Chapter 119 — Too Late for Regret
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
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.