687 What Was More Important? Money or Life?

"Where are we going?" Su Xiaoxue asked.

"A hill called Fulai Hill," Wang Yao said. "I've never been there before, either."

To be honest, it was not the best time to visit Fulai Hill. They should wait until late autumn when all the ginkgo tree leaves turned yellow. At that time, the tree would create a breathtaking view for visitors. Most people went to Fulai Hill to see the ginkgo tree.

"By the way, the lamb there is also famous," Wang Yao said.

"Wow, we can have a lamb dish for lunch? Do you go there often?" Su Xiaoxue asked.

"No, I passed this place twice in the past," Wang Yao said.

Although the place was next to Wang Family Village, Wang Yao only passed it twice. The place was much bigger than Lianshan, almost twice as big. The economics there were also better, and there were more people living there.

Fulai Hill was not tall. It was smaller than Nanshan Hill. At this time of the year, which was not during the holidays or weekends, there were not many visitors around.

There was a temple on the hill, which looked really old. After Wang Yao and Su Xiaoxue entered the temple, they saw the big ginkgo tree. The tree was huge. It stood inside the yard, which was quite big. The branches and leaves of the tree almost covered half of the yard. The trunk of the tree was very big. It took a number of people holding hands to circle it. It was nice and cool to stand under the tree.

"I think the tree is at least several thousands of years old," Su Xiaoxue said as she looked up. The leaves blocked the sunshine completely.

"Probably," Wang Yao said.

She walked around the tree several times and took many pictures of it.

"What are these?" Su Xiaoxue pointed some red silks hanging on the tree.

"Some people come here to make a wish and leave these red silks on the tree. I heard most of them had their dream come true," Wang Yao said.

"Maybe we should make a wish, too," Su Xiaoxue suggested.

"OK," Wang Yao said.

They made a wish under the tree. Su Xiaoxue closed her eyes and put her palms together. She was really sincere about her wish.

After they finished making a wish, they walked around in the temple. Actually, there were old temples in Lianshan, too. However, it was a shame that those temples had been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. It was fortunate for this temple to have survived. Almost nothing inside had been destroyed.

Su Xiaoxue seemed to have a lot of faith in temples. She also made a wish in front of the Buddha statue. Wang Yao did nothing but look at her.

In the corner of the temple, an old monk set up a stall. He was lying on a chair with his eyes closed. He seemed to have fallen asleep.

"Dr. Wang, there is a fortune teller over there. Shall we speak to him?" Su Xiaoxue asked.

"OK," Wang Yao said.

Their conversation woke up the old monk. "How can I help you two?"

"We would like you to tell us what will happen to us in the future, Master," Su Xiaoxue said.

"I'm not a master. I'm just an old monk," the monk said with a smile. "So, what do you want to know? Your career, marriage, or family?"

"All of them, please," Su Xiaoxue said.

She and Wang Yao gave the details of their birthdays and eight characters of a horoscope to the monk. The monk thought for a while.

"You are from a wealthy family, probably a prestigious family. According to the features of your face, you are a person of fortune. According to your eight characters, you experienced a horrible disaster in your early 20s, which threatened your life. It was not easy for you to survive," the old monk gently said.

"Yes." Su Xiaoxue kept nodding.

"It was a disaster you were destined to experience. After that, you future will be very bright and smooth," the monk said.

"What about marriage?" Su Xiaoxue asked.

"You'll have a happy marriage," the old monk said.

The monk turned to Wang Yao.

"According to your eight characters alone, you don't have much fortune in your life. But, your facial features..." The monk took a close look at Wang Yao's face and shook his head.

"What's wrong, Master?" Su Xiaoxue anxiously asked while Wang Yao stayed calm.

"I can't tell," the old man said. "By the way, do you practice Taoism?"

"Oh, yeah," Wang Yao said with surprise. He didn't expect the old monk to notice that. He started to take the old monk seriously. "May I ask how you found out I'm practicing Taoism?"

"Just a wild guess based on my feelings," the monk said.

"You are right, I'm practicing Taoism," Wang Yao admitted.

"That's right. So, I said I couldn't work out the indication of your facial features," the monk said.

"You can't figure it out?" Wang Yao asked.

"With your practice, something in your life has changed," the monk said. "Your life is full of uncertainty at the moment. Your facial features will change from time to time. You might have completely different facial features three years from now. You can keep an eye on your own facial features yourself. You will notice the changes."

"Have you come across any other people practicing Taoism or Buddhism?" Wang Yao asked.

"Yes, just one," the monk said.

"May I ask where he is?" Wang Yao always wanted to meet other people practicing Taoism or Buddhism. He wanted to know how and what they practiced.

"He's a monk practicing on Wutai Mountain. He has a profound understanding of Buddhism. He is a real master," the monk said.

"The Wutai Mountain in Shanxi?" Wang Yao asked.

"Yes," the monk said.

Wutai Mountain was a famous spot of Buddhism.

"I see. Thank you," Wang Yao said.

They donated some money to the temple before leaving.

"You want to meet the monk on Wutai Mountain?" Su Xiaoxue asked.

"Yes, I want to go to meet him," Wang Yao said.

"We can go together," Su Xiaoxue said.

"OK," Wang Yao said.

After they left Fulai hill, they went to the most famous local restaurant that specialized in lamb cuisine to have lunch. It was a big restaurant. Since it was lunch time when they arrived, the restaurant was very busy. However, the taste of the lamb soup was just average. After all, the chef and kitchen hands were probably too busy to guarantee the taste when they had to serve a large number of customers.

They drove back to Lianshan after lunch.

The lawyers Su Xiaoxue hired from Beijing had discussed Wang Yao's case with Zhang Peng. They were pretty confident to win the case. All they needed to do was to wait for the court to reopen.

The judge reviewed Wang Yao's case in the court three days later. The verdict this time completely contradicted the initial verdict. Wang Yao didn't need to take any responsibility, and that was the final decision.

Cao He gave up his right to appeal. The whole thing was like a childish game.

"Have you found out who Cao He is?" Su Xiaoxue asked Chu Lian while she was sitting in the court listening to the final verdict.

"Yes," Chu Lian said.

After the judge had announced the final verdict, everyone involved left the court. Wang Yao read through Cao He's personal profile in the car.

Apparently, Cao He was from a very poor village. He graduated from one of the best universities in China and obtained a double degree in psychology and law. He achieved well academically and had a scholarship every year.

"Hmm, he is a very intelligent young man," Wang Yao said. "How did he end up with people like Cao Meng?"

"They share the same surname, and their hometowns were next door to each other. Maybe they were relatives," Su Xiaoxue said.

…

Meanwhile, Cao Meng was still in the Haiqu People's Hospital.

"Doctor, what is exactly wrong with my brother and his friends?" Cao Hui asked the registrar doctor.

"To tell you the truth, we haven't found the cause of the disease," said the registrar doctor, who had never come across this kind of condition before. "His body was extremely resistive to food. As soon as he starts to eat, his stomach will be stimulated and he will start to vomit. We've been trying to stop the resistance, but nothing really worked."

"They can't live like this forever," Cao Hui said.

"If you don't want to wait, you can apply for a hospital transfer. Maybe the doctors from a bigger hospital will be able to help them," the doctor said.

Since he couldn't make his patients better, the best thing for him to do was to allow his patients to seek medical assistance elsewhere.

"I see, thank you, Doctor," Cao Hui said.

"You are welcome," the doctor said.

When Cao Hui walked out of the doctor's office, Cao He came back to the hospital.

"How did you go in the court?" Cao Hui asked.

"He won. He has a group of lawyers from Beijing representing him," Cao He said. "I think the judge in the court is under some sort of pressure from his superior. They were just going through the motions. Boss, I think we should give up. You will lose your life if you continue to fight with that Wang Yao."

Cao He wanted to give up because of Cao Meng, who was still lying on the hospital bed. After Cao Meng had told him what had happened, he was pretty sure Cao Meng and the other gangsters' condition was caused by Wang Yao. After getting to know Wang Yao better, Cao He knew that he was a fantastic doctor who could treat headaches, leg pains, heart disease, and strokes. Wang Yao could treat almost any illness.

A doctor who could cure people could also make people sick. Cao He suspected that Cao Meng had been poisoned by Wang Yao. However, he didn't have any evidence.