Novel

Chapter 7: The Consortium Blade

Fresh from the ER reversal, Kai arrives at the ancestral restaurant to find inspectors and consortium lawyers executing a midnight shutdown order. He deploys the ledger’s supplier logs and hospital toxicology cross-references to force a 48-hour stay, visibly shifting family dependence toward him. Cousin Lian moves from open contempt to a reluctant, self-interested alliance after Kai confronts him on the rival-clinic decision. In the back office, Aunt Mei delivers a note exposing Enforcer Dr. Han’s direct tie to a long-lost family rival who orchestrated the original poisoning. The discovery personalizes the conflict while the midnight deadline on the deed and Uncle Liang’s ICU transfer remains active, setting up direct confrontation.