Before entering the villa, Phil couldn’t help but whisper to Harry, “Harry, is this young man reliable? Dr. Lee is really struggling with my father’s condition.”
“Dr. Lee? Are you talking about the well-known traditional Chinese doctor Dr. Lee? Is he here too?” Phil nodded.
“Don’t worry, I’ve seen Leo’s skills with my own eyes. He should be able to cure Uncle’s health issues,” Harry assured him.
The three of them entered the villa and, in the hallway, Leo saw a familiar figure. The person also noticed Leo, and they both exclaimed, “Leo!” “Miss Wilde!”
Phil glanced at his daughter and then curiously at Leo, asking, “Do you two know each other?”
Harry’s face showed surprise too, wondering how Coral knew Leo.
“Dad, he’s the chief gem consultant at our company,” Coral pointed at Leo.
A gem consultant?
Treating illness?
This sounds somewhat comical.
Phil couldn’t help but glance at Harry, who also looked puzzled, indicating that he had no idea what kind of gem consultant Leo was.
Coral asked, “Leo, you know Uncle Harry?”
As Leo was about to respond, Harry said, “Coral, Mr. Bloomer understands Chinese medicine. I invited him here to treat your grandfather.”
“You know how to practice medicine too?” Coral was taken aback, finding this hard to accept. She could understand Leo’s talent and luck in stone gambling, but that he also had knowledge of Chinese medicine was beyond her comprehension.
After all, Chinese medicine was different from Western medicine. It wasn’t something you could learn in a few years at school and then get a certificate to treat people.
“Mr. Wilde, can I see your father now?” Leo looked at Phil.
Since it was Harry who brought Leo here, Phil could only put on a brave face and nodded, “Follow me.”
They passed through the villa’s hallway, went out through the back door, and entered a small courtyard. The courtyard was lush with flowers, and the sound of birds chirping was delightful. A small stone path led to a pavilion not far ahead.
In the pavilion, there were three people: two elderly men and a young man with glasses.
Leo recognized one of the old men, the one who had recommended him to work at Wilde Jewelry Company that day on the antique street.
The other old man was also familiar to Leo; he was Dr. Lee, the Chinese medicine practitioner who had treated Renee’s daughter, Anna, at the hospital.
As for the young man with glasses, he seemed to be Dr. Lee’s student.
The four of them entered the pavilion, and when Coral’s grandfather saw Leo, he smiled and said, “Leo, it’s unexpected to see you again.”
Coral had already mentally prepared herself for the fact that her grandfather knew Leo since he had recommended him to her. But Phil couldn’t help but ask, “Dad, you know him?”
“We’ve met. If it weren’t for Leo helping me on the antique street, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here today,” Arthur Wilde replied.
At this moment, Dr. Lee stood up and courteously said, “Leo, we meet again.”
“Do you know each other too?” Now, not only Phil but even Coral and Harry were confused. How could Leo seem to know everyone?
Harry cleared his throat and explained, “Uncle, Mr. Bloomer is here to treat your illness.”
“I already guessed that. Have a seat, all of you,” Arthur Wilde motioned to the vacant seats around the table.
The young man standing beside Dr. Lee glanced at Leo, who was around his age, with a disdainful expression. He felt that Leo must have used some deceptive means to gain the recognition of the Wilde family. Mr. Wilde’s illness was beyond his teacher’s capabilities, so there was no way this Leo guy, no matter how good he was at Chinese medicine, could cure him.
The young man felt uneasy because everyone seemed to value Leo much more, even though they were all around the same age. Why should he be just an insignificant presence?
A maid in the pavilion poured fragrant tea for Leo and Harry.
“Harry, Leo, try my freshly harvested tea. It just arrived today,” Arthur Wilde said, pointing to the tea on the table.
Leo and Harry sipped the tea. It had a refreshing and aromatic taste, indeed a good tea.
“Dr. Lee, I wonder if you can cure my headache?” Arthur Wilde asked.
Dr. Lee shook his head, “I can only provide relief, not a cure. Perhaps, Leo the young marvellous doctor can help.”
Dr. Lee redirected the topic to Leo.
Leo finished the tea in his cup and stood up, saying, “Mr. Wilde, we can’t delay your headache any longer. Let’s go to your bedroom, and I’ll give you an acupuncture treatment.”
“Leo, are you confident in treating my headache?” Arthur Wilde raised an eyebrow.
“I’m one hundred percent sure of it!”
Outside Arthur Wilde’s bedroom, Dr. Lee hesitated, “Leo, may I observe your acupuncture treatment?”
Dr. Lee, being from a family of Chinese medicine practitioners, knew that each acupuncturist had their secret techniques. The saying “fellow practitioners are enemies” applied here.
But that day at the hospital, Leo’s acupuncture treatment for the little girl was miraculous, especially with the legendary Nine Extreme Mysterious Needles. To Dr. Lee, who had devoted his life to Chinese medicine, it was immensely attractive.
“Dr. Lee, it’s okay. You can watch,” Leo’s voice came from inside the room.
“Leo, can we also watch it?” Coral asked.
“Anyone who wants to can come in, but please don’t speak while I’m treating him,” Leo replied.
On the large bed made of rare wood, Arthur Wilde was lying down. He had taken off his upper garment, revealing a somewhat skinny body with scars on his abdomen and ribs.
Leo took out a silver needle case he always carried with him.
“Mr. Wilde, it might hurt a bit later. Please bear with it,” Leo reminded him.
Arthur Wilde nodded, “Go ahead.”
Leo took out a silver needle and deftly inserted it into Arthur Wilde’s navel, halfway through.
“Master, that’s not an acupoint,” the young man couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Stop talking!” Dr. Lee glared at him, and the young man quickly shut his mouth.
Leo took another needle and used a unique twirling technique to insert it into Arthur Wilde’s Qi Hai acupoint, followed by the Zhong Wan acupoint, and then the Jade Purity acupoint…
A total of nine needles, starting from Arthur Wilde’s navel and ending at the position between his eyebrows.
Looking at the silver needles spread across Arthur Wilde’s body, Dr. Lee wondered, “For a headache condition, the needles are usually inserted into the head. Yet, he started from the navel, nine needles in one line… What kind of acupuncture technique is this?”
Dr. Lee had been practicing medicine for many years, but it was the first time he had seen such a needling technique, and he couldn’t understand it for a moment.