Xu Chunliang picked up the bicycle on the ground and rode on it, pedaling furiously barefoot. He couldn’t let this little girl escape right under his nose.

Ji Jiajia was fleeing forward on her skateboard while glancing back. Seeing Xu Chunliang closing in on his bicycle, she panicked, raised her hand, and wildly sprayed a bottle of pepper spray in his direction.

If Xu Chunliang couldn’t handle such a small scene, what kind of Five Poison Sect Leader would he be? He held his breath and blew forcefully towards the incoming pepper spray.

The pepper spray Ji Jiajia sprayed was blown back by Xu Chunliang, and she was hoisted by her own petard. She was instantly surrounded by the spicy, pungent smell of the spray, making it unbearable. Tears and snot streamed down, and she couldn’t see the road ahead. Her skateboard hit the guardrail, causing her to lose balance and fall heavily to the ground, scraping her knees.

At this moment, Old Bear and several of his outdoor buddies came panting up, with Old Bear shouting, "Let go of my friend, or I’ll report you to the police."

He still couldn’t figure out why Ji Jiajia was running, nor could he understand how Xu Chunliang could be so brazen, taking his bicycle and riding off. The most frustrating part was that he felt powerless to resist in front of Xu Chunliang.

Waterlogged Xie Yuanzheng also caught up, showing his credentials: "I’m the police; don’t obstruct us from performing our duties."

This "us" naturally included Xu Chunliang.

Ji Jiajia was in tears nonstop, with Xu Chunliang and Xie Yuanzheng sitting on either side of her, wary that this little girl might escape again. Xie Yuanzheng handed her a bottle of mineral water to wash her eyes.

While wiping her tears, Ji Jiajia said, "Aren’t you two ashamed, bullying a little kid like me?"

Xu Chunliang and Xie Yuanzheng exchanged a glance. Honestly, it was hard to see her as a little kid. Xie Yuanzheng sighed inwardly; his daughter was twenty-six and not as well-developed as her. If he hadn’t known her age in advance, he wouldn’t believe she was only fifteen.

Xie Yuanzheng said, "Your name is Ji Jiajia, right?"

Ji Jiajia said, "What do you care? I haven’t committed any crime, is outdoor activity not allowed?"

Xie Yuanzheng said, "Do you know why we’re looking for you?"

Ji Jiajia said, "Anyway, when the police look for me, it’s never for anything good."

Xie Yuanzheng said, "Your father’s name is Ji Buyao, right?"

Ji Jiajia shook her head and said, "I don’t have a father."

Xu Chunliang said, "How can you talk like that? If you don’t have a father, what, did you pop out of a rock?"

Ji Jiajia, with tears streaming down, said, "Don’t talk to me. I see now, you’re the worst. You’re not manly at all, using pepper spray on me. Are you even a man? Don’t you know that real men don’t fight with women?"

Xu Chunliang sighed, thinking this kid is beyond saving, feigning innocence. It was clearly her who sprayed him first with pepper spray; he was just acting in self-defense. He was too lazy to argue with her.

Xie Yuanzheng said, "Ji Jiajia, your father is missing." After careful consideration, he decided to reveal the truth.

Unexpectedly, Ji Jiajia had no reaction: "It’s better if he’s dead."

Xu Chunliang said, "Then you might just get what you wished for this time."

Xie Yuanzheng gave him a look, but Xu Chunliang ignored it. In his view, a brat like Ji Jiajia couldn’t be pampered.

Ji Jiajia paused, her tearful eyes staring at Xu Chunliang, "What do you mean?"

Xu Chunliang said, "I don’t mean anything. Your dad is missing, and we can’t rule out other possibilities."

Xie Yuanzheng said, "Have you seen him recently? When was the last time you saw him?"

Ji Jiajia said, "Two years ago, I haven’t been in contact with him for two years. I didn’t even tell him when I returned to the country."

Xie Yuanzheng said, "That’s just your perspective. How do you think we found you?" Being a father himself, he could easily empathize with child rebellion, and he even felt a bit sympathetic towards Ji Buyao.

Ji Jiajia said, "I knew he liked following me. I hate it when he interferes with my freedom."

Xie Yuanzheng said, "You’re only fifteen; as your father, he has guardianship over you."

Ji Jiajia said, "I don’t have a father like that. He killed my mom and did all sorts of bad things. If you want to catch him, hurry up and do it. You don’t need to find me; I know nothing about him and have no connection."

Xie Yuanzheng, being a father himself, found her words somewhat unpleasant. Even if Ji Buyao had committed grave sins, he’s still your father, right? What have you eaten, worn, or used that wasn’t provided by him?

"He raised you; that’s a fact, isn’t it?"

Ji Jiajia said, "Everything I eat, wear, and use now is from my mom. I haven’t spent a penny of his."

Xu Chunliang reached out and grabbed Ji Jiajia’s wrist.

Ji Jiajia angrily said, "What are you doing? Let go, or I’ll accuse you of harassment!"

Xu Chunliang applied a bit of force, and Ji Jiajia felt like her wrist bones would snap. She cried out in pain, "I’ll accuse you... you... of excessive force..."

Xie Yuanzheng looked at a few people observing from a distance and flashed his credentials.

Xu Chunliang grasped her wrist to verify whether Ji Buyao was telling the truth; this Ji Jiajia looked very healthy, but did she really have ALS?

From a traditional Chinese medicine perspective, ALS falls under the category of wei syndrome, with patients often showing signs of liver and kidney deficiency, and blood and qi insufficiency. Ancient Chinese medical texts such as the "Sheng Ji Zong Lu" document clinical symptoms of this disease like "tongue can’t speak, legs disabled and unusable."

But based on Ji Jiajia’s current state, she appears quite healthy.

Xu Chunliang judged from her pulse that Ji Jiajia was already showing signs of deficiency in organs like the liver, spleen, and kidneys, indicating that Ji Buyao wasn’t lying about his daughter’s condition.

The causes of wei syndrome are complex and can include external pathogens, emotional stress, improper diet, and prolonged illness. The basic pathology is the damage to the essence and qi of organs like the lungs, stomach, liver, and kidneys, leading to a lack of nourishment for the limbs and meridians, such as lung heat damaging fluids, fluids not distributing; damp heat overwhelming, qi and blood not circulating; spleen and stomach deficiency not transporting essence; liver and kidney depletion, marrow dry and muscles weakening.

The conventional treatment in Chinese medicine is to nourish the vital energy and regulate the Du Meridian.

However, they still mostly combine with Western medical methods for treatment, and the results are not very significant.

Ji Jiajia kept struggling, threatening, "Let go, or I’ll bite you."

Xu Chunliang released Ji Jiajia’s wrist and said to Xie Yuanzheng, "I’ll leave her to you, I have something to attend to, gotta go." Helping to find Ji Jiajia was already considered fulfilling a good citizen’s duty.

Xu Chunliang returned to Dongzhou Restaurant, and Li Xiumei immediately approached with a smile and said, "Xiaoxu, I was just about to call you."

Xu Chunliang asked, "Sister Li, are you looking for me?"

Li Xiumei replied, "It’s not me, Secretary Zhang was looking for you. He said he couldn’t reach you on the phone."

Xu Chunliang took out his phone and waved it, saying, "The phone got wet." This incident was basically Xie Yuanzheng’s fault. When Xu Chunliang went to practice his hands-on-bridge, Xie Yuanzheng held his clothes, but during Xu Chunliang’s interaction with Ji Jiajia, he got pushed into the river by the young girl, so he immediately turned off the phone, planning to use it after drying.

Li Xiumei said, "No wonder."

Xu Chunliang was actually wet too, but on the way back, he had dried his clothes. He bid farewell to Li Xiumei, who then stopped him and handed him a paper box.

Xu Chunliang wasn’t in the habit of online shopping, so he wondered who sent him a gift.

Xu Chunliang first returned to his room to change clothes, then used a dryer on his phone, turned it on to check if it worked normally, and immediately called Zhang Song back.

Zhang Song, hearing that he was back, immediately came to visit.

Zhang Song accompanied Secretary Zhou and his delegation who had just arrived this morning. Xu Chunliang initially thought Zhang Song wanted to inquire about Zhou Deming, but surprisingly, it was about another matter.

Zhang Song said, "Secretary Zhou invited you to handle something together tonight."

Xu Chunliang was flattered, "What task is Secretary Zhou handling that requires my help?"

Zhang Song laughed, "Secretary Zhou is visiting an old friend’s home tonight and invited you to join."

Xu Chunliang already guessed it was the Ye Family, as Secretary Zhou and Ye Changyuan had worked together previously. This time they came to Beijing for the second phase of the subway project, and surely the Ye Family mentioned him, otherwise Secretary Zhou wouldn’t proactively invite him.

Xu Chunliang said, "Then I should respectfully accept the invitation."

Zhang Song was unaware of Xu Chunliang’s later involvement in saving Elder Ye, thinking it was still linked to the previous instance of helping Ye Changyuan with facial paralysis aftermath treatment. However, he was sure of one thing, that Secretary Zhou highly valued this young man.

Zhang Song advised Xu Chunliang to rest well, saying he would pick him up early in the evening.

Not long after Zhang Song left, a call from Mo Han came in. Xu Chunliang hadn’t attended any classes the whole day. The combined concentrated training period was merely five days, and his behavior was rather lax.

What Mo Han was actually concerned about was the dragon bone Li Changmin used to exchange for the antidote. If she hadn’t mentioned it, Xu Chunliang might have almost forgotten about it. Li Changmin hadn’t contacted him yet, wondering if the asking price for the dragon bones scared those Koreans away?

Xu Chunliang wasn’t too worried about the matter. For one, Li Changmin would have to seek him out eventually; and two, the dragon bone wasn’t that important to him.

Mo Han had also heard about the Ji Buyao incident and softly said, "I heard you ran into some trouble."

Xu Chunliang replied, "What trouble? I’m not aware of any."

Mo Han said, "Rumor has it that you and Hua Zhuyue teamed up to feed Blue Star Group’s CEO Ji Buyao to the sharks."

Hearing such an outrageous rumor, Xu Chunliang couldn’t help but laugh, "I’ve no grievances with Ji Buyao, why would I do something like that?"

Mo Han said, "People die for money and birds for food; perhaps you two were after his estate."

Xu Chunliang said, "That’s utter nonsense. The police have already questioned me, and I’ve got no issue." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"You may be fine, but that doesn’t mean Hua Zhuyue isn’t problematic, Xu Chunliang. I’ve warned you before to be cautious in making friends."

Xu Chunliang said, "Thanks for your concern; I know who I should associate with."