250: Chapter 250: Just Talking About Money 250: Chapter 250: Just Talking About Money “Miss Petty, I’ve co to pick you up,” Yusuf Zuck and Alec Petty got out of the car as two more people descended from the Toyota Alphard van, one being the young driver with a sharp glint in his eyes, and the other a middle-aged man around his fifties, dressed in a crisp suit.
He addressed Alec Petty as Miss Petty and did so with exceptional reverence.
“Uncle Lin, why have you co in person?” Alec Petty hurried forward to greet and embrace Uncle Lin.
“The family has been awake all night knowing that you were coming back, everyone’s waiting for you,” Uncle Lin said, glancing at Lance Torres before nodding and adding, “Good to see you, Lance.
Do you rember ?”
“Hello, Uncle Lin, hello, of course, I rember,” Lance Torres greeted Uncle Lin with a handshake.
“Uncle Lin, let introduce you, this is Doctor Zuck,” Alec Petty promptly introduced Yusuf Zuck.
“Good to see you, Doctor Zuck, everyone please get in the car,” Uncle Lin said as he shook hands with Yusuf Zuck and then gestured for the three of them to board the vehicle.
Dawn was breaking, Yusuf Zuck and his companions had flown to Shenzhen at night, then drove to Hong Kong, spending the whole night traveling, and by the ti they arrived in Hong Kong, the horizon was already tinged with morning red.
“Miss Petty, it’s been fifteen years since you’ve been ho, the family misses you dearly,” Uncle Lin said warmly from the car, his eyes brimming with tears.
The Petty family’s Miss Petty was famously hot-tempered.
She had once brought her fiancé ho, but the family disapproved of him, which led to a heated argunt, and eventually, Miss Petty left in a huff for mainland Northeast.
She had been gone for fifteen years; though there had been sporadic contact, even when she ca to Hong Kong on business, she never entered the family ho.
During these fifteen years, the family’s initial objections faded into complete acceptance.
Many had traveled to the Northeast to urge Miss Petty to visit.
Whether it was her father’s birthday, Chinese New Year, her grandfather’s birthday, or other important clan events, when she was called ho, she never ca.
She was that kind of person; once you upset her, she’d rember it for a lifeti.
Seeing Uncle Lin with tears in his eyes, Alec Petty gently embraced his shoulders and said, “If it weren’t for Grandpa’s incident, I still wouldn’t have co back.”
“Ah, you still have the sa temperant as before,” Uncle Lin sighed helplessly, rembering how talented Miss Petty was—the family’s clever and gifted young lady, dearly loved by the old Master.
During a trip in the mainland, she had by chance t Lance Torres, and they fell in love.
Even though her entire family, including the Master, disapproved, she resolutely brought Lance back ho, hoping for their acceptance.
But at that ti, no one in the family gave their approval, hence her fifteen-year absence from ho.
The atmosphere in the car grew somber; Lance spoke little to begin with and seed very nervous, considering it was his second visit to his in-laws’ house.
Alec Petty seed lost in mories, while Uncle Lin periodically looked at her, and only the driver focused on the road.
Soon, the car entered the affluent neighborhood of Mid-levels, stopping at an estate spanning dozen of acres.
The residence was enormous, with a lawn, fountains, and various luxury cars parked in front of it, along with two separate villa buildings beside the main structure.
When the car stopped in front of the main building, about a dozen mbers of the Petty family who had been waiting in the hall ca out, a mix of n, won, and children of all ages.
Leading them was a woman in her sixties, dressed in a qipao, supported by others, with tears on her face.
Upon exiting the car, Alec Petty threw herself into the elderly woman’s embrace, sobbing heartily.
This was her mother, who was just in her forties when she left, and now, she was sixty.
Lance Torres stood behind Alec Petty, polite and reserved.
Yusuf Zuck stood by the car door as he got out.
The family chatted incessantly with Alec Petty; several won were crying, and a few young girls embraced her.
“Doctor Zuck, please co in—Mom, this is Doctor Yusuf Zuck whom I sought in the mainland.
He’s the one who cured Yuqing’s illness,” Alec Petty took the initiative to introduce Yusuf Zuck.
The family was very welcoming on her return—after fifteen years, the little girl who once left in a huff was now a mother.
“Doctor Zuck, please co in,” everyone from the Petty clan stepped aside to let Yusuf Zuck go in first.
Yusuf Zuck chuckled, nodded slightly, and then strode into the main building’s grand hall.
The villa was quaint and had the style of classical Chinese architecture.
In the great hall’s sofa sat two n, both in their sixties and seventies.
One of them appeared to be over seventy, and the other around sixty, with half-grey hair.
When Yusuf Zuck entered, the two elders also stood up proactively, and the one around sixty looked back.
“Dad, I’m back,” said Alec Petty who was following Yusuf Zuck, upon seeing the two elders, he imdiately called out ‘Dad,’ while the elder around sixty took a deep breath and nodded, saying, “Good to have you back.”
“Uncle, hello,” Long Xiaolong greeted his father-in-law with a bow, but unlike Alec, he didn’t call him father, only uncle.
“What did you call ?” The sixty-year-old elder’s eyes suddenly sharpened, radiating an authoritative presence without even angry.
“Quick, call him dad.
Why call him uncle?” urged Alec’s mother from behind.
“Dad, hello,” Long Xiaolong bowed again and called him dad this ti.
“Shush—” The old man took a deep breath and then glared fiercely at Long Xiaolong, saying, “You know what’s good for you.
Call back to the mainland imdiately and have my granddaughter sent here.
I want to see my granddaughter!”
“Yes, I’ll call right now, right now,” replied Long Xiaolong with a laugh.
This ti, the entire family’s attitude had changed.
“This must be Mr.
Yusuf Zuck, right?
I’m Alvin Petty.
Hello,” said Petty Family’s elder, which was Alvin Petty.
After pleasantries with his family, he took two steps forward and extended his hand with a loud voice to greet Yusuf Zuck.
“Hello,” Yusuf Zuck responded coolly, not subservient or fawning.
He was invited as a physician and had no involvent with the Petty Family’s money, so there was no need for him to plaster on a smile.
“Haha, Mr.
Zuck, your reputation precedes you.
I am Lance Torres.
I’ve long admired your na,” said the elder in his seventies, also reaching out his hand.
Yusuf Zuck kept his smile and shook hands with Lance Torres, replying, “The pleasure is mine.
The pleasure is mine.” This Lance Torres was also a beginner in Neijiaquan, just like Everest Zuck.
“Mr.
Zuck, please take a seat.
Everyone else can disperse.
Xiaolong, stay put.
Xiao Si, accompany your mother upstairs for a chat,” commanded Alvin Petty, obviously the head of the household at the mont.
Everyone imdiately dispersed, leaving only Long Xiaolong to stay with Yusuf Zuck.
As the family mbers left, a few n who had clearly just got up walked in from outside.
One of them, also in his sixties, strode energetically, along with several others in their forties, thirties, and twenties, totaling seven or eight in all.
“Heard a master has co.
Who among these two is it?” the sixty-sothing elder pointed at Long Xiaolong and Yusuf Zuck and asked.
At that mont, Yusuf Zuck’s eyes glinted sharply.
The man who had just spoken was also a Neijiaquan beginner.
“Old Three, stop causing a fuss,” Alvin Petty glared at the one called Old Three, then explained to Yusuf Zuck, “This is my younger brother, Edison Petty.
And the rest are young ones!” Alvin Petty didn’t introduce everyone, only his younger brother.
“Oh, so you are the master, Yusuf?
Quite young, aren’t you?
Not even twenty-five?
Let clarify one thing, you can treat my dad, but when it’s ti, if you can cure, say yes, if you can’t, say no.
Don’t claim you can when you actually can’t!” Edison Petty narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Yusuf Zuck.
“Hehe, taking money to ward off disaster for others, I’ve already explained to Long Xiaolong and Alec before coming here: I am just here to diagnose, not necessarily to treat.
Rember, the fee for treatnt is different from diagnosis.
If I can’t treat, then I’ll just leave.
If I can, we must discuss the exact fee for the treatnt,” Yusuf Zuck had thought it through on the way.
He couldn’t let Long Xiaolong and Alec pay the one billion consultation fee, so he had to make his position clear to the Petty Clan mbers.
Moreover, he was stating the ugly truth upfront—he wasn’t there to do charity.
His sole motivation for coming was the money, not to play the generous healer.
“Oh?
All you talk about is money?” frowned all mbers of the Petty Clan, taken aback by this young man’s focus on money.
Yusuf Zuck laughed, thinking to himself that if it wasn’t about money, then what, sentint?
Of course, he didn’t voice this and instead pondered before saying, “To be honest, the reason I ca is because I was moved by the sincerity of Long Xiaolong and Alec, his wife.
Otherwise, even if soone brought a billion, I might not have co for the consultation!”
He finally brought up the matter of the one billion consultation fee, confident that once known, the Petty Clan would certainly reimburse Long Xiaolong and Alec.
“What?
A consultation fee of a billion?” Upon hearing Yusuf Zuck’s words, everyone in the Petty Clan was almost startled to their feet.
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