"No way!" Lin Yao stood up and shouted. He stared at Cui Haodong and resolutely raised his arm. He couldn't let his parents' years of hard work be given away like this.
“Young Master, your father has already signed the transfer agreement. It’s not like you can just say no. I’m only here to check the pharmaceutical factory’s assets to prevent them from being transferred away. Let’s get started, I’m busy.” Cui Haodong glanced at Lin Yao contemptuously and then turned to Luo Jimin.
"At your age, do you even know what manners are?" Lin Yao glared fiercely at Cui Haodong. "How dare you call me 'Young Master Sick'? Do you think we're that close?"
Seeing Cui Haodong's expression change, Lin Yao felt a surge of pleasure. He wished that this disgusting guy would be so angry that he would vomit blood and die. Every time he went to Chengdu and met him at his grandfather's house, he would be subjected to his sarcastic remarks. Lin Yao had had enough.
Now that things have come to a head, Lin Yao decided to kick him while he's down. "You're just a gofer, you're here to do your job, you should at least be more polite. Do you even know what the basic qualities of a professional manager should be? You've only climbed to this tiny position with a little bit of authority because of your connections, you have no right to come to Ya'an and act like a tyrant!"
The other three people in the room were very surprised. Luo Jimin and Lin Hongmei were surprised that their son had started to directly challenge others, no longer the cowardly and easily bullied man he used to be. They felt excited and gratified.
Cui Haodong was astonished that this child, who had been sickly since childhood and was on the verge of death, dared to curse him like that. He had watched Lin Yao grow up and knew his background well. He had always been weak, but today he showed no weakness at all. He was full of energy and, apart from being a little thin, did not look like someone who was about to die. Could it be that his illness was really cured?
Neither Luo Jimin nor Lin Hongmei spoke. Lin Hongmei reached out and grasped Lin Yao's hand, showing her support. At this moment, it was more appropriate for Lin Yao, as a junior, to step forward. The couple had endured enough of Cui Haodong's mistreatment on their way from Chengdu.
"Mom, don't we still have shares in the group? Why are we suddenly selling the factory?" Lin Yao asked his mother in a low voice.
“Sigh… This time when we went to Chengdu to raise money, your second uncle said that with your father’s shares in the group, he could only receive 200,000 yuan last year, which is far from enough. Moreover, he wouldn’t agree to lend money. In the end, he said that your father had to transfer all his shares in the group to him, including this Renxin Pharmaceutical Factory. He offered 4 million yuan. We really had no other choice, so we had your father sign the agreement.” Lin Hongmei said sadly with her head down.
Lin Yao knew that his father originally owned one-third of the shares in the group by relying on a "health-preserving pill" prescription from his maternal grandfather's family. This prescription helped the Luo family's Huarentang Pharmaceutical Company complete its initial capital accumulation and develop faster and faster, and now it has developed into a very large pharmaceutical group.
However, my father's shares in the group were diluted to a very low percentage because he directly withdrew dividends every year. If he couldn't borrow money, my parents had no choice but to accept my second uncle's conditions, all in order to continue buying medicine to treat themselves.
Even a hero can be driven to his death by a penny. Lin Yao could imagine what his parents had gone through in Chengdu. He felt even more guilty. He owed his parents too much. He was determined to make sure his parents could hold their heads high and that his whole family could be proud and never have to suffer the contempt of the Luo family again.
"Should we borrow it from your uncle?" Lin Yao asked softly.
Lin Hongmei didn't speak, glanced at Lin Yao, and gently shook her head.
Lin Yao immediately understood his uncle's attitude. Many people in this world like to add flowers to brocade, but they avoid helping those in need. Even among brothers, no matter how well-off they are, their uncles are unwilling to help their own family. This is the coldness of human nature.
Lin Yao had witnessed the cold-heartedness and ingratitude of the Luo family since he was a child. Every time he and his parents went to the Luo family, they were met with ridicule and contempt. Now, they were treating his family members without any regard for their sibling bond. Such kinship no longer existed.
Luo Jimin's shares in Huarentang are definitely worth more than four million, not to mention Renxin Pharmaceutical Factory, which makes it even more valuable. However, the honest Luo Jimin trusts his brothers very much and has never used his shareholder rights to audit the group's finances in decades. Now that Huarentang Group's assets have reached two hundred million, his shares, no matter how diluted, are still worth more than that.
Don't let me find a chance to turn things around, or I will definitely trample the Luo family under my feet! Lin Yao secretly vowed in his heart.
"I don't need those medicines anymore. Our family can stop selling the pharmaceutical factory." Lin Yao was a little unsure of himself. He had just had a miraculous encounter yesterday, and he wasn't really sure if his body had truly recovered completely.
“That won’t do.” Father Luo Jimin’s attitude was firm. “You’ve only just started to recover. You can’t stop taking this medicine. Don’t worry, even without the pharmaceutical factory, your dad can still earn enough money. In a few days, I’ll call my comrades and I’ll go into the supply business.”
Lin Yao's tears suddenly flowed. He knew how difficult it was for his father to say these words, and how much pressure he was under.
Everyone knows the supply business is lucrative; with the help of key figures, the profits are extremely high. His father has many comrades in the military who have already taken charge of various regions and wield considerable power, but he has always disdained such a business. He dislikes asking favors and especially dislikes underhanded dealings, as it goes against his principles. That's why he opened a medicinal herb processing factory to earn a living honestly. Now, his father is being forced to swallow his pride and curry favor with people, to engage in a business he has always despised. Lin Yao's heart aches as if it's being whipped mercilessly.
This time, Lin Hongmei did not object to her husband's decision. She simply went to the finance office, took the pharmaceutical factory's asset ledger to the conference room, and said calmly, "Let's begin."
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Chapter Six: Little Grass
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With the sale of the pharmaceutical factory a done deal, the family immediately focused their attention on Lin Yao's health. After a thorough physical examination, the results brought the whole family great joy: Lin Yao had fully recovered, though he was still a little thin and lacked strength, which could be remedied through physical exercise.
With nothing to worry about for the time being, and Luo Jimin no longer needing to ask for help in trading, the couple simply went to Lin Yao's maternal grandfather's house in Hanwu City to celebrate the New Year. The Lantern Festival is considered New Year's Day even if it's not on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, so they could also go and keep the old man company and have some fun.
Lin Yao did not leave Ya'an with his parents because he had his own secrets to deal with.
His body recovered better and better, and his appetite improved. In just one week, he gained three pounds, which made him even suspect that the cardamom he had accidentally eaten might have altered his genes, merging pig genes into his body.
Aside from feeling hungry easily, there were no other side effects. Lin Yao also took some time to have a full-body check-up at the medical school, and they still found nothing wrong. On the contrary, it showed that his bone density and other bodily functions had increased significantly, which made him very glad that he hadn't accidentally eaten a poisonous fruit.
Seven days after accidentally ingesting cardamom, Lin Yao discovered that something inside his body had awakened. After careful verification, he was horrified to find that he had been parasitized!
The parasite was a ball of thread that could constantly change shape and position, resting on his chest at the Tanzhong acupoint. It was a living thing, because Lin Yao discovered that it could sense his thoughts. Commands given to the parasite would also receive feedback, with the ball of thread changing shape and position according to the commands. These commands were Lin Yao's silent thoughts; as long as he intended to send commands to the parasite when he silently thought of them, it would respond.
This discovery filled Lin Yao with both terror and luck. It was terrifying because he had been parasitized and didn't know what the outcome would be, whether the host would eventually be completely devoured or replaced by the parasite like in the movies; it was lucky because he had used this thing to get rid of the disease and even his appearance had started to improve.
Since he couldn't escape his fate, Lin Yao accepted reality when he couldn't drive the parasite away from his body. He simply named the thing "Little Grass." Actually, he originally thought "Ball of Yarn" would be more suitable, but "Little Grass" sounded better, and it also came from an unknown herbaceous plant.
Lin Yao began conducting experiments, testing just how complex the instructions he could give. He remembered reading in a book that by simply answering yes or no, one could obtain accurate information through questioning. Unfortunately, this experiment couldn't continue because he discovered that Xiao Cao couldn't understand or respond to anything involving logic or complex expressions.
It wasn't until one day, when I habitually took the powdered medicine that I had stopped taking for a few days, that I suddenly felt that as soon as the powder entered my body, the grass began to exert a suction force, drawing a breath from my stomach to my chest. I tried taking other medicines and got the same result.
Although he was just a top student at a third-rate medical school, Lin Yao still had a great talent for scientific research. He tested all the medicines he could find at home and discovered that even small plants could absorb their essence, but different medicines provided different amounts of essence, with more precious medicines providing more essence.
In order to study the nature of this aura, Lin Yao vomited after absorbing it, and took the vomit to the academy laboratory for testing. He was surprised to find that the drugs he had just taken had completely lost their medicinal properties.
This result surprised and worried him. He was surprised that the grass could distinguish and absorb medicinal properties, but worried that if these medicinal properties were mixed together and turned into poison, wouldn't he be doomed? Everyone who studies traditional Chinese medicine knows that once the quantity or variety of mixed medicinal materials reaches a certain level, it is very likely to generate highly toxic medicinal properties.
After trying many Chinese medicinal herbs, Lin Yao found himself unharmed, which emboldened him. Since things were already like this, he figured he might as well explore the limits of the herb's abilities, so he began experimenting with inorganic drugs.
After ingesting a safe dose of arsenic, Lin Yao discovered that Xiao Cao could absorb even this inorganic poison completely.
The test results after induced vomiting showed that there was absolutely no arsenic residue left in his stomach, no matter how much he increased the dosage. There was also a pattern: the more toxic the drug, the more medicinal fumes it contained (Lin Yao had by then named this fumes "medicinal fumes").
Lin Yao, who was well-versed in medical science and pharmacology, immediately realized that he had acquired a superhuman parasite, and this parasite seemed to be very docile and obedient. He quickly found a way to utilize the grass's abilities.
Life became busy afterwards. First, he had to cultivate Xiaocao's intelligence, and then he had to discover Xiaocao's abilities. Only by thoroughly understanding and mastering these abilities could he help himself to the greatest extent and realize his ideal of becoming a doctor and trampling the Luo family underfoot.
As the research deepened, Lin Yao became increasingly amazed by the grass's abilities and felt more and more fortunate.
The little grass absorbs both pure medicinal herbs and decocted medicinal soup; it loves any medicinal aroma. Lin Yao discovered that the little grass's appetite is also limited. Once it reaches its limit, the medicinal aroma it absorbs no longer merges into the fine threads on its body, but instead forms tiny dots, like beads strung one by one on the threads. Each type of medicinal aroma forms a bead, and there will never be a duplicate.
The little grass has a mysterious ability to control all kinds of medicines. Whether it is organic or inorganic, it can absorb and store anything that can be used as a medicine. This ability makes Lin Yao suspect that it is a spirit formed from the residual consciousness of an ancient divine doctor.
This absorption process has another characteristic: it ignores the volume and total amount of the drug. In Lin Yao's scientific understanding, the grass absorbs the medicinal properties of organic substances by absorbing the active organic molecules, and it directly absorbs inorganic molecules, just like it absorbs proteins and arsenic. After being absorbed by the grass, regardless of the amount, it forms only a small dot of equal volume on a thin thread, and Lin Yao's weight remains completely unchanged.