“I…”
The young girl who was called turned her head, glancing nervously at Wan Yunting, and said with her head lowered, “I’m a clerk here. I just graduated and started working…”
Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai exchanged a glance. Seeing that the girl was at most twenty years old, he chuckled and asked, “Then where are you going?”
The girl named Shangguan Huier lowered her head and said, “I heard Sister Hong and the others say that the association is going to be disbanded. Some of them have been removed, and some are leaving, so I plan to leave too.”
“Who said the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association is disbanding?”
Wan Yunting looked at her and smiled, “Did you watch the National Traditional Chinese Medicine Conference this morning?”
Shangguan Huier, who had looked up, glanced at Wan Yunting timidly. Suddenly, she felt that the man in front of her looked familiar. Her expression changed in surprise, and she pointed at Wan Yunting, saying, “You… Aren’t you that guy called Wan…”
“Wan Yunting.”
Wan Yunting smiled and finished her sentence for her. He then pointed to Gu Yuanbai beside him and introduced her, “This is Elder Gu Yuanbai, and we are here to take over the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association.”
“Really?”
Shangguan Huier’s eyes widened. She had heard from a colleague yesterday that Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai had been elected as the chairman and vice-chairman of the Beijing Traditional Chinese Medicine Association. This made her happy because Wan Yunting was her idol!
Earlier, Shangguan Huier had been rushing downstairs with her head lowered and hadn’t seen Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai clearly. Now, seeing that the man in front of her was indeed him, Shangguan Huier felt excited. Her delicate face flushed slightly, and shyly, she quickly lowered her head again, not knowing what to say.
Wan Yunting, naturally unaware of the girl’s thoughts, said, “Can you take us to see the chairman’s office?”
“Oh, okay…”
Shangguan Huier, who had reacted, nodded, but she didn’t dare to look up at Wan Yunting. Nervous, she hurried upstairs, but due to her haste, she stumbled and was about to hit the stairs…
“Be careful…”
Wan Yunting, with quick hands, caught her by the waist. It was a cold day, and Shangguan Huier was bundled up like a zongzi, but Wan Yunting could still feel the softness of her slender waist. He quickly picked her up and asked, “Are you alright?”
Being held by the man, Shangguan Huier’s glasses fell off, revealing her large, beautiful peach blossom eyes. She stared blankly at Wan Yunting, completely stunned.
If Wan Yunting hadn’t called out a second time, she wouldn’t have snapped back to reality. Her face flushed red instantly, and she quickly dodged his gaze, saying nervously with her head lowered, “I… I’m fine…”
“Here, girl, your glasses…”
Gu Yuanbai bent down and picked up her glasses. Shangguan Huier quickly thanked him. Wan Yunting had already let go of her waist and was also picking up the medical documents that had scattered from her. He then handed them to her and smiled, “Let’s go, which floor?”
Receiving the documents, Shangguan Huier’s expression remained nervous and shy. Her eyes dared not meet Wan Yunting’s, and she said, “It’s on the fifth floor…”
Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai nodded and took her with them via the elevator to the fifth floor. Following Shangguan Huier’s lead, they pushed open the wooden door of an office and entered. She said, “This is the chairman’s office…”
The office was spacious and grandly decorated, with a row of bookshelves neatly filled with various medical books and ancient texts. A traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy hung on the wall, and on the wall behind the desk, there was a plaque with the four characters for “Suspended Pot to Save the World” (Xuán Hú Jì Shì).
“Heh, how ironic!”
Looking at these four characters, Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai couldn’t help but sneer.
Since the Sima family took over the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association, they had not adhered to the meaning of these four characters. To expand their Sima family’s business, they privately established the Sima Medical School and enrolled many students. However, the new generation of TCM practitioners they trained, lacking genuine knowledge, were then assigned to work in TCM hospitals across the country.
Not only that, but they also monopolized the Chinese medicinal herb market in Beijing and other regions, purchasing herbs at low prices from farmers and then selling them at high prices, disrupting the market for over a decade.
Even graduates from Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine had to pay additional fees to apply for a medical qualification certificate. Only with the Sima family’s approval could these students be assigned to work in hospitals.
This was the consequence of the Sima family’s abuse of power. At the same time, most TCM practitioners in Beijing were in league with the Sima family, doing countless wicked deeds. They not only tarnished the reputation of TCM but also made the general public increasingly distrustful of it.
Therefore, this was the work objective that Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai set out to accomplish by taking over the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association: to rectify this corrupt trend and help the public rediscover the treasure left by their ancestors.
To give people another choice, rather than just going to large hospitals when they were sick, they wanted everyone to know that TCM could also heal and save lives!
“Did someone come to pack things?”
Looking at the messy items on the desk, Wan Yunting asked.
“Yes, Assistant Zhuo came to pack this morning,” Shangguan Huier replied with a nod.
Wan Yunting nodded and smiled at her, “What’s your name?”
Shangguan Huier lowered her head, but her heart fluttered. She said timidly, “My name is Shangguan Huier.”
Wan Yunting smiled and asked, “Are you still leaving?”
Shangguan Huier paused and mustered the courage to look up at Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai, asking, “Are you really the chairman of the association?”
“Yes.”
Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai exchanged a glance, nodded, and smiled.
Shangguan Huier lowered her head and thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, “Then I’m not leaving.”
“Good.”
Wan Yunting nodded and smiled, “Although you haven’t been working here long, you understand the situation of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association better than we do. We’re holding a simple meeting this afternoon. Can you help us prepare for it?”
Shangguan Huier nodded and replied with a smile, “Then I’ll go and prepare.”
“Okay.”
Wan Yunting nodded, and he and Gu Yuanbai followed. Soon after, Xiao Renliang, Shen Tonghe, and others arrived one after another. A meeting was formally held in the office of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association, the main content of which was to form a leadership team and restore the normal operations of the association.
The meeting lasted for several hours, concluding at 7 p.m.
The meeting resolved the personnel for the leadership team. Among them, Liu Pingyi, Li Tiangui, and Xue Shanshan, masters of Chinese medicine from Beijing, became important members.
The purpose of keeping these elder experts was to assist the young chairman, Wan Yunting!
In addition to the three masters of Chinese medicine, there was also a group of local TCM practitioners from Beijing who were genuine TCM practitioners. They had always opposed the Sima family. Gu Yuanbai had come to Beijing in advance to lobby them and had organized this group.
Now that the Sima family had stepped down, their lackeys had also stepped down. Therefore, Gu Yuanbai suggested inviting this group of genuine TCM practitioners to join the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association to form the new leadership team.
As they were locals from Beijing, they were more familiar with the work here than Wan Yunting and himself, who came from the south. This would allow them to get up to speed quickly.
In addition to the elder and middle-aged members, they also needed to recruit and train the younger generation of TCM practitioners!
The future of TCM belonged to the youth. Chairman Wan Yunting, being young himself, naturally needed a group of young TCM practitioners to strive with him. Besides Beijing, they would also issue invitations to young TCM practitioners across the country.
This news soon appeared on the forums of the Huaxia TCM Network and quickly spread through the TCM circles in various regions across the country…
Since the National Traditional Chinese Medicine Conference this morning announced Wan Yunting as the chairman, TCM circles across the country had been abuzz. Some supported him, others opposed him, and all sorts of topics appeared on the Huaxia TCM Network forums.
The vast majority of people chose to support Wan Yunting!
Putting aside some aspects of his personal life, Wan Yunting’s abilities in TCM were evident. Some people felt that the election of him as chairman of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association by the Health and Family Planning Commission officially announced the departure of the older generation of TCM practitioners and the rise of the new generation!
And Wan Yunting was the leader of the new generation of TCM practitioners!
The announcement inviting the younger generation to join the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association quickly caused a huge stir. Many young people left comments below, expressing their intention to go to Beijing to join the association, to take over from the older generation, and to lead TCM towards revival and prosperity…
Wan Yunting and Gu Yuanbai went to Gu Shiren’s home with Liu Pingyi and others. The pre-prepared wine and food were for Gu Shiren’s private celebration of Wan Yunting. Everyone was in high spirits, talking passionately about the future of TCM, and drinking cup after cup. They finally dispersed at 10 p.m.
Since they were to depart for Wudang Mountain tomorrow, Wan Yunting returned to the Ouyang family. Seeing that his elder brother, elder sister-in-law, and parents were still awake, and noticing he smelled of alcohol, Xia Xiangyun went up and asked with concern, “Yu’er, why have you been drinking so much? You should take care of yourself.”
“I’m fine, this little bit of alcohol is nothing.”
Facing his biological mother calling him Yu’er, Wan Yunting had grown accustomed to it. He knew that his childhood name was Ouyang Fanyu.
“I heard from outside that Director Kong from the Health and Family Planning Commission elected you as the chairman of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association?” Ouyang Zhixin asked.
“Yes.”
Wan Yunting looked at him and smiled at his elder brother and sister-in-law, nodding, “Elder Gu is the vice-chairman.”
“Congratulations, second brother…”
Wan Dongming offered his congratulations and then asked Wan Chulin with raised eyebrows, “Third brother, will you be staying in Beijing to develop your career from now on?”
Hearing this, Ouyang Zhixin and Xia Xiangyun immediately fixed their gazes on Wan Yunting. They naturally wanted their son to stay in Beijing, but they also knew that Wan Yunting had always lived in Huadu City, where his family and friends were.
Therefore, Ouyang Zhixin and Xia Xiangyun did not speak, but conveyed their wish for Wan Yunting to stay in Beijing.
Wan Yunting nodded and said, “I will definitely stay in Beijing in the future, but I will still stay in Huadu City for a while. After I have arranged my affairs there, I can come to Beijing.”
Hearing this, Ouyang Zhixin and Xia Xiangyun were overjoyed. Wan Yunting saw the unconcealable joy on their faces and knew that his parents were happy about his return. Wan Yunting also wanted to take this opportunity to spend some time with his biological parents.