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Yan Dongge continued, "The reason Su Shiyuan brought Huo Jiu back to the Su family wasn't because he was obligated to raise him. It was because Huo Jiu also had RH-negative blood and was a suitable bone marrow match for Su Zhuo. Su Shiyuan probably brought him back for a bone marrow transplant."

"But Su Shiyuan and his wife probably didn't treat the child well. Around a month ago, the kid caused a huge scene at the Su family home and then ran away. He wandered the streets for seven days and seven nights, all while running a high fever. To support himself, he had to take odd jobs at food stalls and small restaurants. Su Shiyuan's secretary kept watching Huo Jiu and wouldn't allow those vendors to hire him."

"On the morning of the eighth day, Huo Jiu held up a sign outside a subway station downtown and begged for money, accusing his birth mother and stepfather of being inhuman and abusing him. Someone filmed it and posted the video online. But those videos quickly disappeared. Huo Jiu was taken back to the Su family by Su Shiyuan, and there had been no news of him since."

Yan Dongge had somehow obtained the video and played it for Cao Old Master. The Cao family members all craned their necks to watch.

"Then, a week ago, Huo Jiu suddenly went to Lakeside Park and played chess with the elderly people exercising there in the mornings. He won over a hundred yuan, bought lottery tickets, and won more than eighty million yuan over the course of a week. He promised those old people that if he won the lottery, he would treat them to a meal."

Then he booked six tables at First-Rank Pavilion.

Everyone already knew what happened afterward.

The Cao family clearly had not expected Huo Jiu's background and experiences to be so tragic and bizarre. They were all somewhat taken aback.

After a moment of silence, Cao Ruzhang's eldest daughter sneered. "That Su fellow was never a good person to begin with. I'm not surprised at all that he would force a child like this."

No one was stupid. Just looking at Su Shiyuan's actions was enough to guess what he had been plotting.

"But Su Shiyuan has always been so good at keeping up appearances. How did he fall so quickly because of this little brat?" Cao Mingyan stroked his chin and guessed curiously.

Given Su Shiyuan's usual hypocritical style, shouldn't he have treated Huo Jiu well? He should have coaxed the child into willingly undergoing a bone marrow transplant for his son. Then he could find some way to manipulate Huo Jiu, spoil him until he no longer knew his place, let him provoke public outrage, and finally kick him aside.

Cao Ruzhang's second daughter gave a derisive snort. "Just look at how Huo Jiu dealt with First-Rank Pavilion today. You should know that although this child is young, he's definitely no pushover."

If Su Shiyuan had fallen into Huo Jiu's hands, then he had truly capsized in a gutter. But as the saying went, if you walk by the river often enough, your shoes will eventually get wet. Su Shiyuan had always loved playing tricks and disgusting people. Now that his stepson had turned the tables on him, it was simply karma.

No wonder Huo Jiu had refused to use First-Rank Pavilion's name to promote Su Garden even after winning the competition. He had even found a way to preserve First-Rank Pavilion's reputation.

Cao Old Master pondered for a moment, then asked Cao Mingyan, "You invited Huo Jiu to be a consultant at First-Rank Pavilion before?"

Cao Mingyan gave an embarrassed laugh. "Wasn't I trying to salvage First-Rank Pavilion's reputation as much as possible? But he refused."

"Good." Cao Old Master looked at Yan Dongge. "Find a way to build a good relationship with that child. If you can get him to come to First-Rank Pavilion, that would naturally be best."

If not, it did not matter. Whatever Huo Jiu's response, First-Rank Pavilion would treat him well under the banner of appreciating talent. One reason was to restore First-Rank Pavilion's reputation, while the other was to thoroughly disgust Su Shiyuan.

Cao Mingyan's eyes shifted, and he chuckled. "Su Shiyuan's stepson ran away from home and wandered the streets with a high fever for a week. Su Shiyuan had clearly sent one of his trusted aides to follow him, yet he refused to bring the boy home in time. He insisted on waiting until the child's fever would not go down and he was begging on the street with a sign to buy fever medicine before he showed up to take him back. Su Shiyuan has kept such a huge matter well hidden. But I just can't stand seeing this big boss bully a child. How about we help publicize it for him?"

Cao Old Master glanced at his son and said heavily, "If you could put these little tricks toward serious matters, I wouldn't have to worry so much."

Cao Mingyan smiled sheepishly. "Of course I'm not as meticulous as Senior Brother Yan. Otherwise, why would you have handed First-Rank Pavilion over to Senior Brother Yan to manage?"

At least now, he was willing to call him senior brother.

Yan Dongge glanced at Cao Mingyan from the corner of his eye but said nothing.

Cao Old Master did not comment on whether Cao Mingyan's suggestion was good or not. Such petty tricks were, at most, a way for the younger generation to vent their anger. They could not truly harm Su Shiyuan.

Thinking this, Cao Old Master smiled at Yan Dongge. "Huo Jiu exposed Mingyan's use of fake shark fins. Although it caused some damage to First-Rank Pavilion's reputation, in the long run, that child is First-Rank Pavilion's benefactor. Prepare two boxes of premium shark fin and abalone, along with some nourishing supplements suitable for children. Tomorrow, the two of us, master and disciple, will personally visit the Su family and apologize to young Mr. Huo."

In life, what mattered was having peace of mind. You could not keep anger bottled up inside. This was also Cao Ruzhang's secret to staying vigorous even in his seventies.

Cao Mingyan's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "I'm going too. I'm going too. This happened because of me, so I should apologize as well."

Everyone looked at Cao Mingyan, who was shouting excitedly, and could not help shaking their heads.

The apology was fake. He was probably going there to watch the show and provoke people.

When it came to provoking people, sooner was better than later. Early the next morning, Yan Dongge deliberately chose a time when all the Su family members were home to pay them a visit.

Looking at the health supplements, shark fin, and abalone piled on the coffee table, Su Shiyuan felt a wave of disgust. After hearing Cao Mingyan's words, he felt even more nauseated.

"...We learned that ever since young Mr. Huo entered your Su family, he's been running a high fever every few days. There was even a time when he wandered outside for a week and his fever still wouldn't go down. I figure the child must be poorly nourished and have low immunity. That's why we specially prepared some medicinal ingredients and food to build up his body."

As he said this, Cao Mingyan did not even look at Su Shiyuan. Instead, he earnestly told Huo Jiu, "You're still young and don't understand how much suffering a weakened body can bring when you're old. I heard you still have to donate bone marrow to Chairman Su's only son? Then you should take even better care of yourself. Everyone says bone marrow transplants have no aftereffects, but even taking medicine and getting injections can vary from person to person. If you don't properly look after yourself and something really happens later, the one who suffers will still be you—"