Chapter 66

It was already ten in the morning when they arrived at the residence of the elderly Li Desheng. However, apart from Li Shangbo, no one else was there. It turned out that all his children were busy, and Li Yuan had already gone to Binhai City for a meeting. The old man didn’t particularly enjoy receiving visitors, and having a grandson around was enough for him.

After the massage and acupuncture, the three of them cooked and ate a meal together. In the afternoon, Li Desheng took Zhao Zhiqiang to Lin Shoushan’s home in Binhai City.

This peculiar three-way brotherhood was seen by the Lin family as a source of joy for the old man. Zhao Zhiqiang was welcomed just like Li Shangbo, but the younger generation protested. The protest was in vain because even the third brother himself disagreed.

As a result, a bizarre new rule was established.

Each person would address the others according to their own generation and discuss matters accordingly, especially since it involved Li Shangbo and the interactions with the younger generation like Lin Xuerou.

Li Shangbo was the happiest of all!

“Bro!”

He used this term everywhere and even put his arm around Zhao Zhiqiang in front of his grandfather, which made the old man so angry he wanted to hit someone. The Lin family, however, was used to the lack of formality between the Li family’s grandfather and grandson.

Lin Shoushan sent away the outsiders and took out two thick scrolls.

“Third Brother, this is a set of nameless ancient scrolls given to me by an old Taoist I met when I was young. They mainly interpret medical principles, and many are related to the Qi-Induction Technique. Unfortunately, the immortal master didn’t take any disciples, so I kept them without any use. Today, I will give them all to you. Perhaps they will be useful in your hands, rather than being buried with me when I die. This set is unnamed and incomplete, but according to the immortal master, it was taken from the Japanese. There are five volumes in total, and these two are related to medicine.”

“Third Brother, can I learn the Qi-Induction Technique?” Li Desheng was already eager.

Zhao Zhiqiang was also puzzled. He couldn’t explain the source of his spiritual energy, so he shook his head. “No. It’s not that I won’t teach you; it’s that I don’t know how to teach it.”

The two elders looked disheartened, assuming that Zhao Zhiqiang must have strict rules from his master. How could such profound cultivation techniques be easily passed on?

“However, I can try to strengthen your bodies, which is still possible.”

Ha ha...

The two elders no longer mentioned learning the Qi-Induction Technique. Lin Shoushan handed over his entire set of acupuncture techniques and years of notes to Zhao Zhiqiang. “What I’m best at is actually acupuncture. Due to the lack of medicinal herbs, traditional Chinese medicine has inevitably declined. With these nameless ancient scrolls and my insights, I only hope that Third Brother can carry on and promote the acupuncture tradition to benefit the world.”

Zhao Zhiqiang didn’t want to take on such a heavy responsibility, as he couldn’t save the world. However, his mother’s illness needed treatment, and he owed Lin Shoushan a favor. So, he had to accept it, and it was a heavy burden.

Very heavy.

Afterward, using Li Desheng as a test subject, the two, who were both brothers and friends, as well as master and disciple, began practicing acupuncture, busily working on it.

“Ao!”

“Ouch!”

Occasionally, Li Shangbo would shout in excitement or pain, making Lin Xuerou, who was waiting outside, feel anxious.

Later, she heard that her grandfather and Zhao Zhiqiang had sworn brotherhood, which made her so angry that she couldn’t even enjoy the New Year. How could she face him next time?

Fortunately, the knot in her heart was now untied.

The two elders were like children, closing the door and playing hide-and-seek with that boy, which was quite strange.

“Are they okay?” Li Shangbo asked.

“They’re fine, they’re probably practicing acupuncture and treating Grandpa at the same time,” Li Shangbo smiled.

“Practicing...”

Lin Xuerou took a deep breath. Was her grandfather taking on a disciple?

Practicing on Grandpa, you have some nerve!

The two old men, one with a bald head and the other with white hair, occasionally inserted a needle into Li Desheng’s body, comparing the bone joints and acupoints. They studied for about four to five hours, during which Zhao Zhiqiang recognized and memorized over three hundred acupoints, the twelve main meridians, and the eight extraordinary meridians. These were all recorded in the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon, but after Lin Shoushan’s half-century of studying the nameless ancient scrolls, he felt that the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon was like a counterfeit version, either incorrect, incomplete, or difficult to understand. Of course, this was partly because he couldn’t perform the Qi-Induction Technique.

This time, Lin Shoushan, who was both a teacher and a brother, personally guided Zhao Zhiqiang through the practice of the Shaoyang Gallbladder Meridian, which treats headaches and wind. Then, he simulated the needling technique for the Kidney Meridian, one of the twelve main meridians. This completed the essential techniques for treating his mother, and Zhao Zhiqiang was overjoyed.

He then gave each of the two elders a one-hour massage, transferring a thread of spiritual energy to their Kidney and Gallbladder Meridians and distributing it to the acupoints.

Using a bit of spiritual energy to observe, he discovered something different.

The Kidney and Gallbladder of the two elders, like withered trees in spring, began to rejuvenate at ten times the normal speed under the influence of the spiritual energy!

It really works!

Just like what was recorded in Lin Shoushan’s book!

Spiritual energy entering the body, withered trees in spring!

Heaven—my mother can be saved! No need for surgery...

Although this trip used up almost all the spiritual energy he had accumulated, this discovery was more exciting than being able to see the path of wealth!

His mother had suffered a lot over the past three years, but now there was a way to treat her. With the medicine prescribed by Lin Shoushan, Zhao Zhiqiang believed that within a month, his mother’s health would be fully restored.

After removing the needles and taking the book, Zhao Zhiqiang carefully left Lin Shoushan’s room, looking at the two sleeping elders.

Outside the hall, the lights were bright, and the entire Lin family was waiting for dinner. Lin Xuerou’s father, Lin Xuegong, her uncles Lin Xueli and Lin Xueqian, and others were all waiting. Li Shangbo and Lin Xuerou were sitting by the door, and as soon as the door opened, everyone gathered around!

Lin Xuegong was nearly sixty, the current head of the Lin family, with an authority no less than his father’s. No one dared to speak in his presence. He inherited his father’s mantle and was a master of traditional Chinese medicine. The second uncle ran a business, and the third uncle had been the deputy director of the Linzhou City Hospital for many years.

Lin Xuerou had two aunts, both involved in the medical field, either as doctors or as pharmaceutical company owners, but they weren’t present today.

“Uncle, can the two elders come out for dinner now?” Lin Xuegong was very respectful, showing no sign of impatience despite the boy being the same age as his daughter.

Zhao Zhiqiang, looking at Lin Xuegong, who was nearly sixty but still had black hair and a robust build, thought of his own parents, who were already graying in their forties. The difference was stark, but now it was all right. With spiritual energy and the Qi-Induction Technique, his parents’ health would improve quickly.

“Ha ha, Mr. Lin, after the massage, the two elders need to rest. It’s best not to disturb them until they wake up naturally. Let them have a good sleep, which will be very beneficial for their health.”

“Yes, Uncle,” Lin Xuegong, as the dean of the Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, had long heard about Uncle Zhiqiang’s extraordinary abilities from his father. Even if he said the two elders might sleep for ten days, he would believe it. He had some understanding of the Qi-Induction Technique but didn’t dare to think too much about it since his father hadn’t passed it on to him. “Rest assured.”

Lin Xuerou, listening on the side, was very angry. “Dad! Grandpa said the Linzhou Three Brothers only includes Grandpa Li and the others, not us. You call him Uncle! Humph, should we call him Little Master?”

Zhao Zhiqiang waved his hands, his face turning red. “No, no, please don’t call me Uncle. We already agreed on that earlier...”

After a long explanation, Lin Xuegong verbally agreed, but his manners were impeccable, which impressed Li Shangbo. Such a Confucian doctor indeed had good family education. Even though Zhao Zhiqiang was the same age as Lin Xuerou, he still treated him with the proper respect, even helping him to the main guest seat, with the entire Lin family accompanying him.

On the way home, Li Shangbo drove, chatting and feeling envious. Several times he wanted to mention a few people but didn’t. By eight in the evening, they got off the highway and onto the provincial road leading into the city, then came to a fork in the road.

“Take me back to Guomu Gou Village.”

He needed to replenish his spiritual energy, but he hadn’t gone to scatter his wealth and gather his spirit in recent days. The black gas he had previously transformed couldn’t be used, and he still had several ten thousand yuan in his bag. Thinking about it, there were a few low-income households in his group living in poverty, like Grandpa Ge and Grandma Liu, who were childless. Giving to others was fine, but he would prioritize those in his village!

Getting out of the car, he walked for a few minutes to the back village by the mountain. There were several large courtyards with mud-brick houses. Zhao Zhiqiang, with the six ten thousand yuan he had left over from the New Year, went door to door, giving each household ten thousand yuan, as a New Year’s gift...

These elders had watched Zhao Zhiqiang grow up. At first, they refused to take the money, but Zhao Zhiqiang had to lie, saying he had made a fortune abroad to convince them. Grandpa Ge insisted on counting it as a loan and repaying it when the land money was distributed...

Zhao Zhiqiang finally left the kind and simple elders, seeing the extremely poor low-income households, even those who couldn’t afford to rebuild after demolition. He thought his plan must be realized; he couldn’t let these fellow villagers suffer and live in hardship any longer.

Just as he was about to leave the village and head into the valley, he unexpectedly met someone.

“Big Brother Daqiang, my mother needs to see you. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” A pretty little girl, her face red from the cold.

Wearing a patchwork jacket, it was an old-fashioned handmade cotton coat. Zhao Zhiqiang saw Li Bingxiang standing under the dim light, looking pitiful and timid.

“Uh, it’s so late, what’s the matter? Can’t it wait until tomorrow?” Zhao Zhiqiang looked around; it was indeed very late, almost ten o'clock, and many families had already turned off their lights and gone to bed.

Li Bingxiang didn’t know what Zhao Zhiqiang was thinking. She tilted her head, her long braids swinging. “Big Brother Daqiang, my mother said you’re running for village chief, and she fully supports you. Um—” Then she quietly leaned in and whispered in Zhao Zhiqiang’s ear, “My mother said she knows where Zhao Guangming is hiding.”

“Okay, I’ll go.” Zhao Zhiqiang went in without a second thought.

Eighty meters away, on the other side of the wall, Miao Cuifang, who had gone to the yard to relieve herself, saw a tall, dark figure slip into the Lan family’s door.

Night visit to a widow’s door... hehe, there’s going to be a show. Miao Cuifang was as excited as a rutting sow.

PS: Today there’s a new recommendation. By logical reasoning, the fate of this book about fortune is worrying... This week’s selection is a disaster, very sad. This is my third book, each one more heartfelt than the last, but I still haven’t made a breakthrough. Life doesn’t give many chances, and my confidence is now just persistence.

Just like fortune, it doesn’t come every day. Among the four fortunes—wealth, rank, longevity, and health—each person will only experience them a few times in their life. Seizing the opportunity might change one’s destiny. I’ve tried my best, but my ability is limited, and I can’t write a masterpiece, which is due to my lack of talent or insufficient learning.

Actually, the起点editors have given me a chance, but it’s limited by my own ability. I want to say thank you. Thank you to the editors for the recommendation, and thank you to the readers for the collections and votes.

I can’t guarantee anything about this book. I’ll do my best to write well and focus on what I want to write. As for the results? That depends on your support. Without results, there’s nothing.

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