“Can you really treat mental disorders?”
I was still wondering why President Li had called me when he got straight to the point.
“My family’s ancestral Four Spirits Formula specializes in treating mental disorders!” I said.
A long, awkward silence came from the other end of the phone.
After a long pause, President Li’s voice came through. “My daughter has been having some mental problems…”
“Twelve hundred per house call. I charge twelve hundred each time!”
I cut President Li off.
My meaning was simple: twelve hundred wasn’t enough to lose money or get cheated over.
No matter whether I could cure her, you’re a big boss. Surely twelve hundred is nothing to you?
President Li was a worldly man, too. He got it immediately and said, “Where’s your shop? I’ll send a car to pick you up!”
An hour later, inside a detached villa in Kangcheng Garden, I frowned as I watched the girl huddled in the corner of the room, clutching her knees and shouting for everyone to go away like a frightened little beast. Carefully, I took a palm-sized copper dish from the cloth bag I carried with me.
After setting the copper dish on the table, I took out two small boxes containing incense powder. I scooped a spoonful of Incense Ash from one box and spread it evenly over the dish. Then I took two spoonfuls of incense powder from the other box, piled it into a tower, and lit it.
“What is that…?”
President Li gave me an inquisitive look.
“Calming Incense!”
I nodded toward the girl inside and said, “In her current state, I can’t perform Acupuncture on her. We’ll wait until she falls asleep!”
“All right, all right!”
President Li nodded quickly.
“Come on, let’s go outside and talk!”
After lighting the Calming Incense, I glanced at the girl and said.
We left the room but didn’t go downstairs, instead waiting right outside the door.
“President Li, how did Li Li end up like this? I need to tailor my treatment to her condition.”
Once we were outside, I asked him directly.
President Li was silent for a long while before saying, “My daughter was kidnapped by one of my business rivals and locked in a cage to be tortured for half a month. She’s been like this ever since she came back. I’ve consulted many doctors, but none of them had any good solutions!”
He paused, then looked up at me. “Master Feng, are you confident you can cure Xiao Li?”
“Xiao Li’s condition is a case of shock that has scattered her spirit, with a Wind Evil Invasion. It’s made her delirious and withdrawn. She needs an intensive calming treatment, using the Thirteen Needles of the Governing Vessel!”
I said in a low voice.
“Master Feng, go ahead and treat her. As long as you can cure Xiao Li, I’ll do everything I can to cooperate!” President Li said.
“Mm!”
I nodded and said nothing more.
Even now, I still didn’t know what President Li did for a living. But he’d come from Hedong, and his rivals had resorted to such ruthless methods. It probably had something to do with coal.
Twenty minutes later, I gently pushed open the door. Li Li was asleep, curled up in the corner.
President Li carried her to the bed and tidied her disheveled hair, revealing a pale, thin little face.
At this point, she was nothing like the plump, well-to-do woman she would later become. Her face was so thin she was nearly unrecognizable.
I took Li Li’s pulse first. My earlier assessment had been right: she had indeed suffered a shock that scattered her spirit, along with a Wind Evil Invasion.
After taking her pulse, I asked President Li to turn Li Li over so her back faced me. Then I inserted needles one after another, starting at Baihui, Fengfu, and Dazhui, and continuing all the way down to the Changqiang Acupoint.
Once I’d finished needling her, I let out a breath and said to President Li, “President Li, that’s it. Remove the needles in half an hour!”
“All right!”
Looking at Li Li on the bed, President Li sighed, a trace of heartache flashing in his eyes.
Half an hour later, I removed the needles one by one, moving upward from Changqiang, Yaoyang, and Mingmen, and finally taking out the Silver Needle at Baihui. That concluded the first Acupuncture session.
As I removed the last Silver Needle, Li Li’s eyelids twitched twice.
“Xiao Li, Xiao Li!”
When he saw Li Li stirring, President Li called her softly twice.
“President Li, don’t call her. Let her sleep,” I said quietly.
“Mm!”
President Li nodded and sat down to one side.
Twenty minutes later, Li Li opened her eyes. When she saw me, panic still flashed in them, but she was already much better than when I’d first arrived and she’d screamed in terror.
Seeing this, President Li said to me delightedly, “Master Feng, it’s working! The Acupuncture is working!”
Ten minutes later, after I’d calmed Li Li down, President Li saw me off.
Before I got into the car, President Li slipped me a big red envelope.
When I got home, I opened it and saw ten thousand yuan inside.
After giving it some thought, I called Dacheng.
“Dacheng, what’s President Li’s background?”
As soon as he picked up, I asked him directly.
Dacheng chuckled and said, “Brother Feng, you might not know who he is, but I bet you’ve heard of his nephew!”
“Who’s his nephew?” I asked.
“Li Bao—the guy who took over the family business at twenty-three and was named the richest man in Hedong after making the Forbes list the year before last!” Dacheng said with a hint of envy.
“You mean the one whose father was shot dead?” I said.
Compared to taking over the family business in his twenties, his father’s murder had caused a far greater sensation at the time, with all the major media outlets scrambling to report on it.
“Yeah, that’s the one!”
Dacheng replied.
“Brother Feng, yesterday, while I was hosting Boss Yang and President Li, I heard something. President Li and his nephew have a really bad relationship!”
As he spoke, Dacheng’s voice suddenly dropped.
“Bad? How bad?” I asked, intrigued.
“Bad enough that they’d love to kill each other!” Dacheng said.
“Seriously?”
For some reason, Li Li’s frightened little face appeared in my mind.
“It’s true. Why would I lie to you? President Li came to the capital this time to pull strings and take down his nephew. Family infighting among the wealthy, Brother Feng!”
Dacheng’s voice dropped even lower, but even a fool could hear how excited he was.
“All right, Brother Feng, I’ve gotta go. I just got a job!”
After tossing out that final sentence, Dacheng hung up.
I frowned and stared at my phone for a long time, remembering the complicated emotions in President Li’s eyes when he’d told me about Li Li’s kidnapping.
Could Li Li have been kidnapped by someone her older brother hired?
If that was the case, what kind of grudge could have made Li Bao go so far as to harm his own cousin?
For the next week, I gave Li Li Acupuncture twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
Li Li’s condition improved with each session. She was no longer as frightened of me as she’d been at first.
There was just one problem: she still wouldn’t speak, remaining in a state of partial withdrawal.
That afternoon, shortly after President Li dropped me off at home, Boss Yang called.
“Brother Feng, we didn’t get to talk enough that night. I promised I’d treat you to a meal, but I’ve been busy these past few days. I’m free today, though. Want to meet up?”
As soon as I picked up, Boss Yang got straight to the point.
“Sure!”
I thought it over. This was a rare opportunity, so I agreed at once.
“By the way, Boss Shi from Kongmei Web will be there, too. He said he wants to thank you in person, and he also wants to give you a membership to their website!”
He paused, then spoke in a tone any man would understand. “It’s the same level as mine. You can see not only photos, but videos too!”
“All right, that’s enough for now. I’ll have Xiao Cheng come pick you up!”
After chatting for a couple more minutes, Boss Yang hung up the phone.