CHAPTER 31: CHAPTER 26: SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES (HAN TIE GRACE ALLIANCE HIERARCH +)

Lawrence Winters and his mom, Gabrielle Winters, each went back to their rooms, leaving only Nick Zeller in the living room downstairs watching TV.

There wasn’t really anything particularly interesting on tonight, and soon it was time for the local TV’s evening news.

Nick Zeller sprawled comfortably on the large sofa, legs propped on a small stool in front, remote in hand, flipping through channels absent-mindedly.

Finally, he landed on the local TV channel.

The evening news was just covering the National Wealth Rankings Award Ceremony held today at the River City Grand Hall.

This award ceremony was actually spearheaded by a certain newspaper and website, with River City merely providing a free venue.

Of course, the newspaper and website saved on costs, and River City gained some online exposure; it was a win-win event.

At 7 PM, this award ceremony even made it to the national TV news program.

River City showed a little face in front of the entire country.

Nick Zeller propped a fist against his head, tilted his head, and watched the TV quietly.

Since it was the local TV station, they devoted much more time to this news than the national TV did.

The national TV during prime news time had less than a minute of news, but on River City TV, they spent a full half-hour talking about this award event.

Naturally, the winning tycoons were each given ample screen time.

When the host announced the tenth-ranked tycoon, Nick Zeller raised his eyebrows slightly.

"... Mr. Cameron Spencer is a renowned real estate businessman from the Southern Region. Today, he came to River City for the first time to receive the National Wealth Rankings grand prize. —Mr. Spencer, could you share with us your thoughts on winning this award?"

The elegantly dressed female host handed the microphone to a man on stage who appeared very kind.

He looked like he was under sixty but was probably well-maintained, as his actual age might have exceeded sixty.

"Heh heh..." Nick Zeller smirked, nodding provocatively.

...

At this moment, the Osborne family was gathered in the living room eating dessert while also watching TV.

Brooke’s mom loved watching these wealth programs.

Ever since she knew the National Wealth Rankings Award Ceremony was going to be held in River City, she’d been keeping an eye on River City TV program schedules, wanting to be the first to witness the event.

She watched the live broadcast during the day and wanted to catch the evening news again at night.

While eating warm mango sago, she pointed things out to Brooke’s dad: "Come and look! Come and look! These are the richest tycoons in our country! —The amount of money they have, you can’t even imagine!"

Brooke’s dad glanced up and nodded, "They’re all old, huh... look at them, they’re older than me."

"So what if they’re older than you? They’re much richer than you! — Competing on age with tycoons, do you have any sense?!" Brooke’s mom mercilessly scolded Brooke’s dad.

Kenneth Osborne returned, and Brooke’s mom called Brooke Osborne down, asking her son and daughter to sit together to listen to her ramble about New Year matters.

Brooke forced a smile, and Kenneth indifferently looked at his phone.

Finally, when Brooke’s mom finished, and everyone could eat dessert and watch TV, Brooke sighed in relief.

She glanced at the TV, intending to return to her room, but suddenly saw a familiar face and softly exclaimed.

She quietly asked Kenneth: "...Kenneth, does that guy named Cameron Spencer seem familiar?"

Kenneth lifted his eyes to look at the TV, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "Yeah, he’s the one you saved last night..."

The elderly man claimed he was attacked on a path and had a head full of blood.

And his daughter, who stayed by the tycoon’s side.

The siblings exchanged a glance, silently in consensus not to say more.

Brooke’s mom excitedly babbled about the tycoons she’d familiarized herself with today, completely unaware her children had actually encountered one of them.

...

Gregory Quinn was helped back home by Grace Day, whom he had called over.

He told Grace that he accidentally fell, his head and legs hurt, and he wanted to sleep early.

Grace saw he had no apparent injuries and believed him but still complained, "What’s going on? Isn’t this considered a work injury?"

Gregory couldn’t be bothered to deal with her.

He couldn’t think about anything, or he would feel a sharp pain.

So he just washed quickly in the bathroom and went to sleep.

Originally, he thought that a good night’s sleep would help, but by the next day, he realized it wasn’t that simple.

He got up to wash his face and brush his teeth in the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and noticed his left face seemed stiff, and he couldn’t even blink his eye, which was half-drooping.

He tried to make expressions, but only the right side of his face moved; the left side looked like a ruined painting.

Gregory was actually quite handsome otherwise, or he wouldn’t have had so many women easily fall into relationships with him.

But now, with half of his face rigid, he was ashen like a river dyed red, missing a shred of his usual handsome elegance!

He angrily threw his toothbrush into the rinsing cup and kicked the sink base before storming out of the bathroom.

He hadn’t walked far before feeling something was wrong again.

He clearly intended to step with his left leg, but his right leg stretched out, and his right arm swung out...

He was walking with the same hand and foot!

Gregory hastily stopped his steps, clung to the sofa in the middle of the room, walked a few steps to feel better, then let go of the sofa, trying to walk on his own.

After a few steps, he realized he was doing the same hand and foot again...

The key was, he didn’t feel it was due to nervousness or other psychological factors; he just found he couldn’t control the direction of his legs and arms, leading to a lack of coordination.

This was unacceptable.

This was even more alarming than half his face being stiff.

"Grace! Grace! Come here quickly! I need to go to the hospital!" Gregory decided he needed to get checked at the hospital, suspecting it might be because of the beating he took yesterday.

If it indeed was caused by a beating, he was going to report it to the police!

Gregory, filled with pent-up anger, went with Grace Day to the River City First Hospital.

After some thought, he registered for the orthopedic department, wanting the doctor to first check if there were issues with his legs and arms.

Approaching New Year, there weren’t many people at the hospital.

He was soon called.

Entering the doctor’s room, he explained his condition and then stood up and walked a few steps.

Perhaps it was because he’d arrived at the hospital, he felt much more relaxed, and nothing seemed wrong with those few steps.

The orthopedic doctor looked at him expressionlessly, as if observing a lunatic.

Gregory panicked, hurriedly saying, "Doctor, I’m not lying to you, really, this morning when I walked..."

He anxiously walked a few steps toward the doctor, and sure enough, displayed the same hand and foot phenomenon.

"Look, see! It’s like this!"

Only then did the doctor carefully observe him, asked him to sit down, and brought out instruments to tap on his knees and elbows.

"... Reflex arc normal. Joints normal. How about this, you should get an X-ray to see if there’s a problem with the bones. If the bones are fine, you can head upstairs to the third-floor clinic."

The orthopedic doctor didn’t even lift his head, handing Gregory a prescription for the X-ray.

Gregory quickly agreed and then asked, "What specialty is on the third-floor clinic?"

"... Neurology specialty." The orthopedic doctor replied with indifference, handing the prescription to Gregory.