From Evil Sect Leader to Doctor

Chapter 604 - 575: Entrustment

Xu Chunliang said, "The reason they dare to claim it as their own is because we ourselves don’t value it and don’t know how to declare our sovereign rights."Zhou Renhe remarked, "I have been to South Korea. There, Korean medicine flourishes everywhere, and in the hearts of their people, Korean medicine holds a higher status than Western medicine. They believe the things that were originally taken have become part of their cultural heritage. Although what was stolen from Chinese traditional medicine is just a drop in the ocean, due to our negligence, countless secret formulas have already vanished."

Xu Chunliang said, "Rest assured, I won’t let anything happen to Huichun Hall. If this Huang Youlong dares to cause us trouble, I will make him pay a hundredfold."

Zhou Renhe pursed his lips. This young man indeed had the same fierce determination he once had. This is the legacy of blood. Although today was their first meeting, the sense of familiarity was indescribable.

Zhou Renhe said, "You are still young and have a bright future ahead of you. You must avoid making the mistakes I made back then."

In those days, he resented the Huang Family so much that he almost wiped them out. Yet, he didn’t feel any joy from revenge afterwards. To protect him, his master chose to take his own life, and his master’s wife succumbed to depression. He became the enemy in the eyes of the Xu Family. Ever since Xu Changying’s death, he lived in endless pain. Of course, he didn’t want his grandson, Xu Chunliang, to repeat the same mistakes.

Xu Chunliang laughed, "Rest assured, I know how to protect myself."

Zhou Renhe nodded with relief, "I knew I wasn’t wrong about you."

Xu Chunliang sipped some tea and said, "Sir, were you waiting for me specifically today?"

Zhou Renhe laughed, "I go to Hongxing Tea House almost every day, always wanting to talk to you but never finding the right opportunity. I didn’t expect to meet you today."

Xu Chunliang said, "I thought you had arranged to meet with Mo Han."

Zhou Renhe asked, "Mo Han?"

Xu Chunliang said, "She’s the girl who met with me at Hongxing Tea House today."

Zhou Renhe thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "I don’t know her, but she’s indeed beautiful. Is she your girlfriend?"

"She’s not my girlfriend. By the way, do you know Shi Taiping?"

Zhou Renhe replied, "I know him, the owner of the Bogu Pavilion. He interacts with my son, Yiwen, a lot."

Xu Chunliang pondered, wondering if Shi Taiping’s dragon bones came from Zhou Yiwen. Perhaps Zhou Renhe could help him find the answer. Xu Chunliang began his story from when his grandpa donated the dragon bones to the Dongzhou Museum, but he didn’t tell Zhou Renhe that the Inner Canon of Huangdi Heavenly Nurturing Chapter was on those bones. He merely emphasized the preciousness of the inscriptions on them.

After listening to his story, Zhou Renhe softly said, "Back then, Huichun Hall did indeed have two large boxes of dragon bones, which were used as medicinal materials. It was common for dragon bones to have inscriptions; no one considered them treasures."

"Two large boxes?" Xu Chunliang was shocked to find that the Old Xu Family had so many treasures.

Zhou Renhe continued, "Yes, two full large boxes. More than half were collected from the people. When we inspected Huichun Hall back then, we moved the two boxes of dragon bones to a warehouse for storage. Later, someone moved one of the large boxes away, and the dragon bones were discarded into the garbage pile behind the warehouse because the boxes were valuable, but no one wanted the bones. They even thought they were unlucky."

Xu Chunliang asked, "Where are those dragon bones now?"

Zhou Renhe answered, "I found them later and buried the dragon bones on a nearby hillside. I almost forgot about them until you mentioned it. Only one box of dragon bones was returned to Huichun Hall."

Xu Chunliang was both surprised and delighted, realizing that half of the dragon bones were buried by Zhou Renhe. It seemed the treasure was no longer out of reach.

Zhou Renhe took out paper and pen, wrote down the address, and even sketched a map from memory.

Xu Chunliang carefully stored the address. Zhou Renhe pointed to the Huichun Hall signboard and said, "This signboard was left by your great-grandfather when he practiced medicine in Jizhou. Everything inside is partly your great-grandfather’s and partly mine. It’s time to hand it over to the Old Xu Family." He handed a key to Xu Chunliang.

Xu Chunliang said, "Thank you, sir."

Zhou Renhe said, "I’m getting old and don’t have much time left. I only hope that our Old Xu Family can preserve the Huichun Hall signboard and that you younger generations can live peacefully. In the past, I might have been able to do something for the Xu Family, but now I’m powerless."

Xu Chunliang said, "If Grandpa were to know all you’ve done for the Xu Family, he would certainly forgive and forget about past grievances."

Zhou Renhe said, "I haven’t done much. In fact, it’s the Xu Family that’s been burdened by me. If it weren’t for my insistence on revenge back then, he wouldn’t have lost his father at a young age. His life hasn’t been easy either. Child, don’t forget your promise to me; what we discussed today must not be disclosed to a third party."

Xu Chunliang nodded, understanding Zhou Renhe’s well-meaning intention.

Zhou Renhe stood up and took him to a room on the west side. Along the wall were four camphorwood boxes filled with his medical insights accumulated over the years. Under his master’s tutelage, his guidance surpassed even Xu Changshan’s, but since leaving Huichun Hall, he hadn’t used Xu Family’s secret remedies to treat anyone. After founding Renhe Hall, the focus was on treating bone injuries, with secret recipes passed down from his maternal grandfather’s Zhou Family.

Zhou Renhe asked Xu Chunliang to find time to move everything here to a safe place.

In the afternoon, Xu Chunliang took the high-speed train back to Dongzhou. Upon arrival at the high-speed train station, it was raining heavily outside, and Mei Ru Xue had driven over to pick him up. Seeing Xu Chunliang carrying many local specialties, Mei Ru Xue opened the trunk to help him load the items.

"Why did you buy so many things?"

Xu Chunliang said, "Just some local specialties for the old gentleman to try." He asked Mei Ru Xue to turn around.

"What are you doing?"

Xu Chunliang took out a gold hairpin and inserted it into Mei Ru Xue’s hair bun.

Mei Ru Xue thought he had bought some imitation antique from a tourist spot in Jizhou. Annoyed that he had messed up her hairstyle, she removed the hairpin to take a look. To her surprise, the hairpin featured a meticulously carved, lifelike phoenix ready to soar. The phoenix’s eyes were inlaid with rubies, its body with turquoise, and underneath the wings, there was an inscription: Manufactured by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Mei Ru Xue, being knowledgeable and well-traveled, knew these four characters represented something crafted by the Imperial Palace. In shock, she asked, "Where did this come from?"

Xu Chunliang replied, "You don’t need to worry about that, just know it wasn’t stolen."

Mei Ru Xue said, "This is an artifact from the Imperial Palace. If you don’t explain clearly, I wouldn’t dare to keep it."

Xu Chunliang said, "It was passed down from my great-grandmother."

Mei Ru Xue asked, "Really?"

"Of course it’s true, when have I ever lied to you?"

Mei Ru Xue said, "Your Xu Family really is a prominent family."

Xu Chunliang laughed, "Meeting me is your good fortune."

Mei Ru Xue retorted, "Why isn’t it your good fortune?" She reinserted the phoenix hairpin into her hair bun, looked at herself in the mirror, and smiled, "I wouldn’t dare to walk around with such a precious thing."

Xu Chunliang looked at her with a smile and said, "Beautiful!"

Mei Ru Xue blushed and said, "Cheesy!"

Xu Chunliang’s phone rang; it was his grandpa calling, asking if he had arrived in Dongzhou. Xu Chunliang had sent the old man a message in advance. Originally, Xu Chunliang planned to have dinner alone with Mei Ru Xue in the evening, but Mei Ru Xue insisted he go home early. After all, it was important to spend time with his grandpa since he was back.

Huichun Hall had already been moved. Xu Changshan recently went to stay at the villa in Hidden Lake Villa. The best thing about living there was the peace and quiet, but it was also quite lonely. In the past, he could see neighbors just by stepping outside; now, it was rare to see anyone, as every household kept their doors shut, lacking the friendliness of neighborly interaction.

Zheng Peian had also been busy with the hospital’s construction recently, so he seldom visited.

Zhen Chun had been in Dongzhou these past couple of days, but the girl was out most of the time except for sleeping there at night. Even when she came back, she rarely chatted with the old man.

When Xu Chunliang and Mei Ru Xue arrived, the old man was sitting in front of the door watching the rain, looking somewhat expectant.

Xu Chunliang put down the local specialties, and Mei Ru Xue greeted, "Hello, Grandpa Xu."

Xu Changshan smiled and said, "Xiaoxue is here too."

Xu Chunliang said, "She picked me up from the train station, or else I’d have been caught in the rain."

Xu Changshan said, "You should’ve told me Xiaoxue was coming, I’d have prepared something delicious."

Xu Chunliang said, "What do you mean? I don’t get anything delicious when I come back?"

Xu Changshan said, "Xiaoxue is a distinguished guest."

Mei Ru Xue said, "Grandpa Xu, please don’t be so formal with me."

Xu Chunliang said, "Exactly, we’ll all be family sooner or later; there’s no need to be so distant."

Mei Ru Xue blushed again and said softly, "You two chat away. Chunliang and I just bought some braised dishes on the road; I’ll go prepare them."

Xu Chunliang said, "I brought some marinated duck and salted eggs from Weishan Lake, sorry for the trouble, Secretary Mei."

Xu Changshan laughed and said, "I love the salted duck eggs from Weishan Lake, and you talk about not being distant, yet you call her Secretary Mei."

Mei Ru Xue said, "Town Mayor Xu, you’re teasing me."

Xu Changshan laughed heartily. This old man understood everything; he watched the young couple flirt and banter and sent Xu Chunliang to lend a hand.

When Xu Chunliang entered the kitchen, he was chased out by Mei Ru Xue, who told him to chat properly with the old man, leaving dinner preparation to her.

Xu Changshan glanced towards the kitchen and said in a low voice, "When are you two getting married?"

Xu Chunliang couldn’t help but laugh, "Grandpa, you’ve just closed Huichun Hall a few days ago, and already you’re restless: ’No rush, we’re still young and are planning to focus on our careers first.’"

Xu Changshan said, "Both of you are very successful in your careers, leading others at such a young age. That said, building a career shouldn’t delay starting a family either. Take advantage of my current mobility and let me help with the kids."

Xu Chunliang laughed, "You’re really thoughtful, but I’m still like a kid myself; I haven’t even considered having children."

Xu Changshan seriously said, "Among the greatest filial pieties, having no descendants is the worst."

Xu Chunliang said, "Grandpa, you should just reopen Huichun Hall, or you’ll get bored to death; how about I find you a companion since you’re still in great health?"

"You brat, what nonsense are you talking about? Believe it or not, I’ll give you a beating!"