Chapter 34.3

At breakfast, the thirteen people gathered together, all regretting not having met a divine doctor like Guan Yue earlier. If they had met her sooner, they wouldn’t have had to suffer so much.

Old Master Zhao took off his clothes and lay down, and the others quickly followed suit, eager to begin.

Deng Baishu and Deng Weimin were nearby helping. Deng Baishu passed the silver needles to Guan Yue, occasionally asking questions when he didn’t understand something.

The previous night, he had stayed up late studying the medical records of the thirteen patients. With his father’s help, he had almost understood the prescriptions Guan Yue had written, but he still didn’t fully grasp acupuncture.

While Guan Yue was performing acupuncture, she also answered Deng Baishu’s questions. Despite that, her movements were swift. Once she finished, she was ready to leave.

Guan Yue said: “Teacher, you help me remove the needles.”

Deng Weimin waved his hand: “Go ahead, I’ll handle it here.”

Removing the needles wasn’t difficult for Deng Weimin.

Guan Yue smiled and left. She really did have something to do: she was heading to the mountain creek to catch fish.

After she left, the remaining men began chatting, and the topics became a bit more unrestrained.

Xiao Huang, wanting to see his little brother stand up, had placed a higher pillow under his head this morning. Now, he didn’t need to tilt his head to see.

He proudly showed it off to Deng Baishu: “Look, isn’t it quite strong?”

Deng Baishu looked at him with disdain: “Should I ask Doctor Guan to check your brain again?”

He was either dumb or crazy!

Xiao Huang ignored Deng Baishu’s teasing, as he was happily gazing at the sky. He had never been healthy before and had no idea how important good health was.

Because of his physical issues, he had seen many doctors and taken many medicines, all to no avail. He had been too afraid to date, and even avoided talking about such topics with others. He had fallen into a deep depression for a long time.

He was thankful for his father’s foresight and determination to send him here. After returning from this place, his life would finally get back on track.

In Xiao Huang’s anticipation, he woke up every morning hoping to feel refreshed, waiting for Guan Yue to come for acupuncture.

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On the morning of the sixth day since he arrived, Xiao Huang woke up from his bed, sensing a familiar yet strange feeling.

When he was completely sure of what that familiar yet strange feeling was, he jumped out of bed and screamed frantically.

The others, who lived in different rooms, ran out without their clothes on.

“What’s wrong?” 

Xiao Huang grabbed them and proudly showed off: “Grandpa Zhao, did you see? I can stand up now!”

The others exchanged glances, sighed helplessly. The kid was still young, so they could be more patient with him.

When Guan Yue arrived in the morning, Xiao Huang eagerly reported the good news. Guan Yue took his pulse and said: “You’re almost healed. You can leave now if you want. But if you’d like to stay a few more days, you can take some more herbal medicine to consolidate your recovery.”

Xiao Huang quickly said: “I’m not in a hurry. I want to consolidate. I’ll go back with Grandpa Zhao and the others.”

Among the thirteen people who came, a few with better physical conditions, in Guan Yue’s opinion, were already fully healed and could leave. They all said they weren’t in a rush and wanted to stay a couple of extra days. Since they came together, they preferred to leave together, so they wouldn’t cause any extra trouble.

Guan Yue had no objections, letting them do as they wished.

Li Dingbang and the others had been keeping a close eye on the progress at Xiaoqing Mountain, especially on the people who came to adjust their health. The contrast between their current state and how they were when they first arrived a week ago was incredible.

This time, Deng Weimin also participated. He went to the mountain every day to assist Guan Yue, so he was the most aware of the changes and their causes.

Therefore, Li Dingbang made a phone call, informing that four top leaders would be arriving the next day on a military plane from Beijing for health adjustments. One of them was a senior leader of Fang Lin.

At the same time, there was another person who, like Li Dingbang, was very concerned about the people at Xiaoqing Mountain—Gu Sui.

Gu Sui wanted to know information about the young man, but he didn’t want to hear it from Guan Yue, so he went to find Deng Baishu.

Recently, the work at the sanatorium wasn’t busy, so Deng Baishu had free time to study medical records. Gu Sui, who was skilled in both traditional Chinese and Western medicine, would glance at a medical record and easily identify what illness the man named Xiao Huang had.

Gu Sui chuckled softly and went home in a good mood.

In the evening, the two of them went to the mountain villa together. While Gu Sui was cooking in the kitchen, he even hummed a little tune with a particularly good mood.

Guan Yue felt that something was off with him today. She tried to get him to talk, but he wouldn’t say anything.

Guan Yue: “Come on, tell me what made you happy, so I can be happy with you.”

Gu Sui smiled and pushed her out of the kitchen: “I’m cooking, don’t cause trouble.”

Guan Yue persisted: “Tell me, tell me! If you don’t, I’ll tickle you.”

Gu Sui resolutely refused to speak. He was content to keep his joy to himself. If he said it out loud, well, it still felt a bit embarrassing.

Guan Yue clicked her tongue: “Gu Sui, you’re so stingy.”

“Just take it as I’m stingy.” he replied.

Guan Yue didn’t believe it. She was determined to pry the secret out of him.

While he was cooking, she continued to pester him: “Doctor Gu, tell me!”

Gu Sui: “No.”

During dinner, she actively served him food: “Be good, eat the food I served, and listen to me.”

Gu Sui: “Then I won’t eat.”

After the meal, they rested. Gu Sui leaned back on the sofa reading a book. She grabbed the book out of his hands, straddled him, sat on his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed his lips, and blinked her eyes: “Still not going to tell me?”

Gu Sui couldn’t help but curl his lips: “Hmm, not telling you.”

Guan Yue lay in his arms and coquettishly said: “I don’t care, I just want to know.”

Gu Sui picked her up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

The lights in the courtyard were off, and the outside was pitch black. Standing in the well-lit room, the floor-to-ceiling window was as clear as a mirror.

He gestured for Guan Yue to look at the window: “Look, don’t you look like a little monkey hanging on me?”

Guan Yue laughed out loud: “I guess it does look like that. I’m the monkey king of Daqing Mountain.”

His hot breath brushed against her neck as he purposely lowered his voice: “Monkey King, if you really want to know why I’m happy tonight, promise me one thing, and I’ll tell you.”

“Tell me.”

“The end of the month is the Dragon Boat Festival, which also happens to be the two-year anniversary of us meeting. Let’s go get our marriage certificate, and then I’ll tell you.”

Guan Yue didn’t like the idea and tried to jump off him, but Gu Sui tightened his hold, his thigh firmly at her side: “Want to run away?”

“Hey, how can you be like this? We agreed to wait two years before getting married.”

“Right, we agreed to wait two years, but we never said we couldn’t get the certificate first. We can have the wedding two years later.”

Guan Yue: “No, we agreed on two years, so it has to be two years.”

Their gazes met, and Gu Sui’s breath deepened. Guan Yue lifted her chin proudly, standing her ground.

Gu Sui gave in first: “Alright, you can get down.”

Guan Yue refused to get down: “If I don’t agree, you won’t hold me anymore?”

Gu Sui sighed: “Ancestor, I’m not sick.”

Suddenly, Guan Yue thought of something. Her face turned red, and she jumped off Gu Sui and ran away.

Halfway, she turned around and came back to give Gu Sui a quick kiss: “Muah, love you!”

Gu Sui stood alone in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, his lips curling higher and higher, finally letting out a light chuckle, shaking his head.

---

Guan Yue ran back to the room and threw herself onto the bed, wondering to herself if she really had to wait for two years to get married. She had already decided—it was him. Getting married sooner wouldn’t be a problem, right?

She thought to herself that if he asked again tomorrow, she would agree.

Guan Yue chuckled to herself.

However, it seemed that Gu Sui didn’t share her thoughts and didn’t know what was on her mind.

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The next morning, from the moment she woke up, Guan Yue was waiting for him to ask. But instead, this person only asked if she had slept well, if breakfast was good, what she wanted for lunch, if the weather was too hot and if she wanted cold noodles…

In short, he didn’t ask her about getting married!

Hmph! I’m upset!

Well, fine. I can’t stay mad at delicious food. I’ll have cold noodles for lunch.

In the afternoon, as Gu Sui was getting ready to leave for work, he asked her: “Why are you so angry? Who upset you?”

Guan Yue pushed aside the book she was holding in front of her: “It’s you. You upset me.”

Gu Sui rubbed her little head: “Be good, I’ll make it up to you tonight.”

Hmph, tonight? It’ll be too late by then!

Tomorrow, I’ll tell him what kind of opportunity he missed.

In the afternoon, with nothing to do, Guan Yue read for a while, then went over to the medicinal herb field to take a stroll. She harvested a few baskets of herbs. The weather had been good lately, so after drying them, she planned to make some cooling medicinal pills to store for later.

After she finished cleaning the herbs, Guan Yue was in the courtyard organizing them and spreading them out on a bamboo tray to dry.

At that moment, Xiao Ma ran up to her, looking especially anxious.

Xiao Ma: “Dr. Guan, please hurry to Xiaoqing Mountain.”

Guan Yue spread out the damp herbs: “What happened? Is there an issue over there? I went this morning, and everyone was recovering well.”

“It’s not them. The four leaders arrived just now. Minister Li wants you to come over.”

“Where did these leaders come from? Why wasn’t I notified beforehand?”

Not being notified clearly meant it wasn’t convenient to do so!

Xiao Ma, flustered: “Dr. Guan, don’t worry about the herbs. Please hurry and meet them. I beg you.”

“Fine, it’s just meeting people, no need to panic.”

Xiao Ma led the way, and Guan Yue followed. Soon, she arrived at the meeting place where the four leaders were chatting with a few people from Hong Kong.

There was no tension or glaring. The leaders were all friendly, and the conversation was going smoothly.

When Li Dingbang saw Guan Yue, he mentioned: “Dr. Guan is here.”

One of the leaders smiled faintly: “Finally, we meet the famous Dr. Guan.”

Everyone laughed. Indeed, Dr. Guan’s reputation wasn’t just growing in the military and political circles; she was now even making the newspapers in Hong Kong.

Guan Yue waved her hand: “That little bit of fame is nothing to brag about.”

She knew that Li Dingbang and the others had definitely talked about how hard it was to communicate with her, how difficult she was to deal with.

Only those who truly knew her would say such things. For those who didn’t, rumors twisted things even worse—things like her being arrogant, looking down on people, having issues with her thinking… In short, other than being skilled in medicine, everything else about her was lacking.

The leader had someone add a chair for her and invited Guan Yue to sit.

Guan Yue sat down gracefully, going straight to the point: “May I ask, did you call me here?”

The leader nodded: “In the past six months, you’ve saved many lives and helped us greatly. We wanted to meet you in person, to get to know the leader of our field in Chinese medicine.”

Guan Yue didn’t dare accept: “I’m just an ordinary doctor, not worthy of such a title.”

“If I say you’re worthy, then you are.” the leader replied. “In recent years, we’ve encountered some difficulties, but once we get through them, Chinese medicine will definitely shine. Dr. Guan, you must be ready to lead.”

Guan Yue’s heart skipped a beat. Was this the so-called flattery?

No, she thought. Her head wasn’t suited for such praise; it wouldn’t fit.

Before she could say anything, a few people from Hong Kong chimed in, all praising her boundless future.

Old Zhao spoke up: “To be honest, when foreigners slander Chinese medicine, we need to show them that we can do better, to face them head-on and prove our strength.”

“Dr. Guan can treat heart disease that Western medicine can’t. That alone is impressive.”

“Exactly, our traditional Chinese medicine has its own merits. We can’t just give up like this.”

Deng Weimin, who was standing nearby, nodded. “I hope that when the environment becomes more relaxed, more talents like Guan Yue will be cultivated. After all, a single tree can’t form a forest!”

When talking about the future of traditional Chinese medicine, everyone chimed in, offering suggestions and opinions.

However, Guan Yue felt that none of these words got to the heart of the matter.

Many traditional Chinese medicine practitioners who had no support were still being persecuted, labeled as remnants of feudalism. In such a time, what was there to talk about regarding the future of traditional Chinese medicine?

Not only did Guan Yue understand this, but Deng Weimin and the others also knew it well. The leaders must have had some understanding of this as well.

Since they had come, they definitely needed Guan Yue to take their pulses.

They all said their goodbyes for the time being, agreeing to discuss more over dinner later, and Guan Yue followed the four leaders to the sanatorium at the foot of the mountain.

After taking their pulses, Guan Yue found that, aside from some physical fatigue, there was nothing seriously wrong with the four of them.

Guan Yue said: “No need for medicine. I’ll come by before you sleep tonight to do an acupuncture session and help adjust your bodies.”

“Then thank you very much.”

Guan Yue stood up. “No need to thank me. I’m being paid for this.”

The four leaders laughed heartily.

“Look, who said Guan Yue wasn’t easy to talk to? She’s quite reasonable.”

Guan Yue smiled without responding and left first.

These four people were certainly not there for her medical skills. They had taken time out of their busy schedules to come, so there must have been more important matters at hand. She didn’t want to waste their time.

That evening, Guan Yue and Gu Sui didn’t go to the mountain villa but stayed in the wooden cabin.

Guan Yue waited for them to finish their discussion before performing the acupuncture, and she waited until it was already eleven o’clock.

The two of them lay side by side in chairs, reading. Guan Yue was so sleepy that she pulled Gu Sui’s wrist, glanced at her watch, and saw it was already eleven.

Guan Yue said: “Being a leader isn’t easy!”

Gu Sui brushed the stray hair off her forehead. “Why don’t you take a nap for a while? When they come, I’ll wake you up.”

Guan Yue yawned and shook her head. “I’ll wait. If I fall asleep and you wake me up later, I’ll feel worse.”

“Then stop reading. Let me talk to you.”

“How about a cup of tea?”

“At this hour? If you drink tea, you’re not planning to sleep, are you?”

Guan Yue hummed softly, resting her head on his shoulder. “I really want to sleep.”

Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait until midnight. After a while, Xiao Ma came up the mountain with a flashlight to call for Guan Yue.

Gu Sui accompanied her down.

When they arrived at the sanatorium, Guan Yue saw that all four of the leaders looked very tired.

Guan Yue didn’t waste any time with unnecessary words. She instructed them to lie down and immediately began to insert the needles.

They had been worrying about so many things for the country every day, so it wasn’t easy for them. Today, Guan Yue was generous and gave them a bit more of her special ability.

Once she finished the acupuncture, she had to wait until the right time to personally remove the needles.

Not long after the needles were in, all four of them fell into a deep sleep. The leaders’ attendants invited Guan Yue to sit outside, where they had prepared some light snacks for her to eat.

The so-called snacks were actually small buns like xiaolongbao. Guan Yue ate two.

Afterward, Guan Yue quietly instructed them: “Don’t move, let them sleep right here.”

“Alright, Dr. Guan, thank you for today. I’ll see you back.”

Gu Sui was waiting for her at the door, and Guan Yue replied: “No need. We’ll return on our own.”

The attendant watched them walk away from the door.

On the way back, neither of them spoke, but they both had the same thought in their minds: These leaders had certainly come for the people from Hong Kong.

When they reached Daqing Mountain, Guan Yue looked towards Xiaoqing Mountain. The lights there were still on, and she wondered whether those people were also unable to sleep.

Regardless of whether they were awake or not, she herself was really wanting to sleep.

Back at the wooden cabin, Guan Yue collapsed into bed and slept soundly until after ten o’clock the next morning. Gu Sui had already gone to work and didn’t wake her up.

After getting up, she had a light snack to tide her over, as it was still some time before lunch. With nothing to do on the mountain, Guan Yue decided to take a stroll around the sanatorium.

She figured a little exercise would make room in her stomach, so she could eat more delicious food for lunch. Heh heh.

When Deng Baishu saw Guan Yue, he was a little surprised. “Teacher, I thought you wouldn’t come down today.”

He knew that Guan Yue hadn’t returned until after midnight the previous night.

Guan Yue gave him a look. “Is this the image you have of me?”

A few of the leaders, who were coming down from Xiaoqing Mountain, laughed and said: “Guan Yue is still young; it’s better for your health to sleep more.”

Guan Yue felt a little embarrassed. “Actually, I’m not that young anymore.”

One of the leaders, with a robust voice, laughed heartily, and his laughter could be heard from quite a distance.

Their business here was finished, and they were leaving after lunch. They had originally planned to go up the mountain and personally thank her, but since they were here now, they expressed their thanks.

“We rested very well last night.”

The leader continued: “I was serious when I said this yesterday. I hope you will consider becoming the leader of this field, to bring traditional Chinese medicine into a new era.”

Guan Yue glanced at the old, middle-aged, and young traditional Chinese medicine practitioners standing in line at the door. “I also hope the situation improves, so that traditional Chinese medicine can step into a new world.”

But when survival itself is still a problem, what is there to talk about for the future?