Chapter Fifteen: Learning Kung Fu Requires Paying Tuition Fees

  Xu Si didn't get off work, so the only ones having dinner at home were Song Jian and Xia Lin.

  The cook was a fifty-year-old auntie named Li, whom both Xu Si and Song Jian called Aunt Li.

  Recently, Aunt Li went back home to take care of her daughter-in-law who was sitting the month. Now she's back and every day at noon and evening, Aunt Li buys ingredients and comes to Xu Si's house to cook for Xu Si, Song Jian and others, then washes the dishes from the previous meal.

  After cooking, washing and cleaning up the kitchen, Aunt Li would leave, this had become a rule.

  At the dinner table, Song Jian and Xia Lin sat facing each other.

  Song Jian thought for a moment, thickening his skin, and said: "Xia Lin, want to learn kung fu?"

  Xia Lin was just sulking because of Song Jian's rejection, and now hearing Song Jian say this, Xia Lin immediately became excited, waving her small fist and saying: "Uncle, I knew you wouldn't be heartless and abandon me."

  Song Jian rolled his eyes and ignored Xia Lin's teasing words. He coughed and said, "If you want to learn kung fu, first of all, you must have a sincere heart! You know that."

  Xia Lin nodded vigorously with her little head.

  "Well, to show your sincerity, you have to bring out some sincerity." Song Jianhou continued with a thick face.

  "Huh?" Xia Lin stared at Song Jian, "What's the meaning of this, uncle?"

  Song Jian's voice was slightly lower, saying: "It's like this, in the old days when learning martial arts, one had to pay respects to a master. Paying respects means giving gifts to the master. Of course, with our relationship, we can forget about kowtowing and kneeling as well as those expensive gifts. However, when it comes to learning martial arts, basic etiquette is still necessary."

  "What exactly do you want to say, uncle?" Xia Lin became more and more confused as she listened.

  Song Jian sighed and said: "Since you're so stupid, I'll just say it straight out. You can kowtow to me as your master, but you have to pay me a tuition fee of 10,000 yuan."

  "Huh?"

  Xia Lin's big eyes stared at Song Jian.

  Song Jian was seen by Xia Lin with some embarrassment, he smiled and said: "You know, this is my exclusive. It's more advanced than any Tai Chi you know."

  Xia Lin saw Song Jian's embarrassed appearance and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  "If you want to learn, pay up; if not, forget it."

  Xia Lin said, "Isn't it just a 10,000 yuan tuition fee? Wait for me, I'll call my dad right now and tell him about my apprenticeship. When I learned dance before, I paid over 100,000 yuan in tuition fees, and my dad didn't even frown."

  "Tell your dad to hurry up."

  There's no way around it, Song Jian is indeed in dire need of money.

  Xia Lin gave Song Jian a glance, and really went upstairs to make a phone call. Three minutes later, Xia Lin came running down, saying: "It's settled, let's go get the money."

  After dinner, Song Jian took Xia Lin to the Agricultural Bank and withdrew some money.

  With 10,000 yuan in cash, Song Jian felt much more at ease. He sent Xia Lin back home and then headed to Tongrentang.

  At this moment in Tongrentang, Zhou Wen's eyes were wide open like a donkey's, staring at a stout middle-aged man in front of him.

  "Xiao Zhou, you're not kidding, are you? Those five stems of old mountain ginseng are actually fake?" Zhou Wen asked with a disbelieving face.

  The middle-aged man opposite, Xiao Zhou, is named Zhou Yumin. Although both Zhou Yumin and Zhou Wen Yi have the surname Zhou, they are not related.

  "Uncle Zhou, this ginseng is indeed fake. The scammers' skills are really too good. Look at the shape of this ginseng, it's exactly the same as what's recorded in books, not a single difference. More importantly, these scoundrels even applied artificial ginsenosides to the surface of the ginseng. This way, even if we use chemical methods to test its ginsenoside content, we can't detect anything." Zhou Yumin explained with a bitter smile, "To be honest, Uncle Zhou, at first our museum staff were all deceived and thought it was real. Later, to be on the safe side, we took one of the ginsengs for slicing inspection and observed it under a microscope. Only then did we realize that the ginseng was actually made from purple yam. Except for the surface being coated with a layer of ginsenosides, inside it's completely purple yam, without even a hint of ginsenosides."

  When Zhou Yun heard this, Zhou Wen was completely stunned.

  Zhou Wen-yi used to be the deputy director of Suzhou Municipal Food and Drug Administration, Zhou Yu-min was later entered into Suzhou Municipal Food and Drug Administration, because they both have the surname Zhou, so Zhou Wen-yi took great care of Zhou Yu-min. Plus Zhou Yu-min has some background, so after Zhou Wen-yi retired not long ago, Zhou Yu-min rose rapidly, now in his 40s, he is already the director of Suzhou Municipal Food and Drug Administration.

  The two people have a very good relationship, so Zhou Wen Yi deeply believes in Zhou Yu Min's words.

  "Alas!" Zhou Wen shook his head and sighed, saying: "I didn't expect that after dealing with Chinese medicine for half my life and playing with eagles all my life, I would still be pecked in the eye by an eagle."

  "Hehe," Zhou Yumin's chubby face smiled slightly, saying: "Don't mind, Uncle Zhou, this swindler's fake level is really too high. If it weren't for the use of modern technical means, from the appearance alone, anyone would not be able to distinguish."

  Zhou Wenyi shook his head slightly and said, "Well, if no one could tell, it would be fine. However, a few days ago, when I was purchasing these five ginsengs, a young man in his twenties reminded me that they might be fake. At the time, I had already conducted a ginsenoside content test, so I firmly believed they were real. Alas, today's young people are truly formidable."

  Zhou Wen Yi seemed a bit disheartened and continued, "Little Zhou, for the 'Legendary Chinese Medicine Exhibition' you're organizing, I won't be bringing anything to exhibit. At that time, I'll just honestly be an onlooker."

  Zhou Yumin heard Zhou Wenyi's words and his heart moved slightly. He said, "Uncle Zhou, there are actually young people who understand traditional Chinese medicine?"

  At this time, Zhou Ting, who had been busy in the back, suddenly came over and said in a soft voice: "Yes, Uncle Yumin, that person is very knowledgeable. Oh, and he can also brag. He caught a prescription here with us and said that the prescription not only can quit drugs but also can treat neurogenic muscular atrophy, poliomyelitis, hemiplegia caused by cerebral thrombosis, haha, and even explained it to me like an old scholar, really quite like that."

  This week, Ting's tone was clearly sarcastic.

  Zhou Wen stretched out his hand and patted Zhou Ting's forehead, saying: "Hurry up and get to work, don't just stand here gossiping. That young man has real skills, do you think he was telling lies?"

  Zhou Ting stuck out her tongue at her grandfather and was about to leave, but Zhou Yumin suddenly grabbed Zhou Ting and said, "Tingting, you say that kid has a secret recipe, a secret recipe for treating post-stroke sequelae."

  Zhou Ting looked at Zhou Yumin and smiled: "Uncle Yumin, you won't believe what that person said, will you?"

  "Hurry up and take a look." Zhou Yumin became urgent, "Do you still remember that prescription?"

  Zhou Ting nodded, "That formula is quite long, but I should be able to memorize it."

  "Hurry up and let me see." Zhou Yumin urged.

  Zhou Yumin knew Zhou Wen's abilities, and since Zhou Wen praised that young man, it was possible that he really had some real skills. Moreover, Zhou Yumin's father had recently suffered a cerebral infarction, and although he was rescued in the hospital without any danger, he was left with hemiplegia, and his walking was not agile.

  For this sequelae of stroke, even the top Western hospitals have no solution, so Zhou Yumin has been searching for traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions to alleviate his father's suffering.

  Now hearing such a secret recipe, Zhou Yumin couldn't bear it anymore and immediately let Zhou Ting write it down.

  Zhou Wen's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he stood by, saying nothing more.

  Zhou Yumin is a typical talent who understands both Chinese and Western medicine, as well as Chinese and Western pharmaceuticals. He looked at the prescription in his hand, remained silent for a long time, then let out a sigh and said: "It seems that my skills are too low, I don't understand it. However, since it's used for bathing, it shouldn't cause much harm to the body. Tingting, can you help me prepare one? I'll take it back and try it on Old Master."

  "Uncle, this prescription costs 7,000 yuan."

  "You're told to go, so you go. Are you afraid I won't give you the money?" Zhou Yumin cursed with a smile. Zhou Yumin's own salary was not high, but his wife was an entrepreneur, and in the entire Jiangnan Province, she was a well-known pharmaceutical tycoon, so this amount of money was really nothing to Zhou Yumin.

  Drugs in bulk, are actually a kind of pharmaceutical agent. Some new drugs from foreign pharmaceutical companies or state-owned enterprises outside Jiangnan Province want to enter the Jiangnan market and must go through the National Drug Administration channel, which means they need to be officially reviewed. And the big package of medicines is some people with extensive connections, they can help you sell these medicines to various hospitals in Jiangnan Province, and also help you sell a lot. They take a certain commission.

  Zhou Yumin's wife Jiang Ling is the largest medicine wholesaler in Jiangnan Province.

  Zhou Wen walked over and said, "Xiao Zhou, this prescription..."

  Zhou Yumin's chubby face smiled slightly and said: "Uncle Zhou, this Fangzi still makes some sense, although I don't quite understand it."

  Zhou Wen shook his head and said, "I'm not talking about the efficacy of this prescription. I'm saying that this prescription was brought by that young man, it's very likely to be a secret recipe passed down from his family."

  "Don't worry, Uncle Zhou," said Zhou Yumin hastily, nodding his head. "I understand what you mean. Don't worry, no matter how effective this prescription is, I won't tell anyone else about it. We're in this line of work, after all - do I not know about intellectual property rights? Don't worry, Uncle Zhou."

  After hearing Zhou Yumin say that, Zhou Wenyi put his heart at ease. Not long after, Zhou Ting walked out with a bag of medicine powder and handed it over to Zhou Yumin.

  Zhou Yumin paid the money with a sense of relief, then hastily left. He wanted his father to get better and couldn't wait any longer. Although he didn't hold out much hope, at least this was an opportunity.

  Zhou Wen lost 10,000 yuan by himself and now he's feeling a bit depressed.

  With a creak, the shop door was pushed open again. Zhou Wen turned his head and looked back, "Huh? It's you!"

  Song Jian was taken aback and said, "What's going on? You don't want to sell me the medicine anymore?"

  Zhou Wen couldn't help but laugh and said, "Nothing, nothing. I was just talking about you a moment ago. What, are you here to grab the medicine from last time again?"

  Song Jian shook his head and pulled out another prescription from his pocket, saying: "Sir, take a look at the medicine on this prescription, can you find all of them?"

  Zhou Ting, who was behind the counter, could no longer bear it and pouted her mouth, muttering: "How shameless, why do you call my grandfather 'sir'?"