Chapter 215 Silver Needles Attack the Heart, Trouble Starts Within the Walls
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense.
"It's none of my business."
He turned around abruptly, slammed the photo on the table, hunched over, and limped toward the door, muttering, "I don't know anything, you've got the wrong person."
He's completely unyielding, just like a stubborn mule.
"Uncle Shi." Su Wantang's clear voice rang out behind him.
Shi Gandang paused for a moment, but did not stop.
"You've had this cough for at least twenty years, haven't you?" Su Wantang said calmly.
“Every autumn and winter, I cough so badly that I can’t breathe when I lie down at night. Especially in the second half of the night, I always wake up coughing once or twice.”
Shi Gandang's back stiffened abruptly, and his outstretched foot dangled in mid-air.
"And your left leg," Su Wantang continued, "on rainy days, your knee hurts like it's being pricked with needles. It's not rheumatism, it's from soaking in the icy river for too long back then, the cold penetrated to the bone and damaged your meridians. That winter, the Northwest was especially cold, and the river was frozen three feet thick, right?"
Shi Gandang slowly, extremely slowly, turned around. His weathered face was filled with disbelief. He looked at Su Wantang as if she were a ghost.
He had never told anyone these things. It was a secret buried deep in his bones, the torment he had endured day and night for the past twenty years. How could this seemingly delicate girl, like someone who had stepped out of a painting, know all this so clearly?
"How...how did you know?" His voice was trembling.
Su Wantang did not answer, but took out a small, delicate object wrapped in velvet from her cloth bag. She unwrapped it layer by layer, revealing a row of silver needles of varying lengths, gleaming with a cold light.
“I know a little about medicine.” She spread the silver needles on the table, looked up at him, and said, “Your illness is too deep-rooted, and medicine is ineffective. It’s difficult to cure it completely, but I can relieve your pain with acupuncture so that you can sleep well at night.”
Shi Gandang stared at the silver needles, his eyes filled with struggle and doubt. He was a veteran, a man who believed in enduring hardship and never thought of such superstitious things. But twenty years of illness had almost worn down his iron frame. Especially his leg; when the pain flared up, he felt like chopping it off with a knife.
He gritted his teeth, a resolute glint in his cloudy eyes: "If you can't cure me, don't expect to hear a single word from me!"
“Okay,” Su Wantang replied readily.
She asked Shi Gandang to sit down by the bed, while she moved a small stool and sat opposite him.
"Roll up your trouser legs."
Shi Gandang hesitated for a moment, but still did as he was told. His left leg had some muscle atrophy, and the skin was covered with old scars. The knee was swollen and somewhat deformed.
Su Wantang extended two fingers and gently pressed around his knee, asking as she did so, "Does it hurt here?"
"Um……"
What about here?
"Hiss..." Shi Gandang gasped.
Su Wantang had a plan in mind. She took out a three-inch-long silver needle, held it to her fingertip, and inserted it into an acupoint without hesitation.
Shi Gandang felt a numbness in his knee, followed by a slight soreness that spread along his meridians. Before he could fully appreciate it, Su Wantang's second and third needles were already being inserted.
Her movements were swift and steady, each needle precise and accurate. She wasn't just administering acupuncture; an almost imperceptible internal force flowed slowly into Shi Gandang's body along the tip of the silver needle. It was the internal force of the Taiyi Xuanjing, gentle and enduring.
At first, Shi Gandang only felt a warm and comfortable sensation around his knees. But gradually, that warm current began to surge through his body, like a stream that had found its way into a river, washing away the blockages in his meridians caused by old injuries, and forcing out streams of cold energy.
Then, the warm current gathered in his chest, swirled for a while, and then rushed upwards.
"Cough...cough...cough cough!"
Shi Gandang suddenly started coughing violently, a cough so loud it seemed to rip out his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. He coughed up several mouthfuls of thick, black phlegm, and then he was completely exhausted.
But after this cough, he felt as if the huge stone that had been weighing on his chest for twenty years had been lifted away. His breathing was smoother than ever before, and every breath he took carried a sweet taste.
He tried moving his left leg, and the excruciating pain actually disappeared by more than half, leaving only a little tingling and numbness.
Half an hour later, Su Wantang put away the needles.
Shi Gandang stood up, took a few steps, and jumped around. Although he was still a little uncomfortable, he felt a sense of ease that he had never experienced in the past twenty years.
He looked at Su Wantang, his eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions: shock, gratitude, and a hint of awe.
This girl is no ordinary person.
...
The old Lu family residence in Beijing, a thousand miles away.
A jeep pulled up in front of the door, and Chu Yunfei got out, carrying some beautifully packaged pastries. Unlike before, she wasn't dressed up in a flamboyant way; she was simply wearing a decent blue dress, and her hair was tied back. She looked much calmer.
The person she wanted to visit was not Lu Jingyan, but Meng Wan.
In the living room, Meng Wan looked at the girl in front of her, who seemed to have undergone a complete transformation, and was somewhat surprised.
Chu Yunfei didn't mention a word about Lu Jingyan, nor did she show any resentment. She simply said sincerely, "Aunt Meng, I've figured it out. I was too naive and presumptuous before. It was only after Brother Jingyan saved me in the Southern Border that I realized how big the gap is between us."
She paused, then looked up, her eyes filled with an unprecedented determination: "I've heard that President Bai owns Tangdixuan, and I'd like to work there, starting from the bottom. I want to learn from her and see what a truly capable woman is like. I hope you can introduce me to her."
Meng Wan held her teacup, listening quietly. Looking into Chu Yunfei's eyes, she saw sincerity and determination within them. She secretly admired her, knowing this must be her daughter-in-law's skill. To transform a proud rival into someone wholeheartedly devoted and willing to follow—that's a skill not everyone possesses.
Meng Wan smiled and said gently, "Okay. I'll tell her for you. However, she doesn't keep idle people there. Whether you can stay or not depends on your own abilities."
A former rival in love is about to become a new pawn in Su Wantang's business empire.
...
Northwest, guesthouse.
Shi Gandang paced back and forth in the room several times. Finally, he walked to the table, sat down with a thud, picked up the bowl of herbal soup that had gone cold, and drank it all in one gulp.
He wiped his mouth, looked at Su Wantang, and finally relented.
"Twenty years ago, after the search and rescue ended, the higher-ups issued a gag order, forbidding anyone from mentioning the expedition team again." His voice was still hoarse, but it no longer had that aloof indifference.
“I’m not reconciled. Those were top experts in the country, how could they just disappear like that? I secretly ran back to the restricted area, trying to find more clues. I hid in that ‘ghostly place’ for three days and three nights.”
He paused, his gaze drifting to the dark night outside the window, as if he had returned to that dusty, windy night.
"On the third night, I saw it. In the deepest valley of the restricted area, I saw a man wearing a white coat, who looked like a researcher. He was being escorted by mysterious men with guns in front and behind him. The clothes they were wearing were not our unit's standard uniform."
This clue confirmed Su Wantang and Lu Jingyan's suspicions. The entire expedition team hadn't perished; they had been kidnapped!
Just as Su Wantang was about to ask more questions, the door to the room was suddenly kicked open with a "bang".
A little boy, about seven or eight years old, tumbled in, tears streaming down his face and covered in dirt.
"Grandpa! Grandpa, something bad has happened!" He grabbed Shi Gandang's leg and cried so hard he could barely breathe.
"Director Ma's son... he brought people and smashed up our sheep pen! And... he even injured my dad!"
Shi Gandang's expression changed drastically, and he grabbed his grandson's shoulder: "Why?!"
"It's because...it's because my father refused to sell him that ancestral piece of mutton-fat jade at a low price! That's why they attacked him! Grandpa, you have to go see him, Dad is bleeding so much..."
Shi Gandang trembled with rage, and his eyes, which had just regained some of their luster, suddenly burst forth with boundless fury.
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