Chapter 1733: 1733: Seniority Must Not Be Disrupted

Chapter 1733: Chapter 1733: Seniority Must Not Be Disrupted

(Chapter 13)

From Ling Ruonan’s attitude, Luo Ziling felt that his mother had already reached some agreement with Ouyang Feifei.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have reacted this way.

The conversation became a bit disappointing, and the mother and son didn’t talk much more. After exchanging goodnights, they hung up the phone.

After hanging up, Luo Ziling felt a bit depressed but didn’t tell Luo Liansheng or Luo Yuqing about it and went to bed early.

Early the next morning, Luo Ziling received a call from Wang Xuyun, inviting him for morning tea.

The delegation had officially disbanded after returning and holding a victory party, with everyone going back to their respective units or homes. Wang Xuyun, Dong Qichang, He Yan, Cheng Bushi, and others were also preparing to leave. They weren’t from Yanjing and couldn’t stay there for long.

Luo Ziling accepted their invitation for morning tea and went out after getting up early.

Luo Liansheng left for his morning exercise but didn’t tell Luo Ziling where he was going, not even taking his phone.

After Luo Yuqing got up, she went back to school for classes.

Upon leaving, Luo Ziling contacted Yang Qingyin to inquire about Yang Qingye’s condition. Learning that Yang Qingye’s injury hadn’t worsened, he told Yang Qingyin he’d come over before noon to treat Yang Qingye again.

Yang Qingyin agreed and said she’d treat him to lunch when he came.

The place where the old men planned to have morning tea was an old house hidden within a cluster of alleyways and siheyuan.

As they entered the courtyard with the name plaque “Jingxi Big Bowl Tea,” a pretty young man came forward to greet them.

“Master, please come inside.” Seeing Luo Ziling enter, the young man quickly approached him, saying, “Grandpa and the others are already inside.”

“Who are you?” Luo Ziling, seeing this unfamiliar young man calling him master, looked puzzled.

“My name is Wang Hanying,” the young man answered respectfully, “my grandfather is Wang Xuyun.”

“Oh, I understand now,” Luo Ziling said, suddenly realizing.

During the visit to Japan and South Korea, the old men had mentioned choosing a young member of their family to learn from him, to which he had agreed. This person, named Wang Hanying, must be the one chosen by the Wang Family to learn acupuncture from him.

But hearing the other person call him “Master” suddenly didn’t feel right to Luo Ziling.

Originally, the old men should be calling him “Master” as a consequence of losing to him in acupuncture skills.

Now, with Wang Xuyun’s grandson calling him Master, it meant that the person who was supposed to be their Master was now being respected by their grandchildren as the Master, which essentially made him a generation lower than those old men?

While it might make sense as those old men are of the same generation as Luo Liansheng, wanting their grandsons to apprentice with him to avoid awkwardness is understandable. But since those old guys already respected him as “Master,” the saying “Once a teacher, always a father” is crucial. Luo Ziling didn’t want to suddenly become a peer instead of a senior, which was hard to accept.

He seriously corrected, “Wang Hanying, right? I am your grandfather’s master, he already acknowledged me as his teacher, so what should you call me? Grandmaster? I don’t even know what to call it, I’ll ask the old gentlemen later. Don’t call randomly, it mustn’t disrupt the hierarchy.”

Luo Ziling’s serious correction made Wang Hanying blush instantly.

Being nearly the same age as Luo Ziling, calling him “Master” already felt embarrassing.

Now, Luo Ziling asking to be called “Grandmaster” as his grandfather’s teacher made him very awkward, and he didn’t know how to accept it.

But before Wang Hanying could say anything, Luo Ziling waved his hand to stop him: “Quickly, take me in. I’ll discuss this later with your grandpa and the other old fellows.”

Wang Hanying had to swallow his words, reluctantly following behind Luo Ziling as they headed toward the private room where Wang Xuyun and the other old men were.

Just as they were about to reach the private room, he realized and quickly ran a few steps ahead to lead the way for Luo Ziling.

Wang Hanying lifted the curtain, stepped back to the door, and invited Luo Ziling in.

Luo Ziling saw Wang Xuyun, Dong Qichang, Cheng Bushi, and He Yan, four old guys, sitting around a table drinking tea, with a few people Luo Ziling didn’t know standing nearby.

When they saw Luo Ziling coming in, the four originally seated old men all stood up and greeted him respectfully.

Returning the greeting, Luo Ziling laughed and pointed at Wang Hanying, standing a bit awkwardly aside, saying, “Old Brother Wang, aren’t you the one who apprenticed yourself to me? How come your grandson is calling me Master now? After all, you respected me first as your teacher, are you wanting me to be your junior now?”

Wang Xuyun was stunned upon hearing this, then laughed, saying that wasn’t his intention. He was merely having his grandson Wang Hanying learn acupuncture by Luo Ziling’s side. It seems Wang Hanying misunderstood, thinking he had to apprentice under Luo Ziling, hence calling him Master.

“Learning acupuncture from me is fine, but I won’t be their Master,” Luo Ziling stated his intentions straightforwardly.

He was concerned about his status. After becoming a master to some old guys, his rank would drop to being their junior, which was unacceptable unless it never happened in the first place.

The old men exchanged looks among themselves for a while, eventually agreeing to Luo Ziling’s request—to have Luo Ziling teach acupuncture but not as a master-apprentice relationship.

Wang Xuyun’s grandson, Wang Hanying, was the first to arrive in Yanjing, with others from He Yan, Dong Qichang, Cheng Bushi’s lineage coming in the following days.

With Ishihara Naka and Xu Zhiyuan coming, and adding Wang Xuyun, He Yan, Dong Qichang, and Cheng Bushi’s grandchildren, Luo Ziling would have six people under him learning skills. Thinking he could mentor them as a senior later, he felt a sense of pride swell within him.

After sitting down and discussing some situations regarding learning skills and future medical technology exchanges, Luo Ziling took his leave.

After Luo Ziling left, the others sat and continued drinking tea.

The juniors were sent off, leaving four old men in the private room.

“This kid has gotten so many honors that he’s getting a bit cocky!” Wang Xuyun said with some sentiment, “Young people, their mindset is just a bit restless.”

“He’s someone who doesn’t want to lose out,” He Yan said with a chuckle, “His mind isn’t as simple as we think.”

“How so?” Cheng Bushi asked curiously after sipping his tea.

“After gaining fame this time, he’ll surely seize the opportunity to do many things. What he does might even surprise us. Let’s just wait and see!”

Dong Qichang said leisurely, “Hopefully, after all his commotion, he can suppress the voices calling for the abolition of traditional medicine and elevate its status. If he really has that intention, there’s nothing wrong with us lending him a hand.”

“That’s true,” the other old men agreed with Dong Qichang.