Sima Wentang's fury not only startled Weng Dehai on the other end but also shocked his assistant, Wen Wei, who had never seen the chairman fly into such a rage.
"Who gave Gu Yuanbai the nerve to want to establish his own faction and set up an association?"
Sima Wentang stood up angrily, roaring into the phone at Weng Dehai.
Due to the incident involving Sima Hongyun in the past two days, he had been harboring a great deal of anger. Now, upon hearing that Gu Yuanbai intended to form his own faction and rebel, it instantly ignited and exploded the fury within him.
"Chairman Wentang, please calm down..."
Weng Dehai, having recovered his senses, quickly said, "This matter is true. I implore you to make a decision on what to do as soon as possible. We absolutely cannot allow Gu Yuanbai to re-establish the association."
"This truly infuriates me."
Sima Wentang on the other end was so angry that he was pacing incessantly, his stern face filled with rage. He then said, "I will call Gu Yuanbai now. I want to ask him exactly what is going on."
"Alright, alright..."
Weng Dehai quickly agreed. He wanted to say more, but Sima Wentang had already hung up the phone and directly dialed Gu Yuanbai's number...
Gu Yuanbai, who had returned home, was having dinner with his granddaughter Gu Luotang and his female disciple Qi Miaomiao, along with his eldest disciple Lu Zijin and the old housekeeper. When the phone on the table beside him rang, the old housekeeper got up, retrieved the phone, and handed it to Gu Yuanbai. Upon seeing that the caller was Sima Wentang, he hesitated!
Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao, sitting beside him dressed in ancient-style attire, looked at their grandfather's furrowed and solemn expression and couldn't help but ask, "Grandfather, who is it?"
"It's nothing. You all continue eating. I'm going out to take a call."
Gu Yuanbai regained his composure, leaving them with that remark before getting up and leaving. Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao were stunned and quickly asked the old housekeeper, "Grandpa Hong, whose call is it?"
The old housekeeper, named Lu Hong, had returned home to his village some time ago and had only recently returned. He glanced at Gu Yuanbai who had gone out and whispered to Gu Luotang and the others, "It's Sima Wentang!"
"Ah..."
Upon hearing it was Sima Wentang, the chairman of the National Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao were surprised. They exchanged glances, unable to help but worry about their grandfather.
"Chairman Wentang, have you had dinner?"
After adjusting his tone, Gu Yuanbai answered Sima Wentang's call with a smile and asked how he was.
"President Gu, why did you take so long to answer?"
Sima Wentang, in his office, had a grim expression at this moment, but he had already calmed down.
"Hehe, I was just having dinner..."
"Heh, I think you're just guilty and uneasy!"
Sima Wentang's sharp and intelligent eyes narrowed. He stopped wasting time with Gu Yuanbai and got straight to the point, "I heard from people below that you, Gu Yuanbai, are planning to establish your own faction and re-create the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association of Lingnan Province. Is this true?"
Gu Yuanbai knew that Sima Wentang's sudden call tonight was definitely about this matter.
"I didn't expect the news to travel to the capital so quickly..."
Gu Yuanbai did not show the slightest sign of nervousness despite Sima Wentang's questioning. Instead, he calmly and openly smiled and said, "That's right. I was also planning to find a suitable opportunity to tell you about this. I didn't expect you to receive the news so quickly. It must have been Weng Dehai who told you!"
"Hmph, no matter who it was, if you, Gu Yuanbai, have done this, you are violating the rules."
Sima Wentang coldly reprimanded, "You should know what consequences you will face for doing this!"
"Alas..."
However, Gu Yuanbai sighed with a smile and said, "Wentang, I am old. I only want to do something for the future of our Traditional Chinese Medicine..."
"Haven't my Sima family done so much over the decades, also for the future of Traditional Chinese Medicine?" Sima Wentang interrupted Gu Yuanbai and asked sternly.
Gu Yuanbai stood by his lotus pond at home, watching a school of carp swimming freely and feeding in the water. His old face was solemn as he said, "Wentang, the direction your Sima family is developing has gone astray!"
"You must understand yourself that if your Sima family continues to develop like this, within twenty years, Traditional Chinese Medicine nationwide will be completely eliminated!"
"Heh, hehe..."
These words made Sima Wentang on the other end laugh coldly while sitting in his chair. "Gu Yuanbai, it seems you are truly old. I can tell you clearly that my Sima family will not let Traditional Chinese Medicine disappear."
"What is the point of that!"
Gu Yuanbai's old eyes were sharp. Since the matter was out in the open, he might as well say a few more words. "Your Sima family controls the Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the internal corruption has reached a point where it cannot be cured. Must we really rely on your Sima family to revive and promote our Traditional Chinese Medicine?"
"Do you, Sima Wentang, dare to guarantee it!"
This sentence seemed to have struck a chord with Sima Wentang, making him sit rigidly in his chair, stunned for a full fifteen seconds before he regained his senses and said coldly, "Old Gu, I just want to ask one thing: are you really going to do it?"
"Yes."
Gu Yuanbai on the other end replied with a firm tone, solemnly saying, "I don't care what connections your Sima family uses to pressure me, but I must re-establish our own Lingnan Province Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine!"
"Fine, this is your choice, Gu Yuanbai. Then don't blame me, Sima Wentang, for disregarding our past relationship."
Angrily, Sima Wentang hung up and immediately threw his phone violently onto the floor, startling his assistant Zhuo Wenwei. He quickly picked up the smashed phone and looked at the furious Sima Wentang. He then shouted, "Go, invite Elder Gu here. I don't believe Gu Yuanbai dares to defy Elder Gu!"
"Yes..."
Zhuo Wenwei turned and quickly went out to dispatch someone to pick up Gu Shiren!
Meanwhile, on the other side, Gu Yuanbai put down his phone, his old brows furrowed, as if he had guessed something...
"Grandfather, are you alright?"
Gu Luotang had finished her meal and walked out, looking at Gu Yuanbai with concern. He turned back and smiled faintly at his granddaughter, shaking his head, "It's nothing. He, Sima Wentang, is just coming to question me."
Gu Luotang's eyebrows slightly furrowed, and she asked, "Grandfather, are we really going to create an Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine?"
"Mm."
Gu Yuanbai nodded and said seriously, "Luotang, for the future of Traditional Chinese Medicine, we must establish our own association. Moreover, this afternoon I went to the Southern School of Traditional Chinese Medicine to meet with Little Wan and Elder Jiang. Tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock, we will hold a meeting in the conference room of the association building to discuss the matter of establishing the association."
"And I have already decided to appoint Wan Yunting as the Vice Chairman of our newly established association!"
"Appoint him as Vice Chairman."
Gu Luotang was surprised. Gu Yuanbai chuckled, "What, you're not satisfied?"
"No..."
Gu Luotang repeatedly shook her head and waved her hands. Perhaps it was due to inner excitement that her expression was somewhat unnatural. She said, "I greatly admire Doctor Wan's medical skills. It would be wonderful if he were to become the Vice Chairman of our newly established association."
How could Gu Yuanbai not see his granddaughter's little thoughts? He smiled, "What I value in him is his character. The future will depend on your generation of young people. I believe Wan Yunting is a good candidate!"
Gu Luotang could not suppress her inner excitement and nodded heavily with a smile, "I believe Grandfather has good judgment of people..."
She added silently in her heart: I have good judgment of people too!