Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Nyoi-Bo Studio

  The restaurant specialized in Jiangsu cuisine. The chef made some adjustments so the dishes looked very delicate and tasted really good. After they had finished dinner and were about to pay the pill, they found someone had already paid it.

  “Zhou Shijing?” Wang Yao asked.

  “Yes, it was probably him,” Su Xiaoxue said.

  “Shall we go to say hello to him?” Wang Yao suggested.

  “Sure,” Su Xiaoxue said.

  It was not uncommon for someone to pay a dinner bill for his or her friend. However, Wang Yao didn’t want to owe anyone debt. After all, Zhou Shijing was not even a friend to him.

  He and Su Xiaoxue went to say hello and thanked Zhou Shijing for paying their dinner bill before leaving the restaurant.

  “Hey, who is that girl? She’s so pretty, like a fairy,” a friend of Zhou Shijing’s said.

  “Exactly! How could you just let her leave? You should introduce her to us,” another friend said.

  “Her? Don’t even think about it,” Zhou Shijing said with a smile.

  “Who is she?” a friend asked.

  “She is Su Changhe’s daughter,” Zhou Shijing said.

  “Oh, I see,” the friend said. “I heard long time ago that Miss Su was very pretty. I didn’t expect her to be that pretty. She’s such a rare beauty!”


  “She is like a peony flower. I’ve never seen any girl as pretty as her,” another friend said. “Does she have a boyfriend?

  “Yes.” Zhou Shijing nodded. He knew Guo Zhenghe was chasing after Su Xiaoxue and really wanted to marry her. However, it seemed that Su Xiaoxue and Wang Yao were really close since they were having dinner together. Zhou Shijing had no idea what was going on.

  “What a shame,” a young man from a rich family said.

  “You’ve already had too many girlfriends. So many pretty girls from your movie company want to crawl onto your bed,” Zhou Shijing said. “By the way, what happened to that girl you went out with last time?”


  “That was just a one-night stand. I wasn’t serious with any of them,” the rich young man said.

  “Come have another drink,” Zhou Shijing said.

  “Right, drink,” the young man said.

  Su Xiaoxue went home in a really good mood.

  “Where have you been today?” Song Ruiping asked.

  “The Ming Tombs,” Su Xiaoxue said.

  “The Ming Tombs are quite far from here,” Song Ruiping said.

  “That’s alright. I’ve learned a lot from Dr. Wang,” Su Xiaoxue said.

  “Oh? What did you learn?” Song Ruiping asked.

  “Feng Shui,” Su Xiaoxue said.

  “He knows Feng Shui?” Song Ruiping asked.

  “Yeah, he actually knows quite a lot about it,” Su Xiaoxue said.

  Song Ruiping didn’t make any more comment. She just smiled and thought Wang Yao might have just tried to please her daughter.

  “Where do you plan to go tomorrow?” she asked.

  “I haven’t decided yet,” Su Xiaoxue said. “Do you have any suggestions?”


  “You guys have been to most of the well-known spots in Beijing. Maybe just find a place to have a chat,” Song Ruiping said.

  “Chat?” Su Xiaoxue asked with surprise. “I see.”


  She understood what her mother meant. She went back upstairs and saw Chu Lian was there.

  “After you and Dr. Wang had left, a few people came to talk to me,” Chu Lian said.

  “Yeah?” Su Xiaoxue asked. “Did they ask about for Dr. Wang?”


  “Yes, people from Wu’s family, Dr. Chen, and people from Lu’s family,” Chu Lian said.

  “He’s been to the cottage?” Su Xiaoxue asked.

  “Yes. He is learned in the ways of the world,” Chu Lian said with a smile.

  “What do you mean?” Su Xiaoxue asked.

  “He’s looking for his allies,” Chu Lian said. “What happened in Biyun temple made him realize that he had to do something to fight for you and his loved ones. He is trying to change himself.”


  “He’s trying to get assistance from the powerful people he knows?” Su Xiaoxue asked.

  “You could say that. As long as he wants, people from the Wu family will help him, so will people from the Lu family,” Chu Lian said. “Of course, your family will help him, too. Think about it, if he decides to establish his social network seriously, he will be able to get a lot of assistance.”


  “It depends on what he really wants to do,” Su Xiaoxue said.

  Meanwhile, Wang Yao was walking aimlessly on the street. He got a phone call from Wu Tongxing.

  “Hello, Mr. Wu,” Wang Yao said.

  “Hello, Dr. Wang, are you in Beijing now?” Wu Tongxing asked.

  “Yes,” Wang Yao said.

  “Are you available to meet?” Wu Tongxing asked.

  “Yes, sure,” Wang Yao said.

  He told Wu Tongxing his location. A moment later, a car appeared in front of him. Wu Tongxing was inside the car.

  “Hi, why didn’t you tell me you were gonna come to Beijing?” Wu Tongxing asked as he got out of the car.

  “I’m here for private business,” Wang Yao said.

  “Shall we find a place to have a chat?” Wu Tongxing asked.

  “Sure,” Wang Yao said.

  Wu Tongxing took Wang Yao to a quiet house.

  “How long are you going to stay here for?” Wu Tongxing asked.

  “About a week,” Wang Yao said.

  “Do you have time to have a look at my father?” Wu Tongxing asked.

  “Actually, it won’t make any difference,” Wang Yao said. He knew that the old man could only rely on medication to survive. No treatment would make him better, just like Wang Yilong from his village. “I don’t think I can make him any better.”


  “As long as you can reduce his pain,” Wu Tongxing said.

  “I can probably help him with that,” Wang Yao said.

  He had Bajiaotong with him, which could reduce pain effectively.

  Wu Tongxing looked at the cup on the table while he was thinking about how to convince Wang Yao to visit his house to see his father.

  “Is there anything else?” Wang Yao asked.

  “I still want you to come to take a look at him,” Wu Tongxing said.

  “I came here to meet with a person. I’ll have to ask her first,” Wang Yao said.

  “Xiaoxue?” Wu Tongxing asked.

  “Yes,” Wang Yao said.

  “Sure,” Wu Tongxing said. He had visited Song Ruiping earlier in the day to discuss this topic. Song Ruiping promised that she would try to convince Wang Yao to see his father at home and said Su Xiaoxue wouldn’t be against it.

  After Wu Tongxing had arranged people to drive Wang Yao back to the hotel, he rang Song Ruiping to make an appointment to see her the next day.

  “Hmm, he’s selling a special favor to me?” Song Ruiping smiled after she had hung up the phone.

  “Who are you talking about?” asked Su Xianghua, who was reading a report.

  “The person your daughter fell in love with,” Song Ruiping said.

  “He’s selling you a special favor?” Su Xianghua asked.

  “Yeah, to Wu Tongxing,” Song Ruiping said.

  “Oh, Wu Tongxing. I see,” Su Xianghua said.

  “What about Wu Tongxing?” Song Ruiping asked.

  “Nothing, the burden on his shoulder is getting heavier,” Su Xianghua said.

  “Oh?” Song Ruiping asked with surprise. “Are you saying……”


  “Nothing, forget it,” Su Xianghua said.

  The next morning, it started to rain in Beijing.

  “Grandpa Wu is a very nice person. Please help him if you can,” Su Xiaoxue said when she met Wang Yao.

  “Sure, my princess,” Wang Yao said.

  Su Xiaoxue’s face turned red. It was extremely attractive.

  At the Wu home, the family had been waiting for Wang Yao. An old man was lying on the bed. The skin on his face was like the dry bark of a tree hundreds of years old. His hair was all white. His eyes were closed, and his chest went up and down mildly.

  “Hmm!” He was moaning. He frowned from time to time. It seemed that he was suffering great pain.

  “Dad, Dr. Wang is here,” Wu Tongxing said.

  “Oh!” The old man opened his eyes and glanced at Wang Yao. “Hello, young man.” His voice was very weak.

  “Please do not speak.” Wang Yao examined the old man thoroughly. His condition hadn’t changed since the last time. He had a severe problem in his lungs. The cancer had affected every part of his lungs and traveled to his liver. Even god couldn’t save him.

  “His cancer has metastasized,” Wang Yao said.

  “We know,” Wu Tongxing said.

  “I can’t do anything to make it better. I can only prolong his life and reduce his pain,” Wang Yao said.

  “That’s fine, we really appreciate it,” Wu Tongxing’s elder brother said.

  “I will brew some decoctions for your father in the Su cottage and will come back here again this afternoon,” Wang Yao said.

  “Is there anything you want us to do?” Wu Tongxing’s elder brother asked.

  “I need some herbs.” Wang Yao wrote down a list of herbs on a piece of paper. “Now, I’m going to give him acupuncture treatment to control the metastasis of the cancer.”


  Wang Yao loosened the old man’s clothes and took out the acupuncture needles he always brought with him. He started to insert needles into the old man’s body slowly but steadily. He didn’t just give him an acupuncture treatment. He also transferred some Qi into the old man’s body. Wang Yao’s Qi was very pure and powerful, which would benefit the old man a lot.

  After he had taken the needles out of the old man’s body, he patted on the old man’s chest gently and transferred more Qi into the old man’s body.

  The Qi could keep him alive, Wang Yao thought.

  He thought it made sense that a severely injured person could be saved by internal power, which protected the heart and vessels. He had read it a lot in Kung Fu novels. However, there were only a handful of people in modern society able to do what was prescribed in Kung Fu novels. At least, Wang Yao had never come across anyone else who was able to save a dying person using internal power.

  It was still raining. The trees in the cottage belonging to Su Xiaoxue’s family looked even greener after being washed by the rain.

  “Hello, Dr. Wang,” Chen Ying said.

  “I’m sorry to bother you again,” Wang Yao said.

  “Not at all,” Chen Ying said.

  “Are my tools for brewing decoctions still here?” Wang Yao asked.

  “Yes,” Chen Ying said. She quickly fetched them and set up the pot and other tools for him.

  Wang Yao required a relatively quiet environment and some tools to brew decoctions. Although he had the multifunctional pot with him all the time, he couldn’t take it out of nowhere in front of people. It was his secret.

  The raindrops hit the roof and windows, making loud sounds.

  The liquid in the pot was boiling, filling the yard with a unique smell of herbs.