Chapter 390: A bosom friend is always there, a world apart is like a neighborhood
After the meeting, we flew to Cebu by helicopter. It took an hour to fly from Cebu to Manila. We did not stay in any luxury hotel.
Instead, they stayed at the small guesthouse of their family business branch in Manila. It only accommodated insiders, but it was very safe.
Cruz and I had a conversation in the afternoon.
I didn't need to accompany her to the hospital for a checkup. Most tests have results the same day. Some tests take two days to come back. Tang Man accompanied me on my three-day tour of Manila.
I nodded.
After leaving Cruz's room, Tang Man said, "Teacher Wan, could you please help me raise my request?"
I thought about it and said, "If I bring it up, you'll still have to translate, which will be awkward for both of you. Let me call President Zheng and have him bring it up."
Tang Man smiled and said, "Good idea."
I said, "Manila, I'm not very interested. I want to learn acupuncture from Liu Qiming. You go home in the next few days."
She looked at me gratefully and said, "Please."
Back in the room, I called Chairman Zheng. Just as I was about to discuss Tang Man's situation, he said, "I'm in Manila too. I'm at Dr. Liu's place. I'll send a car to pick you up. Let's talk in person."
After a while, the phone rang: "Teacher Wan, this is Liu Yi, Dr. Liu's nephew. You are...Okay, I know, I'll be there in ten minutes."
After getting in the car, Liu Yi handed me a business card: "Teacher Wan, this is my phone number, please save it. If you have any small matters when you get here, such as using the car, just call me directly."
I smiled and said, "Thank you." I thought to myself, as long as there are people who speak Chinese around me, it will feel like I haven't left the country at all, no matter where I am in any unfamiliar city abroad.
He ushered me into his office, and Chairman Zheng said, "He's recovered really quickly. It's only been a month since we last visited him."
"Yes. His two brothers are still arguing."
Chairman Zheng smiled and said, "Crook told me."
Liu Qiming extended his hand and said, "Professor Cruz is now convinced of acupuncture. This is good for the development of acupuncture. As long as he says - Chinese acupuncture is amazing - I can print promotional materials."
Everyone laughed.
Liu Yi made tea and left.
Chairman Zheng asked, "What are your plans for the next step?"
"If Cruz agrees, I would like to return to the country. As for the next step, I will decide after I return to the country."
"Yes, next month is January. January 24th is New Year's Eve. You can go back and have a good rest. Have a reunion with your family. As for whether Cruz agrees, I think there is only one answer.
You can’t leave until you’re fully recovered. As soon as you’re fully recovered, he’ll kick you out of that villa.”
"He's very strong-willed and doesn't want others to know that he has a doctor by his side, right?"
President Zheng and Liu Qiming smiled at each other.
Liu Qiming said, "He wants to maintain his position as the top professor at Quezon Hospital, so he definitely doesn't want a doctor around him."
Chairman Zheng asked, "Will you accompany him to the hospital tomorrow?"
I shook my head. "He arranged for Tang Man to accompany me on the tour, but I'm not interested in sightseeing. I want to hurry up and get the real advice from Dr. Liu."
At this point, I looked at Liu Qiming and said, "I wonder if Mr. Qiming can teach me."
Liu Qiming smiled and said, "No problem. After you read the book, come with me to the ward to practice for two days and I'll give you some pointers."
I stood up and clasped my fists: "Thank you, Master."
President Zheng said, "I'm very concerned about Professor Cruz's recovery. I'm worried about anything happening, so I decided to come here because I felt safer staying in Manila."
I said, “I have one more thing I want to ask you.”
"explain."
I told Tang Man that she wanted to stay.
He nodded. "That shouldn't be a problem. Even if you return to China, your connection with his family will still exist. How will we communicate? There's no need to hire a Chinese translator. Tang Man is perfect. She's a nursing major."
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"No need to ask."
…
Three days later, Cruz's complete experience report came out. He had completely recovered to his pre-illness physical condition.
On the third night, all the members of the K family gathered at the Hyatt Hotel in Manila for a celebration banquet. Chairman Zheng and Liu Qiming were invited to attend.
There weren't many people at that grand celebration banquet, only about twenty or so in fact, but the luxury and extravagance were astonishing.
Several leading figures in the medical field were invited to attend, and a famous Filipino singer performed. Security was posted outside the hall, and no uninvited guests were allowed inside.
Eating was secondary. No one cared about the delicacies, except Tang Man. Tang Man didn't have time to enjoy the delicious food. She sat next to me, constantly translating for me.
Different from the Chinese drinking table culture, ours is that the host makes the opening remarks first, while the Crewe family’s is that everyone takes turns to toast him first.
I said to Tang Man, "Hurry up and fill your stomach."
At Chairman Zheng's reminder, I stood in the toasting line and slowly moved forward. When it was my turn to toast Cruz, he bowed slightly and said softly:
"Thank you very much, Doctor Wan."
After everyone toasted Cruz, they came to toast me. There was no need to queue up for this. Whoever was free could come over with a glass of wine.
Tang Man was too busy translating. She said, "No matter what they say, just say: Thank you very much."
Finally, Cruz stood up, raised his glass, and began his speech. Tang Man immediately stood up to translate. Everyone present could understand him, but he was translating for me alone.
This creates a very formal and solemn sense of ceremony.
Ladies and gentlemen
ladies and gentlemen
Cruz: ...
Tang Man: “In this beautiful moment, I thank everyone for their blessings, and God bless you.
Cruz: ...
Tang Man: "I want to thank Dr. Wan from China, Ms. Tang who is also from China, all the distinguished guests and my family."
Phil moved his chair himself, and Cruz came over to Don Man and I. We also moved our chairs and stood together to greet him.
He suddenly uttered a Chinese sentence: "A bosom friend is always there, and the world is but a neighborhood."
I really admire Tang Man. She actually translated it out loud right away.
Amidst warm applause, the three of us clinked glasses.
Cruz returned to the main seat, and the waiter poured him a glass of wine. He raised his glass again and toasted everyone.
At that moment, the famous singer walked onto the stage and burst into song. Tang Man tried to translate, but I shook my head. Then I asked, "How can he read Chinese?"
Tang Man leaned over and whispered in my ear, "This afternoon, he asked me to teach him a Chinese phrase that would express, 'No matter how far apart we are, we will always be friends.'"
"Oh—no wonder you translate so quickly."
I slowly explained the meaning of these two lines of poetry to him, and he gave me a thumbs-up and said, "China, what an amazing culture."
"I even gave him the pronunciation. He spent the entire afternoon reciting these two lines in his room. Finally, he called me over, read them again, and asked me if they sounded like Chinese."
"He will speak fluent Chinese in the future."
“Why”
"Because he will leave behind a translator named Tang."
"Did you really agree?" She stared at me in surprise.
“Yes.”
Tang Man raised her glass and said, "I would like to offer this to you, thank you, my respected teacher Wan, who made me the vice president right away."
On the third day after the banquet, He Yun sent me back to China because he also wanted to go back.
Farewell, Professor Cruz.
Goodbye, Mr. Crook.
Goodbye, Ms. Fell.
Goodbye, Miss Tang Man.
Everyone shed tears when they parted.
The moment I boarded the helicopter, we kept repeating the same sentence in Chinese and English:
Longdistanceseparatesnobosomfriends. Let's meet againin the future.
A friend in need is a friend indeed. Let us meet again in the near future.
The helicopter circled over Bohol Island and flew towards Cebu.
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