Chapter 824 — A Visit from the Xiao Family

The Xiao brothers got into a car as well, leading the way; together with the business van, they drove toward the Kang family villa.

"Father, the Xiao family has arrived. Shall we go out to receive them?" Kang Guifeng had taken the call saying the Xiao brothers meant to visit the Kang villa, and now he came to his father Doctor Kang's study to ask.

"Oh? They've come? Hmph. It seems they can hardly wait." Doctor Kang's mouth twisted in a faint sneer. "I hear there's nothing left of the Xiao family now but an empty shell?"

"Yes. From what I've gathered, the Xiao family has sold off every holding they had in Yanjing and means to stake everything on an investment in Songshan City," Kang Guifeng said with a nod.

"Why Songshan City and not Donghai City?" Doctor Kang asked.

"I'd guess that with the little money they have left, they'd amount to nothing in a provincial capital like Donghai. There are too many rich men there; the Xiao family would never stand out." Kang Guifeng had guessed more or less correctly. The Xiao family had indeed reasoned exactly so.

What was more, Donghai held the Kang family, a veritable colossus, and the hidden Zhao family besides. The Xiao family could never shine there. By choosing Songshan City, they could trade on the lingering prestige of the Xiao name and reign as kings in that small corner of the world.

Doctor Kang nodded. "Let's go and receive them. But not too grandly. After all, with the strength the Kang family has now, we can only hitch ourselves to the Xiao family's line. They have fallen on hard times of late. Are we Kang any better?"

"True enough. We've taken heavy losses too, badly burned by Doctor Guan and that fat Lai," said Kang Guifeng. "Now everything depends on whether Zhaoming can get his hands on the Guan family's formulas."

"Mm, yes—speaking of which, how has Zhaoming been lately?" Doctor Kang asked.

"Zhao Qibing was clearing a demolition site and injured him by accident. But I hear Zhaoming wants to settle it himself and make them pay some compensation," Kang Guifeng said. "As for how things stand with Guan Xin, I don't believe they've gone anywhere at all."

"That boy—doesn't he always boast of being a master with women? Why hasn't he succeeded after all this time?" Doctor Kang was growing impatient. Then he asked, "By the way, his injury isn't serious, is it?"

"That I don't know either. Zhaoming hasn't said a word about it, so I suppose it's nothing," Kang Guifeng said, shaking his head.

Before long, the Xiao brothers arrived at the Kang house with Uncle Pi. Doctor Kang had not meant to show himself at all, but when he heard that Uncle Pi had come as well, he hurried out of the inner rooms in a fright. Catching sight of Uncle Pi and the Xiao brothers in the drawing room, he said apologetically, "My apologies, Elder Pi, Xiao Ji, Xiao Ben—I'm an old man, and I sleep a great deal; I nodded off without meaning to!"

"Not at all, not at all!" Xiao Ben waved a careless hand, smiling, and rose to his feet together with Xiao Ji. "We two juniors—how could we put Doctor Kang to the trouble of receiving us? We are quite overwhelmed by the honor!"

Yet inwardly Xiao Ben was sneering. You old fox—if you hadn't heard that Uncle Pi had come too, you would likely still be hiding, never showing your face.

And in truth that was exactly the case. Doctor Kang knew how formidable Uncle Pi was; he could not possibly withhold that courtesy from him. One day the Kang family might well need a favor from Uncle Pi. Once one reached the level of the great families, a great many of their quarrels and conflicts could no longer be settled by ordinary means.

The great families of the martial world had their own ways of settling things. Men at the level of Li Cihua and Gu Pengzhan already resolved a great many matters outside the proper channels—to say nothing of feuds between great families.

So the way such families settled their disputes was often very simple: whoever had the harder fist came out on top. Uncle Pi, a Mystic-rank master of the external school, was naturally not to be taken lightly.

"Of course, of course!" Beaming all over, Doctor Kang greeted Uncle Pi again. "Elder Pi's presence brings great luster to our humble house!"

"Doctor Kang's name resounds in my ears as well." Uncle Pi glanced at Doctor Kang, not even troubling himself to rise from his chair, and spoke in an indifferent tone—though his expression held not the slightest trace of anything resounding.

Doctor Kang was somewhat embarrassed, yet he did not dare say a word. He gave a laugh, sat back down in his own seat, and fell to exchanging pleasantries with the Xiao brothers. "Xiao Ji, what business brings you to Donghai City this time? Is there anything you need the Kang family's help with?"

"Ha ha. The truth is, Doctor Kang, you know as well as we do that since our father passed, the Xiao family's business in Yanjing has become a hopeless mess. Before he died, our father did some muddled things and threw our holdings into complete disorder." Xiao Ben concealed nothing; the Kang family surely knew of it as well. "Holding to the notion that nothing can be built unless the old is broken, we sold off our Yanjing holdings and mean to go to Songshan City to rebuild the Xiao family's foundation."

"That is the right course. A change of place, a change of surroundings—and closer to our Kang family besides." Doctor Kang nodded, sneering inwardly. Were it not for Uncle Pi's presence, what would be left of the Xiao family at all?

"Mm, and second, I wished to ask about the marriage between our Xinyan and Zhaolong..." Xiao Ben laid out the purpose of this visit.

He was eager for a local ally. Though the Xiao family still carried the renown of a great house, and Uncle Pi still held the seat for them, they could hardly ask Uncle Pi to handle every single matter. With a marriage alliance to the Kang family, many people in these parts would grant him face.

"I don't think there's any hurry for that, is there? Xinyan is only in her third year of high school. Isn't it rather early to be speaking of marriage?" Doctor Kang said. "Of course, I myself would be delighted to see the match made. But Xinyan is too young—she has not even reached the legal age for marriage, has she?"

"Ha ha, Doctor Kang, you jest. In the eyes of families such as ours, these regulations count for very little. And even if they do not marry, they may still be betrothed—at the very least, let us fix the relationship between them?" Xiao Ji put in with a smile.

"Mm, that is true." Doctor Kang nodded. "Very well. I will go and ask Zhaolong about it, and then we shall put the betrothal on the agenda."

As for a betrothal, Doctor Kang did not much care. A betrothal was not a marriage, after all; it could be broken off at any time. So long as the Kang family found a more powerful patron, or grew strong enough in its own right, they could cast the Xiao family aside.

Xiao Ji and Xiao Ben sensed the change in Doctor Kang's attitude, and they understood in their hearts that but for Uncle Pi's presence, this marriage would likely have run into trouble.

Taking their leave of Doctor Kang, Xiao Ji and Xiao Ben walked out of the Kang villa somewhat dejected. Truly, a tiger fallen to the flatlands is bullied by dogs. Yet word of the Xiao family's decline could not be stopped up forever; sooner or later Doctor Kang would learn of it.

They recalled how deferential Doctor Kang's manner had been when he had brought Kang Guifeng and Kang Zhaolong to visit the Xiao family—and in barely half a month, his attitude had swung a full hundred and eighty degrees.

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