PCJ – Chapter 524 Reaping What One Has Sown

Tang Yan asked, “Haibo, should we bring the talisman water to Director Lin now?”

Chen Haibo shook his head. “Let’s wait a little longer. It’s not like anyone’s life is immediately in danger. We don’t need to worry about saving our own face, but we can’t let Jiaohua’s reputation suffer.”

They had originally intended to help out of goodwill, but since their offer was rejected, they couldn’t keep insisting. They had stepped in because of old friendship — now that favor had already been spent, there was no reason to offer it again. If they kept pushing, the other side might think they were desperate for recognition.

“So what should we do now?” Chen Cheng asked.

“Let’s go. We’ll head to Jiaohua’s place,” said Chen Haibo.

“But by now, Jiaohua’s probably already asleep,” Chen Cheng said worriedly.

“Don’t worry. That chubby guy must be back,” Chen Haibo replied.

Sure enough, when they arrived at Guluba Hutong, Wu Yuan had already returned.

“Hey, it’s you big stars! Come, come! Goddess Tang Yan, sign an autograph for me! And you too, Goddess Chen Cheng!” Wu Yuan excitedly ran inside, found posters of Tang Yan and Chen Cheng, and after much rummaging, finally dug out a pen and handed it to Tang Yan.

After the two of them signed, Tang Yan asked, “Why don’t you want Chen Haibo’s autograph too?”

“Uh… I don’t have a poster of him at home,” Wu Yuan scratched his head awkwardly.

Chen Haibo chuckled helplessly and quickly changed the topic, “Where’s Jiaohua?”

“He might be studying. You guys better not bother him. I’ll go check,” Wu Yuan said, knowing that Zhang Jiaohua was a bit mysterious and disliked being disturbed.

Wu Yuan knocked on Zhang Jiaohua’s door. From inside came Zhang Jiaohua’s voice, “Come in.”

“Jiaohua, why aren’t you cultivating tonight?” Wu Yuan asked curiously. Usually at this time, Zhang Jiaohua would be nowhere to be found.

“Got something to take care of. Those three are here, right?” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“Yeah! How did you know? Seems like they’ve got something to talk about,” Wu Yuan replied. Though he didn’t know why these celebrities were looking for Zhang Jiaohua, he already knew they were acquainted.

“Okay, let them in,” Zhang Jiaohua said lazily, not even bothering to move from his seat.

Wu Yuan scratched his head and went out to invite the three stars in.

“Jiaohua, guess what? The talisman water worked! A patient got better right after drinking it!” Chen Cheng said excitedly.

“Then why are you guys still looking for me?” Zhang Jiaohua asked, puzzled.

“When we first went, some people doubted the talisman water and refused to use it. Now that it’s proven effective, they need to realize that it’s not something they can easily get,” Chen Haibo explained.

Zhang Jiaohua nodded, “Actually, I already expected that would happen when you went over there. It’s good you’re handling it this way. We can’t go around doing favors without principles.”

“Jiaohua, we owe you another big favor. In the future, if you ever need anything — as long as it’s within our ability — we’ll go through fire and water for you!” Chen Haibo said earnestly.

“Don’t make promises too easily. Who knows, maybe that day will really come,” Zhang Jiaohua said lightly.

The group chatted happily, unaware that chaos had already erupted at Renxin Hospital.

Chief physician Sun Xinhua looked at Wang Yiwei, who had completely recovered, in disbelief. “Mr. Wang, how are you feeling now?”

Wang Yiwei smiled at his wife, Cui Jingjing. “I feel great. There’s absolutely no reason for me to stay in the hospital anymore. I’m ready to be discharged immediately!”

“Exactly! Since my husband is fine, there’s no need to keep him here like a prisoner. Please process the discharge formalities quickly!” Cui Jingjing said firmly.

“Mr. Wang, your recovery is still fresh. We can’t be certain if your condition might relapse. Besides, your recovery could provide valuable insights for treating other patients. We need to document and study your case,” Sun Xinhua hurriedly explained.

“Document? You still think it was your hospital that cured me? If not for—” Cui Jingjing almost slipped up.

Wang Yiwei quickly interrupted, “If not for my own good luck and natural recovery, I’d still be lying in a hospital bed like the others. You don’t even know how I got sick, let alone how I recovered. You just want to use me as a guinea pig? No way! Discharge or no discharge, I’m leaving this hospital!”

Although Wang Yiwei skillfully covered Cui Jingjing’s mistake, Sun Xinhua still caught on that something was off.

Since the patient insisted on leaving, Sun Xinhua had no choice but to comply. He hurried to ask the nurses who had visited the room.

“Apparently, a few celebrities came by. But no one heard or saw exactly what they did,” the nurse reported.

Sun Xinhua rushed to the surveillance room, where the staff pulled up the footage. He quickly spotted the three celebrities entering Wang Yiwei’s room. Observing carefully, he noticed Chen Haibo seemed to have something hidden on him. However, there was no direct evidence linking the celebrities to the sudden recovery.

Meanwhile, after hearing about Wang Yiwei’s recovery, Lin Jianming’s wife, Ma Xixian, immediately thought of the talisman water Chen Haibo had brought.

Before being discharged, Wang Yiwei visited Lin Jianming’s room.

Ma Xixian hurried over to ask him, “Was it that bottle of mineral water from Chen Haibo that cured you?”

“You know about that?” Wang Yiwei asked, surprised.

“So it’s true! It really was that bottle of water!” Ma Xixian immediately confirmed her suspicion.

“Ma Teacher, since you already know, I won’t hide it. But Haibo told me not to tell anyone. Please keep it a secret,” Wang Yiwei confided.

“Don’t worry. I knew about it from the beginning. When Haibo first came to Lin’s room, I refused to let him give it to Lin. That’s why he went to your room. I really shouldn’t have doubted him. No matter what, he meant well. I should have trusted him,” Ma Xixian said regretfully, realizing that Chen Haibo’s refusal to return showed his disappointment in her.

“Ma Teacher, don’t dwell on it. Just contact Haibo as soon as possible. We’re all friends, and Director Lin and Haibo have been long-time collaborators. He won’t stand by and do nothing,” Wang Yiwei urged.

Back at Guluba Hutong, Chen Haibo received Ma Xixian’s call. As soon as he answered, she kept apologizing.

“I’m so sorry, Haibo. You were just trying to help. I should’ve trusted you. I really regret it.”

Chen Haibo replied calmly, “Ma Teacher, you’re too polite. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if the talisman water would work either — I just begged for it from someone. I probably shouldn’t have taken such a risk with Director Lin. It was reckless. Luckily, nothing went wrong.”

“Haibo, now that Wang Yiwei has recovered, can you give Lin another chance?” Ma Xixian pleaded.

“Ma Teacher, I can’t even be sure if it was really the talisman water that cured Wang Yiwei. I threw the bottle away afterward. If we need another, I’ll have to go beg the Taoist priest at Lüzu Temple again. And it’s so late now — even if I went, the priest might not agree. Let’s wait until tomorrow,” Chen Haibo said, then hung up.

“What do you think about the way I handled it?” Chen Haibo asked Zhang Jiaohua after hanging up.

“If you feel it’s appropriate, then do it. That bottle of talisman water should still be effective for a few days. Just handle it as you see fit,” Zhang Jiaohua said with a smile, clearly unconcerned.

Zhang Jiaohua didn’t pay further attention to the matter. He only knew that the filming of Haunted House Storm continued afterward, although the location was moved to another building remodeled into an identical haunted house layout.

After Zhang Jiaohua’s impressive performance at the basketball court, Zheng Wendong and the others kept pestering him to join all the basketball team’s activities. They even offered him the captain’s position, while Zheng Wendong voluntarily stepped down to vice-captain, handling all the team’s affairs. Zhang Jiaohua became a “ceremonial” captain.

“Jiaohua, yesterday that Wang Peng came to me again, challenging our class. He said because your skill level is way higher than a regular student, we should allow both sides to invite external players. I heard from Qi Haoyu of Class Five that except for Wang Peng himself, all four other players he’s bringing are ringers — professional league players! It’s not really Class Five challenging us — it’s practically Wang Peng hiring pros to fight for him. Some of these pros have even played in the national team!” Zheng Wendong said angrily. Without Zhang Jiaohua playing, Class One wouldn’t even beat Class Five, let alone these professionals.

“Then accept the challenge!” Zhang Jiaohua smiled. As a cultivator, he didn’t bully others, but if others sent themselves to be bullied, it would be unnatural not to accept.

“Great! I’ll go give Wang Peng the answer right now! Let’s see how cocky he stays!” Zheng Wendong said excitedly. He had complete confidence that as long as Zhang Jiaohua played, they could beat anyone.

What they didn’t know yet was that Wang Peng had some serious connections. When the four pros showed up, Zheng Wendong realized they had been tricked — these weren’t ordinary pro players but starting players from the Super League, some even ex-national team members, currently stars of the Beijing team.