"Doctor Wu is right, your Tai Chi needle technique is not treating the correct symptoms!"
Wan Yunting looked at Li Yuxiu and said with a smile, "So, the old man's recovery just now was merely a phenomenon brought about by your Qi manipulation. It did not restore your left cheek, which was paralyzed, to normal."
"So that's how it is..."
The onlookers finally understood what was happening.
Liu He and Liu Yuan, Tian Xiangrong and Zhang Shunchang, among others, looked at Li Yuxiu and frowned. Could it be that she too was unable to cure Old Master Ge's paralysis?
"Actually, your use of Tai Chi needle technique is not entirely incorrect in treating the symptoms, it's just that the Qi you're circulating is not enough!" Wan Yunting said to Li Yuxiu again.
Li Yuxiu turned her head, her delicate brows furrowed, her cold phoenix eyes slanted at Wan Yunting, and she said in a chilling tone, "Then you try."
Seeing that she was still unconvinced, a smile played on Wan Yunting's lips. He stepped forward, picked up the open silver needle case on the table, and plucked out a silver needle. "Let me borrow a silver needle from you..."
Wan Yunting spun around and came to stand behind Old Master Ge. As his eyes narrowed slightly, his left hand touched the Baihui acupoint on the old man's head, while his right hand deftly inserted the silver needle with speed and precision...
As he circulated the Qi from his Dantian, guiding it through his right hand and then channeling it into Old Master Ge's Baihui acupoint via the silver needle, an invisible surge of vital energy erupted from Wan Yunting.
Li Yuxiu, standing nearby, clearly felt this powerful surge of vital energy. A circular wave of Qi spread out from Wan Yunting's feet, causing her delicate face to change slightly, and she couldn't help but exclaim in a hushed voice, "Such potent Qi...!"
As a surge of powerful vital energy was injected into the Baihui acupoint on Old Master Ge's head, the old man's entire body trembled. The paralyzed side of his face twitched, gradually revealing an expression of pain. Even his dim old eyes widened, and his violently trembling lips let out a pained cry...
"Dad..."
Ge Shuheng, standing beside him, saw his father writhing in pain and crying out, and he became flustered and scared. He raised his voice and shouted at Wan Yunting, "What did you do to my dad?"
Wan Yunting's eyes narrowed slightly, his right hand's two fingers holding the silver needle and slowly rotating it. With his robust internal Qi, he continued to infuse it into Old Master Ge's Baihui acupoint. Beneath his skin, one could even see his meridians expanding under the surge of Qi, wriggling like earthworms. The powerful vital energy circulated throughout his body, constantly unblocking the clogged blood vessels and meridians of Old Master Ge's paralyzed half.
"Don't be nervous, he is using his Qi to unblock your father's clogged blood vessels and meridians!"
Witnessing such an astonishing scene, Li Yuxiu couldn't help but raise her hand to stop the flustered and frightened Ge Shuheng.
At this moment, her phoenix eyes were filled with surprise as she stared intently at Wan Yunting, who was continuously infusing the old man with potent internal Qi. Her heart was filled with shock, it was hard to imagine that such a young man could possess such profound internal Qi.
Hearing this, Ge Shuheng stopped his frantic exclamations. Liu He and Liu Yuan, Xue Xialan and Li Tianyi, Tian Xiangrong and Zhang Shunchang, along with Xue Tonghua, all widened their eyes, watching Wan Yunting, who was fully focused.
Wu Shengbai frowned. He too clearly felt the powerful surge of vital energy erupting from Wan Yunting and couldn't help but marvel, "As expected of the martial world's legendary prodigy, rarely seen in a millennium. At such a young age, he possesses such profound internal Qi. His needle technique can enhance its efficacy by more than several times."
Wu Suxin, standing beside him, looked at Wan Yunting with increasingly bright eyes and said with a smile, "It seems Yuxiu jie is going to lose!"
In just three minutes, Old Master Ge suddenly coughed violently, gasping for breath. His frail body trembled incessantly, especially his paralyzed left hand and left foot, which were also twitching and trembling uncontrollably...
In particular, the paralyzed and stiff left side of his face, which had been askew, returned to its normal position. Even his dim old eyes now held a spark of spirit, and he seemed to have regained some consciousness.
Wan Yunting then withdrew the silver needle from his Baihui acupoint and exhaled softly. Ge Shuheng, looking at his coughing father, anxiously called out softly, "Dad, Dad, how are you feeling? Is anything uncomfortable?"
"Cough..."
The old man coughed violently twice, raised his trembling left hand to wave it, and shook his head. His voice was weak and trembling as he said, "I... I'm fine..."
"Heavens, the old man is speaking!"
"Holy cow, it's miraculous, this old man has actually regained his senses..."
The onlookers, seeing Old Master Ge regain his senses and speak, and his paralyzed left hand now able to move and gesture, couldn't help but exclaim in unison.
Li Yuxiu's expression froze, and a hint of undisguised surprise flickered in her dazed phoenix eyes.
However, Liu He and Liu Yuan, Tian Xiangrong and Zhang Shunchang, and Xue Tonghua behind her wore increasingly solemn expressions, rendered speechless.
"Here."
Wan Yunting handed the silver needle in his hand to Xiao Min, his assistant, who stood beside Li Yuxiu and had been staring in a daze. She snapped back to reality and quickly took the silver needle from Wan Yunting, returning it to the needle case...
Li Yuxiu's delicate brows furrowed. Although her calm phoenix eyes were still fixed on Wan Yunting, her heart was already shaken by this man's profound internal Qi and his technique of resolving all ailments with a single needle.
"How about it, do you want to continue?"
Wan Yunting looked at the expressionless Li Yuxiu and smiled.
Qi Miaomiao, standing behind him, nodded. Her proud apricot eyes looked at Li Yuxiu and Liu He and the others, and she said smugly, "Now you know how amazing my Yunting ge is, right?"
The onlookers exchanged glances. Tian Xiangrong and Zhang Shunchang, Xue Tonghua and Liu Yuan, among others, had solemn expressions and remained silent.
Liu He, standing behind Li Yuxiu, smiled and said, "Brother Wan, you truly are a martial prodigy. Your internal Qi needle technique is truly admirable. However, about the bet between you and Sister Yuxiu, why don't we just let it go? We are all..."
"Hey, that won't do!"
Wan Yunting interrupted Liu He with a raised hand, glancing at him dismissively before turning his playful gaze to Li Yuxiu. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he said, "My clinic is in need of someone to serve tea and pour water. Since the bet has been made, you can't be a sore loser, can you?"
These words immediately enraged Li Tianyi. He stepped forward, glared at Wan Yunting, and said, "Wan Yunting, what do you mean? Are you really going to make my sister work for you, serving tea and water?"
"That's right..."
The surrounding onlookers from the clinic chimed in, all feeling that Wan Yunting had gone too far.
Zhang Shunchang, holding his feather fan, also said with a smile, "Doctor Wan, Yuxiu is the daughter of Elder Li. We are all from Heping Street, and we will have to see each other often in the future. Why don't we just let it go?"
"Exactly."
Tian Xiangrong also chimed in with a smile, saying to Wan Yunting, "We are all colleagues, and it was just a joke with the bet. There's no need to be so serious about it, lest it damage our harmony."
"Indeed..."
Liu He and Xue Xialan, Liu Yuan and Xue Tonghua, and others all echoed in agreement. It seemed as if Wan Yunting was the one in the wrong.
Faced with their repeated pleas for Wan Yunting to be magnanimous and let it go, their ugly expressions caused Gu Yuanbai and Gu Luotang's faces to slightly darken. Du Hua and Wang Zhuyu, Mo Yaolin and Huang Fuxiang, among others, were all filled with anger. They were the ones who had come to cause trouble first, and now that Li Yuxiu had lost the bet, they were trying to persuade Wan Yunting to be magnanimous. What kind of logic was that?
"What are you all doing here?"
At this moment, Li Tiangui, dressed in a Tang suit, and Xue Dongshan walked in from outside. Everyone immediately made way for these two national master physicians to enter. Tian Xiangrong and Zhang Shunchang, Wu Shengbai and Wu Suxin, Liu Yuan and Liu He, and others all greeted them, "Elder Li, Elder Xue, why have you come..."
"Elder Li, Elder Xue..."
Gu Yuanbai and Gu Luotang, as well as Wan Yunting, greeted the two national master physicians politely with smiles upon their arrival.
Xue Dongshan, with a benevolent smile on his face, said to Wan Yunting, "Little Wan, I've heard for a long time that you've opened a clinic here. We've wanted to visit for quite some time."
"Yes."
Li Tiangui, not yet aware of the situation, pointed at Wan Yunting and smiled, "But you're quite something. You opened your clinic on Heping Street, why didn't you tell us earlier? We missed the chance to attend your clinic's opening."
Wan Yunting quickly clasped his fists in apology and said with a smile, "Elder Li, Elder Xue, you are right. It was my oversight. I hope the two elders can forgive me."
"Dad, he wants my sister to serve tea and water for him for a month!"
Li Tianyi immediately went up, hugging Li Tiangui's arm, and pointed at Wan Yunting indignantly, saying, "He's really gone too far."
"Hmm, what's going on?"
These words caused Li Tiangui and Xue Dongshan's faces to become confused, as they didn't know what was happening.
"It's like this..."
So, Li Tianyi recounted the entire incident to the two elders. Li Tiangui and Xue Dongshan's faces revealed surprise, and their eyes turned to their eldest daughter, Li Yuxiu, unexpectedly finding out that she had lost a bet with Wan Yunting.
It was important to note that their eldest daughter had always been Li Tiangui's pride. Not only was her medical skill outstanding, inheriting the Li family's medical lineage, but she had also expanded Guishen Tang overseas, establishing Guishen Tang clinics and medical schools in over a dozen countries, and had trained thousands of foreign students.
Li Tiangui himself admitted to being inferior to his eldest daughter in medical skill, but he never expected her to lose a bet with Wan Yunting.
Seeing Li Tiangui's face slightly darken, Wan Yunting smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Elder Li, please don't take it seriously. It was just a joke. How can I possibly have your esteemed daughter call me master and work in my clinic?"
Hearing this, Li Tiangui felt a sense of relief. If his eldest daughter were to admit defeat and call him master, and then work for him at Xiuyuan Tang serving tea and water, where would Li Tiangui's old face be?
The main reason Wan Yunting said this was because he didn't want to strain the relationship with these people too much. After all, Gu Yuanbai was still the chairman of the Chinese Medicine Association. If their relationship became completely estranged now, he worried that Liu He and the others might act against Elder Gu.
Therefore, he couldn't afford to completely antagonize these people for the time being.
"If that's the case, then..."
"I am willing to admit defeat as per the wager!"
However, Li Yuxiu, who had been silent until now, with her calm and collected face and intelligent phoenix eyes fixed on Wan Yunting, said very calmly, "Since the bet was to stay and work at your clinic for a month, I will naturally honor the wager."
As soon as she said this, everyone present erupted. Tian Xiangrong and Zhang Shunchang, Liu He and Liu Yuan, Li Tiangui and Xue Dongshan, and others stared blankly at Li Yuxiu. Was she really going to be relegated to doing odd jobs at Wan Yunting's Xiuyuan Tang for a month?
Wan Yunting looked at Li Yuxiu and smiled, "Miss Li, there's no need for that. Let's just consider it a joke, you don't need to take it seriously."
"I'm not joking with you."
Li Yuxiu's attitude was very firm, because she was someone who could accept defeat. Once her words were spoken, they were like spilled water, irreversible.
"Yuxiu..."
Li Tiangui, who had just reacted, looked anxious, but Li Yuxiu turned to her father and said calmly, "Dad, I will win back the reputation I have lost for you."
"No..."
Seeing Li Yuxiu finish speaking and turn to leave, Li Tiangui became anxious and quickly followed her out...
"Dad, sis..."
Li Tianyi and the others only reacted now, looking at Li Yuxiu and Li Tiangui, father and daughter, who had already left. The people present at the scene exchanged glances, unsure of what to say.
Tian Xiangrong and Zhang Shunchang, Liu Yuan and Xue Tonghua, and Liu He and Xue Xialan all wore extremely awkward and unnatural expressions, not expecting things to have escalated to this point.
Seeing Li Yuxiu and her father leave, Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai exchanged a look and smiled without saying anything. Seeing Liu He and Tian Xiangrong still there, Wan Yunting said, "Why don't you all come upstairs for a cup of tea?"
Tian Xiangrong and Zhang Shunchang, Xue Tonghua, and others smiled awkwardly and shook their heads, "No, it's getting late, we have to get back to our clinics."
Liu He clasped his fists and said with a smile, "There are still matters at the association, we'll be heading back too..."
In an instant, the people from the clinics, like startled flies, instantly left the clinic and ran out. Only Wu Shengbai and Wu Suxin, along with the father and son Ge, remained in the clinic.
Wan Yunting smiled and paid no further attention to those people. He said to Ge Shuheng with a smile, "Come, help the old man upstairs. I will give him a full acupuncture treatment."
"Of course... of course..."
Ge Shuheng was excited. Seeing his father, who had regained some consciousness and recognized him, he knew that this young doctor could definitely cure his father's illness...