As he spoke, he actually pulled out a check for 500,000 and handed it to Shen Tian.
Shen Tian smiled wryly: "Old Pang, aren't you making it impossible for me to maintain my foothold in Yunzhou City? With your reputation in Yunzhou City, if I accept your money now, Brother Jian will definitely make me send you a million tomorrow. Do you think that's necessary?"
Then, she offered a compromise: "How about this, you just give me ten yuan as compensation? We'll just accept a symbolic compensation, that way you'll save face, and it won't put us in a difficult position?"
Lu Chen, listening from the side, thought that this truly showed the power of reputation. Old Pang had easily resolved everything. Even though he was the one who ruined the other party's business, the other party was afraid of him having to pay compensation.
Lu Chen couldn't help but think smugly, "Damn, if I could be like Old Pang in the future, that would be awesome."
What happened next was simple. Pang Bei, as expected, only paid a token ten yuan to settle the matter. Gong Xiaoyi could leave; Shen Tian didn't even mention the fifty thousand yuan she'd received.
With Pang Bei's influence, fifty thousand yuan was nothing.
As for Bald Qiang, he barely dared to utter a sound in front of Pang Bei. His face even showed deep fear, as if he'd suffered at Pang Bei's hands before.
Lu Chen, of course, didn't want to stay any longer and left with Liu Li and Gong Xiaoyi.
Before leaving, Lu Chen thought for a moment, then went over to Shen Tian and said, "Let's talk in private!"
Although Shen Tian didn't understand, she followed Lu Chen to a corner.
Lu Chen chuckled, "Miss Shen, could we exchange phone numbers? I think we can contact each other later."
Upon hearing this, Shen Tian immediately assumed Lu Chen was a lecherous man trying to take advantage of her. So, even Pang Bei's brother was this kind of person. A hint of disdain flashed across her face, but she said with a rather smug air, "Fine, it's an honor to be friends with Master Pang's brother, as long as you're not afraid of getting into trouble."
They exchanged phone numbers.
Then, Lu Chen slowly said,
"Actually, Miss Shen, I think you might have misunderstood. What I meant was, if you need anything, you can call me. Of course, I don't need anything from you, so I won't call you."
These words only fueled Shen Tian's suspicions: "Mr. Lu, please be more serious. What do you mean?"
Lu Chen chuckled softly: "I'm a doctor, not a great one, but diagnosing your illness isn't difficult, and treating it isn't difficult either. If you need anything, you can contact me."
"I'm at least 80% confident I can cure you. I won't charge a penny; consider it compensation."
With that, he turned and left with a flourish.
Shen Tian, however, was utterly shaken, staring at Lu Chen's retreating figure with an expression of disbelief.
She murmured, "He really diagnosed my illness? He can really cure it?"
As she spoke, a gleam appeared in the beautiful woman's eyes.
Meanwhile, Bald Qiang witnessed this scene, his eyes filled with jealousy, and his gaze towards Lu Chen was tinged with resentment.
Pang Bei and Brother Ling didn't linger at the nightclub. They left together and chatted warmly at the entrance for a while. This Brother Ling, whose real name was Du Ling, would naturally keep to himself from now on. Du Ling was Pang Bei's adopted son, but he wouldn't call Lu Chen "uncle," though he considered him a brother.
"Chen, from now on, we're brothers. I appreciate your character and actions; you're loyal and have a lot of fun. You seem like a remarkable person; you're sure to have a bright future. I hope you'll take care of me in the future."
Du Ling spoke, skillfully trying to ingratiate himself.
Lu Chen chuckled, "Brother Ling, don't be so polite. I can see you're a true friend. Anyway, let's get closer and develop our relationship together."
Pang Bei didn't say anything, maintaining a certain seriousness in front of his godson.
After a while, Pang Bei patted Lu Chen's shoulder:
"It's getting late, Chen. Settle this little girl in, then go home and rest. We're leaving too. By the way, the young lady said she'd like to invite you to our biotechnology company's lab sometime to familiarize yourself with the environment and ask you for advice. I said it depends on your situation; call me if it's convenient for you!"
"Okay!" Lu Chen readily agreed, "It's settled then."
Du Ling, listening from the side, admired Lu Chen even more. What skills did this kid possess that made that young lady want to consult him? He, of course, knew who the young lady his godfather was talking about was.
Pang Bei and Du Ling left first.
"Let's go, slowly. I need to ask some questions," Lu Chen's tone grew heavy as he looked at Gong Xiaoyi. Gong Xiaoyi understood his meaning and weakly pointed to her left, "Brother Chen, Sister Lili, let's go that way."
Along the way, Gong Xiaoyi recounted what had happened to her family.
It was quite simple. In the middle of the night, while the family was sleeping, they suddenly smelled a strange odor. They struggled to get up, but collapsed again, and then knew nothing more.
When they woke up, the four of them were in the middle of nowhere, lying in a pile of rotten grass. They frantically went back, only to find their house had been bulldozed. Gong Jiu had fought with the real estate developers, but was hit by a bulldozer, losing his other leg. The four of them had no choice but to stay at a small hotel run by relatives.
To make matters worse, Gong Jiu, unable to move either leg and without money for treatment, was in excruciating pain, his temper flared, constantly yelling and screaming, and even threatening self-harm. Exhausted and angry, both her parents fell ill.
Suddenly, of the four family members, only Gong Xiaoyi was still able to move. Their meager savings had long been used up to treat her brother's leg injury, but they had to survive; the injured needed treatment, the sick needed medical care! With no other option, Gong Xiaoyi had to borrow money from wealthier classmates at school, but she never imagined it would lead to this situation.
At this point, Gong Xiaoyi covered her face with her hands and cried, her vulnerability laid bare.
Liu Li took out a tissue, put one arm around her thin shoulder, and gently wiped away her tears with the other.
Lu Chen listened, a fierce glint in his eyes. He asked, "Didn't you go back to the real estate developer to ask for compensation? Wasn't it supposed to be 3,200 yuan per square meter?"
"We went!" Gong Xiaoyi sobbed. "My parents said that since our house has been demolished, we should just accept it, consider it bad luck, but we still have to get the money. But when we went, they said it wasn't 3,200 anymore, it was 1,200. If we wanted it, we'd sign the contract; if not, we could get lost. My dad… my dad was so angry he collapsed."
She burst into tears, sobbing even harder.
Liu Li's eyes also glistened with tears. What Gong Xiaoyi had said had angered her, and she felt great sympathy for the little girl. She gently patted her shoulder and whispered, "Little sister, it's okay. Brother Chen will help you solve the problem. He's very capable…" Then, remembering something, she took out the bank card Du Ling had given her from her small handbag.
Liu Li handed the bank card to Gong Xiaoyi, explaining the amount and PIN.
Gong Xiaoyi froze, as if she'd been given a hot potato, quickly shoving the card back into Liu Li's hand: "I...I can't take so much money."
Liu Li smiled, glanced at Lu Chen, and said, "Take it. It's your brother Chen's money, don't be polite with him."
Lu Chen smiled; he loved seeing Liu Li do this. To him, Liu Li doing this was simply pleasing to the eye. He also said to Gong Xiaoyi, "Xiaoyi, don't be polite with your brother! Besides, this money isn't for you, it's for your brother, it's just going through your hands."
Gong Xiaoyi clutched the card tightly, tears streaming down her face.
Lu Chen also asked about the current situation regarding the treatment of her parents and Gong Jiu's injuries, and how much more treatment would be needed.
Gong Xiaoyi said quietly, "My parents' illnesses... they won't tell me the specifics, but the medication seems to be fine. It's just that my brother's legs are badly injured; both legs are starting to rot, and lots of worms are crawling in. I have to clean them and remove the worms every time..."
This made Liu Li's skin crawl; she felt so sorry for the young girl.
"We don't have money to take my brother to the hospital, so we went to see a doctor. The doctor said the situation is quite serious; if it's not treated promptly, amputation will be necessary. He has to go to the hospital for treatment, and it'll probably cost tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan; otherwise, he might not be able to save his legs."
Lu Chen nodded. From what he said, if they spent money, Gong Jiu's legs could be saved. While he didn't have a lot of money right now, he did have some, enough to treat Gong Jiu's legs. A problem that can be solved with money isn't a problem!
He said, "Xiao Yi, the 100,000 yuan in the card should be enough for initial treatment. Ask the school for leave tomorrow, take this money, and go to the hospital with your parents and your brother. Your parents need a thorough check-up, and your brother's leg needs proper treatment. Don't worry about the money; I'll find a way. Okay?"
As he spoke, he placed his hands on Gong Xiaoyi's slender and beautiful shoulders.
Gong Xiaoyi was sixteen or seventeen, a fairly mature girl, and quite well-developed, with a firm chest. She was quite excited; her breasts rose and fell slightly under her clothes, quite alluring.
However, to Lu Chen, no matter how beautiful Gong Xiaoyi was, she was still his sister.
Therefore, he had no impure thoughts.
His hands on her shoulders were simply to give her strength.
"Okay!" Gong Xiaoyi wiped away her tears and responded loudly.
Lu Chen's warm hands truly gave her a lot of energy.
Lu Chen smiled, wiping away the little girl's tears with the heel of his hand, and said slowly and deliberately, "Xiao Yi isn't a child anymore. With something like this happening to your family, you must be strong and be the pillar of the family!"
"Yes!" Gong Xiaoyi nodded vigorously.
Lu Chen added, "I'll be your strong support. Come to me if you need anything."
"Yes!" Gong Xiaoyi nodded again, a beautiful smile blooming on her pretty face.
Lu Chen and Liu Li took Gong Xiaoyi back. The small hotel her family was staying in wasn't far from the Golden Coast, only four or five blocks away. However, the hotel was very dilapidated, and looked damp from the outside.
When Gong Xiaoyi told him that her family of four was crammed into a small room that cost only fifteen yuan a day due to financial difficulties, Lu Chen sighed.
He said he would find them a place to rent tomorrow for them to stay.
He didn't follow Gong Xiaoyi inside to find Gong Jiu; it was late, and inconvenient. Lu Chen told Gong Xiaoyi to call him after taking her family to the hospital tomorrow, and he would make time to visit them.