Chapter 9

It has been almost a month since Huichun Hall moved to its new location, but the golden sign still hasn't been hung up. Some of the old patients found their way through various means, and Xu Changshan didn't turn them away. However, due to the lack of deliberate promotion, the number of patients has decreased compared to the past. The old man clearly lacks the spirit he once had, probably because his grandson has found a job and lost the motivation to strive.

Xu Chunliang quickly adapted to his new life as an office worker. His job was easy, and in his free time, he rarely went out. He spent his time reading and surfing the internet, striving to understand this era as soon as possible.

Xu Changshan had hoped his grandson would take the initiative to learn medicine from him, but Xu Chunliang showed no interest. He didn't resist copying the secret formulas, and his calligraphy with a brush pen was extremely beautiful.

Xu Changshan tried hard not to inquire about his grandson's work, as Gao Xinhua had specifically communicated with him. Xu Changshan knew his grandson was currently working in the electrician's team.

According to Gao Xinhua, people often become motivated after recognizing their shortcomings. Xu Changshan had hoped his grandson would realize this, but after almost half a month of work, it seemed he had already adapted to this life. There was no sign of ambition in him.

Xu Changshan began to accept reality. Most people in the world are ordinary, and his grandson was no exception. A simple and peaceful life was true happiness. Having a stable job, finding a well-educated wife, and having a pair of adorable children would make for a fulfilling life.

Xu Chunliang returned home on time every day. One day, he saw his grandfather looking at a large tree outside the door.

The old man had discovered a new beehive on the tree, with dozens of wasps busy building it. Xu Changshan couldn't tell if they were the same wasps that used to be at the entrance, as the fire department had already removed the large beehive from the eaves of the old Huichun Hall.

Xu Chunliang called out to his grandfather and handed him a half duck that had been fried in oil, which the old man loved.

Xu Changshan took the duck and said, "Chunliang, look, are these the same wasps that used to be at our entrance?"

"Yes!"

"How can you be so sure?"

Xu Chunliang thought to himself, "Of course I'm sure. I attracted them. Although my martial arts skills have diminished, my ability to attract bees and butterflies hasn't weakened." He smiled and said, "Mr. Xu, your medical skills are excellent, and your medical ethics are high. Wasps are also living beings and understand the principle of choosing a good neighbor."

Xu Changshan laughed heartily, "When did you become so eloquent? Tonight, I'll open a good bottle of wine, and we'll have a few drinks."

Xu Chunliang told his grandfather that he couldn't tonight because he had promised to have dinner with Yu Li. Yu Li had invited him three days ago to thank him for saving her life. Besides him, she also invited the police officers Lu Qi and Li Zhong who were on duty that day.

Xu Changshan was pleased to see his grandson socializing more. Staying at home all day wasn't a good thing. From the current situation, his decision to have him work at Changxing Hospital was absolutely correct.

Yu Li's dinner was at Yipinju on Zhuangyuan Street. Zhuangyuan Street is an old street in the center of Dongzhou City, not very wide, with many ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties. One of the houses is said to have produced a Zhuangyuan (top scholar), hence the name of the street. The city originally wanted to develop it into a landmark tourist attraction, but due to poor planning, it ended up being a mix of styles, and subsequent business recruitment was not ideal.

Now, the street is mostly home to jade and gemstone merchants, interspersed with a few teahouses and restaurants. Dongzhou is not a tourist city, and there are not many visitors from other places.

Yipinju is directly opposite the Zhuangyuan residence, a private restaurant with elegant decor. Yu Li chose this place with great care.

Lu Qi and Li Zhong, being police officers, were reluctant to accept invitations for meals, but Yu Li found out that Li Zhong's sister, Li Lingyun, was the head nurse of the orthopedic department at Changxing Hospital, and her sister, Yu Mo, was the deputy director of the gynecology department. Yu Mo took the initiative, and Li Lingyun facilitated the gathering, making it a success.

Yipinju was chosen for its quiet environment, to avoid too many prying eyes. Given their identities, Lu Qi and Li Zhong couldn't be seen eating out publicly.

Xu Chunliang was the last to arrive. They had agreed to meet at 6:30 PM, and he arrived on time. In the private room, a few people were playing mahjong, and Yu Li was watching. Seeing Xu Chunliang come in, she smiled and greeted him, "Xu, we've been waiting for you."

Xu Chunliang said, "I walked here. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

He had met the two police officers before, but it was the first time he met Yu Mo and Li Lingyun. He smiled and greeted them.

The group was quite into the game, and they finished the current round before getting up to meet Xu Chunliang.

Yu Mo and Yu Li looked very similar. She was well-known at Changxing Hospital as the deputy director of the gynecology department. She extended her hand to shake Xu Chunliang's and said, "You work at our hospital? I haven't seen you before."

Xu Chunliang smiled, "I started this month."

Li Lingyun came over, "Xu, you're quite handsome. Do you have a girlfriend? We have many pretty nurses in our department." She was known for being a matchmaker.

Xu Chunliang said he planned to focus on his career before settling down, politely declining her offer.

Li Lingyun giggled, "Ambitious, which department are you in?"

"Currently in the electrician's team."

Upon hearing he was a worker, Li Lingyun lost interest. It wasn't that she was snobbish; how many nurses at the hospital wanted to date a worker? He looked like a well-mannered young man, but it was a pity.

She had just thought he was ambitious, but now she thought he was overambitious. What kind of career could a regular electrician have?

Lu Qi patted Xu Chunliang's shoulder, and Xu Chunliang called him Brother Lu.

Lu Qi introduced Xu Chunliang again, mainly to let everyone know that he was the young master of Huichun Hall.

As employees of Changxing Hospital, Yu Mo and Li Lingyun knew about Huichun Hall. They then realized that Huichun Hall was a Xu family business.

There are no secrets in the world. The news about Huichun Hall's relocation had already spread throughout Changxing Hospital. Everyone knew that the hospital had compensated the old man six million RMB for the smooth relocation.

Few people knew about the arrangement for Xu Chunliang's job. Six million RMB was a significant sum for the people of Jiangcheng, let alone considering that Xu Changshan had practiced medicine for many years, and Huichun Hall had always been busy. The old man's net worth was at least tens of millions.

Once a person has a good family background, they are often seen in a different light. Li Lingyun now saw Xu Chunliang as a wealthy, handsome, and successful young man. "Mr. Xu, your grandfather is the old man from Huichun Hall. I should have seen you before, but you were much shorter, just a child."

Li Lingyun wasn't exaggerating; her memory of Xu Chunliang was indeed like that.

Xu Chunliang searched his memory and indeed remembered her, as she had visited Huichun Hall for treatment.

"Do you remember me?"

Xu Chunliang nodded, "Yes, Nurse Li, you came to Huichun Hall last month for acupuncture for menstrual cramps."

This made Li Lingyun blush. How could this guy speak so freely? Even though they were all medical professionals, it wasn't appropriate to talk about such things openly.

Lu Qi couldn't hold back his laughter and spat out a mouthful of water, turning just in time to avoid spraying anyone.

Li Zhong thought, "What's wrong with this guy? Exposing my sister's privacy in public."

Yu Li was good at handling situations and laughed, "Xu, you're really mischievous. Be careful what you say at work. Don't talk about professional issues during dinner; I can't handle it." This defused the awkwardness.

Yu Mo asked the restaurant to start serving the food and glanced at Li Lingyun, feeling a bit displeased. "I'm your best friend and a gynecology expert at the hospital. You didn't come to me for your menstrual cramps but went to an old man instead. Do you not trust my medical skills? In terms of treatment, traditional Chinese medicine can't compare to Western medicine."

After the food and drinks were served, everyone had a few rounds of toasts. Then Yu Li toasted each of her three saviors. She had been very scared that day, fainting twice, and only remembered that they had saved her.

Lu Qi said that the real person to thank was Xu Chunliang. If it weren't for him, he and Li Zhong wouldn't have been able to handle the two large snakes.

Everyone's attention turned to Xu Chunliang. Xu Chunliang had told Lu Qi not to mention his role in saving her, but Lu Qi couldn't take credit for something he didn't do, so he revealed the truth in public.

Rescuing citizens is a duty of the police, and the department only gave Lu Qi and Li Zhong a verbal commendation. Although it was reported in the newspaper, the story quickly lost its momentum.

Li Zhong asked, "Xu, why were those two snakes so obedient to you? They didn't even resist. Does your family have a secret snake training technique?"

Xu Chunliang smiled, "There's no such secret technique. Our family has a tradition of traditional Chinese medicine. In the past, TCM practitioners often went to the mountains to gather herbs, and encountering snakes and insects was common. To protect themselves, they developed a method to repel snakes and insects."

Yu Li said, "I'm terrified of snakes. Can you share this with me?"

"An ancestral secret can't be shared so easily," Yu Mo said, clearly disapproving of traditional Chinese medicine.

Xu Chunliang said, "It's not really a secret. The main ingredient is sulfur powder. Snakes and insects generally avoid this smell. Realgar wine also works. I grew up at Huichun Hall, so I always have a medicinal scent on me, which keeps snakes and insects away." This explanation was reasonable.

Lu Qi recalled that he hadn't smelled any strong odor when they were driving away the snakes.

Li Lingyun asked, "Xu, why did you come to Changxing? Wouldn't it be better to learn medicine from your grandfather and inherit Huichun Hall?"

"I'm not very interested in medicine," Xu Chunliang said, not revealing the truth. Although his grandfather was a renowned TCM expert in Dongzhou, his medical skills were far inferior to his own.

Xu Chunliang had a good tolerance for alcohol and drank several rounds with everyone without showing any signs of intoxication.

After a few drinks, Li Lingyun's matchmaking tendencies resurfaced. She showed Xu Chunliang photos of nurses from her department on her phone. If he found someone he liked, she could arrange a meeting, or they could add each other on WeChat to chat.

Xu Chunliang politely declined. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in women, but he was currently cultivating the "Tongtian Bao Dian." When he first obtained it, he was no longer a virgin, so his cultivation had stopped at the third level. This tribulation had reset his inner strength but given him a pure body, allowing him to build a foundation of pure yang and potentially break through to the ninth level, achieving the ultimate level of the art.

The dinner was pleasant. Xu Chunliang had initially thought Yu Li was just expressing gratitude, but during the meal, he learned that a theft had occurred that day. Lu Qi was now in charge of the case, and Yu Li had organized this gathering to thank them and to urge Lu Qi to solve the case quickly.

After the dinner, Lu Qi called a ride-sharing car and offered to drop Xu Chunliang off on the way.

In the car, Xu Chunliang gave Lu Qi 300 RMB, as his grandfather had specifically instructed him to repay Lu Qi for the dinner.

Lu Qi reluctantly accepted the money and talked about the snake capture incident. He told Xu Chunliang that they had only focused on catching the snakes and later discovered that fifteen high-end phones worth over ten thousand RMB had been stolen from the business hall's warehouse.

The police believed that the appearance of the two snakes in the business hall was not a coincidence and was likely a distraction to facilitate the theft.

However, after investigating the surveillance footage inside and outside the store, no suspicious individuals were found. Lu Qi couldn't figure out how the thief had managed to steal the phones without being noticed.

After listening to Lu Qi, Xu Chunliang suggested, "Could those phones have been stolen by the two snakes? These snakes are large enough to swallow a watermelon, let alone a phone."

"That seems unlikely. Phones aren't something snakes would eat. Why would they swallow them?" Xu Chunliang's theory was beyond Lu Qi's imagination.

"What if these snakes were trained to steal?"

Lu Qi looked at Xu Chunliang in surprise.

"Don't look at me; I have nothing to do with this."