As Wan Yunting was inquiring about Sima Hongyun from Jiang Yichun and Li Chengde, his phone rang. It was Kang Nuolan calling him via WeChat. Wan Yunting thought the girl might be looking for him to test her martial arts.
"Hello…"
Wan Yunting greeted Jiang Yichun and the others before answering. To his surprise, Kang Hongwen's voice came through, "Xiao Wan, did you change your phone number? Why is my call showing as an invalid number?"
"Uncle Kang, I lost my SIM card, so I got a new one."
Wan Yunting hadn't expected Kang Hongwen to contact him through his daughter's WeChat. He asked, "What's wrong, Uncle Kang? Is there something you need me for? I was planning to come over and have a drink with you once I'm done with these two days."
"Good, good, I do have something urgent to ask of you."
Kang Hongwen, sitting in the car with his daughter Kang Nuolan, asked, "Tell me..."
Kang Hongwen said, "It's Mayor Hu. She said yesterday that her lower back was uncomfortable, and now she can't even get out of bed. So I was hoping you could come and see what's wrong. Do you have time now?"
"Is that so."
Upon hearing it was about Mayor Hu, Wan Yunting nodded and said, "Give me the address, and I'll come over now."
"Alright, the address is No. 309, Second Street, Southwest Road, Hongzheng Residential Area. Please come as soon as you can."
Kang Hongwen's voice sounded a bit urgent because he had heard from his wife, Zhou Caihong, that Hu Yaqing's condition was very serious. She was lying in bed, afraid to move, accompanied by a fever, dizziness, and body aches. If she didn't improve soon, she would have to be transferred to the hospital for treatment.
"Okay, Uncle Kang, I'm coming now."
Wan Yunting could also sense Kang Hongwen's urgency. After hanging up, he told Jiang Yichun and Li Chengde, "Old Jiang, Director Li, Mayor Hu is ill, and Manager Kang has asked me to go see her. I need to go now."
"Of course, that's urgent. You go quickly. We can talk more after you're done," Jiang Yichun and Li Chengde said, getting up.
"Yes, we'll talk later."
Wan Yunting escorted Jiang Yichun and the others out, then returned to the table, bent down to retrieve the medicine box from underneath, and opened it. He placed the set of silver needles passed down from his master into it and checked if anything was missing.
Seeing that nothing was missing, he closed the medicine box, stood up, grabbed the car keys from the table, and left. He hurried downstairs and out of the Traditional Chinese Medicine department, driving towards the address Kang Hongwen had given him, Hongzheng Residential Area…
Hongzheng Residential Area, built in the 1980s, is in the old district of Huadu City. Those who live here are not ordinary people, as it's populated by former government officials who reside here after retirement.
So, even though the elderly men playing chess in the small park might have been influential figures in their positions back in the last century…
A Mercedes-Benz slowly drove in and parked in a spot by the entrance. A strikingly conspicuous Rolls-Royce luxury car was also parked nearby. This made Kang Hongwen, who had just gotten out of his car, raise an eyebrow. How could such a luxury car appear in this kind of residential area?
Kang Nuolan followed him out. She was wearing a comfortable sports t-shirt with a small jacket, a short black cotton skirt that revealed a pair of straight, beautiful legs, and flat shoes. Her tall figure and graceful posture made her very attractive.
"Xiao Kang is here…"
A group of elderly gentlemen playing chess in the distance called out when they saw Kang Hongwen.
"Yes, Elder Lin, I've come to see Yaqing…"
Kang Hongwen immediately lowered his posture and politely smiled and greeted the elderly gentlemen in the distance. Elder Lin nodded and said, "I heard from her father that Yaqing is sick. You should go up and see her quickly. If it's not getting better, send her to the hospital immediately."
"Yes, yes, yes, we'll go up now. Elders Lin and Chen, please continue playing…"
Kang Hongwen bowed respectfully in response, then led his daughter and secretary directly towards one of the apartment buildings…
The elevator stopped on the fifth floor. Kang Hongwen and Kang Nuolan stepped out and walked towards a door on the left, then to another wooden red door adorned with a large upside-down red "Fu" character and couplets. The door looked very old but was filled with a sense of home.
Knock, knock, knock…
There was no doorbell, so he could only knock twice. A few seconds later, the door opened. A man in a suit, in his thirties, opened the door. Seeing Kang Hongwen, he smiled politely and said, "Brother Wen, you're here."
"Yes, Zhengye, you're back too?"
Seeing Hu Zhengye, who was Hu Yaqing's younger brother, Wan Yunting knew he worked at an enterprise in Beijing and had heard last year that he had become a vice president of the company.
"I returned a couple of days ago to see my parents and my sister."
Hu Zhengye smiled and immediately invited Kang Hongwen and his daughter in. In the living room, besides Hu Zhengye's father, Hu Renzhi, and mother, He Bailan, and his wife Zhou Caihong, there were two unfamiliar men who were chatting on the living room sofa.
The man wearing a gray Tang suit, about fifty years old, was nearly bald. He was portly with a slight paunch, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and his face was pockmarked, giving him a rather lecherous impression.
Beside him stood a young man, looking presentable. He held a medicinal box made of rosewood, even the lock was made of gold, extremely luxurious.
Kang Hongwen was stunned by what he saw. Hu Zhengye beside him immediately gestured slightly and introduced, "Brother Wen, this is the renowned doctor I invited to see my sister!"
"Oh."
Kang Hongwen hadn't expected Hu Zhengye to invite a doctor as well, which made him feel a bit awkward because he had already asked Wan Yunting to come.
The middle-aged man adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses with a smiling expression as he sized up Kang Hongwen. However, his lecherous gaze was fixed on Kang Nuolan beside him, who stood there expressionlessly, particularly her straight and alluring beautiful legs…
Sensing the middle-aged man's evil gaze, Kang Nuolan, usually indifferent, raised an eyebrow, finding the old man extremely repulsive.
"This is Doctor Sima Hongyun from the Sima family, a prestigious traditional Chinese medicine family in Beijing, and also the vice chairman of the National Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine."
Hu Zhengye became animated and introduced Sima Hongyun to Kang Hongwen, speaking with immense honor, "I heard today that Doctor Sima is in Huadu to attend a meeting of their TCM association, so I quickly contacted someone to invite him to see my sister."
"I see."
Kang Hongwen listened and nodded. He knew nothing about prestigious traditional Chinese medicine families in Beijing, but judging by Hu Zhengye's introduction, Sima Hongyun seemed to be no ordinary person. He politely nodded, already contemplating how to introduce Wan Yunting when he arrived.
The two parties did not know each other and merely exchanged polite nods. Kang Nuolan had already moved to her mother Zhou Caihong's side. The unwelcome gaze from the lecherous old man who kept glancing at her made her feel very disgusted and uncomfortable.
"Doctor Sima, please come in. Please see my sister first."
Sima Hongyun and his disciple Cao Ping had just arrived, so neither had entered to see Hu Yaqing yet.
"Alright."
Sima Hongyun stood up, looking amiable, and followed Hu Zhengye into a room to the right of the entrance…
Knock, knock, knock…
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Kang Hongwen was about to follow them in when he realized Wan Yunting had arrived. He quickly asked Kang Nuolan to open the door.
Indeed, the door opened, and Wan Yunting was standing at the entrance, holding his medicine box. He looked at Kang Nuolan, who was tall with long, dark hair tied in a ponytail, with a smile. Her eyes couldn't hide her joy, but her pretty face remained as calm as ever. "Teacher…"
"Yes, where's your father?"
Looking at the girl who was still so plain and unremarkable, completely like Li Shuyun, he asked.
"Xiao Wan, you're here…"
Kang Hongwen turned back to greet Wan Yunting, whom Kang Nuolan had let in. He nodded and smiled, "Uncle Kang…"