Beauty and the Bodyguard

“You’ll have to find another doctor, then.” Xuemin said without even looking at the woman, standing up and clearly telling them that they were done here.

The man was about to explode as well at his wife’s outburst- they’d finally found someone who was capable of treating his father, and now she’d went and crossed him! Guan Xuemin was no regular doctor! Double the payment? Did the woman think a doctor at Xuemin’s level lacked any money at all?!

The man couldn’t take it anymore- he arched his body and sent his palm across the woman’s face. “Huiru, keep your mouth shut!!!”

Huiru only held her cheek as she blinked at the man in disbelief. The man, on the other hand, was walking towards Guan Xuemin. “Elder Guan, please, don’t lower yourself to her level- let’s calm down and talk about this……”

The middle aged couple, obviously, was the couple Lin Yi had met back at the business district. They were Liu Tianyi and Wu Huiru.

Xuemin, on the other hand, wasn’t that pissed off- he found sense in Tianyi’s words, and decided that he needn’t pay any attention to the ramblings of that woman. The patient was the priority here, after all. With that, Xuemin stopped and turned back around.

“I’ll stay here, Tianyi. You two go back to Yanjing first.” Elder Liu said, not paying Huiru any attention as well, evidently very disappointed in his daughter-in-law.

“On your own? But, father……” Tianyi said, worried.

“It’s fine, go back first. I don’t have anything to do now anyway, just treat it as an old man going on holiday. Get me a place here later, somewhere close to Professor Guan’s home. It’s a pretty good environment, too- I’ll just live here for a bit.” Elder Liu smiled, waving a hand of dismissal at his son.

“I… I understand.” Tianyi knew well that there was no negotiating after his father had made his mind. He got his phone out and called someone. “Hello, Principal Zhang? It’s Liu Tianyi- my father’s decided to live on the campus, could you arrange a house near Elder Guan’s place? Yes, thank you.”

Huaijun had been trying to figure out what kind of people these three were, but the phone call made it clear just how powerful they were. Principal Zhang was the head of Songshan University of Medicine- Tianyi getting him to just find the old man a house, near Xuemin’s place no less, with just a phone call was quite the feat!

One had to understand that anyone who lived in the school’s villa district had to be on the level of a dean. The villas around Xuemin’s place were all top-tier houses, as well- these people had to be quite important for the principal to do something like that for them.

Having finished with Elder Liu, Xuemin turned to Huaijun. “Yang, come and sit first- I’ll talk to you after I’m done here. You can go watch some TV or use the internet in the meantime.”

“Okay. Don’t mind me, Grandpa Guan- I’ll wait!” Huaijun said, evidently not bothering with courtesies too much- he’d gotten quite close with Xuemin, after all. He sat on one of the sofas and turned the TV on.

Tianyi was getting ready to leave with his father by the time Xuemin had finished setting a treatment schedule for Elder Liu, starting from the next day.

“Ah, that’s right- Elder Guan, do you happen to know a young doctor really skilled at massaging? He should be an Eastern doctor as well?” Tianyi asked, suddenly remembering Lin Yi. The guy was extremely skilled, from what he’d seen- he probably would’ve been able to do a whole lot more if he’d had needles with him.

The impression Lin Yi had made was still fresh in Tianyi’s mind- his massage proved the saying that skill didn’t have to come from experience.

“Really skilled at massaging?” Xuemin paused. “Are you referring to massaging in Eastern medicine?”

“I think so……” Tianyi nodded. “We were at a business district two days before, and my father’s sickness suddenly acted up. We didn’t have medicine, and a young doctor chanced upon us, massaging him in the emergency… It wasn’t long before my father recovered.”

“Massaging? He stopped the angina pectoris with mere massaging?” Xuemin asked, stunned. He understood how far the magnitude of Eastern medicine stretched- there wasn’t a limit to how much one could learn, and while he had achieved great fame in the medical world, Xuemin recognized that even he was far from mastering something as deeply rooted and ancient as Eastern medicine……

Yet he knew also that angina pectoris wasn’t a problem that could be solved with just simple massaging. There was a good chance that it could be contained through the use of needles, but even that was no guarantee. Xuemin himself knew how to employ Western medicine in the case of an emergency, providing treatment through needles after the body had been stabilized via Western means…….

“That’s right- he only massaged my father a little before he started gradually recovering….” Tianyi was taken aback by Xuemin’s reaction, as well- he didn’t know Eastern medicine, but Xuemin’s face made it clear that even he couldn’t believe what the young doctor had done. Just that fact alone proved how amazing that young doctor was.

“How’s that possible……” Xuemin frowned. “A result like that with just a massage? Did he employ any other methods?”

“No- I was standing right beside him. He was just passing by, and he probably wouldn’t have come at all if he didn’t know the girl…… “ Tianyi’s face started reddening in anger as he remembered the actions of his wife that day. He shot a glare at her- he’d have divorced her long ago if it weren’t for the Wu family! What kind of upbringing did that embarrassing woman have, to be throwing unreasonable tantrums all the time?

Fortunately for him, Xuemin wasn’t quite interested in anything other than the massaging. He sighed slightly at Tianyi’s words. “There _is_ actually something I’ve read about… Eastern medicine stretches deep, and there’s been a method used in ancient times where qi was used through massages to achieve restorative effects… It isn’t impossible, but the method’s long been forgotten. I’m not too sure myself, but it’s one explanation for what the man did for your father…….”

“Oh? Does that mean he’s a really skilled doctor, if that were the case?” Tianyi said, regretting letting the guy go just like that- he might’ve been able to cure his father if he requested it! He could only sigh in regret for not knowing the level of his medical prowess……

“If what you say is true, then I’m afraid this man has medical abilities beyond even what I possess…… Though, why haven’t I heard of an Eastern doctor of this level arriving at Songshan?” Xuemin asked as he tried to recall anything. Unfortunately, Xuemin had no such masters in his circle- he’d never even heard of someone like that, let alone be friends with one.

“He’s a young man around twenty, a little slim, but fit at the same time……” Tianyi described as he recalled Lin Yi’s features.

*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes

*[12.47 to 13.07]: don't ask me about the tree sap