Chapter 1312 — The Unlucky Divine Physician Kang: Kang Zhaolong Was a Man of Deep Calculation, and Though His Heart Rebelled at It, at Such Absolute Disadvantage the More Defiance He Showed the More Ground He Would Lose; After Several Failed Attempts to Shift the Blame, He Too Began to Adjust His Approach

A little forbearance now was for the sake of a far mightier command of wind and cloud to come!

Kang Zhaoming, having given it the fine-sounding name of investigating the formula for the Life-Prolonging Detox Pill, had in fact gone out to eat, drink, and chase women! How easy was such a formula to investigate? He had not the faintest clue yet, so using that errand as a pretext to play a while longer was the real point of it all!

When Kang Zhaolong's call came, saying that something major had happened at home, Kang Zhaoming did not dare dawdle either, and hurried back from the banquet table at once!

Though he and Kang Zhaolong were not on good terms, not being on good terms was one thing; when something happened to the Kang family, he still had to rush back. Kang Zhaoming might be a profligate, but he was no fool. If the Kang family went under, what fine life would there be left for him?

Yet when Kang Zhaoming reached the Kang household and learned the whole story from beginning to end, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought it was some great catastrophe. True, they had lost a bit of money, but for the Kang family this was no devastating blow. And privately, Kang Zhaoming was even gloating. This was Kang Zhaolong's doing, and now the man had disappointed Grandfather yet again, which meant that the future head of the Kang family could only be him, Kang Zhaoming!

Kang Zhaoming could already picture his splendid life: seated in the place of family head, every day with women on both arms, eating, drinking, and making merry, with no one to restrain him, while he could restrain anyone he pleased! Truly the life of an immortal!

But on the surface, Kang Zhaoming still spoke with a show of bitter grief: "This is indeed a serious matter! But it has already happened, and now is not the time to assign blame. Uncle and Elder Brother certainly did not do it on purpose. They never wanted this either! Fortunately it comes down to a little money lost, and nothing worse has come of it. Otherwise our Kang family truly could not withstand such turmoil!"

Though Kang Zhaoming protested over and over that no blame was to be assigned, those words, coming from his mouth, were plainly an accusation that Kang Guifeng and Kang Zhaolong had been the ones to make this mess.

"Zhaoming, we of the Kang family will accept the loss of money. But Dr. Guan's trauma medicine is selling so well now that it has badly cut into the sales of Divine Physician Kang's Golden Wound Medicine. Those pharmacies that once flocked after us, begging and pleading for us to supply them, now seem to have vanished as one, and no longer even ask after the Kang family's medicines..." Divine Physician Kang smiled bitterly. "I fear the medicine market will soon belong to Dr. Guan's trauma medicine! For now we still have the military supply orders to hold us up, but how long that will last I dare not say. If Guan Xuemin takes that order from us as well, then the Kang family will truly stand at the brink of life and death!"

Harsh as Divine Physician Kang's words were, if the Kang family went on developing this way, they might well come to pass.

Across the faces of Kang Zhaolong, Kang Zhaoming, and Kang Guifeng alike flickered a trace of worry. As the saying goes, when the nest is overturned, how can any egg stay whole? If the Kang family collapsed, what was the use of fighting over the position of family head?

So in that moment all three set aside their earlier rivalry and bowed their heads, somewhat heavy at heart.

"I called you here to discuss what our Kang family should do. How are we to respond? The future of the Kang family does not look promising!" Divine Physician Kang sighed. "Tell me. What are we to do?"

Kang Guifeng and Kang Zhaolong exchanged a glance; neither of them had any good ideas. The Kang family's foundations were too shallow. One formula for Golden Wound Medicine, and not another effective remedy worth showing. So once this product was replaced by another's, the Kang family would essentially have lost its pillar product!

It was true that the Kang family's pharmaceutical factory also produced the common remedies for headaches and colds, but such medicines followed universal formulas and were made by far too many enterprises; there was not much to be gained from them. In the past, with the name of Divine Physician Kang's Golden Wound Medicine standing behind them, these medicines could still sell a little. But now that Divine Physician Kang's Golden Wound Medicine was finished, the sales of those medicines would likely be no different from any small common drugmaker's. Starve they would not, that much was certain, but the Kang family could never remain as flourishing as it was now. It could only become an ordinary family, to say nothing of rising to the rank of a great clan.

"Grandfather, I believe this matter still rests on me!" Kang Zhaoming thought for a moment, then said. "I feel the weight of my responsibility keenly. If I can obtain the formula for the Life-Prolonging Detox Pill, then everything is solved!" In truth, apart from that, he really did not know what else to say.

"Exactly! Zhaoming is right. Well? Are you confident?" Divine Physician Kang asked with a satisfied nod.

"These past days I have done nothing but drink with friends and cultivate connections. This sort of thing cannot be rushed; one can only take it slowly. After all, that formula is a secret. By ordinary means it is very hard to lay hands on it!" Kang Zhaoming said.

"That is true enough. Then work at it," said Divine Physician Kang. "From today on, all the Kang family's resources are yours to command. But you must go all out in your search for the formula of the Life-Prolonging Detox Pill!"

"No problem, I understand!" Kang Zhaoming answered with a nod.

Hearing this decision, Kang Zhaoming was overjoyed. Did this mean he had already begun to exercise the authority of the young head of the family? Ha ha, he was about to become the young head of the family!

Divine Physician Kang's words made Kang Zhaolong's heart sink. Even when his grandfather had previously confirmed him as the heir, he had never been granted so many resources so openly. But now...

Kang Zhaolong was full of resentment, yet he had no way to object. His only hope now was that Kang Zhaoming would botch the matter and fail to obtain the formula for the Life-Prolonging Detox Pill. And yet, if the formula could not be obtained, the Kang family was truly finished!

Given the Kang family's present state, unless some powerful pillar formula emerged, the family would likely never recover. So Kang Zhaolong's heart was torn. On one hand he hoped Kang Zhaoming would fail, and on the other he did not want him to fail at all!

If Kang Zhaoming failed, then even if he himself became head of the Kang family, what would it be worth? A small family, and not a shred of pride in it! But if Kang Zhaoming pulled it off, then the headship of the Kang family could only be his!

How could Kang Zhaoming be made to obtain the formula, and yet be kept from becoming head of the family? Kang Zhaolong began to think it over. He had to find a way to satisfy both ends at once.

Kang Zhaoming, meanwhile, was also turning over in his mind how to lay hands on the formula. It seemed a great nuisance. That formula, he guessed, was in Guan Xuemin's hands alone!

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