"Yes."
Gu Yuanbai, Gu Shiren, Gu Sinuo, and Gu Zichen looked at Wan Yunting with surprise as he reacted to the mention of the Ouyang family. "Little Wan, do you have any dealings with the Ouyang family?"
Recovering himself, Wan Yunting quickly took a sip of tea and swallowed before waving his hand and putting down the teacup. "I don't have any dealings with the Ouyang family, I've only heard of them."
Gu Yuanbai nodded at this and said, "You just arrived in the capital today. Let's go see that patient tomorrow."
"Okay."
Wan Yunting nodded, but he was very surprised. He hadn't expected the patient with the "stinky fish disease" that Gu Yuanbai mentioned to be from the Ouyang family. If that were the case, wouldn't he be able to get in touch with Ouyang Liqun when he went to the Ouyang family tomorrow?
After all, they suspected that Ouyang Liqun might be the mastermind behind the "Dragon Riders" drug trafficking group!
Just then, three elders in thick cotton coats arrived, led by the butler. Wan Yunting turned his head and immediately recognized them as the three national medical masters, Xue Dongshan, Liu Pingyi, and Li Tiangui. He immediately stood up with Gu Yuanbai and Gu Sinuo and Gu Zichen. Gu Yuanbai spoke first, "Elders Xue, Liu, and Li, you're here. Please sit down..."
As two servants brought over two chairs, Gu Zichen instinctively stood up and offered his chair to Li Tiangui. Xue Dongshan and Liu Pingyi also greeted Gu Shiren, who remained seated. The three national medical masters then turned their gaze to Wan Yunting, who was standing beside Gu Yuanbai. Liu Pingyi smiled, "This must be Wan Yunting, right?"
Wan Yunting bowed and cupped his hands, smiling politely at the three elder TCM physicians. "Hello, Elder Xue, Elder Liu, and Elder Li."
"No need for formalities."
Xue Dongshan waved his hand and smiled. "We've heard your name for a long time. Your Lingnan Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine published a paper and treatment experience on palmoplantar keratoderma at our TCM forum last time. Excellent, you are young and promising."
"Yes."
Li Tiangui also smiled. "Gu Yuanbai appointing you as the Vice Chairman of the Lingnan Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine shows you have extraordinary abilities. Let's skip the pleasantries and have a seat."
Wan Yunting smiled and nodded, sitting down with Gu Yuanbai. Gu Sinuo, sitting beside them, silently began washing teacups and pouring tea for the three elders.
Li Tiangui looked at Gu Yuanbai and said, "The National Conference of Traditional Chinese Medicine is in a few days. Sima Boyong invited you to attend, and it's probably not that simple."
"Yes."
Liu Pingyi nodded and asked, "Yuanbai, do you have a strategy?"
Wan Yunting glanced at Gu Yuanbai beside him, and Gu Sinuo, who was pouring tea, also looked over.
Gu Yuanbai shook his head slightly and sighed, "To be honest, I don't!"
Xue Dongshan, Liu Pingyi, and Li Tiangui raised their eyebrows slightly, and everyone's gaze shifted to Gu Shiren in the middle. He also sighed slightly. "The Sima family's influence in the capital is deeply rooted and difficult to shake. Everything we've done recently, those people ultimately benefited from Sima Boyong, so our efforts are in vain."
"Alas..."
Xue Dongshan and Liu Pingyi also nodded and sighed.
They had originally thought that by personally confronting Sima Boyong last time, they could force the Sima family to step down and relinquish the chairmanship of the Beijing TCM Association, taking advantage of his egregious act of murdering his brother to seize the position of abbot at Wuliang Monastery. However, Sima Boyong had brought out the Kong family!
Since arriving in the capital, Gu Yuanbai had visited many renowned peers in Beijing, hoping to rally them to his cause.
However, in Beijing's TCM circle, everyone basically knew that Gu Yuanbai had established the Lingnan Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine with the goal of overthrowing the Sima family and having the Lingnan Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine replace the Beijing TCM Association!
But Gu Yuanbai's thinking was too simple. Some of his peers in Beijing's TCM circle, as well as those from other regions, were already in league with the Sima family, colluding with them and benefiting greatly.
Now, if someone suddenly came and asked them to give up these benefits and stand up to overthrow the Sima family, how could that be possible?
Of course, besides those who were colluding with the Sima family, there were still clear-headed individuals in Beijing who safeguarded the future of TCM. Coupled with the support of the four national medical masters Gu Shiren, Xue Dongshan, Li Tiangui, and Liu Pingyi, they had managed to rally a faction.
"What we've managed to gather is far from enough!"
Li Tiangui frowned, his gaze sweeping over Gu Shiren, Xue Dongshan, and Gu Yuanbai. "To put it simply, it's all because of the Kong family!"
"The Kong family..."
Mentioning the Kong family, one of the five major families in the capital, they were undoubtedly the foremost among them.
The Kong family was a true noble lineage. The head of the Kong family, Kong Guoyuan, was a prominent figure in the central government of Beijing!
Members of the Kong family primarily developed their careers in politics. The Ouyang and Xia families, on the other hand, mostly focused on the business sector.
Although the Ouyang and Xia families also aspired to nurture talent within their families for political careers, they couldn't even dream of it without the backing of the Kong family.
This was why the Kong family was the head of the five major families in the capital.
The reason the Kong family was brought up was that the director of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission was from the Kong family!
And Sima Boyong had been trying in every way to build good relations with the Kong family. When Sima Wentang was able to inherit his position and become the chairman of the Beijing TCM Association, it was actually due to the Kong family's intervention, hence no one objected.
"So, to bring down the Sima family, it's actually very simple; all it takes is for the Kong family to speak up!" Li Tiangui said.
Gu Shiren shook his head and sighed, "The Kong family is such a distinguished family, how could we possibly influence them? The reason Sima Boyong has a good relationship with the Kong family is due to his connection with the previous generation's head of the Kong family!"
"Yes."
Liu Pingyi nodded, but they hadn't been able to get in touch with the Kong family, which made the matter so difficult.
"I do know a member of the Kong family named Kong Xuefeng!" Wan Yunting said suddenly.
"Kong Xuefeng, I know him."
Gu Zichen waved his hand. "He's just Kong Jinshan's son. I heard he's developing his career in the United States now. Among the younger generation of the Kong family, he's considered ordinary and has no real influence."
Li Tiangui said, "The most important one is Kong Jingguo; he's the director of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission!"
"Alright."
Wan Yunting could only smile and say nothing more.
Gu Shiren waved his hand. "Originally, we planned to use the National Conference of Traditional Chinese Medicine to propose that Sima Wentang voluntarily resign his position as chairman of the Beijing TCM Association. However, we haven't gathered enough support. Therefore, we might be quite passive at this conference. Yuanbai, you both need to be mentally prepared."
Hearing this, Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai exchanged a glance and nodded. "Yes, for now, we can only take it one step at a time and see how the Sima family makes their statement at the conference."
To be frank, the Sima family intended to use the National Conference of Traditional Chinese Medicine to make things difficult for Gu Yuanbai and Wan Yunting, proposing the dissolution of the Lingnan Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine!
Gu Yuanbai and Wan Yunting had already prepared for this by agreeing to attend the National Conference of Traditional Chinese Medicine. They would first observe the Sima family's stance before formulating their response.
"Don't worry, the Sima family won't make things too difficult. After all, your Lingnan Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine has achieved results during this period, which is evident to everyone. If the Sima family dares to pressure you at the National Conference of Traditional Chinese Medicine, then they will have made a mistake," Xue Dongshan said with a smile, turning to Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai.
Gu Yuanbai nodded. After a while of casual conversation, it was six o'clock. Gu Shiren had already prepared dinner at home and specially invited Wan Yunting.
"Sinou, first take Little Wan to get settled, then come over for dinner," Gu Shiren instructed his granddaughter, Gu Sinou. She nodded and stood up, glancing at Wan Yunting. He also quickly stood up and said with a smile, "Elder Gu, Elder Xue, please be seated. I'm going."
"Go on then..."
Li Tiangui and Liu Pingyi smiled, and Wan Yunting left the pavilion with Gu Sinou, who led him to the guest rooms in the West Courtyard where Gu Yuanbai was staying.
Since Wan Yunting was new to the city, it was not practical for him to stay at a hotel. Gu Shiren had him stay in the guest rooms in the courtyard along with Gu Yuanbai, so they could look out for each other.
Gu Sinou walked ahead, and Wan Yunting followed behind, carrying his own luggage. She silently led him into the west courtyard and pointed to a room, saying, "That's Mr. Gu and Mr. Lu's room. This one is empty, so you can stay here."
As Gu Sinou lifted the curtain and pushed open the door, she turned back and held the curtain for Wan Yunting as he entered. He smiled and thanked her. He looked around the room; the furniture was antique, and the decorations and bookshelves exuded charm. There was a large wooden bed and a wardrobe, and in the center of the room, a round wooden table with three wooden stools, on which sat a tea set.
Gu Sinou pointed to the electric kettle on a table by the wall. "That's the electric kettle; it's already been cleaned. There's a faucet outside the courtyard where you can get water to boil it. Inside is the bathroom, and the room has heating, so you don't need a stove. If you need anything else, you can tell me now."
Wan Yunting placed his luggage by the bed and turned to Gu Sinou with a smile. "It's great, I don't need anything else. Thank you."
Gu Sinou nodded slightly and said, "Then tidy up, and I'll take you to dinner."
"No need to tidy up, let's go now," Wan Yunting said with a smile.
Gu Sinou nodded and said nothing more. She turned to go outside. Wan Yunting stepped forward and lifted the curtain for her. Gu Sinou's expression changed slightly, and she glanced at him without speaking before going out. Wan Yunting followed closely, turning to close the door and lower the curtain before following Gu Sinou out. This time, they walked side by side.
Since they had only just met, Wan Yunting didn't know what topic to bring up.
Gu Sinou gave off a quiet and elegant impression, and she was likely a woman of few words. After leading Wan Yunting for a while, she finally spoke first, "I watched the video of you participating in the Lanting Award calligraphy competition. Your cursive script is very good, and I like it very much!"
Wan Yunting's expression froze. He was surprised by Gu Sinou's praise for his calligraphy, and he nodded and smiled, saying, "Do you also like calligraphy?"
"Those who practice medicine also enjoy studying it."
Gu Sinou looked straight ahead. Her voice was soft and melodious, very pleasant to hear. "I wonder if there will be an opportunity to ask you for advice on calligraphy techniques and experience?"
Wan Yunting turned to look at her, nodded, and smiled. "I dare not accept your request for advice, but we can exchange ideas. How about this, after dinner, if we have time, we can exchange ideas?"
"Okay."
Gu Sinou still didn't look at him, nodded slightly, and then fell silent, silently leading him towards the dining room.