The Film Emperor Is Sick, I have No Cure - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

With just a brief acquaintance, Lu Danggui recognized the man in front of him at a glance.

“…Your surname is Xing?”

After shaking hands with Xing Yu, Lu Danggui stood there stunned for quite a while, still unable to fully process the information.

Handing Lu Danggui his business card, Xing Yu smiled apologetically.
“My fault, I left in too much of a hurry last time and didn’t get a chance to tell you my name.”

Lu Danggui took the card and glanced down at it:

[Haibo Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.
Chief Executive Officer & General Manager
Xing Yu]

Lu Danggui: “……”

He had always regarded that man surnamed Xing as his sworn enemy. It had never occurred to him that the one who saved his sister’s life… also had the surname Xing.

“I left my contact info with you before. Why didn’t you ever call me?” Xing Yu asked.
“Didn’t you say, if you were ever short on money, you’d come find me?”

“I—”

Lu Danggui was at a loss for words.

He’d only ever known that the man was wealthy, he hadn’t expected him to be the head of a publicly listed company.

“Thank you, Mr. Yu, for your kind offer back then.” Lu Danggui thought for a moment, then said a little awkwardly,
“I had just graduated at the time and was struggling financially. But after working at the hospital these past few years, I’ve managed to save up. Covering my sister’s medical expenses isn’t a problem now.”

This man hadn’t used Lu Danggui’s surname, yet he’d directly called him Mr. Yu.

Xing Yu picked up on that subtle detail right away.

The two chatted briefly in the hallway, and Xing Yu invited Lu Danggui to have dinner together after work.

With nothing particularly urgent on his schedule, and having not seen this benefactor in several years, Lu Danggui thought it over and accepted the invitation.

After getting into the sedan parked at the hospital entrance, Xing Yu instructed the driver to head toward the city center.

Seeing the driver’s black suit and the sunglasses on his face, Lu Danggui couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of familiarity.

Leaning back in the seat and thinking for a while, he finally figured out why.

Xing Cheng was also always followed by a tall, stoic man, stern-faced and silent, dressed almost exactly like this driver. It was like they all wore some kind of standard-issue bodyguard uniform.

Same Xing family. Even their names shared the same “王” radical…

Lu Danggui reached up and rubbed his face.

This Xing Yu—could he be related to Xing Cheng?

But they didn’t look alike at all.

Better to avoid trouble when you can. After wrestling with the thought in his head for a while, Lu Danggui ultimately chose not to ask.

Xing Yu brought him to a restaurant located on the top floor of the scenic tower in S City, it was the most upscale French restaurant in town.

Following Xing Yu into the restaurant, named retrouvailles, Lu Danggui noticed that the place was completely empty.

As if they had been waiting for a while, the doorman quickly stepped forward upon their arrival and led the two of them to their seats.

Xing Yu chose the best spot in the house for the view. Standing by the window, one could take in the entire skyline of S City at a glance.

Handing his suit jacket to the waiter behind him, Xing Yu pulled out a chair for Lu Danggui and said,
“Please.”

At the bar, a cellist began to play a graceful, lyrical melody. The waiter retrieved a vintage dry red from the ice bucket and poured it for the two guests.

Once all the dishes had been served, the waiter brought over a bouquet of blooming purple irises:
“Mr. Lu, this bouquet was specially prepared for you by Mr. Xing.”

Lu Danggui accepted the flowers from Xing Yu, but couldn’t shake the feeling that something was… off.

Three years ago, Wenfei had been injured at a concert. It was this man who rushed to the scene and rescued her.

At the time, traffic in the city was gridlocked, and ambulances couldn’t reach the venue. Xing Yu had driven his private car, running several red lights, just to get Wenfei to the hospital in time.

After she was rushed into surgery, he had left his contact information, thrown his bloodstained suit jacket over his shoulders, and quietly disappeared.

Lu Danggui had only found out later that Xing Yu had also paid the emergency surgery and hospitalization fees, relieving him of a major financial burden in a moment of crisis.

He hadn’t left his name. Until today, Lu Danggui hadn’t known who the kind stranger who had saved his sister actually was.

And now, three years later, this benefactor had become the CEO of a well-known publicly listed company in S City.

And here he was, sitting across from that very benefactor—Mr. Xing—reminiscing in the city’s most exclusive scenic-view restaurant. Mr. Xing had rented out the entire place, given him a huge bouquet of fresh flowers, and was now smiling while asking what he liked to eat.

Piecing everything together, Lu Danggui almost coughed up blood.

This kind of tacky, over-the-top Mary Sue plot, if it showed up in a novel, no one would even read it!

And besides, he’s a guy!!

—

“How’s your sister doing lately?”

Sipping his aperitif, Xing Yu asked gently.

Sensing that this plot was veering dangerously off course, Lu Danggui grew more reserved. He set down his knife and fork, giving up on the idea of chatting while eating,
“Mm, Wenfei’s doing quite well. She took a year off from school, but she’s now a freshman at S University.”

“Already in college? That’s great.” Xing Yu nodded with emotion.
“Have you paid the tuition? Still doing okay financially?”

Money, money, and more money, every sentence was about money.

Lu Danggui couldn’t help but think: This Mr. Xing and that other one might really be cut from the same cloth.

They continued chatting casually about Wenfei for a while, before Xing Yu gradually shifted the topic to a new project he was currently preparing.

After hearing him out, Lu Danggui finally realized, Xing Yu had come to see him today with actual business to discuss.

Xing Yu’s company, Haibo ShipBuilding Technology, had long partnered with the overseas medical device conglomerate Golan on logistics and shipping.

Earlier this year, Golan had taken a strong interest in Haibo’s stock potential and wanted to pursue deeper strategic cooperation and expand into the domestic market.

After rounds of negotiation, both parties agreed to co-fund the establishment of a charitable foundation, led by Haibo ShipBuilding, with Golan supplying medical equipment. Though the foundation had only just been launched less than a month ago, Golan had already donated 20 sets of customizable smart prosthetic limbs.

“They had only just brought up the idea,” Xing Yu said with a smile as he cut his steak,
“and I immediately thought of your sister.”

“Since Wenfei is already in university, she’ll eventually have to step out into society. Staying in a wheelchair forever isn’t ideal. I came to talk to you today because I wanted to ask your opinion.”

“If both you and Wenfei are willing, my foundation can donate to her a top-of-the-line set of Golan prosthetics—”

He noticed Lu Danggui staring at him in a daze.

“…Dr. Lu?”

He waited a long time but received no response.

At that moment, Lu Danggui’s mind went completely blank, as if something had exploded into full bloom inside it.

Golan’s intelligent prosthetic limbs were incredibly expensive, just one limb could cost hundreds of thousands. Because of their exquisite precision and flexibility, often indistinguishable from real limbs, they were considered priceless even on the global market.

If she were fitted with prosthetics… Wenfei could stand up.

Stand up.

Like any ordinary girl, wear pretty little dresses, go on dates, watch movies, fall in love, get married.

It was the one dream he had always hoped to help his sister achieve, even in his sleep.

And now, this man in front of him—was saying he could make that wish come true.

The fork in Lu Danggui’s hand clinked against the edge of the plate with a crisp sound, snapping him back to his senses.

There’s a saying: There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Sure, Xing Yu had been a benefactor to him and Wenfei. But to go out of his way to help them again and again, what was he really after?

He was just a freshly regularized doctor. No money, no power, there wasn’t a single thing of value on him.

Unless…

Unless what he’d imagined before was actually true: that what Xing Yu wanted was—

Lu Danggui almost laughed at how ridiculous that thought was.

These rich people already had everything. What would he have to offer?
What? His face??

Even someone like Tingtian Dashu, that half-European princeling who looked like a literal doll, hadn’t gotten so much as a decent look from Xing Cheng, yet he thought he would?

Cutting off his wild train of thought, Lu Danggui looked sincerely at the young CEO across from him and said:
“Mr. Yu, you’ve already helped Wenfei and me so many times. I truly am very grateful. But the more you do…the less I know how to repay you.”

Xing Yu’s Adam’s apple moved slightly as he swallowed.
“You want… to repay me?”

He had been waiting for Lu Danggui to say those words.

If Lu Danggui were willing to trade the information he had on Xing Cheng, for a chance to help his sister walk again, then the goal of Xing Yu’s visit would finally be achieved.

After all, only the man in front of him knew the secret that his elder brother had been hiding all along.

But just now, for some unspeakable reason, Xing Yu had suddenly changed his mind.

Understanding this, Xing Yu let out a low chuckle and pulled out a gold-embossed invitation card from the inner pocket of his suit.

“Next week is my birthday banquet, it’s also the foundation’s official launch ceremony,” he said to Lu Danggui.
“Doctor Lu, if you and Wenfei are willing to accept Golan’s donation, I’d like to invite you to give a short speech at the event, as a recipient representative.”

“…Just make a speech, and that’s it?”

Staring at the gold-stamped envelope on the table, Lu Danggui felt a bit uncertain.

Xing Yu gave a small nod. “Once the banquet is over, I’ll have the foundation draft the formal donation agreement and send it to you for signing.”

Though it felt too much like a pie falling from the sky, the temptation of this “pie” was far too great. Lu Danggui couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

After a moment’s hesitation, he asked cautiously,
“Will Wenfei be attending with me?”

“There’s no need. You can come alone.”

Sliding the invitation card into the bouquet of flowers, Xing Yu offered a warm and elegant smile:
“I’ll be very pleased, Doctor Lu, if you’d honor me by attending.”

—

After dinner, Lu Danggui politely declined Xing Yu’s offer to drive him home and stood to say his farewells.

Before leaving, he took the invitation tucked into the bouquet, but left behind the irises.

With only one person left in the restaurant, Xing Yu pressed the service bell and ordered another bottle of wine.

Looking down at the city lights below, he downed his glass of red in one gulp.

His lips felt a little dry.

It had already been three years since his father put him in charge of Haibo ShipBuilding.

In order to win his favor, those around him had constantly found ways to deliver beautiful boys and girls to his bed.

They all shared a few key traits: clean, innocent, naïve about the world, yet unable to resist the overwhelming lure of money.

They understood his tastes and preferences well. He liked stupid little beauties.
He liked to break them.
To watch them struggle in pain in the palm of his hand.

When he offered his bait, that little doctor hadn’t even tried to hide the desire in his eyes.

And when the young doctor got up to leave just now, he appeared polite on the surface, but he was actually a little angry.

He knew Xing Yu had dug a pit for him, and yet he still walked into it without hesitation.

Because he cared deeply about that girl named Lu Wenfei.
With such a great favor dangling in front of him, he had no choice but to accept.

Xing Yu slowly licked the wine from the corner of his lips, eyes narrowing as he looked at the irises still sitting in the seat across from him.

He had never seen one this perfect.

The prey had already stepped into the net. If he were to use him once and throw him away now, he knew he’d regret it for the rest of his life.

He looked forward to the moment when that man, tormented by a blend of pleasure and pain, would desperately beg for mercy, only to then press reverent kisses to the tip of his shoe and kneel, surrendering completely beneath him.

—
The Xing(姓) surname has the character ‘王’. The ‘王’ here is the word meaning Wang/King.