Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
âIâm not a master in Kung Fu yet, and I donât know how to teach people Kung Fu,â said Wang Yao. âBut I know someone who has been practicing Kung Fu for over 20 years. The person is currently in Lianshan.â
âReally? Can you introduce me to him?â asked Wei Hai eagerly.
âWhat a coincidence! Iâm about to meet him. Let me ask him first. I actually learned Kung Fu from him,â said Wang Yao.
âGreat! Can I go with you?â said Wei Hai. He was really bored at the tea shop. He didnât have friends in Lianshan other than Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao. Li Maoshuang was just an acquaintance. He wanted to go out, but no place actually attracted him. He wished he could hang out with several friends to play cards or Mahjong.
âHe came here to see me. His son is ill. Let me ask him first,â said Wang Yao.
âOkay,â said Wei Hai.
âYou can continue to drink green tea, but donât drink too much, especially before and after you take the decoction,â said Wang Yao.
âSure,â said Wei Hai.
By the time Wang Yao had finished the treatment session with Wei Hai, it was lunchtime.
âShall we have lunch together?â asked Wang Yao after he had checked the time.
âSure, sounds great!â said Wei Hai.
Wang Yao asked Wang Mingbao and Li Maoshuang, who had been resting at home, to join him and Wei Hai for lunch. They went to a restaurant nearby that served healthy food. Theyâve been there once, and Wang Yao was quite happy with the food there.
Wang Mingbao was in his store when he received the call from Wang Yao. He arrived at Wei Haiâs tea shop shortly. Li Maoshuang arrived after ten minutes. He looked quite healthy. Obviously, he had been resting well.
âYou look good!â said Wang Yao.
âOf course. I went to Wudang mountain about two weeks ago and stayed there for a few days. While I was there, I learned some ways to enhance my health from the Taoist priests. They were really effective. I think you should also visit there. Of course, Dr. Wang doesnât need to go,â said Li Maoshuang.
âDid you go there by yourself?â asked Wang Mingbao with a smile.
âYes, I was going to take my wife with me, but she had to look after our kid at home. So, I decided to take a look there myself first. I plan to take my wife and kid to Wudang mountain during the summer school holiday. We are going to live on the mountain for some time to get away from the heat!â said Li Maoshuang.
âSounds like a good plan!â said Wei Hai.
The dishes were served soon after they had arrived at the restaurant. They were chatting while eating.
âSo what has Mr. Tian being doing?â asked Wang Mingbao.
âHe contracted a big area on the hill. He is building a resort style hotel for both leisure and business purposes,â said Wang Yao.
âRight, the name of the resort is called Bailu Lake Hotel. I went to see the place several weeks ago. It looks good,â said Wang Mingbao.
The dishes were nice. They didnât order any wine; they only talked about what they had been doing lately. It was a simple friend get-together. They were all very happy after lunch.
âI found my current lifestyle to be really good,â said Li Maoshuang out of the blue.
âRight.â Wei Hai nodded, unsure of whether it was because he agreed with Li Maoshuang or thought about it himself.
âMingbao, donât work too much. There are things in life more important than money,â said Li Maoshuang.
Both Wei Hai and Li Maoshuang changed their views of life after getting sick.
âI just want to work hard for a few more years. After a few years, Iâll follow your lifestyle,â said Wang Mingbao with a smile.
Oneâs view of life was related to oneâs experience and age. It wouldnât change easily just because of a few words from a friend.
They all went to Wei Haiâs tea shop after lunch. They stayed at the tea shop and listened to a few old songs while having a few cups of green tea. They chatted about how they felt about life, and then they all went back to their own lives.
Wang Yao drove to Zhou Xiongâs apartment.[1] [2]
Zhou Wukangâs left arm was no longer swelling when Wang Yao saw him again. Part of the skin of his arm became supple again. Although it was just a very small proportion of the skin, it indicated that Zhou Wukang was getting better. It was a sign of dead wood becoming alive.
âHi, Kang, how do you feel?â Wang Yao didnât check Zhou Wukangâs pulse immediately. He wanted to know how Zhou Wukang was feeling first.
A patientâs feelings often send very important messages to the doctor.
âI feel better in my left arm, and my body has become lighter and easier to move,â said Zhou Wukang.
âGood to know. Let me take a look,â said Wang Yao.
Wang Yao sat down to check Zhou Wukangâs pulse. According to his pulse, his left arm did get better; Even a small proportion of meridians which were blocked initially had been unblocked by Wang Yao.
âDo you still have any of the decoction left?â asked Wang Yao.
âYes, weâve still got some left. I just gave him a small cup of it,â said Zhou Xiong.
âLet me massage your arm again,â said Wang Yao.
Wang Yao followed the meridians and acupuncture points in Zhou Wukangâs arm to massage repeatedly. He neither massaged Zhou Wukangâs arm too hard nor too soft. After a while, Zhou Wukangâs left arm became very red.
âHow do you feel?â asked Wang Yao.
âI feel warm in my arm, and itâs a bit painful,â said Zhou Wukang.
âOkay, letâs call it a day,â said Wang Yao.
âThank you, Uncle Wang,â said Zhou Wukang.
âPlease have a cup of tea, Dr. Wang.â Zhou Xiong made Wang Yao a cup of tea.
He had a big smile on his face as his son was slowly starting to get better after so many years of treatment. His sonâs illness had become his biggest concern.
âBy the way, I want to ask you something,â said Wang Yao.
âGo ahead,â said Zhou Xiong.
âWell, I have a friend who hasnât been well lately. He wanted to learn Kung Fu. I donât think Iâm good enough to teach him, so I thought about you,â said Wang Yao.
âI see, thatâs not a problem; I can teach him,â said Zhou Xiong.
âGreat! Iâll let him know. Would you like to have dinner together with me and my friend today?â asked Wang Yao.
âSure, but it has to be my treat. You choose the place,â said Zhou Xiong.
âOkay,â said Wang Yao with a smile.
He then called Wei Hai and drove Zhou Xiong and his son to Wei Haiâs tea shop.
âHello, please come in and take a seat.â Wei Hai was very pleased to see Wang Yao, Zhou Xiong, and Zhou Wukang. He liked listening to music and watching TV by himself in the shop. He also liked to have tea and chat with friends, but of the two he preferred to be with his friends.
Some patients preferred to stay quiet. Some patients preferred to be with people.
âThis is the Kung Fu master I mentioned this morning. His name is Zhou Xiong,â said Wang Yao.
âIâm no master, please donât call me that.â Zhou Xiong shook his hand with a smile. âI just practiced Kung Fu for a few years.â
âThis is Wei Hai, the owner of this tea shop. He runs the tea shop,â said Wang Yao.
âHow do you do?â said Zhou Xiong.
âNice to meet you,â said Wei Hai.
After introducing Zhou Xiong to Wei Hai, Wang Yao told Zhou Xiong briefly of Wei Haiâs health condition. Given his current health condition, he was unable to exercise too vigorously.
âGiven your condition, you can only practice Tai Chi at this stage,â said Zhou Xiong with a smile.
âWhat a coincidence! Tai Chi is what I wanted to learn,â said Wei Hai.
âOkay, Iâll teach you Tai Chi then,â said Zhou Xiong. âIâll start with something basic. The only thing is there is not enough space here.
âDonât worry, we can go upstairs,â said Wei Hai.
They all went upstairs. Wei Haiâs tea shop had two stories. There was a big living room upstairs and a master bedroom.
âThis place is good,â said Zhou Xiong.
Then, Zhou Xiong started to teach Wei Hai the basic movements of Tai Chi. Wei Haiâs ability to learn was much poorer than Wang Yao. He learned the movements very slowly. There was a huge difference between Wei Hai and Wang Yao. Fortunately, Zhou Xiong was very patient. He took his time teaching Wei Hai.
Time passed by quickly. It was dark outside already.
âLetâs take a break,â said Zhou Xiong. Although Zhou Xiong just taught Wei Hai a few simple postures and movements of Tai Chi, Wei Hai was exhausted and sweating as he was too weak.
âOkay, let me take a break.â
Wei Hai sat on the sofa breathing hard.
âYou are still very weak. Thereâs no hurry; take it easy,â said Zhou Xiong.
âSure,â said Wei Hai after drinking some water.
âGentle exercise can increase your blood circulation, so itâs good for your health,â said Zhou Xiong.
After Wei Hai had rested, Wang Yao gathered a few friends to have dinner together. Tian Yuantu happened to be available as well, so he joined them. Wang Yao picked a nicer place today. He decided to have dinner at Shenghua hotel. After all, they were a big group of people, and Shenghua hotel was close to Wei Haiâs tea shop.
The last time Wang Yao met Tian Yuantu was just a few weeks ago. Today, Tian Yuantu looked tired and had lost some weight.
âYuantu, you donât look well, have you been very busy lately?â asked Wang Yao.
âYes, Iâve been really busy. Iâm considering listing my company on the stock market and working on a number of new projects. So Iâve got a lot to worry about lately,â said Tian Yuantu.
âYou need to take it easy, donât overwork as I did,â said Wei Hai.
âDonât worry about me, I donât drink or smoke, and I have my health checked regularly,â said Tian Yuantu with a smile.
They ordered a lot of dishes, but the taste was average.
This time, old friends and new friends gathered together to chat and eat. They temporarily put all the worries and concerns behind them and had a great time.