After the seminar, Master Yi Bao and Yi Ansha returned to their apartment near the hospital. Li Yun was surprised that Master Yi Bao had decided to relocate to the city. Master Yi Bao had decided to take Dr. Xu’s offer to teach at the Magic City TCM University, and had been living in the city for a month. He only taught one class, and the rest of the time was focused on research and looking after patients. Although he had only taught one semester, he was quickly becoming famous at the TCM University. No one was as knowledgeable about pulse reading as Master Yi Bao.
“I would like your assistance to document all the different pulse patterns in TCM,” Li Yun requested. It wasn’t a simple request, which was why he needed to make the request personally before Master Yi Bao.
“You want to teach others about pulse reading?” asked Master Yi Bao. He thought about all the obstacles needed to teach others and regretfully shook his head. “Pulse reading is a lifelong lesson, and I can only see this passed from master-disciple training."
"And is there a need when there is an electrocardiogram (EKG)?” asked Yi Ansha.
At the mention of EKG, Master Yi Bao suddenly thought of something and snapped his neck to look at Li Yun.
“You don’t mean to tell me that you want me to help you map all of the pulse patterns with EKG readings?” asked Master Yi Bao.
The new wave of TCM practitioners were relying on technology rather than intuition . Master Yi Bao was not particularly against it, as holding onto tradition sometimes meant holding back progress.
“Would that be too much?” Li Yun thought about the different types of frequency the heart could produce. Every pattern indicated the condition of the body. “I have already asked my colleagues to start collecting data.”
Mi Xuan was in charge of writing the research paper. Lu Anshang only agreed to edit as he preferred surgery.
Master Yi Bao nodded and started to think again. “If we can put together a complete study, I believe it is possible, but this will be a very long project.”
Li Yun explained to them what data he needed.
“I’m not too sure if many people in the medical profession will be able to understand some of these concepts,” said Master Yi Bao. “However, I do like the analogy with the body's natural frequency.”
“Aren’t you trying too much to align TCM theories with scientific terms?” asked Yi Ansha. She had seen many TCM try to incorporate modern day terms to explain TCM, but outside of some active ingredients, it hadn’t produced much influence in the clinical setting.
“I’ve been researching a bit on how nerve cells communicate with each other, and I’ve come up with a theory on pulses,” Li Yun explained. “Is it possible for the pulse signal of the heart to send messages to the brain and rewire certain genetics?”
The sinoatrial node in the heart regularly sends electrical signals to regulate the heartbeat. He sensed that when his meridians were actively removing some toxins, the rhythm of his heartbeat was slightly off.
“This sounds difficult to experiment with,” Yi Ansha also thought genetics was too big of a field to completely understand. “You’re going to get a lot of criticism, especially with the western medicine side.”
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“I’ll let you two discuss this, technology isn’t my strong suit,” Master Yi Bao got up from his seat and into the kitchen.
“He’s not very subtle, isn’t he?” Yi Ansha asked. Unlike Master Yi Bao, Yi Ansha was more out-spoken.
Master Yi Bao definitely knew Li Yun already had a girlfriend, but that didn’t prevent him from trying to set them up.
“You know what, as soon as I told him that you’re dating Song Meilin, I think he has been more active about getting me to date you,” Yi Ansha was curious if her grandfather knew Song Meilin or her family.
Li Yun narrowed his brow, and thought about what Rouxi had said before. She had mentioned a fengshui master being as on the same level as Master Yi Bao, but he didn't recall introducing them before. She must have met Master Yi Bao before dating him.
“Has Master Yi Bao been to Imperial City before?” asked Li Yun.
“I think he has been invited there a few times. I’ll let you know, although my grandfather doesn’t seem like the type, he likes to brag about meeting important people.”
Li Yun wanted to ask Master Yi Bao if he knew of Song Taiji, but a voice yelled out from the kitchen.
“I can still hear you, you brat!” Master Yi Bao called out. He returned with a tray of snacks. “I’ll let you know, that girl is trouble.”
“Song Meilin?” Li Yun asked.
“How much do you know about that girl?” Master Yi Bao asked curiously. “Do you know her father?”
Li Yun nodded, but didn't know if Master Yi Bao meant Song Gaode or Song Taiji.
“Then do you know that her mother is vile?” Master Yi Bao asked.
Li Yun was surprised. He thought Master Yi Bao was going to say something about Song Taiji, but he didn’t expect him to know her mother.
“The Chu family is notorious for their practice of poison and trickery, so you have to be careful of the girl,” Master Yi Bao warned. “Her lineage isn’t orthodox.”
Yi Ansha laughed. “Grandpa, this isn’t some tv show, who cares about being orthodox or unorthodox?”
“Stupid girl, the entire family was exiled from China, that’s how devious they were,” said Master Yi Bao. “And the only one that hid in China was Chu Meya, who created a mess by trying to seduce Song Taiji.”
“Do you know what happened between them?” Li Yun had asked Rouxi before, but she wasn’t sure of the details other than what her mother told her about Song Taiji abandoning them.
“I do not know the details, but Song Taiji called me out of the blue and asked me to verify something for him,” he recalled. “I didn’t expect him to ask me to verify his paternity with Song Meilin.”
Song Taiji must have trusted Master Yi Bao to ask for a private favor and not any other doctor.
“Don’t ask me why, but my family owe him our lives during the turbulent time,” said Master Yi Bao. “We would have been executed if it wasn’t for him.”
It seemed that Rouxi’s parentage was more complex than he thought.
Later that evening, Li Yun returned to Rouxi’s apartment.
Rouxi was sitting on the sofa, dressed comfortably in a warm long-sleeved pajama, and typing furiously on her laptop. They were probably bidding documents for buying properties. He sat next to her and loosened up his dress shirt.
She stopped typing and turned to look at him. “How was your meeting with Master Yi Bao?”
He turned to look at her face, cleared of makeup or blemishes. He always thought she was more beautiful without them, a true face without any mask. Except, even when she was completely bare, he couldn’t quite see her completely.
“He mentioned your family,” Li Yun replied.
“About how vile the Chu family are?” she asked. “I don’t particularly disagree.”
“You rarely talked about your mother,” he wondered if she also hated her mother as much as she hated her father.
“I don’t remember her much, she passed away when I turned five. Everytime she looked at me, it’s like she could see Song Taiji, and she hated him.”
“Did she abuse you?” Li Yun suspected it might be the case if her mother despised Song Taiji.
She was shaken a bit, her typing slowed as she forced herself to hold back tears. He cursed at himself, gently held her head and cradled her into his arms.
“I don’t remember,” Rouxi promised herself never to cry because of that woman. Everything that had happened in the past was just some distant memories that happened to a young girl, it wasn’t her.
Many adults experienced childhood amnesia, not remembering many memories before the age of ten. Li Yun could barely remember anything that happened when he was seven. His earliest memories were from the time he gained the system. He hoped that whatever happened to her was long forgotten.