Beauty and the Bodyguard

Xuemin couldn’t help but look at Lin Yi in admiration, and also in shame at his attitude towards him earlier. The kid was right, he should have more self-respect as an elder. Although, practitioners of medicine were known to be quite daring- Xuemin’s unorthodox behavior was actually quite understandable.

“Yep, in the past.” Lin Yi nodded. “It’s only natural that I thank you for taking care of a teammate of mine.”

“I understand, I’ll stop with the courtesies since Mister Lin’s said so yourself. Please, come to the study with me- I have a couple of medical inquiries I must ask you, Mister Lin… I hope you don’t mind teaching me a thing or two.” Xuemin said.

“Call me Lin Yi, or Yi. Mister Lin’s too much.” Lin Yi replied. “Let’s not treat it as teaching, too- we both have things to learn from each other.”

“Alright, I’ll call you Yi then. It goes the same for me, as well- call me Grandpa Guan, or Elder Guan. I must admit my shame when a man such as yourself calls me professor.” Xuemin said, not backing down from accepting Lin Yi’s courtesies. He was his elder, after all, and Huaijun, who was of the same generation as Lin Yi, called him Grandpa Guan as well.

“I’ll call you Grandpa Guan, then.” Lin Yi said casually. He was a humble man- he’d repay any sort of respect with even stronger respect.

The two made their way to the study as Huaijun stayed behind. There was no point in him joining the two doctors, after all, and he was just supposed to be acting as a middleman in the first place.

“Grandpa Guan, Lin Yi, you two take your time. I’ll watch some TV outside for a bit.” Huaijun said from outside the study.

“Alright, make yourself at home! There’s food in the kitchen; get yourself something to eat if you get hungry.” Xuemin said with a nod, understanding that Huaijun wouldn’t have any interest in medical topics.

Xuemin’s study was filled with a thick, scholarly scent- both sides of the room were lined with long bookshelves all equipped with medical book selections, inclusive of both Eastern and Western medicine. The variety of knowledge packed in the room was quite comprehensive indeed.

“A humble collection, I’m afraid.” Xuemin said with a chuckle, noticing that Lin Yi was sizing his library up. “I’ve a variety of selections in here, but nothing too substantial; good reads, but quite ineffective when seeking new knowledge.”

“‘Emperor’s Inner Studies’ is a good one, it’s the one I read when I first started my medical studies.” Lin Yi said with a nod as he pointed at a couple of books on the bookshelf.

“‘Emperor’s Inner Studies’…… Indeed, one of the few remaining gems of Eastern medicine legacy.” Xuemin nodded in response. “What a pity…….”

“A pity?” Lin Yi asked curiously. “What do you mean by that, Grandpa Guan?”

“A pity that of the eleven medical classics of ‘Chinese Archives- Arts and Culture’, ‘Private Studies of the Emperor’ is the only one that remains!”

“Ah……” Lin Yi smiled faintly, unsure of what to say as he looked at the pained expression on Xuemin’s face.

“From the ‘Seven’ recorded by the Chinese Archives, the ones that once existed with ‘Emperor’s Inner Studies’ were namely ‘Bian Que’s Inner Studies’, ‘Bai She’s Outer Studies’, ‘Bai She’s Inner Studies’, and ‘Miscellaneous Articles’…” Xuemin continued on, failing to notice the look on Lin Yi’s face as he grieved melancholily. “Just imagine the glories of Eastern Medicine should all these masterpieces still exist… A pity indeed!”

(okay my translations for the titles are pretty arbitrary, there’s just too many interpretations for me to go for)

“Ah, I’ve read ‘Bian Que’s Inner Studies’ before.” Lin Yi said after some hesitation. After all, his impression of Guan Xuemin was pretty good so far. The prescription he’d written for Huaijun had its origins in ‘Bian Que’s Inner Studies’, and he’d decided to just give the book credit for the recipe, since Xuemin was probably going to inquire about that in the conversation.

“You’ve…… read ‘Bian Que’s Inner Studies’ before?” Xuemin asked. It was no surprise that he’d be taken aback by the statement- he was just grieving for its extinction a while ago. After all, he was a medical man who’d reached a certain apex of medicine, and improving from there was nothing short of extreme difficulty. There wasn’t any material for him to read from, and the only way to go up was through practical testing and study, something known for its inefficiency. ”A genuine copy?”

There had been instances of non-genuine copies appearing before, copies that were proven to be fakes. Xuemin read one once, finding the contents quite interesting… Yet it’d be quite a stretch for a book of that quality to stand side by side with a masterpiece like ‘Emperor’s Inner Studies’.

“Yeah, in my elder’s house when I was little.” Lin Yi said with a nod. “Jun Bro’s condition was quite similar to an example written in ‘Bian Que’s Inner Studies’, and my recipe was but an extension of some of the concepts inside that book.”

Lin Yi’s explanation was a disguised one, and Xuemin naturally noticed that, having read the non-genuine copies. There was no such example at all!

“Really?” Xuemin was getting a little excited. “Could I see it……”

Xuemin didn’t wait for Lin Yi’s response before speaking up again, a shameful and bitter smile on his lips. “I apologize for my excitement. It belongs to your elder, of course it isn’t something you could just show around. Yi, I hope you don’t mind my outburst.”

“Ah, it’s really nothing.” Lin Yi smiled in response. He was, naturally, referring to Old Lin when he talked about his elder, who’d brought back a whole collection of ancient rarities. Apparently, they belonged to a traitor of Miao Village, called ‘Elder You’. He’d been collecting the rarities for some dark arts, only to be ended by Lin Yi’s sifu, who’d then split the loot with his old man.

“Well, I’d like to invite Grandpa Guan for a look at it, should the opportunity arise.” Lin Yi wasn’t a petty man. The doctor hadn’t cured Huaijun, but it was a concrete fact that Huaijun would’ve been dead without Xuemin, let alone hold out for that long. As such, Lin Yi had only gratitude towards the savior.

“…Really? That’s just splendid!” Xuemin exclaimed, getting excited again before a thought came to his mind. There was a possibility that Lin Yi was only being courteous and polite- he shouldn’t be taking that invitation for granted. He’d heard that hidden masters of Eastern medicine had a couple of lost masterpieces of medical writing in their hands, but those were just rumors- he’d never actually seen any before. Xuemin had to assume, then, that Lin Yi’s elder was one of these hidden masters… He couldn’t just walk up to the guy’s home and look at his treasured collection, after all. “Although, it’s fine if it’s too much trouble, I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“It’s fine.” Lin Yi had authority over stuff like this- Old Lin wouldn’t make too much of a fuss with his sifu backing him up. “I’ll bring some with me the next time I visit my old place.”

“Ah… Is that truly fine?” Xuemin wasn’t quite sure what he’d just heard- treasure of that caliber shouldn’t be moved around like souvenirs, should they? What if they got lost? It’d be a disaster even if those were copies! “If it’s alright with you, I could come along with you during your visit?”

“Yeah, that’s okay too.” Lin Yi nodded……