Chapter 3: The Son Descends the Mountain

  "You're really something, are you trying to cheat me or trick me?"

  Xu watched as the car sped away, still shouting loudly towards the sky. Going down the mountain was no big deal for him, but he had not expected to have to ask his master for money. From Northeast China to Beijing was over a thousand kilometers, so did that mean he really had to walk back?

  He had just gotten on the bus in high spirits, but when the conductor checked his ticket, he was directly kicked off the bus. How embarrassing! The esteemed and authentic master of the mysterious school was actually mistaken for a freeloader!

  Not to mention the identity of the orthodox sect's master, even if we just talk about Xu Yi's family, they are a small but well-known family in Beijing. The old man of the Xu family is Xu Haoyang, a famous anti-war general who emerged from the mountains and seas of corpses and blood.

  Xu Yizheng is the legitimate grandson of this old master Xu.

  "Brother, what's going on?"

  A middle-aged man wearing a jacket walked up to Xu Yi's side, his eyes inadvertently sweeping over a middle-aged man in a suit who was waiting for the bus. Although he was talking to Xu Yi, his attention was all on the suited man.

  "Big brother, I forgot to bring money when I went out and was just kicked off the bus by the ticket seller."

  Xu's face revealed a hint of bitter smile as he smiled and took over the middle-aged man's cigarette, "Big brother, where are you going?"

  "Going on a business trip."

  He pulled out a lighter from his jacket pocket and handed it to Xu Yi, then looked up again at the man in the suit who was not far away. His face suddenly showed a hint of anxiety, and that man in the suit had disappeared in an instant.

  Xu Yi had seen the expression on the jacket, having lived in Changbai Mountain for twenty years. Sometimes, in order to catch a wild rabbit in the snowy ground, he would lie in wait for an entire morning. As such, observing expressions and colors had become his instinct.

  "Hey big brother, have you had a poor appetite for the past two days and can't eat?"

  Xu Yi stuffed the cigarette into his mouth and took a puff, his eyes scanning the features of the jacket. "No matter how tired I am, I feel like I can eat an entire cow, but as soon as I pick up my rice bowl, I don't have any appetite?"

  "Huh, how did you know?" The jacket wearer was taken aback, speaking while turning his head to look around, and suddenly discovered that the suit man was buying cigarettes at the cigarette stall, feeling a little relieved, turned back to look at Xu Yi, "Are you a doctor?"

  "I just know a little about traditional Chinese medicine." Xu smiled and said, "This is caused by your long-term irregular lifestyle. Just get a few acupuncture treatments and I'll prescribe some medicine for you to take to eliminate the root of the disease."

  "Oh, so it turns out that brother is still a master of the medical field?" The jacket chuckled and caught a glimpse of the man in the suit getting on a minibus with the corner of his eye. He felt a stir in his heart and pulled Xu Yi's hand to get on the bus, "Let's go, after we get on the bus, I'll take your pulse for brother."

  "Big brother, my name is Xu Yi, a word from me is like a promise. You know I don't have any money on me, but once I get back to my home in the capital, I'll definitely pay you back. If not, can I borrow your phone for a bit?" Xu Yi said with a smile, damn it, one cent can bring down a heroic Han.

  "It's okay, get on, get on."

  Jacket smiled and rushed onto the bus.

  After getting on the bus, Xu Yi found that the suit man he had been paying attention to was sitting in the seat close to the aisle opposite the car door, but the inside seat was empty.

  "Brother, you go in, I'll sit outside." The jacket pushed Xu into the window seat and sat down himself. The man in the suit was diagonally across from him, no need to pay special attention to him, or it might have the opposite effect. Now this guy who came out without bringing any money could be useful.

  "Little brother, you just said you would take my pulse."

  Jacket chuckled and handed a cigarette to Xu Yi, "By the way, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Zhao Yong."

  "Zhao Ge, left hand."

  Xu Yi let out a chuckle, lit a cigarette and took a puff, his right hand suddenly grasping Zhao Yong's right hand, his fingers pressing against his pulse. Zhao Yong's heart skipped a beat as he stared at Xu Yi, who had grabbed his hand with ease, despite his own desperate struggle to resist just moments before.

  "Zhao Ge, your stomach problem has been going on for some years now."

  Xu smiled and let go of his hand, taking a closer look at Zhao Yong. His forehead was dark in complexion. "You need to find some time to rest and take care of your body. I'll teach you a method that's easy to do and can also alleviate your stomach problems."

  "What's to be done?"

  Zhao Yong was taken aback, his stomach problem had indeed been going on for some years, and among those in their line of work, how many didn't have stomach problems? Hearing that there was a way to alleviate the symptoms, he immediately became interested.

  "When you have nothing to do, use your fist to gently tap the outer side of your palm on the Zusanli point, pay attention to have elasticity, don't use force, each time tap for about 10 minutes, persist for half a month and you can see the effect."

  Hehe smiled and pulled up his pants, pointing to the depression on his knee, "The Zusanli is just below here, measuring down four transverse finger widths."

  "Oh, so this is it, I remember now."

  Zhao Yonghe smiled and found a position with his right hand clenched into a fist, lightly tapping it. "Xu Yi, take a look if the position is correct?"

  "That's right, it's there, knock on it during your free time, and you'll see results in half a month."

  Nodding slightly, he stretched out his hand and pointed at Zhao Yong's phone hanging from his waist. "Brother Zhao, can I borrow your phone for a moment?"

  "No problem."

  Zhao Yong handed his mobile phone to Xu Yi.

  "I've bought tickets. The bus is about to depart." A middle-aged woman walked over with a handful of change, and Zhao Yong took out his wallet to buy two bus tickets.

  Xu picked up the phone with a trembling hand and dialed a number from memory, listening to the "beep, beep, beep" sound on the other end of the line, his face tense as he stared out the window, afraid that there would suddenly be no answer.

  Changqiu City, as the provincial capital of Liaohe Province, also has the best infrastructure construction in the province, especially the section where Shuguang Road is located, which is the most prosperous area in Changqiu City.

  Liaohesheng Provincial Committee is located at No. 99 Shuguang Road, Changqiu City.

  The Provincial Committee Building No. 1 is the office building used by the main leaders of the Provincial Committee, and it is also the place where the Provincial Committee holds its Standing Committee meetings. The Secretary of the Provincial Committee, the full-time Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Committee, and the Secretary-General of the Provincial Committee all work in Building No. 1.

  Generally speaking, the office environment of the Provincial Party Committee's No. 1 Office Building is very quiet, leaders like quietness and dislike hearing loud noises, so people working in No. 1 building walk without making a sound one by one.

  However, this afternoon's Building No. 1 seems to be busy, with staff constantly shuttling back and forth in the corridor. From the several Audis parked in front of Building No. 1 with Beijing municipal departments taking photos, it can be seen that a central inspection team has come to Liaoning Province for inspection.

  The office of Vice Secretary of Provincial Committee Gu Changqiu.

  Two middle-aged men sat on the sofa, one was Gu Changqiu and the other was a middle-aged man wearing a neat dark suit with glasses perched on his nose bridge, having a refined temperament.

  "It's early spring, how is the leader's body?"

  Gu Changqiu personally poured a cup of hot tea for the middle-aged man, "I've been busy lately and haven't had time to visit his elderly self."

  "Chang Qiu, don't worry, Father's body is still in good shape. Every day, he goes for a run with the guards by the lake." The middle-aged man in a suit smiled and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one up and took a puff, then casually tossed the cigarette box onto the coffee table. The two red characters on the cigarette box were particularly eye-catching.

  "Xu Zhengchun, how dare you! After not seeing each other for half a year, you still want to smoke one of these cigarettes." Gu Changqiu suddenly stood up and grabbed the pack of cigarettes on the tea table, shoving it into his suit pocket. He gave the middle-aged man in the suit a fierce glare.

  "Old Gu, can't you be more generous? It's just one cigarette. Next time you come to Beijing, I'll return two to you." Xu Zhengchun burst out laughing, "You're still a deputy secretary of the provincial committee, but you don't have any sincerity in treating guests."

  "Long Autumn, is there any news in the capital recently?"

  The two of them exchanged a few jokes, then Gu Chang Autumn turned serious, "But I heard rumors here that you're being sent south?"

  "It's hard to say for now, this is just a preliminary intention, anyway it's also flat tone, but it's responsible for some specific work." Xu Zhengchun shook his head, put the cigarette in his mouth and took a puff, with a tired look on his face. "I personally want to go down and exercise, if I don't go down to the grassroots level to exercise, I will lack experience in the future."

  "So where are you going, southeast, northwest, or south?"

  Gu Changqiu picked up his teacup and said, "It's not hard to achieve results in these places, but the situation is too complicated. It's probably not easy to do something practical."

  His voice paused, and he bowed his head to take a light sip. "I think it's better for you to go to Jiangnan, Jiangbei or even Zhongyuan, after all, the environment is a bit better."

  Xu Zhengchun didn't say a word, but his face revealed a hint of excitement. "Chang Qiu, you're not unfamiliar with me, I Xu Zhengchun love challenges the most..."

  His words had not finished, the mobile phone suddenly rang, quickly took out the phone to take a look and immediately connected the call, without coming to speak, the receiver came a trembling voice, "Zhengchun, Zhengchun, it's me, my son has come down from the mountain!"

  "Xiao Fei, your son has come down from the mountain."

  Xu Zhengchun's eyebrows furrowed, and before he could finish speaking, his face suddenly changed. He abruptly stood up from the sofa, trembling with voice, "What did you say? What did you say? You said Lao Er is back?"

  The room was very quiet, and Xu Zhengchun didn't avoid Gu Changqiu either, so Gu Changqiu could hear the phone content clearly. The caller was Xu Zhengchun's wife, Yuan Fangfei, who was also the director of the Department of Basic Industries of the National Development and Reform Commission.

  He knew that Xu Zhengchun had a daughter and a son, the elder was a daughter who had already married, and the younger was a son. However, after Xu Zhengchun's son was born, his body was not very good, and later he was taken away by an old Taoist priest. Could it be that the second child of the Xu family has returned?