Chapter Forty-six: Reading Characters

  In fact, the couplet spoken by Wang Xu is still the couplet at the gate of his old home Fusheng Hall, which is a true portrayal of Wang Hedian's life. Wang Hedian opened a clinic not to make money, but to treat illnesses. He would not get excited even if the clinic was doing well, nor would he be depressed if it was doing poorly.

  Wang Xu clearly remembers that Wang He once told him that whether a clinic is successful or not depends on whether there are people getting sick within the surrounding area, rather than how many people are at the door of the clinic all day.

  At that time, Wang Xu was still young and always felt that Wang He Nian's wish was similar to the great vow of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Hell would not be empty, he vowed not to become a Buddha, it was impossible to achieve.

  But now it seems that Wang Heyan was not unaware of how slim his wish was, but he made every effort to move forward towards this goal, just like the Foolish Old Man who moved mountains, knowing that it was impossible but doing it anyway, not only in treating illnesses, but also in inspiring a generation, benefiting a generation and influencing a generation.

  Wang Xu, as a modern young man, although he inherited Wang Heyan's mantle and medical skills, but it is impossible for him to inherit Wang Heyan's fearless and selfless spirit. He can only do his best, since he has learned this set of medical skills, he must live up to them.

  After writing to Wang Xu, Luo Hansheng was more enthusiastic and less reserved. Through the name of the clinic and the couplet at the entrance, Luo Hansheng could also see some of Wang Xu's temperament. In this era where material desires are rampant, such people are indeed rare.

  Luohan Xiang forced Wang Xu to stay for lunch, and only then did he leave the Luo family's residence, going out alone. At noon, Luo Tongquan returned and told Wang Xu that he had already made arrangements for the clinic, and all sorts of procedures such as business licenses would be taken care of as soon as possible. He would have Luo Chenghai deliver them to Wang Xu later. For now, the only thing Wang Xu lacked was a fixed storefront.

  The facade is settled, and the decoration will take a few more days. In addition to ordering medicine cabinets and purchasing medicines, Wang Xu has many busy things to do. Living in Qiao Bin Kai's place is very inconvenient, so he plans to rent a house first.

  Wang Xu was strolling down the street, looking at the small rental ads posted everywhere, when a black Audi suddenly stopped beside him and honked twice. Jiang Tao leaned out of the driver's seat in front and greeted with a smile: "Young Wang, what are you doing wandering around alone?"

  "With nothing better to do, I was just wandering around and getting familiar with the surroundings. What's this, Jiang Shao?" Wang Xu said with a smile."

  "There's a antique appraisal meeting on the other side of Chenghuang Temple, it used to be quite lively, why don't we go together?" said Jiang Tao with a smile.

  "Appraisal meeting?" Wang Xu repeated in surprise, asking puzzled: "What is this activity? An auction?"

  "It's not an auction, just a few people in the industry getting together after some time has passed, taking out their collections to admire each other's items. If they take a liking to something, they can trade it. These are all top-notch people in the antique world, and what they bring out is basically all good stuff. I went to join in on the fun, see if there was anything that caught my eye, buy one or two pieces... and then next month is Father's 60th birthday." Jiang Tao explained.

  "I'm not really interested in antiques, so I won't join the crowd." Upon hearing this, Wang Xu's enthusiasm suddenly waned. Antiques aren't something that just anyone can play with; you need to have an eye for them and financial resources - one without the other is useless.

  "It's really worth going to take a look, I've heard that this time there is a hundred-year-old wild ginseng." Jiang Tao said with a smile.

  "Wild mountain ginseng of a hundred years!" Wang Xu's interest was piqued upon hearing this, for it was indeed a rare treasure. Nowadays, with development happening all over the country, wild medicinal herbs are becoming increasingly scarce. It's already difficult to find 20-30 year old wild mountain ginseng, let alone those that are over a hundred years old. Even if someone were to obtain some by chance, they would likely treasure it and hardly ever put it up for auction or trade.

  "Let's go and take a look." Seeing Wang Xu showing some interest, Jiang Tao invited him again.

  "Alright, let's go take a look." Wang Xu nodded and opened the car door to get in. Even if he couldn't afford this wild mountain ginseng, it was worth taking a look; this kind of rare medicinal herb had an irresistible attraction for him as a traditional Chinese medicine doctor.

  After Wang Xu got on the car, Jiang Tao started the car and looked at the white paper under Wang Xu's arm with a puzzled expression, asking: "What did you buy the white paper for?"

  "Just went to Luo's house, and Luo heard that I'm going to open a clinic, so he wrote a few words for me." Wang Xu said with a faint smile.

  "Old Luo!" Jiang Tao was taken aback for a moment, then asked in surprise: "Mayor Luo's father?"

  "Yes." Wang Xu nodded.

  "Ah!" Seeing Wang Xu nod, Jiang Tao couldn't help but take a deep breath. He knew what Luo Lao's words meant all too well. Normally, Luo Lao rarely wrote for people, and he had begged Luo Chenghai many times to no avail. Unexpectedly, he had taken the initiative to write for Wang Xu's small clinic.

  Although he had already seen that Wang Xu and Luo's family were not shallow yesterday, but he never thought that Wang Xu would actually have a relationship with Old Luo, and it seemed that the relationship was not shallow.

  The car drove for about half an hour and arrived near the Chenghuang Temple. Jiang Tao stopped the car at a small teahouse nearby and led Wang Xu inside, going straight up to the second floor.

  Pushing open a private room on the second floor, there were already many people inside, most of whom were over 40 years old. When they saw Jiang Tao enter, they hurriedly smiled and greeted him: "Jiang Shao is also here to join in the fun?"

  "Ah, let's see what good things you have again. The inkstone I bought last time is very much liked by the old master." Jiang Tao, although young in age, has dealt with these people many times before and appears to be quite familiar with them.

  In fact, these people gather together to appraise antiques, on the one hand, there is a sense of showing off, if you take out something good in front of your peers, it will greatly increase your face, on the other hand, there are some things that need to be sold, this is also an opportunity, and for someone like Jiang Tao, who is a rich second-generation, it's not excluded.

  "Today I brought a new friend for everyone." After Jiang Tao greeted these people, he smiled and introduced Wang Xu to them.

  These people, upon hearing that Wang Xu was just a minor doctor, didn't think much of it. Seeing the white paper tucked under Wang Xu's arm, they thought he had obtained some famous calligraphy or painting and had come to ask for their appraisal.

  For such things, these people are not uncommon. They are mostly insiders in the antique industry, and their eyesight is not inferior to that of a genuine appraiser.

  Jiang Tao briefly introduced the people sitting there to Wang Xu. A man in his fifties named Zhang Tianyou was the owner of this Xiaoxiao Teahouse, and the others were all experts in the antique industry in Zhongjiang, namely Xu Fenghua, Chen Jingsheng, Liang Junmin, He Zhengdao, and Feng Shaoyu.

  These people have their own businesses in Zhongjiang and are quite wealthy, and can also be considered as celebrities in another circle.

  After getting familiar with each other, several people drank tea and chatted for a while. Then two more people arrived, one was a young man in his thirties named Ye Zhiqiu, who like Jiang Tao was a rich family's son, the other was a beautiful woman in her thirties named Wang Lanlan, who was a relative of Wang Xu and an unmarried female entrepreneur.

  After waiting for these two people to arrive, and waiting a little longer, Zhang Tianyou looked at the time and laughed: "This time it's probably just us, everyone bring out whatever good things you have."

  When Zhang Tianyou spoke, a group of people laughed and no one was willing to start. This kind of appreciation originally had more playful elements, and what they cared about most was face. The first person to take out something would inevitably lose out, if it was good stuff then that's okay, but if it was fake or not very good, they would inevitably lose face.

  Seeing a group of people stunned, no one willing to take the lead, Zhang Tianyou didn't mind either. This situation wasn't the first time it happened, someone had to make the first move, they weren't in a hurry, continuing to drink their tea.

  "This little brother must be holding a famous calligraphy and painting, or else let everyone take a look?" After waiting for a few minutes, still no one came forward, Wang Lanlan suddenly looked at Wang Xu who had not spoken much and smiled.

  "This isn't some famous calligraphy or painting, it's just a character written by an elder for me. You all appreciate yours, I'm just here to join in the fun." Wang Xu hastily waved his hand and said.

  "It's not a famous painter's work, but it can still be shown to everyone." Feng Shaoyu said with a smile, his figure slightly plump, and his small eyes disappeared when he smiled, looking very comical.

  "Wang Shao, just take it out and let everyone see. Although this calligraphy is not from a famous artist, it's still quite impressive." Jiang Tao also urged on the side, earlier on the road, Wang Xu had said that this was Luo Hansheng's calligraphy, and the value of this piece of calligraphy was in no way inferior to that of a famous artist.

  When Jiang Tao also said so, Wang Xu could only take out the letter written by Luo Hansheng and handed it over. Zhang Tianyou took it with his hand, and as soon as he touched the paper quality, he subconsciously frowned. This paper is not bad, but it's not very good either, and it doesn't have much age.

  Knowing it wasn't a famous calligrapher's work, Zhang Tianyou relaxed a lot and spread out Wang Xu's calligraphy on the table in the middle. At this time, several others also gathered around.

  "Fusheng Hall!" As soon as he saw the three big characters, Zhang Tianyou subconsciously commented: "The words are mediocre and majestic, with a strong and powerful atmosphere, but they can't be considered a famous calligrapher's handwriting."

  "Luohan Xiang, who is this famous person? The word doesn't have any style." Feng Shaoyu also commented in a low voice, and the others looked at the signature together.

  "Ah!" Seeing this signature, Zhang Tianyou suddenly inhaled a breath of cool air, and his hand touching the characters also unconsciously lightened a lot, no longer having the casualness of just now.

  "Luohan Xiang!" Wang Lanlan also muttered, looking at Wang Xu in surprise and asked: "Isn't this character written by Mayor Luo's father, Old Man Luo?"

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