Chapter 119 — Too Late for Regret [Begging for Monthly Tickets, Dear Readers — Monthly Tickets, Please Give Me Monthly Tickets!]

"About twenty?" Guan Xuemin's brow knit even tighter. So young, and already so skilled in medicine... Could he have come from some hidden family of miracle doctors?

Though Guan Xuemin had been exalted to a lofty station and, on the strength of his superb acupuncture, enjoyed fame throughout the world, he knew very well that this world still held many people of extraordinary medical skill who never showed their faces before the public.

In his own youth he had met one such man... His own acupuncture was what he had learned from him... and having learned only the barest rudiments, he was already famed throughout the world...

So when Guan Xuemin heard that the man was around twenty, he was a little surprised but not disbelieving. The master he had met in his day had not been very old either, had he?

But Guan Xuemin was not so naive as to fancy that the man he had met back then could keep a perpetual youth and still be young after all these years... Besides, Liu Tianyi had said around twenty, while the one he himself had met had been at least in his thirties... Could the practice of some miraculous art make a man younger the longer he lived? Even the thought of it seemed unlikely...

"Professor Guan, I saw the young man afterward as well, and I can confirm that he is no more than twenty. He carries a certain mature, resolute air, but judging by his face, he certainly cannot be any older." At this, Old Master Liu, who had been listening all along, spoke up too.

"If that is so, then I truly do not know which master you mean. Among the well-known traditional Chinese medicine masseurs of Songshan City, the youngest is over fifty..." Guan Xuemin left the rest unsaid: that even with the worst eyesight in the world, no one could mistake a man of fifty or sixty for a youth of twenty.

"I see..." Liu Tianyi was somewhat disappointed. "Then there is nothing to be done..."

"Did you not leave him your contact information that day?" Liu Tianyi had given up, but Guan Xuemin's interest was roused. A master of traditional Chinese medicine massage, with such miraculous results—how many such men could there be in the world? As a leading authority in the field, Guan Xuemin very much wished to make the acquaintance of this massage master; perhaps, if they could hold a discussion, his own acupuncture would benefit greatly.

Massage and acupuncture share many principles; both treat through the acupoints.

"That... we did leave him our contact information..." Liu Tianyi was a little embarrassed. At the time he had not thought so much of it; only today, from Guan Xuemin's unusual expression, did he realize how formidable that man had been. "When my father invited him to Yanjing for a visit, he was to get in touch with us..."

Guan Xuemin smiled faintly, and in that smile lay a trace of disdain and indifference. Had he been an ordinary young doctor, upon learning of Old Master Liu's standing, he would likely have sought some way to curry favor. But to a man of surpassing medical skill who hid himself from the world, none of that amounted to anything.

A young man of twenty—if he wanted fame, profit, and status, he had only to rely on that consummate art of massage to make his name and establish himself. Yet Guan Xuemin had never so much as heard of such a person existing, and that alone showed the man was indifferent to fame and gain.

For a youth of twenty, that was rare indeed. Guan Xuemin recalled his own young days: right after receiving that master's guidance, had he not also dreamed of making his name? At the thought, Guan Xuemin could not help feeling a little ashamed.

That was what a true master was like. If such a master were to take the initiative to contact Old Master Liu, the sun would rise in the west.

Liu Tianyi noticed nothing, but Old Master Liu, old as he was, was exceedingly shrewd; from the faint smile on Guan Xuemin's face he read the meaning hidden within it... and his heart gave a lurch. He had, perhaps, let slip a fine chance to cure his old ailment.

Recalling carefully how indifferent Wei Zhao's expression had been that day, it seemed there were words he had left unspoken; perhaps he really did have a way, who could say?

At this thought, Old Master Liu felt some regret. Clearly he had not been warm enough. That day, plainly, Wei Zhao had taken offense at his family over the matter of Wang Xinyan, and had treated him only so that his friend would not be dragged into it...

"If he contacts you, please be sure to inform me, Mr. Liu. I would be much obliged." Guan Xuemin had no other recourse; in the present circumstances he could only pin his hopes on that master taking a whim to call the Liu family.

Only at this moment did Liu Tianyi's heart give a sudden leap. Guan Xuemin had said "obliged" twice in a row—a tone and manner he had not used once since the moment they walked in.

Though the Liu family held high position and great power, Guan Xuemin had no need to ask anything of them. On the contrary, every great family had favors to ask of Guan Xuemin, and so the Liu family never put on airs before him. That was also why he had slapped his wife earlier. Did she think she could scold Guan Xuemin at will? If word got out, the other great families would laugh themselves sick, saying the Lius were great fools for daring to offend a miracle doctor...

Yet for the sake of a young doctor, Guan Xuemin had twice addressed him with the polite "obliged." Dull as Liu Tianyi was, he now understood how important that young doctor was in Guan Xuemin's heart... And he himself, back then—ah.

"Certainly, certainly." Liu Tianyi was, after all, a man of high station; regret lay in his heart, but little of it showed on his face as he spoke politely to Guan Xuemin.

"Mm. Then see to your lodgings first; the formal needling begins tomorrow." Guan Xuemin nodded and rose to his feet, a hint that the visit was over.

"Very well, Professor Guan. We will take our leave." Liu Tianyi supported Old Master Liu, and with Wu Huiru, her head bowed and her face covered, went downstairs...

Guan Xuemin did not see them off. Instead he turned to Yang Huaijun. "Xiao Yang, you were not waiting anxiously?"

"No, Grandfather Guan. Those people just now were...?" Yang Huaijun had never met this family; they did not look like locals, especially with Liu Tianyi mentioning Yanjing and such.

"Oh, the Liu family of Yanjing, a great clan. The patient is the old master of the Liu family—Liu Zhenhu, eighty this year. His health is still fairly sturdy, only he is plagued by an old ailment..." Guan Xuemin, having no need to be reserved with Yang Huaijun, spoke directly of the Liu family's affairs; the two were already well acquainted.

"So it is the Liu family of Yanjing. No wonder a single phone call could make the principal prepare lodgings..." Yang Huaijun smiled.

"Let us continue as before... For you, acupuncture no longer has much effect, but it is better than nothing. Keep at it. Next week I go to Yanjing for a traditional Chinese medicine symposium; I will present your case for discussion with the others and see whether there is any way..." Guan Xuemin said.

"Heh... holding it steady is already quite good... Since I can no longer return to the battlefield, doing solid work in the police force is fine too." Yang Huaijun took it philosophically.

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