Chapter 119 — Too Late for Regret

"Around twenty?" Guan Xuewen's frown deepened. So young, and already such skill in medicine... Could he be from one of those hidden families of master physicians?

Though Guan Xuewen had been elevated to great renown, celebrated worldwide for his superb acupuncture, he knew very well that this world still held many people of extraordinary medical skill who never showed themselves to the public.

In his own youth, he had once encountered such a one... His own acupuncture was learned from that man... and even the mere superficial scraps he had picked up were enough to make him famous across the world...

So when Guan Xuewen heard that the man was around twenty, he was surprised, but not disbelieving. Had not the master he met in his youth also been rather young?

Yet Guan Xuewen was not so naive as to fancy that the man he had met back then had kept a perpetual youthful face, still young after all these years... Besides, Liu Tianyi had said around twenty, while the man he himself had met was at least thirty-odd... Could cultivating some miraculous art really make one younger as one lived? The very thought of it seemed unlikely...

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

"If that is so, then I truly cannot say which master you mean. The few well-known Chinese massage therapists in Songshan are all at least fifty..." Guan Xuewen left the rest unsaid: that even the poorest eyesight could hardly mistake a man of fifty or sixty for a youth of twenty...

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

"That day, did you not leave him any way to contact him?" Liu Tianyi saw no way forward, but Guan Xuewen's interest had been roused. A master of Chinese massage, and with such wondrous results—how many such people could there be in the world? As a leading figure in Chinese medicine, Guan Xuewen very much wished to make the acquaintance of this massage master. Perhaps, if they could discuss their crafts, his own acupuncture might benefit greatly.

Massage and acupuncture share much in common; both treat through the acupoints.

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

Guan Xuewen smiled faintly, but the smile carried a trace of disdain and detachment. Had it been an ordinary young doctor who learned of Elder Liu's standing, he would surely have found some way to curry favor, no? But to a man of extraordinary medical skill who kept himself hidden from the world, such things meant nothing.

A young man of twenty—if he wanted fame and fortune, he need only rely on that peerless art of massage to make a name for himself. Yet Guan Xuewen had never heard of such a person existing, which showed that the man was indifferent to fame and gain...

For a young man of twenty, that was rare indeed. Guan Xuewen recalled his own youth—had he not, right after receiving that master's guidance, dreamed of making his name known? At the thought, Guan Xuewen could not help feeling a twinge of shame.

This was a true master. If such a master would of his own accord contact Elder Liu—well, that would be a wonder indeed.

Liu Tianyi noticed nothing, but Elder Liu, old as he was, was shrewd. From the faint smile on Guan Xuewen's face he read the meaning hidden within... and his heart gave a lurch. He feared he had let slip a fine chance to cure his old ailment.

Thinking back carefully on Wei Zhao's calm expression that day, it seemed there had been words left unspoken—perhaps he really did have a way, who could say.

At this, Elder Liu felt some regret. It seemed he had not been warm enough. That day, plainly, Wei Zhao had taken offense at their family over the matter of Wang Xinyan; his offer to treat him had been made only so that his friend would not be dragged into it...

"If he contacts you, Mr. Liu, I must trouble you to let me know. I would be most grateful." Guan Xuewen had no other recourse; as things stood, he could only pin his hopes on the master taking a sudden whim to call the Liu family.

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

Though the Liu family held high office and great power, Guan Xuewen had no need to ask anything of them. On the contrary, the great families all had favors to seek from Guan Xuewen, which was why the Liu family never put on airs before him. That was also why he had slapped his wife earlier—was Guan Xuewen someone you could scold at will? If word of it spread, the other families would laugh themselves sick, saying the Lius were great fools to dare offend a master physician...

Yet Guan Xuewen, for the sake of a young doctor, had twice addressed him with the courteous "trouble you." Dull as Liu Tianyi was, he now understood how highly Guan Xuewen regarded that young doctor... And he himself, back then—ah.

"Of course, certainly, certainly." Liu Tianyi was, after all, a man of high station; though he regretted it inwardly, little of it showed on his face as he spoke politely to Guan Xuewen.

"Very well. Then first arrange your lodging. Tomorrow we begin the formal acupuncture." Guan Xuewen nodded and rose to his feet, a hint that the visit was over.

"Very good, Professor Guan. We shall take our leave, then." Liu Tianyi helped Elder Liu, and together with Wu Huiru, who walked with her head bowed and her hand pressed to her cheek, they went down the stairs...

Guan Xuewen did not go out to see them off either. Instead, he turned to Yang Huaijun: "Little Yang, I hope I didn't keep you waiting?"

"Not at all, Grandfather Guan. Those people just now were...?" Yang Huaijun had never met this family before, and they clearly were not locals—especially that Liu Tianyi, who had mentioned Yanjing and such...

"Oh, the Liu family of Yanjing—a great clan. The patient is the Liu patriarch, Liu Zhenhu, eighty this year. His constitution is still fairly robust, but old ailments have been plaguing him..." Guan Xuewen, holding nothing back from Yang Huaijun, spoke openly of the Liu family's affairs; the two of them were already well acquainted.

"So it's the Liu family of Yanjing. No wonder a single phone call could get the principal to arrange a house..." Yang Huaijun smiled.

"We'll keep to the old routine, then... For you, the acupuncture no longer has much effect, but it's better than nothing—stick with it. Next week I'm going to Yanjing for a symposium on traditional Chinese medicine. I'll present your case for discussion with the others and see whether there's any way..." Guan Xuewen said.

"Heh... Being able to hold things steady is already quite good... Since I can't return to the battlefield, doing solid work in the police force is fine too." Yang Huaijun, for his part, took it philosophically.