chapter 37 Hypocrites are the cruelest

In the afternoon, Jimmy Xu woke up after his surgery. The effects of the anesthesia had just worn off, and the pain from his broken bones was so intense that he couldn't help but cry out in agony. "Stop howling, will you? I've fixed your leg bone." "Thank you, Stanley Du. But this pain is unbearable. Please, give me another injection to ease the pain." Upon Jimmy Xu's persistent requests, Stanley Du administered a painkiller. "Stanley, when will I be able to get out of bed and walk?" "For an adult, the bone healing period is about nine months. However, with my special plaster, you'll be up in ten days." "Then please, apply the plaster." "It's already on, on your right lower leg." "Thank you, I'm so grateful." "Don't rush to thank me. This plaster, called 'Shennong Bone Healing Plaster', isn't difficult to make, but the ingredients are very precious, and I don't have much left." "That's not a problem. Write me a list of the ingredients, and I'll have my mother and wife find them." Stanley Du wrote down a list of ingredients like earthworm, bear bile, wolf bone, musk, cordyceps, sealwort, and ganoderma. Then, he handed the list to Jimmy Xu's wife, Leona Ding. After Leona Ding left, Stanley Du whispered, "Jimmy, there's something you should know." "What is it?" "When I operated on your leg, I found this lodged in the seam of your bone." Stanley Du pulled out a small paper package from his pocket, unwrapped it, and revealed half of a toothpick. "This toothpick still has some of your bone marrow and blood on it; it wasn't cleaned off. At the time, this toothpick was already wrapped inside your bone. I found this half piece of toothpick only after I broke your leg bone." Stanley Du spoke calmly, but Jimmy Xu was horrified. It was clear what Stanley Du meant. Someone had deliberately placed the toothpick fragment inside Jimmy Xu's bone. This half of a toothpick must have been tampered with by that famous doctor when he was setting Jimmy Xu’s bone. "Someone is trying to harm me. That famous doctor who set my bone was just the executor." "As long as you're aware." Stanley Du sighed, "For now, don't alert the culprit. Heal your leg first, then deal with the rest." Jimmy Xu nodded. He suspected the mastermind was his half-brother, Hunk Xu. Right now, he can only lie in a hospital bed to heal. If he were to reveal the incident with the half toothpick, that famous doctor who set his bone back then might end up ruined or deny everything. Then, a lawsuit would be inevitable. And Hunk Xu, the mastermind behind the scenes, in order to protect himself, could be capable of anything. The next day at noon, Leona Ding directed a few of the Xu family bodyguards to deliver dozens of pounds of precious medicinal materials to Stanley Du. Stanley Du randomly checked some and found quite a few fakes. Someone used dog bones instead of wolf bones. So he examined them carefully and found that all the wolf bones Leona Ding had sent were actually dog bones. "This can't be possible. Yesterday, I went to buy medicinal materials from an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor. That old doctor has been practicing for decades and is very famous. How could he mistake dog bones for wolf bones?" "Who introduced that traditional Chinese medicine doctor to you?" "It was Thomas." As soon as she spoke, Leona Ding's face changed dramatically, "What do you mean?" "Don't jump to conclusions, I didn't say anything." Soon, Jimmy Xu also learned about Leona Ding buying fake medicine and sending it to Stanley Du. He calmed Leona Ding down and asked her to go back first. Once Leona Ding had left, he closed the door and cursed loudly, "Damn it, I've had no quarrel with Thomas in the past. Why would he want to harm me?" "Maybe this has nothing to do with Thomas. It could all be the old doctor colluding with the pharmacist, selling fake medicine to my cousin." "Hmph, Hedy, you're too kind. Maybe Leona Ding and Thomas are in cahoots. After Stanley Du discovered the fake medicine, they pushed all the blame onto that old doctor. I bet if we look for that old doctor now, he'll be nowhere to be found." "That's impossible, Leona Ding is my wife. If she wanted to harm me, I would have been dead long ago. The switch of dog bones for wolf bones must have been done by Thomas and that old doctor without Leona Ding knowing." "Then, I will have someone catch Thomas and interrogate him!" Kama Yao said coldly. Unfortunately, by the time Kama Yao sent bodyguards to catch Thomas, he had already resigned from Ning City TV station and gone into hiding. The old doctor who had gone with Leona Ding to buy the medicinal materials had also gone back to his hometown. Leona Ding was stunned, too. After learning she had bought fake medicine, she immediately called the old doctor to find out what was going on. The old doctor fobbed her off with a few words and hung up the phone. Then, her mother-in-law sent bodyguards to catch Thomas and the old doctor, but to no avail. What did this prove? It proved Thomas and the old doctor were in cahoots, and the old doctor was just a tool. The real mastermind was Thomas. Thomas didn't want Jimmy Xu's leg injury to recover fully. Upon reflection, Leona Ding remembered that, over the years, Thomas had encouraged her to divorce several times. Moreover, Thomas had sworn that if she divorced, he would definitely marry her. "He wants it all, both the person and the wealth. He's afraid that if Jimmy's limp is cured and our affection returns to how it was, he would lose the chance to have it all." After realizing all this, Leona Ding sighed, understanding that the most terrifying people in the world are not outright scoundrels but hypocrites and deceivers. The issue with the fake medicine was thus left unresolved. Stanley Du's family of four continued their lives as usual. In the afternoon, after changing Jimmy Xu's medicine, Stanley Du got off work and went home. Arriving at the Yang family, Stanley Du found that there were two visitors. A middle-aged woman in her forties and a young man in his twenties. "Elen, who is this young man?" "His name is Stanley Du, my future son-in-law. After he graduates from university next year, he and Dinah are getting married. I know living in the dorm is tough, so I let him stay at my house." The middle-aged woman and the young man were dumbfounded. The woman was Lesley Lin, and the young man was her son, Travis Lin. Lesley Lin was Elen Zeng's classmate when she studied at the Provincial Art Academy and is currently teaching there. Her ex-husband was a wealthy businessman. After their divorce, the son took her surname, Lin. Travis Lin worked at an advertising company and earned twenty to thirty thousand monthly. The Yang and Lin families normally interact modestly, only visiting each other during the New Year. Now, out of season, Lesley Lin's visit to the Yang family was a chance to find a match for her son. She had no idea that Dinah Yang already had a fiancé. And this fiancé was already living with the Yang family. Perhaps the young couple already had sexual relations. This left Lesley Lin very frustrated; she couldn't bring up matchmaking anymore. Her son was a good catch; there was no reason for him to go after someone already in a relationship.