Before this, he had not given it much thought. That his son should bring classmates to the birthday banquet was a perfectly ordinary thing — but two men and two women, that was rather telling.

With Kang Zhaoming saying what he had said, Father Kang too began to suspect they were two couples. Could his son have gone astray?

Still, in front of so many people, Father Kang could hardly question Kang Xiaobo. And he knew well enough that his cousin's son had probably meant no good by it either; earlier the man had done everything he could to block Kang Xiaobo and his classmates from staying at the hotel. There must be some grievance between them!

So it seemed the grievance lay with the girl at his son's side. As for all the talk of that girl being shameless, seducing this one and that one — Father Kang was only half convinced.

At ten o'clock sharp, Divine Doctor Kang's birthday banquet formally began. Looking around, Wei Zhao spotted several acquaintances one after another.

There was Liu Tianyi, and Guan Xuemin as well; the two of them were sitting at the same table just then, chatting. And Divine Doctor Kang's eldest son, Kang Guifeng — the man who currently steered the Divine Doctor Kang Group — sat at their table too, laughing and talking with them with great ease.

Wei Zhao did not go over to greet them, but kept himself hidden in his corner, waiting for the banquet to begin: once Kang Xiaobo presented his birthday gift, they would turn and leave. It seemed that after he established his own "Doctor Guan" brand, becoming a competitor of Divine Doctor Kang was already inevitable — so there was no need to hold back on anything anymore. And judging by Kang Xiaobo's present situation, there was absolutely no chance of a reconciliation with Kang Zhaoming's family.

At least, with Xiao Fen in the picture, there was no chance of it!

Amid the emcee's impassioned speech and the applause of the guests, Divine Doctor Kang walked slowly out. He was an old man of quite awe-inspiring bearing, dressed in a red Han-style robe, carrying something of the air of an ancient Chinese physician.

It was a little hard to know what to say about a man who had risen to fame on a single miraculous prescription and leapt to become a leading enterprise in the nation's pharmaceutical industry — but one could not deny that Divine Doctor Kang's wound medicine truly had wondrous effects.

Of course, many of the old hands in medical circles had little use for Divine Doctor Kang. In their eyes he was no divine doctor at all; he had simply dug up a good prescription from somewhere, and that was what had earned him his title of Divine Doctor Kang! As for the other medicines his company turned out, they were nothing but the common remedies for colds, headaches and fevers — their formulas were public knowledge and held nothing remarkable at all.

Were it not for the fame of his wound medicine, it was a question whether those everyday medicines would sell at all. But the man was lucky: with one Red Medicine to lead the way, whatever he put out afterward, even ordinary medicines, still sold briskly.

That was how, in a short time, he had built the giant that was the Divine Doctor Kang Pharmaceutical Group. In truth, many people knew perfectly well that Divine Doctor Kang's medical skill was nothing remarkable!

"We thank all our guests for attending Divine Doctor Kang's sixty-second birthday. Now, let Divine Doctor Kang's children and grandchildren present their blessings!" The emcee began the first item on the banquet's program: the descendants' offering of birthday gifts. Only after the descendants had presented theirs would it be the turn of those of note in society, and of Divine Doctor Kang's old friends and acquaintances; as for everyone else, there was no chance to go on stage at all — they could only leave their gifts at the registration desk by the door.

The first to come up was Divine Doctor Kang's eldest son, Kang Guifeng. Head high and chest out, he strode onto the stage, a red brocade box in his hands, its wrapping exquisitely fine.

"Father, what I offer you is a hundred-year Tianshan snow lotus!" Kang Guifeng presented the brocade box with both hands and said respectfully, "I wish you health and long life!"

"Good, very good! Bring it here and let me see!" Divine Doctor Kang ordered the emcee.

The emcee hurriedly carried the brocade box up and presented it to Divine Doctor Kang, then opened it. Inside there was indeed a Tianshan snow lotus; judging by its size, if it was not a hundred years old, it was at least seventy or eighty.

"Oh—" The whole hall was stirred. Truly worthy of a family of divine physicians; even their birthday gifts were rare treasures of a kind seldom seen!

After the eldest son, Kang Guifeng, withdrew, the next to present a gift was the younger son, Kang Cuipu. What he held in his hands was a similar brocade box, incomparably beautiful.

"Father, what I bring is a thousand-year ginseng, already beginning to take human form! This is a wild ginseng that your son sent men to search the mountains for three years and three months to find!" Kang Cuipu presented the brocade box with both hands and said respectfully, "I wish you a life as long as the southern mountains!"

"Good, good, good!" Divine Doctor Kang said "good" three times in a row and signaled to the emcee: "Bring it up and let me see! Let me see what a thousand-year ginseng looks like!"

The hundred-year snow lotus the eldest son had presented was already a rare sight, and this ginseng was a thousand years old — all the more uncommon. How could Divine Doctor Kang not be beside himself with excitement?

The emcee hurriedly carried the brocade box up and presented it to Divine Doctor Kang. Divine Doctor Kang opened the box: inside was indeed an enormous ginseng! It had already grown into human form; whether or not it was truly a thousand years old, it was certainly a rare treasure of a kind seldom seen in this world!

The guests all cried out in amazement, gazing enviously at the great ginseng in Divine Doctor Kang's hands, and voiced their congratulations without pause.

"Your cousin-uncle certainly knows how to flatter. Presenting a great big ginseng — only it's a fake. Seems he's the same as that Kang Zhaoming: a swindler and a cheat." Wei Zhao's voice was not loud; he spoke only to Kang Xiaobo, Tang Yun and Xiao Fen. Yet the guests sitting nearby heard him too.

"A fake? Is it really fake?" Hearing Wei Zhao's words, the nearby guests were somewhat in an uproar, and could not help turning to look at Wei Zhao.

Had these people paid no attention, the matter would have passed. But as luck would have it, their clamor was heard by Kang Cuipu, who turned a cold, grim gaze toward Wei Zhao — thoroughly hostile.

Yet Kang Cuipu said nothing; instead he shot a look at his son Kang Zhaoming. Kang Zhaoming immediately sprang out and, pointing at Wei Zhao, shouted, "Where did this creature come from, making trouble here? What do you mean, fake? As if there were such a thing as fake ginseng?"

Seeing Kang Zhaoming leap out in such a hurry, Wei Zhao smiled faintly: "Cultivated ginseng is naturally a fake. Never mind a thousand years — it isn't even ten."

Wei Zhao had no wish to meddle in Kang Xiaobo's family affairs, but this Kang Zhaoming was truly odious, and Wei Zhao did not mind needling him a little, making a fool of both him and his father.

"Guards, throw him out for me! How dare he make trouble at my grandfather's birthday banquet!" Kang Zhaoming roared, beside himself with fury.

The security men in the banquet hall all knew of Wei Zhao's relationship with Li Yixun, so although they heard Kang Zhaoming's order, how would they dare lay a hand on him?

"Zhaoming, don't get so worked up!" Though Divine Doctor Kang was furious in his heart that someone had made trouble, it would not do for him to order a guest out as bluntly as his grandson had.