Chapter 64: Too Late for Regret

After saying this, Gu Tao raised his head and looked at Fang Ziyan with a pitiful and pathetic expression.

Gu Ta frowned, however. "What are you looking at? Don't you know the rules of the Azure Dragon Gang?"

"Keep kowtowing and keep apologizing. Until Dr. Fang tells you to stop, you are not allowed to stop!"

Hearing this, Gu Tao shuddered once more.

Clutching his face, he resumed kowtowing and apologizing with a wronged and pitiful look.

As for any thoughts of resentment or revenge, Gu Tao had long since thrown them to the back of his mind.

The one forcing him to apologize right now wasn't Fang Ziyan, but his own uncle.

If his biggest backer showed this much respect to Fang Ziyan, what else was there for him to struggle against?

Gu Tao simply knelt there, kowtowing continuously.

Fang Ziyan didn't even spare him a glance, fixing his gaze squarely on Gu Ta instead.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Making him pressure me here? Trying to make my heart soften so I'll forgive him?"

"Dr. Fang, I didn't mean it that way," Gu Ta shook his head.

"This is simply the rule of our Azure Dragon Gang."

"You sewed up our brother's wound with exceptional skill, and the tattoo on his body wasn't ruined at all."

"And since you agreed to help us out after your shift, that makes you our brother."

"Brothers helping brothers is only right and proper."

"I had no idea Gu Tao would pull such a stunt and steal your girlfriend. Had I known earlier, I certainly would have dealt with him."

"How about this, Dr. Fang? If you wish to be with Teacher Xu, we will cover the betrothal gifts."

Gu Ta explained earnestly.

He valued not only Fang Ziyan's medical skills, but even more so the connections behind him.

He had sent people to investigate Fang Ziyan earlier today and learned that he had saved the mayor's daughter.

With that favor to rely on, as long as Mayor Luo remained in power, no one would dare to lay a finger on Fang Ziyan.

Hearing Gu Ta's words, Fang Ziyan shook his head.

"Gu Tao and I will resolve our own matters."

"Marriage is a major event in life, and people must make their own choices."

"If she chose Gu Tao, perhaps he truly is better than me. I have no intention of pursuing the matter."

"As for why you came to find me, I understand. If you need me to save lives tonight, I can step in."

"However, I am only one person after all, and I cannot save everyone."

"If there are too many casualties, you should still send them to the hospital."

"Besides, I must still advise you to quit this line of work. Wash your hands of it as soon as possible; this path has no future."

Fang Ziyan said slowly.

Then, he added a final sentence.

"Also, Miao Susu smashed my phone just now, and that must be compensated."

"Alright! No problem!"

Miao Susu agreed immediately.

***

Gu Ta also gazed deeply at Fang Ziyan, worry weighing heavily on his mind.

How could he not know the truth in Fang Ziyan's words?

His current profession might look glorious on the surface, but it involved fighting and killing every day, always living in fear and anxiety.

Word had it that certain provinces and cities in the south had already begun cracking down on people like them.

It was likely that Jiang'an City wouldn't be far behind.

At this thought, Gu Ta's heart sank.

Even so, tonight's business still had to be carried out.

Slowly, he spoke, "Dr. Fang, I will take your words into consideration."

"However, I must ask for your help regarding tonight's affairs."

"I cannot help you with that."

Fang Ziyan flatly rejected his request.

"You can, however, make an emergency call in advance and have them waiting there."

"As for me, I will follow the ambulance."

Though he hadn't explicitly agreed, Fang Ziyan's words amounted to a tacit consent of sorts.

Gu Ta breathed a sigh of relief. "Then... should I make the emergency call now?"

"Suit yourself. I'm heading to the hospital first," Fang Ziyan waved a hand.

Knowing that Gu Ta and his men were going to brawl tonight meant the hospital would surely be understaffed, so he had to head over there.

Gu Ta nodded repeatedly. "Shall I have someone drive Dr. Fang to the hospital?"

Fang Ziyan did not refuse.

Gu Ta quickly gestured for Miao Susu to drive him to the hospital.

As for himself, he led his forces back to their headquarters.

From beginning to end, Gu Tao had remained kneeling on the ground, continuously kowtowing in apology.

Yet everyone seemed to have entirely ignored him, paying him no mind whatsoever.

Fang Ziyan departed.

Gu Ta and his men also left.

Only Gu Tao remained, kneeling alone on the ground.

Though he had stopped kowtowing, his disheveled and wretched appearance was utterly humiliating.

The members of the Xu family looked at each other in dismay, terror gripping their hearts.

"Qiushuang, is it still not too late for you to go and apologize to Xiao Fang?" Xu Lanhua asked softly after a moment of hesitation.

Xu Qiushuang turned her head, glaring resentfully at her aunt.

It was all because of her meddling and instigation that she had been forced to marry Gu Tao.

Who could have foreseen that Gu Tao would be so thoroughly subdued and humiliated by Fang Ziyan?

Yet now that she had already finalized things with Gu Tao, going back to Fang Ziyan would be the height of public embarrassment.

Thus, with a stubborn streak of pride, Xu Qiushuang refused.

She hurried over to Gu Tao's side, intending to help him up.

Instead, Gu Tao shoved her away roughly, glaring at her with a slightly crazed look in his eyes.

***

"Don't touch me!"

"I only got together with you to get back at Fang Ziyan. How could I ever marry you?"

"You have no father and no mother, and your whole family are nothing but blood-sucking parasites. If I hadn't shelled out those one-hundred-thousand yuan, would you have ever agreed to marry me?"

"I'm not an idiot. A hundred thousand yuan for a betrothal gift—why don't you take a piss and look at your own reflection? Do you even deserve it?"

With that, regardless of how Xu Qiushuang felt, Gu Tao straddled his Suzuki motorcycle and sped away.

In that instant, the Xu family completely exploded!

The high-potential stock that was Fang Ziyan was gone.

And now, the ready-made wealthy young master no longer wanted Xu Qiushuang either.

This was nothing short of a joke!

A glaring, public joke!

Xu Qiushuang staggered, her body swaying as she collapsed against a nearby tree.

The world spun before her eyes, and she felt as though she might collapse entirely at any second.

Meanwhile, Fang Ziyan had been driven to the hospital by Miao Susu.

Along the way, however, she deliberately made a detour, taking Fang Ziyan to a mobile phone store to pick out a device.

Pressed for time with a gang fight looming ahead, she didn't even bother browsing, simply grabbing a model and presenting it to Fang Ziyan.

A Nokia 7650.

This phone had only recently hit the market, priced at six thousand three hundred yuan.

In this era, a price tag like that was practically at the ceiling of luxury.

Fang Ziyan looked at it in absolute bewilderment.

Even in his previous life, he had rarely used such an expensive phone.

In this day and age, this was the country's very first phone with a built-in camera, and she was just giving it to him like this?

Fang Ziyan hardly dared to accept it.

A phone this expensive was practically a hot potato.

He tried to refuse, but Miao Susu forcibly shoved it straight into his arms.

"Don't worry, Dr. Fang, this mobile shop belongs to our Azure Dragon Gang anyway. It's free."

"Let's go, we're heading to the hospital now."

In a flurry of frantic urgency, Miao Susu bundled Fang Ziyan back into the car, dropped him off right at the hospital entrance, and sped off into the distance.

Scratching his head in lingering bewilderment, Fang Ziyan walked into the hospital.

Zhu Zixiao, who was on night duty, stood up abruptly the moment he saw him.

"Old Fang? What brings you here at this hour?"

"Couldn't sleep at home and took a stroll all the way to the hospital?"

Fang Ziyan shot him a glare. "Don't ask. Tonight is bound to be extremely busy, and we'll probably have to handle trauma cases. Better get prepared right away."