Chapter 140 — Guan Xuewen, the Student

On the surface, Wei Zhao's answers seemed like nothing more than an exchange of views, a scholarly back-and-forth. He never stated the answers outright; more often he circled the question, touching on related matters from the side.

But Guan Xuewen knew clearly that Wei Zhao was guiding him — like a dedicated teacher patiently leading a student on, gently inspiring and instructing him, granting the student the freedom to think for himself and, in doing so, building up his confidence.

With Wei Zhao's prompting, Guan Xuewen quickly worked through the doubts that had troubled him before. What he arrived at through his own reasoning was, by its very nature, entirely different from having the answer simply handed to him.

So although nothing was said aloud, Guan Xuewen had already taken on the demeanor of a student, sitting there with grave respect, his words to Wei Zhao full of deference.

In time he even straightened his back, the very picture of a schoolboy. How many years had it been since Guan Xuewen had forgotten what it felt like to sit in a classroom? It had always been he who taught the students... Yet now he found himself naturally transported back to his own student days — the reverence for the teacher, the hunger for knowledge — and it felt like another lifetime.

"Knock, knock, knock" — the rapping at the door pulled Guan Xuewen back from his state of self-forgetfulness. Even so, toward Wei Zhao he now behaved entirely as one would toward a master.

"Mr. Lin, let me see who it is." Like a schoolboy, Guan Xuewen asked Wei Zhao's leave before going to the door.

Wei Zhao smiled wryly. They were back to that again. But he knew too that if he made Guan Xuewen call him Little Yi, the old man would never get past it in his heart.

The knocker was Yang Huaijun. He had waited outside, left and right, and the lunch hour had long since passed with still no sign of Wei Zhao and Guan Xuewen. He waited a while longer, then, fearing something had gone wrong, knocked to inquire.

"Grandpa Guan, it's well past lunchtime. You and Wei Zhao..." Yang Huaijun saw Guan Xuewen open the door and, judging by appearances, nothing was amiss; he let out a breath of relief.

"Oh? Past lunchtime already?" Guan Xuewen checked his watch — indeed, it was nearly one in the afternoon. He sighed inwardly at how fast the time had flown. He would have liked to go on consulting Wei Zhao, but he had been forgetting food and sleep, and Wei Zhao still had to eat. Besides, he had already taken up the whole morning; whether the young man had other business in the afternoon was anyone's guess. Guan Xuewen was too embarrassed to press further. "Then shall we go out and get something to eat?"

"Grandpa Guan, no patients this afternoon?" Yang Huaijun was rather surprised to hear this. Guan Xuewen had patients every day, though today, to wait for Wei Zhao, he had deliberately put off the whole morning's appointments. But it was nearly afternoon now — if they went out to eat, he would likely be pressed for time.

"Even so, I can't skip a meal," Guan Xuewen said. He had already taken up Wei Zhao's whole morning; if he didn't at least treat the young man to lunch, he would not feel right about it. But there were indeed patients coming that afternoon — Old Liu from yesterday had already arranged to come by.

"Ha, since you still have patients, Grandpa Guan, let's not eat now. Brother Jun and I will grab a bite somewhere ourselves." Wei Zhao had sensed Guan Xuewen's predicament and embarrassment, so he spoke up first. "I'll come mooch a meal another day — you won't turn me away, will you, Grandpa Guan?"

"Turn you away? Of course not!" Guan Xuewen was overjoyed to hear that Wei Zhao would come again, and he knew the young man had said it on purpose. "Next time, I'll have my granddaughter cook a few of her specialties. Little Yang has tried them — they're as good as any restaurant's."

"Ha, it's a promise, then! I'll be looking forward to it!" Wei Zhao nodded and went downstairs with Yang Huaijun.

Guan Xuewen wanted to see them off downstairs, but Wei Zhao stopped him. "Grandpa Guan, if you keep being so polite, I won't dare come next time."

"All right, then I won't see you out..." Guan Xuewen knew Wei Zhao was joking, but he was still startled and quickly halted in his tracks.

As they were getting into the car, a black Audi A6 pulled up and came to a stop before the villa's gate.

Ha... In the car's rearview mirror, Wei Zhao caught sight of a few familiar faces. Weren't these the old man and his son and daughter-in-law whom he had met that day on the commercial street? They had come to see Guan Xuewen for treatment too?

But Wei Zhao had no intention of greeting them. The old man himself was decent enough; it was his daughter-in-law who was so dreadful, and his son a spineless fool, meek as a lamb before his wife. If he hadn't at least been able to blow up in the end, Wei Zhao would have held him in utter contempt...

"You know them?" Yang Huaijun asked, seeing Wei Zhao watching the group behind them in the rearview mirror.

"No. I've only met them once — you know them?" Wei Zhao did not mention the business on the commercial street; there was nothing worth saying about it.

"I've only met them once myself. The Liu family of Yanjing — a very prominent clan. The old man is Liu Zhenhu; the middle-aged man with him is Liu Tianyi, a big official in Yanjing. The woman is his wife, and her family is formidable too!" Yang Huaijun held nothing back, telling Wei Zhao everything he knew. "The Liu family has strong connections in both business and politics; their power runs deep." "Is that so?" Wei Zhao smiled faintly at this. No wonder the woman had been so overbearing on the commercial street that day, demanding to see the mayor and threatening to have the head of the health bureau sacked. "And your Yang family?"

"Our family is a notch below the Lius. After all, theirs is a Yanjing family, and Liu Tianyi holds real power..." Yang Huaijun said. "My family's old master retired years ago and there's been no one to carry on after him; we only have some influence in the military... Originally, the plan was for me to train a few years in the special forces, build up some merits, and then rise smoothly. Who would have thought..."

Wei Zhao nodded. For all Yang Huaijun's talk, his family's strength still far surpassed that of ordinary clans, though it fell somewhat short of the top-tier ones.

"Take me back to school. Find yourself somewhere to eat." Wei Zhao glanced at the time; if they hurried, he could still make it back for the first afternoon class.

"You're not going to eat?" Yang Huaijun asked, puzzled.

"I wasn't that hungry to begin with. I ate too much this morning, so I'll just grab a bite at school," Wei Zhao said.

"All right then." Yang Huaijun had always followed Wei Zhao's lead in all things; since Wei Zhao said so, he naturally did not insist. He turned the car around and drove off in the direction of First High School.