Chapter 375 — A Loss of Face

But real or fake, it was his son's gift, and even if it was a counterfeit, he could not let that show in front of outsiders. Whatever the problem was, the family would shut the door and discuss it among themselves.

Now that Wei Zhao, an outsider, had spoken it out loud, Divine Doctor Kang felt he had lost face on the spot.

"Boy, why do you say this ginseng is fake?" Divine Doctor Kang's voice carried a note of anger, yet he kept it measured, not losing the bearing of an elder. "If you are merely running off at the mouth, then apologize, and I will pretend I never heard it. But if you will not apologize, then I am sorry — you are not welcome here."

Divine Doctor Kang's words were reasoned and well-grounded; no one could find fault with them. On the contrary, they made him seem generous and magnanimous. Wei Zhao had embarrassed them so publicly, and yet Divine Doctor Kang asked only for an apology and let the matter drop.

Wei Zhao had not expected such a strong reaction, not even from that old man Divine Doctor Kang jumping out at him. It seemed that if he did not say a few words now, it would only drag Kang ** down with him.

Wei Zhao could only stand and explain, a little helplessly, "A wild mountain ginseng has a long rhizome head, and its stem scars are closely packed. The body of the root is about as long as the rhizome, shaped like a human figure, and lies crosswise — rather short. The horizontal rings on the main root are fine and distinct, darker in color; the skin is fine yet tough, and the pearl nodules are many, plain, and easy to see.

Cultivated ginseng, by contrast, is called garden ginseng. Its rhizome head is short, its stem scars few, its body cylindrical and split like the character for 'eight,' lying lengthwise and rather long. The horizontal rings on the main root are sparse and discontinuous, the skin coarse and brittle, and the pearl nodules indistinct.

As for whether this particular root is real or fake, I imagine there must be connoisseurs of such things among those present. Divine Doctor Kang does not know — surely there is someone here who knows how to tell them apart?"

Wei Zhao's words cut deep. They were plainly mocking Divine Doctor Kang for not knowing; if a man could not even tell real ginseng from fake, how could he still call himself a divine doctor?

Divine Doctor Kang's expression shifted. He had not expected Wei Zhao to lay it all out so methodically. He had assumed the boy was simply talking nonsense, that a word from him would offer Wei Zhao a way down and the matter would pass. But now Divine Doctor Kang found himself in a bind, unable to advance or retreat.

"Nonsense!" Kang Jingming leapt up again. "Grandfather, don't listen to this creature's nonsense! He was brought here by Kang ** to make trouble on purpose! Let us put the ginseng away first and pay him no more mind!"

Kang Jingming's words, plainly spoken, would only make people think his conscience was guilty. If the ginseng were not fake, then it should be brought out for the experts present to examine — what did hurrying to put it away mean?

Kang Jingming's conscience was indeed guilty. He and his father, Kang Cuipu, had bought this ginseng together — could he not know whether it was real? It had been bought from a cultivated ginseng farm and had cost only a few thousand yuan in all. How could it possibly be a thousand-year ginseng?

But Kang Cuipu and Kang Jingming both knew full well that the old man could not tell real ginseng from fake, and that Kang Cuipu's elder brother, Kang Guifeng, could not either. Even if Kang Guifeng suspected it was fake, he would never shame the family in front of outsiders.

Besides, Kang Cuipu took only dividends from the company and never vied for power, which left Kang Guifeng with no grudge against him. The two brothers remained on good terms, and Kang Guifeng often cleaned up after the messes Kang Cuipu made.

But who could have guessed that Wei Zhao would come charging in from nowhere like a Cheng Yaojin to spoil it all?

"Never mind. Take it away. Real or fake, it is Cuipu's sincerity," said Divine Doctor Kang. He was no fool. Since Wei Zhao had spoken so confidently, the man must be sure of himself. To press the matter further would only invite humiliation, so he might as well own it with good grace. Everyone already knew what sort of goods his youngest son was; the man's reputation was ruined already, and this would not make it any worse.

Divine Doctor Kang acknowledged it so lightly that no great uproar followed. Since he had said as much, the others no longer had the heart to go on examining whether it was real.

Next came the turn of Kang **'s father to present his gift. It was quite ordinary — merely a lingzhi of a few years' growth. Kang Cuipu and Kang Jingming had been nursing a grudge and meant to find fault with it, but the man had made clear from the start that it was just an ordinary lingzhi of a few years.

A lingzhi of a few years offered no fault to pick. It had never been a rare treasure to begin with, and to insist on finding fault would be splitting hairs — and would only earn them more contempt.

Father and son Kang Cuipu and Kang Jingming had no choice but to wait, so they could vent all their resentment on Kang ** later.

When the sons' generation had all presented their birthday gifts, it was the turn of the grandsons' generation. But in keeping with Divine Doctor Kang's preference for males over females, only the men were allowed to come up and offer gifts; no granddaughter could ever take the stage.

The first to come up this time was Kang Guifeng's son, Kang Jinglong.

This Kang Jinglong looked somewhat older, in his twenties, wearing glasses and a refined, scholarly air. What he carried in his hands, however, was a sheet of paper, and he walked up with a steady tread.

"Grandfather, this is the medical research project I worked on during my doctoral studies at the university. It has already been granted a patent, and this is the certificate of merit the university issued me!" Kang Jinglong respectfully handed the certificate over.

The emcee was just about to take it, but Divine Doctor Kang waved him off and walked over himself, his face glowing, all trace of his earlier displeasure swept away: "Good, Zhaolong, you're a fine one! Grandfather is very pleased!"

With that, Divine Doctor Kang took the certificate, smiled as he looked it over for a while, then patted Kang Jinglong on the shoulder and said: "Work hard, now. You are the next generation's divine doctor in our Kang family!"

"Hua hua..." Applause rose from the audience. Everyone understood that Divine Doctor Kang was naming his *** heir!

"Your eldest cousin studied medicine?" Wei Zhao was rather surprised; he had not expected that there really was a younger member of Divine Doctor Kang's family who had studied medicine.

"Yes, eldest cousin graduated from a proper medical school and is currently working on his doctorate in traditional Chinese medicine..." Kang ** explained: "Actually, if you want to talk about who truly understands medical skill, he's the only one!"

The remark was somewhat ironic and laughable, yet it was the truth! Wei Zhao was left rather speechless too. How was it that Divine Doctor Kang's whole family seemed like a bunch of self-taught amateurs?

After that, Kang Jingming took the stage. His gift was even more remarkable — some ancient prescription or other. But after the precedent set by his father Kang Cuipu, no one had much curiosity left. They all figured it was fake; how could an ancient prescription be so easily obtained?

In this way, however, Kang Jingming had dodged a bullet! Had the prescription been made public for all to see, Wei Zhao would have recognized at a glance that it was nothing but an ordinary cold remedy — one written plainly in many traditional Chinese medicine books in any bookshop.