Taming The Hidden Bigshot By Kissing Him
Chapter 312: Liu Huimin Causes Trouble Again

Chapter 312: Chapter 312: Liu Huimin Causes Trouble Again

"How could you, Liu Huimin! To do such vile things behind the scenes."

With a glum face, Du Juan spoke harshly.

"You’re inhuman! I originally thought you treated Xu Xingluo like your own daughter, spoiling her without limits. That was just a problem of education, but I never expected your character to be flawed as well. Back then, if it weren’t for your moral coercion on Qiao Xi, she would never have treated Liu Zongyun!

You’re truly shameless!"

Du Juan simply wanted to take a longer route to give the couple some private space. However, she never expected to coincidentally overhear Liu Huimin making a phone call, colluding with Ma Hongwen from the Haicheng Traditional Chinese Medicine Association to set up Qiao Xi.

Liu Huimin covered her face, looking at Du Juan in a panic.

"I regret it too! I’m trying to find a way to make amends, at that time I... I really was possessed."

Du Juan could not contain her fury, "I don’t think you were possessed; you’re just inherently evil. Even if she were not your biological daughter, just a stranger, there was no need for you to be so ruthless, was there?"

Du Juan did not pay attention to the traditional Chinese medicine industry.

She was completely unaware that Qiao Xi had been signed up for the traditional Chinese medicine grand ceremony.

She also did not know what consequences, as Cheng Han’s apprentice, she would face.

But the phone call Liu Huimin had just made everything clear to Du Juan!

She wondered why Qiao Xi had recently been practicing the Plum Blossom Nine Needles and had even returned to the hospital night and day.

The child was clearly reluctant to spend money, yet she still insisted on attending this auction.

Because she had joined the traditional Chinese medicine grand ceremony.

If others lost, they simply lost, but if she lost, she would pay with half her life!

Because she was Cheng Han’s apprentice, because she had crossed that red line of the North-South Division, violating the agreement set within the traditional Chinese medicine community for over twenty years.

The child was obedient and gentle, even her smile was warm and tender.

Yet, she bore such tremendous pressure in secret!

And all this came from her own mother!

Du Juan’s eyes reddened with heartache, "Liu Huimin, you really don’t deserve to be a mother!"

Liu Huimin clasped her hands together, pleading, "Du Juan, I will find every possible way to cancel her competition registration. Please, don’t tell her! If you do, our mother-daughter relationship will have no chance of recovery!"

Du Juan shook off her hands fiercely, "Now you start to regret? Then what were you actually doing before? Liu Huimin, I’ve misjudged you!"

Liu Huimin’s face streaked with tears, "I’m sorry! I’ll try my best to make amends! I will immediately go home and beg my older brother to help; I’ll use all of Liu Family’s connections to protect her."

Her heart felt as if it was being tightly wound by sharp threads, bleeding profusely.

Du Juan, filled with anger, said, "And what if that fails? Tell me, what are the consequences of losing?"

Liu Huimin’s words trembled, "If Cheng Acupuncture loses...they must gouge out the tendons in their hand and waste their medical path, never to practice medicine again!"

Those were the harsh conditions put forth by Lu Bannong back then.

Unknown why, Cheng Han agreed, and afterwards, he withdrew from the scene.

Du Juan was so angry she felt like slapping her several more times, but merely hitting her was not enough to vent her anger!

"Du Juan, I beg you, don’t tell her it was me... who sabotaged her from behind. There’s still some time before the trial acupuncture convention; just give me one more chance!"

Du Juan stood rigid, "This is a matter that Qiao Xi needs to know! Liu Huimin, you better take care of yourself!"

She turned around and walked away.

Bang.

Liu Huimin knelt down, her spine straight.

"Du Juan!"

"We’ve known each other since we were children, and now we’ve even become related through our children. I’ve never asked anyone for anything, but today I’m begging you! Give me a little more time, I don’t want to let Qiao Xi down."

"At the time, I also didn’t expect Xu Guangyao to switch the two children’s lives... I’ve committed an unforgivable sin, but could you possibly show me mercy!"

"Du Juan, I’m begging you!"

Du Juan slowly turned her head.

She did indeed know Liu Huimin from childhood.

She had seen her poised and elegant as if she were above everyone else, seen her as a daughter of the Liu Family effortlessly obtaining everything others yearned for.

But she had never seen her kneel before someone, pleading desperately.

With her eyes tightly shut, Du Juan clenched her teeth and said, "Three days! If I don’t see Qiao Xi’s name gone from the announcement list in three days, I will tell her everything."

"Thank you, thank you so much."

Liu Huimin haphazardly wiped away her tears.

With a deep breath, Du Juan left in a state of turmoil.

...

At dusk, the sky blazed with colors.

After returning home, Qiao Xi changed her clothes and turned her back to let Huo Xingzhou tend to the wound on her palm. The poison had been expelled, and her skin had regained its original color, with only a few barely visible needle marks remaining.

It hurt a bit to the touch.

Footsteps echoed from the corridor outside the door.

Qiao Xi quickly put away the medicine box and set it to the side.

Aunt Qian pushed open the door with a smile and said, "Young Madam, the young master asks for your presence in the study."

"Alright, I’ll be right there."

Without giving it much thought, Qiao Xi left the room.

Following the corridor, she arrived at the entrance of the study. She knocked on the door politely.

"Come in."

Qiao Xi entered.

The man was seated in the big, plush office chair, his suit jacket had been taken off and even two buttons of his shirt were undone, giving him a look that was incredibly laid-back and casual.

On the office desk lay a black, gilded wooden box while he was busy reviewing documents.

"Have a seat for a bit, I still have a proposal to look over."

"Okay."

Qiao Xi moved a chair next to him, rested her chin in her hands, and watched him. Crystalline eyes rippled with a faint smile; a serious man indeed had his charm—her affection for him was almost overflowing.

The man glanced over the document, his voice low as he asked, "What’s the story with the red wine stain on the cheongsam?"

He had noticed it when he picked her up, but did not comment on it at the time.

Qiao Xi licked her dry lips and said, "There was an unpleasant incident at the auction. Ye Zhimeng spilled red wine on me."

"Was it by accident, or deliberate?"

Hearing his deep voice, Qiao Xi initially wanted to play down the incident. But after some thought, she decided to be truthful.

"Deliberate. She collided with me when she saw me, and then made the first accusation, saying it was me who bumped into her. However, Mrs. Ye has already made her apologize."

He glanced up slightly, "Understood."

Singing his smooth signature in the bottom right corner of the document, he finally closed the file and, looking at Qiao Xi, waved her over.

After some hesitation, Qiao Xi approached him, and the man wrapped his arms around her waist, whispering softly, "How was the auction today?"

Speaking of the auction made Qiao Xi a bit regretful.

"Unfortunately, I didn’t win the medical book or the acupuncture bronze figure. But it could just be my guess; those two items might not necessarily be useful for ’Plum Blossom Nine Needles’."

She consoled herself with this thought so as not to care too much.

Huo Xingzhou’s lips curved slightly as he motioned for her to sit on his lap, enveloping her completely in his embrace.

He asked, "Who won them?"

Qiao Xi shook her head, "A guest in booth one, I didn’t see who it was. But even without booth one, I couldn’t have won. It seems that Xiang Mingzhu and Ye Zhimeng from booth six didn’t want me to get my hands on it—they deliberately made it difficult."

Qiao Xi’s longstanding grudge against the Xiang Family made it easy to comprehend Xiang Mingzhu’s spiteful behavior.

There was a hint of a barely-there smile in the man’s eyes as he gently stroked the side of her waist, his voice soft and beguiling.

"Little Divine Doctor, close your eyes first."