He Ruming stared at Chen Ke; he had an indescribable displeasure towards this short-haired foreign student. *How did I get mixed up with him?* He Ruming had such doubts. But it had to be said that although He Ruming appeared angry on the surface, he was actually quite guilty at heart.

Although He Ruming belonged to the "Empress Party," he was also part of the Westernization Movement. The Tianjin Manufacturing Bureau could be considered the former Beiyang faction of Li Hongzhang. Yuan Shikai's Xiaozhan New Army was considered the later Beiyang faction. The personnel exchange between the two factions wasn't small. So after He Ruming entered the capital, he also deliberately contacted the officers of the New Army in the capital. Upon learning that someone was infected, he naturally thought of Chen Ke. There were quite a few people infected these days, not just those officers, but also a young man who was quite important to He Ruming. This young man's father, Lian Bicheng, was one of the key supports for He Ruming's entry into the capital this time. The two families had already settled on a marriage, and the betrothal gifts were about to be presented.

Learning that this young man, who was basically considered his son-in-law, had contracted this disease, He Ruming was furious. But anger was one thing; saving him was another. He Ruming knew Chen Ke's medicine was toxic, so he kept an extra eye out and first asked Chen Ke to treat other officers. If there were no problems, he would then treat the young master of the Lian family. Curing a disease was a good thing, but if curing a disease turned into taking a life, He Ruming couldn't bear the responsibility.

The Lian family was also well aware of He Ruming's thoughts. They sent people to watch Chen Ke's treatment process the whole time. After Chen Ke left, their family doctor also stayed there to observe. The efficacy of the medicine was obvious; after one night, the officers' bodies had improved significantly. The Lian family's son had already been taken back home, and they didn't inject the drug into their son until the morning.

He Ruming didn't want Chen Ke to intervene in this matter. After all, the Lian family were people of status. Chen Ke might not necessarily fail to hear rumors in the future, but this broken disease was really a shameful thing; the fewer people who knew, the better. Moreover, the Lian family was also worried about problems, so they deliberately reduced the dosage the first time. However, shortly after the injection, problems arose.

Only then did He Ruming call Chen Ke over. Originally, he also wanted to ask calmly. But after all, he was distracted. If the young master of the Lian family really had problems... As soon as He Ruming thought of such a result, he regretted it; he should have let Chen Ke treat him personally at that time. But this self-reflection was quickly replaced by a nameless fire. *What kind of potent medicine (tiger and wolf medicine) is this Chen Ke making! Ten officers were fine, so why did something happen when it was the Lian family's turn?* He Ruming thought indignantly, *Where is Chen Ke's medical ethics? Is this the "parental heart of a healer"?*

However, this emotion wasn't as intense as Chen Ke saw. Seeing Chen Ke enter the living room, He Ruming truly exploded. Chen Ke's appearance was actually quite tough—tall, square face. But Chen Ke's eyes completely inherited from his mother; they were a pair of large, sparkling eyes. The eyelashes were so long that a matchstick wouldn't fall off them. The beautifully shaped double eyelids even had a slight upward slant. When these eyes looked at He Ruming as calm as water, He Ruming only felt that Chen Ke's gaze had an indescribable innocence and purity, which made his nameless fire burn with double the intensity.

*Why does Chen Ke look at me with such a gaze? Falling into such a dangerous juncture, didn't I trust Chen Ke?* With Yan Fu's recommendation, plus the steadiness and calmness Chen Ke showed when persuading the promotion of the honeycomb briquette project, He Ruming gradually had confidence in Chen Ke. And at this critical moment, Chen Ke pushed He Ruming off a cliff. *This quack didn't ask for medicine money at the time; at that time, I even thought Chen Ke was righteous enough. Now it seems this quack deliberately left himself a way out to evade responsibility.* However, if a life was lost over there, He Ruming would not let Chen Ke off no matter what.

Chen Ke naturally didn't know why He Ruming's anger was so intense. There was no time to explain at this moment. He picked up the copy He Ruming slapped on the table and read through it. He suddenly discovered a very subtle error. This might be his own error; he wrote "needs to be injected slowly and carefully, observing the patient's reaction at any time" for the injection, but didn't specify how slow the speed should be. But on this paper, the word "slowly" was missing, leaving only the four words "inject carefully."

Chen Ke asked, "Lord He, where is the original manuscript?"

He Ruming angrily took out the original manuscript. After comparing them, Chen Ke asked, "Why are the words 'slowly' missing?"

Hearing Chen Ke's words, He Ruming leaned over and looked carefully; sure enough, those two words were missing. But He Ruming didn't think this mattered; instead, he thought Chen Ke was shirking responsibility, and his anger grew even more. Before he could flare up, Chen Ke stopped He Ruming. "Lord He, the important thing now is to save the person. How much medicine did you inject into the patient?"

"Fearing your medicine was poisonous, we only used half the dosage," He Ruming said indignantly.

"Then it's much simpler. Quickly inject a large amount of physiological saline into the patient. According to what you said, the injected dosage was very small, so it shouldn't cause a loss of life."

"How large an amount?" He Ruming pressed. Just because of a tiny mistake, such a big thing happened. He Ruming didn't dare not to clarify Chen Ke's words anymore.

"Inject 300 milliliters first," Chen Ke said, then detailed the injection site. Seeing He Ruming's dissatisfied look, Chen Ke asked for pen and paper and wrote down what he had just said.

Things having reached this point, He Ruming wasn't someone who didn't know the severity. This time, he watched with his own eyes as Chen Ke wrote the solution, read it once himself, and felt there was no problem. Only then did he let the steward take it to the patient's home.

The two sat waiting without saying a word. Pu Guanshui knew it wasn't his time to speak, so he simply accompanied the two in silence. After more than half an hour, the steward ran back with joy on his face. As soon as he entered the living room, the steward said, "My Lord, just as written on the prescription, he has stabilized."

The people in the room all breathed a sigh of relief. He Ruming asked the steward to copy Chen Ke's treatment essentials carefully, ensuring not a single word was wrong. Only then did he turn his head. Looking at Chen Ke's gaze, which looked quite innocent, He Ruming didn't know what to say. Apologizing to Chen Ke now would make him lose face, so he sat there awkwardly instead.

Pu Guanshui was from an official family after all and had the ability to observe words and expressions. Seeing such a situation, he said, "Lord He, do you know about the Beiyang Army's Autumn Maneuvers?"

He Ruming knew that 20,000 Beiyang troops were currently conducting autumn drills in Hejian. Hearing Pu Guanshui mention it, he nodded. "I know of this matter."

"This Mr. Chen wants to write a parade march for the Beiyang Army Autumn Maneuvers, but he needs a piano to play it. We can't find one temporarily," Pu Guanshui said very politely.

*This damn Chen Wenqing! He really knows how to cause trouble for people.* He Ruming cursed in his heart. But on second thought, if what Pu Guanshui said was true, and this Autumn Maneuvers tune could really be composed using his family's piano, as long as he could operate it cleverly, it wouldn't be a bad thing for him. If someone could put in a good word for him, maybe his name could be heard by Yuan Shikai.

"My family happens to have a piano. If Commander Pu doesn't mind, you can use it," He Ruming followed Pu Guanshui's words.

"That would be very grateful. Can we use it now?"

"The piano is in the women's quarters. Please wait a moment; I will have the servants move the piano out."

The steward took two domestic servants to the backyard. It took a lot of effort to move the piano to the backyard. "Brother Wenqing, how about we go help too?" Pu Guanshui was quite anxious now, wishing he could start immediately.

Chen Ke was quite surprised by this. He personally never opposed labor, but Pu Guanshui actively asking to do manual labor made Chen Ke look at him with new eyes. He nodded.

Seeing Chen Ke agree, Pu Guanshui said to He Ruming, "Lord He, we will go help too."

"I dare not accept that. Just let the servants do it."

"At a time like this, who cares about that much." Pu Guanshui was burning with anxiety.

Seeing Pu Guanshui so anxious, He Ruming didn't stop him anymore. With the addition of two fresh forces, the piano was quickly moved into the living room. Chen Ke opened the piano lid, but saw a book under the lid. It was the last book of his own set. *Could it be that the young lady of that family also reads my books?* Chen Ke was a bit puzzled. But he couldn't think that much at this moment. Chen Ke's fingers slid across the keyboard; the piano's tuning was passable. He casually played a tune, which was the opening theme from *Steins;Gate*.

This was a rather cold and clear music; Chen Ke liked that distant style. The beautiful melody echoed in the living room, really giving a feeling of crossing time and space. The piano was bought when He Ruming's father was alive. He Ruming often listened to his sister and daughter play the piano. To him, the sound of the piano was just so-so. But watching Chen Ke's fingers jumping on the long black and white keys in a very strange way, and this way devoid of aesthetic feeling could make the piano emit such beautiful sounds, really made He Ruming feel quite surprised.

After listening, He Ruming certainly looked at Chen Ke with new eyes, but he was also a bit puzzled. *Can such a cold and deserted tune serve as a parade march?* He didn't believe it.

Chen Ke felt his touch had returned. After returning to this era, his body had a leap-forward enhancement. Piano playing required high finger speed, strength, and ability to control force from the player. Although his body's enhancement didn't go as far as being invulnerable, the change in this aspect was very significant. He casually played Chopin's "Revolutionary Etude" again. Chen Ke used to have to prepare for a long time to play this piece, but now he really played it effortlessly. The impassioned and generous tune made Chen Ke feel his blood boiling. Music had such magic; no communication was needed. Even if Chen Ke didn't know exactly what Chopin's mood was when he heard that an uprising had occurred in Poland and was then suppressed, the abundant emotion in this piece could still make Chen Ke feel incomparably high-spirited.

Just as Chen Ke was immersed in the joy of music, in the backyard, He Qian and He Ying sat at the door of the boudoir, quietly listening to the music coming from the living room. When Chen Ke finished playing a piece, He Qian just shook her head gently. He Ying turned back and picked up her embroidery. However, she didn't continue her embroidery; the purpose of picking it up was just for fear that her mother would be angry if she came in and saw her not doing needlework.

The door to the backyard opened, and two little boys walked into the courtyard stealthily, looking around and gazing towards the living room. Soon, a fierce and majestic piece of music rang out. The two young ladies and the two young masters were startled. These four naturally didn't know that what Chen Ke was playing was today's "main course"—"Hell March." After the first part was played, He Ying asked, "Auntie, this piece sounds quite scary."

He Qian didn't answer. This was the first time she had heard such a piece, and she was equally shocked. She had already asked just now; the one who wanted to use the piano was that Chen Ke whom her brother He Ruming mentioned last time. Listening to Chen Ke play three pieces of music in a row, with completely different styles, that skilled performance made He Qian very much want to go and see how Chen Ke actually played. But in this era, girls couldn't show their faces in public without parental permission. When He Qian followed the Old Master, although she was treated as a boy, there was a limit. Without the Old Master's permission, He Qian couldn't actively meet strangers. Now following her brother He Ruming, He Qian actually couldn't be as free as when she was with her father.

Chen Ke started playing again. This time it became segment by segment, and no one knew what was going on. No matter how good the music was, playing it like this would make people lose interest. Not to mention He Qian actually didn't like this domineering style of music.

Not long after, He Ruming returned to the backyard. First, he shooed his two sons back to the room to study, and then He Ruming returned to his room. It took a good while before He Ruming came out. He Qian knew her sister-in-law wasn't a knowledgeable woman; if there was any advantage, it was that she strictly observed women's morals. Her brother He Ruming actually didn't discuss matters with his sister-in-law much. If there was any big event, he still had to talk to her. Sure enough, He Ruming entered the room and called He Qian to go to the main room together. He Qian noticed that her brother took a special look at He Ying, his expression full of apology.

*What on earth is going on?* He Qian didn't quite understand.

Entering the main room with her brother, He Ruming then recounted what had happened. Hearing that the bastard son of the Lian family had contracted the disease, He Qian frowned tightly, giving birth to an impulse to spit. He Qian finally understood what that look from her eldest brother just now meant. After He Ruming finished rambling, he just sighed. He Qian knew what her brother was worried about. She pondered for a moment and already had an idea. "Brother, the Lian family are people of status after all. Their son caused such a thing, and since Brother introduced this Chen Ke to cure them. I think the Lian family probably won't have the face to mention this marriage anymore."

He Ruming nodded but didn't speak.

Seeing her eldest brother like this, He Qian frowned slightly. She tentatively said, "Brother, are you afraid that if you can't marry into the Lian family, the Lian family will make things difficult for you in the future?"

Having his mind read, He Ruming blushed.

He Qian's brows furrowed even deeper. "Brother, there is always a reason for everything. Our family's daughter, if not a golden branch and jade leaf (princess), is also pampered and spoiled. Why should we let the Lian family ruin her? You love He Ying so much; how come when it comes to your own official position, you are different?"

"I definitely won't let Ying'er marry the Lian family's degenerate son. There is absolutely no discussion on this. It's just..."

He Qian glared at her eldest brother with a look of disappointment, as if hating iron for not becoming steel. He Ying's birth also had some secrets. He Ruming's current wife was not He Ying's biological mother but a second wife. When He Ying was born back then, due to dystocia, only the child was saved between the mother and child. According to the custom in Tianjin, such a child was called "cursed to outlive her parents" (bad luck) and had to be given away to others. But He Ruming refused to give his daughter away; he just quickly married a second wife and didn't let the people in the family mention this matter. He Ying had always thought her stepmother was her biological mother.

Not being her biological daughter, this stepmother naturally wouldn't be too close to He Ying. As a result, He Qian, as the aunt, had a very good relationship with her niece who was two years younger than her. He Qian heard Old Master He occasionally complain in private that whether in learning, appearance, or dealing with people, Old Master He thought the first daughter-in-law was several streets ahead of this second daughter-in-law. But He Ruming brought a child considered "cursed" and still married a second wife; a good family naturally was hopeless.

As a woman, He Qian appreciated her brother's action very much. She didn't expect that He Ruming, who had paid such a high price for his daughter, would actually have such an attitude of worrying about personal gains and losses when encountering matters of official position. He Qian knew her brother had it hard. After the Tianjin Manufacturing Bureau collapsed, He Ruming's official career was once completely cut off. Finding a job again with such difficulty, He Ruming also bribed up and down. Because this lousy matter destroyed his future, he naturally wouldn't be happy.

"Brother, let me say something unpleasant. Don't be angry."

"Speak."

"Look at that Chen Ke in the living room; he is only twenty-five years old. But listening to what you just said, he can find ways and connections anytime and anywhere. Even a fifth-rank official like you has to beg at his door. Why do you think this is?"

He Ruming had never looked at Chen Ke from such an angle. After pondering for a moment, He Ruming said, "He is a foreign student. You also know that foreign students have had it easy these years."

Hearing He Ruming's words, He Qian was quite disappointed. Her brother actually hadn't understood this problem up to now. Her eldest brother wasn't like this before. *Could it be that after the Gengzi year, eldest brother's backbone has been worn away?* He Qian held back her dissatisfaction and continued softly, "I see that Chen Ke never begs anyone."

"He doesn't beg anyone, yet he looks for me to cooperate on honeycomb briquettes?" He Ruming retorted. Hearing his sister praise Chen Ke, he immediately became angry.

"Rotten wood cannot be carved!" He Qian said to herself. But these words couldn't be said explicitly no matter what. He Qian still tried to wake up her eldest brother. "He begged at Brother's door; isn't it precisely because Brother has something Chen Ke wants?"

"En." Hearing this, He Ruming felt his breath was much smoother.

"As long as Brother, you have your own strengths, if others want to get things done, they naturally have to find you, Brother. This Chen Ke makes medicine, composes music, writes books; presumably, he does them all himself. If a young man is like this, Brother, you were also a renowned figure in the Tianjin Manufacturing Bureau back then, and you have so many old acquaintances. Why must you care about a Lian family? If you say you owe the Lian family a favor, just pay them back in the future. Why must you let He Ying suffer this bitterness?"