounded disappointed and pleaded, “Come on, big brother, Mommy misses you too.”

Chen Lan quickly interrupted her daughter, saying, “Big brother has important work to do, don’t bother him. Be good. Lu Feng, you go attend your meeting—business comes first.”

“I’ll come see you as soon as the meeting’s done, alright?” Lu Feng coaxed.

“Okay, big brother, I’ll be good while you’re busy,” Xiao Xiao agreed.

...

After the call ended, Xiao Xiao sat sulking on the sofa, her little legs swinging listlessly.

Seeing her daughter’s mood, Chen Lan gently stroked her head. “How about Mommy takes you out to play?”

Xiao Xiao looked up, still unhappy. “Can we ride the carousel at the amusement park?”

“Yes, we’ll go ride the carousel,” Chen Lan replied.

“Alright,” Xiao Xiao said, trying to perk up.

Chen Lan changed her clothes, took her daughter’s hand, and headed out to catch a bus to the nearest amusement park.

While waiting at the bus stop, Chen Lan became alert to someone following them. Turning around, she saw three men with a thuggish air. At a glance, she guessed they were from Lianhong Society, and immediately pulled her daughter along, breaking into a run.

Xiao Xiao stumbled as she was yanked along, calling, “Mommy… Mommy…”

Chen Lan turned back, scooped her daughter into her arms, and soothed her, “It’s alright, be good.”

Seeing the situation, Xiao Xiao immediately guessed what was happening—whenever someone came to their home demanding money, it was always like this.

Chen Lan ran with her daughter to the roadside and flagged down a taxi. Just as she opened the door to get in, one of the thugs rushed up and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

The taxi driver stuck his head out and asked, “Are you getting in or not?”

“Beat it, old man!” the thug sneered at the driver.

The security in Tianhe District was usually quite good. The taxi driver snorted, then drove off.

“Who are you people? What do you want?” Chen Lan backed onto the sidewalk, clutching her daughter.

“Our boss wants to invite you for tea. Come with us,” the thug leered at Chen Lan, practically drooling as he eyed her up and down.

“I don’t know you. Move aside, or I’ll call the police,” Chen Lan threatened.

“Quit pretending. Our boss is Big Mouth Xiao from Qingtang Street—not some pushover like Shanwei. If you come quietly, I promise you’ll live. Otherwise, you might end up at the bottom of the river,” the thug warned.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t owe Lianhong Society any more money. I won’t go with you!” Chen Lan refused firmly.

By now, a crowd of onlookers had gathered.

The thug pointed at the spectators, cursing, “What are you looking at? Never seen a man discipline his woman before?”

Chen Lan pleaded with the crowd for help, “I don’t know these people! I don’t know them!”

Seeing someone pull out a phone to intervene, the thug immediately kicked the young man to the ground, snarling, “This is Lianhong Society business. If you don’t want trouble at home, get lost!”

Flashing his gang tattoo, he intimidated most of the bystanders into backing off. Then he signaled to his two companions, “Grab her!”

The three of them seized Chen Lan and began dragging her out of the crowd. Meanwhile, a van pulled up to assist.

Just as they were about to force Chen Lan into the van, she released her daughter and shouted, “Xiao Xiao, run!”

At first, Xiao Xiao had been frozen with fear, sniffling quietly in her mother’s arms. But at her mother’s cry, she bolted into the crowd.

“What are you waiting for? After her!”

A thug with a buzz cut tried to chase after Xiao Xiao, but the surrounding crowd blocked his way.

Though they dared not openly confront Lianhong Society, the onlookers couldn’t stand by any longer. Deliberately or not, they pressed together, forming a human barrier to slow the thug down.