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Having concluded the initial conversation, Guan Xuemin then started bringing up a couple of inquiries he had regarding Eastern medicine. The professor approached the discussion in a testing manner, but Lin Yi’s answers opened his eyes- he was but a frog in a well! Lin Yi avoided direct, definitive answers for most of his problems, but it was precisely that mindset that enlightened the professor……

Above even Xuemin’s gratitude towards Lin Yi, was admiration- Lin Yi approached the problems being brought up with discussions, avoiding direct answers to the inquiries and instead pulling in other related topics.

Yet Xuemin understood perfectly- Lin Yi was giving him hints and tips, the way a good teacher would as he or she provided optimal education for the pupil, encouraging a self-reliant mentality in addition to nurturing the student’s confidence.

Xuemin’s confusions and problems were all cleared up in no time at all- the solutions he’d discovered through his own thought processes were fundamentally different from solutions one received from direct answers, it seemed!

No one mentioned anything, but Xuemin’s attitude and posture gradually transformed into that of a student’s as he listened respectfully to Lin Yi’s eloquent fluency.

Xuemin’s had adopted total behavior and posture one would expect from an attentive pupil, his back straight and eyes intent as time went on. How many years had it been? The professor had long forgotten what it was like to be listening to lectures, rather than giving them…

A knock sounded at the door, abruptly pulling Guan Xuemin from his student life and into reality. His relationship with Lin Yi now, however, had been completely transformed into one between pupil and mentor.

“I’ll go see who that is, Mister Lin.” Xuemin said, notifying Lin Yi of answering the door the way a student would to his teacher.

Lin Yi only smiled bitterly, but he supposed that even Xuemin couldn’t bring himself to call Lin Yi ‘Yi’ anymore.

It was Yang Huaijun, who’d been waiting and waiting until it was too far past lunchtime. He decided to knock on the study’s door just in case something was wrong.

“Grandpa Guan…… It’s past lunchtime already… Are you and Lin Yi..?” Huaijun asked, letting out a breath of relief upon seeing that nothing had happened.

“Oh, past lunchtime already?” Xuemin looked at his watch- it was almost one in the afternoon. He sighed internally at how time flew by; he’d wanted to learn more from Lin Yi, but while he could very well be willing to skip a meal or two in exchange for knowledge, the same couldn’t be said for Lin Yi. He’d taken up the guy’s entire morning, too… “Shall we go have lunch, then?”

“Don’t you have any patients in the afternoon, Grandpa Guan?” Huaijun asked, curious. Xuemin had patients every day, after all- he’d only pushed away his appointments in the morning for Lin Yi, not those in the afternoon.

“We can’t just not have lunch……” Xuemin had taken up Lin Yi’s morning, and felt that he had to at least treat the guy to a meal to make up a little for it, but he did have patients coming in the afternoon- Elder Liu, for example.

“Ah, I’ll go get something with Jun Bro- you still have patients, Grandpa Guan, so don’t mind us.” Lin Yi said, noticing the position Xuemin was in. “I’ll drop by for that lunch some other time, I hope you’ll welcome me then.”

“Of course, of course!!” Xuemin said, overjoyed that Lin Yi was planning to drop by again, aware at the same time that Lin Yi said that on purpose. “I’ll have my granddaughter make you some of her trademark dishes next time- Yang’s had them before. It won’t be worse than the meals you find at hotels.”

“Ah, of course! I look forward to that.” Lin Yi said with a nod before heading downstairs with Huaijun.

Xuemin was about to escort Lin Yi down when Lin Yi stopped him. “Grandpa Guan… If you continue being so courteous to me I don’t think I’ll dare drop by again……”

“Alright, alright……” Xuemin knew it was a joke, but there was nothing funny about the shock that came from the statement. He let the two walk down on their own after that.

A black Audi A81 parked in front of the villa just as Lin Yi got in the car.

_Oh..?_ Lin Yi recognized the passengers in the Audi he was seeing from the rear-view mirror- they were the people he’d met in the business district that day. Were they patients of Guan Xuemin, as well?

But Lin Yi didn’t intend on greeting them. The old man was a nice person, but his daughter-in-law was simply too much while the son just let his wife push him around…… He’d really have labelled the man as hopeless if it weren’t for his explosiveness at the end……

“You know them?” Huaijun asked, seeing that Lin Yi was observing the trio behind them.

“Nope, just met them once. Do you?” Lin Yi said, not mentioning the incident back at the business district. It wasn’t much of a story anyway.

“Met them once too. Yanjing’s House Liu, a really big family. That old man’s Liu Zhenhu, the middle-aged man’s Liu Tianyi, an important figure in Yanjing, and that woman’s his wife. They’re a really powerful family, too.” Huaijun said without holding back. “Deep ties both politically and business-wise.”

“Is that so?” Lin Yi smiled faintly at the introduction- so that explained the woman’s cockiness that day, talking smack about the mayor and minister and everything. “What about your Yang House?”

“Not as strong as the Liu family, they’re from Yanjing, after all.” Huaijun continued. “My old man’s retired for a couple years, and his heirs aren’t as strong as him. We only have influence in the military now…… They wanted me to train myself for a couple of years in a special ops squad, get some merits and a high rank, but who would’ve thought……”

Lin Yi nodded in response. Huaijun was downplaying his family’s strength, but the Yangs were still many times more powerful than an average household, albeit a bit lower than the top-tier houses at the peak.

“Get me back to school. Find a place to eat yourself.” Lin Yi said after one look at his watch. He could still make it in time for the first afternoon class.

“You’re not eating?” Huaijun asked.

“Not really hungry in the first place. I’ll just get something along the way.” Lin Yi said.

“Alright then.” Lin Yi had acted as Huaijun’s leader all this time, and there was no reason for him to be resisting against his wishes. With that, he turned the car around, and made his way to Songshan’s First School.

_chapter 140... remember the first time I talked to you guys on chapter 40? let's change the cover to celebrate, why don't we? i like both the covers so I'm actually quite conflicted about the change, so here's a poll - vote for the cover you want over there_

also! vote for the incoming surpriseee (i actually wrote what the surprise is but decided later to keep it secret lol)

tier five is finally OPEN! eleven early chapters everyone :D