Chapter 22

If the Zhu family from River City managed to win over the support of a martial arts grandmaster, then their status in RIver City would sky-rocket!

Coupled with the fact that the Zhu family’s business in medicinal herbs was not exactly outstanding, dissent had already started to arise among the Zhu family in Jiangnan Province. They might even denounce the Zhu family in River City as part of their subset.

Where would Zhu Rende go then?

The only way he could ensure the subset Zhu family would be taken seriously by the main Zhu family in Jiangnan Province was to maintain close relations with this young man before him!

Ye Chen contemplated for a while before turning over to Zhu Rende and said, “If you wish to find out the authenticity of this painting, take it down and bring it to me. I’ll prove it to you.”

Zhu Rende did not hesitate. He immediately ordered the security guard to remove the painting and handed it over to Ye Chen.

In his heart, he knew that even if this painting was the real deal, it was worth nothing if compared to this young man in front of him!

“Mister, please enlighten us…”

Before Zhu Rende could finish speaking, Ye Chen tore the priceless painting into two!

Everyone was stunned witless by the unexpected action.

The security guard who removed the painting was stupified by the foolery.

The customers standing in line were baffled as well.

The old doctor who was on pulse diagnosis for the elderly thought his heart almost stopped.

Motherf*cker, that was Virtuous Benevolence Hall’s pièce de résistance!

You tore it without consulting anyone just because you felt like it?

Worse than that, you had to do it in front of the owner, Zhu Rende?

What the f*ck! Even if death was what you sought, this was not the way to go!

The security was about to make a move toward Ye Chen when he received a glare from Zhu Rende. He shouted, “Don’t disturb that mister! Go back to your position!”

The security guard’s mouth could not stop twitching when he heard Zhu Rende referring Ye Chen as ‘mister.’

Damn, it was still a valid question to ask if the young man had even passed his twenties, yet the Great-grand Old Master Zhu addressed him with the honorific ‘mister?’

Ye Chen could not be bothered with everyone’s reaction and fished out a small piece of note from the tear in the painting.

The note was so small that most people would not notice its existence.

“You’ll know when you read the writing on it with a magnifying glass.”

Zhu Rende took the note carefully from Ye Chen and had someone fetched him a magnifying glass. When he deciphered the words on the note, his aged face paled.

“Grandpa, what did you see?”

Zhu Zixuan poked her head out in curiosity. When she saw the note under the magnifying glass, she burst out in laughter.

Written on the note was this: “I wonder which idiot would end up buying this fake. I’m so sorry about that, bro. — Liu Yuan, 2002.”

The truth was out. Liu Yuan was obviously the culprit behind this forgery!

What was more exasperating was the fact that he had the audacity to leave such a message behind!

It was as though Liu Yuan had traveled through time to call Zhu Rende an idiot. One really could not blame Zhu Rende for his reaction!

Zhu Rende only recollected himself after a long while. He ordered his staff to burn the painting straight away. Then, he looked at Ye Chen and bowed again. “Thank you for your assistance, mister. Otherwise, I’ll still be in the dark. Oh, right. I didn’t quite catch your name. How should I refer to you, mister? And why did you show up at my humble Virtuous Benevolence Hall?”

“Ye Chen. Chen from ‘xing chen’ 1 . I’m just here to buy some medicinal herbs.”

Zhu Rende beamed. He could use this reason to befriend Ye Chen! In the entire River City, who would be more suited to talk about medicinal herbs than himself from Virtuous Benevolence Hall?

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Zhu Rende.

‘Ye Chen… Why does this name sound so familiar?’ Zhu Rende thought.

He immediately recalled the incident that happened five years ago.

In a single night, the Ye family in River City was massacred by that influential person from the Capital City. Among the family of three, one of them was called Ye Chen.

Ye Chen should be around ten years old when it happened. After five years, he would have been almost the same age as Mister Ye who was standing before Zhu Rende now.

The entire shebang did not merely cause an uproar among the people in River City but also attracted the attention of powerful people in Jiangnan Province.

Yet, no one had intervened because that powerful person from the Capital City was untouchable. For him, destroying a small clan was as easy as crushing an ant.

For that, the Zhu family from Jiangnan Province had Zhu Rende investigate the massacred Ye family in secret. Therefore, Zhu Rende was quite clear on the affairs related to the Ye family in River City.

The late Ye Chen had a low social standing in River City. Despite being a young master in his family, he was constantly the target of abuse and insults by countless members from other clans. Rumor had it that he became a shut-in 1 and attempted suicide, to no avail.

Perhaps, for a disabled person like him, to die was a relief.

Then, Zhu Rende glanced at the young man in front of him and shook his head. He sighed. ‘How did two people sharing the same name end up so differently? One of them was a useless piece of trash trodden on by many, while another is a martial artist grandmaster who reigns above everything else, nearing the peak of heaven…’

It would never occur to Zhu Rende that Ye Chen, who now stood before him, was the same piece of downtrodden trash who everyone thought was dead!

That piece of trash had returned!

…

Zhu Rende jerked back into reality from his memories. He smiled lightly and said with respect, “Mister Ye, would you tell me what medicinal herbs you need? I shall send them to your address.”

Ye Chen did not stall. He fished out a list and passed it over. “I need all the medicinal herbs on the list. The more the better. As for the payment, just charge me according to the market price.”

Zhu Rende gave the list a quick scan and froze.

He expected Ye Chen to request some typical medicinal herbs for healing wounds, but he was taken completely by surprise when most of the medicinal herbs on the list were rather valuable and rare!

Other than that, a lot of herbs on the list had contradicting properties! If anyone consumed the mixture of herbs without knowing any better, it would undoubtedly be fatal!

“Mister Ye, this prescription is extremely poisonous…”

Ye Chen brushed Zhu Rende aside and headed for the door. He said on his way out, “Pay no mind to the prescription. You’ll only have to get me everything on that list. I’ll pick them up personally tomorrow.”

With that, he disappeared from Virtuous Benevolence Hall, leaving a dumbstruck grandfather-granddaughter duo.

Soon, both of them recollected themselves.

Zhu Zixuan could not hold it back any longer and asked her grandfather, “Grandpa, don’t you think you might have placed that brat on too high a pedestal? I’ll admit that he’s very powerful, but there are still many powerhouses in River City. What is a mere martial artist like Ye Chen in comparison?”

Zhu Rende’s gaze was still fixed on Ye Chen’s retreating silhouette. He sighed and said, “Zixuan, you’re still not seeing the big picture. Do you know what I saw just now?”

“What?”

“The emergence of a grandmaster.”

Zhu Zixuan almost shrieked when she heard the word ‘grandmaster.’

She apprenticed her master in martial arts since she was young. Of course, she knew what the word ‘grandmaster’ entailed!

“Grandpa, are you sure? He’s too young to be a grandmaster, isn’t he? How’s it possible for a grandmaster to act like him?”

Zhu Rende started to laugh loudly, then, as swiftly as his laughter came, it died abruptly. He said in a serious tone, “You thought wrong! He’s not a grandmaster. He’s someone more terrifying than a grandmaster!

“Zixuan, remember this! From today onward, we from the Zhu family will do everything to win over this person!”