Ishihara Tarou ultimately chose to compromise because Luo Ziling said two more sentences.
"Ishihara Naka hasn't been performing well lately. Mr. Ishihara should have a heart-to-heart with him and educate him a bit."
This blatant threat from Luo Ziling made Ishihara Tarou quite displeased, but he was also aware of the severity of the situation, and in the end, he backed down.
This situation naturally delighted Xu Chongzhi.
As a National Medicine Expert of South Korea, Xu Chongzhi naturally looked down on Ishihara Tarou, the National Medicine Expert of Japan.
After all, South Korea and Japan have similar achievements in this field. If Ishihara Tarou was stepped on, it would elevate his status.
If Ishihara Tarou's reputation declined, then Xu Chongzhi's reputation would naturally rise.
Ishihara Naka and Xu Zhiyuan are also in a competitive relationship, both hoping to receive Luo Ziling's true teachings and master the Taiyi Divine Needle.
Under normal circumstances, Luo Ziling would never fully impart his acupuncture skills to his disciples, unless someone performed exceptionally well.
If Ishihara Naka performed well, he might learn a bit more.
Conversely, if Xu Zhiyuan performed slightly better, then Luo Ziling might teach him a bit more.
Xu Zhiyuan and Ishihara Naka are the future stars of traditional medicine in South Korea and Japan. Their achievements may represent the highest level of traditional medicine in the two countries decades later β a matter of national honor.
If Xu Zhiyuan mastered the essence of the Taiyi Divine Needle and Ishihara Naka didn't, then Xu Zhiyuan's future achievements in acupuncture would undoubtedly be higher. Not to mention building good relationships with Luo Ziling and Ling Ruonan, achieving more in collaboration, and enhancing influence in Huaxia.
The benefits brought by increased influence cannot be measured simply by money.
Now, with Luo Ziling openly confronting Ishihara Tarou, Xu Chongzhi naturally felt pleased.
However, he wasn't in a position to stand up and say anything.
Ishihara Tarou's backing down left Xu Chongzhi somewhat regretful.
He certainly hoped to see Ishihara Taro act more impulsively.
"What a pity!"
After the lecture, Li Jinhui and Wu Mingyun, on behalf of Yan University, welcomed the visit of Ishihara Tarou and Xu Chongzhi and hosted a banquet in their honor. Having been in Huaxia for two days, this was the first official reception, and both Ishihara Tarou and Xu Chongzhi finally felt a degree of respect.
Both of them accepted the invitation to Yan University's hospitality without refusal.
Luo Ziling, Luo Liansheng, and some others, including Dong Xiaowan, also participated in the banquet.
The banquet proceeded relatively harmoniously.
After the banquet, Li Jinhui and Wu Mingyun held talks with Ishihara Tarou and Xu Chongzhi, discussing some aspects of exchange and collaboration.
When the talks concluded, Luo Ziling no longer ignored them and invited Xu Chongzhi and Ishihara Tarou for a tea chat.
However, with many people chatting over tea, it was impossible to discuss anything pivotal, which left Ishihara Tarou, who was somewhat anxious, a bit disappointed.
At the end of the group talks, he made a request to Luo Ziling, wishing to meet with Ling Ruonan and the foreign affairs officials of Huaxia.
Luo Ziling did not refuse and said he would make the arrangements.
After arriving in Huaxia, Ishihara Tarou tried to contact the foreign affairs officials to discuss a final resolution, but they declined his request gracefully. The responsible officials were already notified to not intervene in the matter.
With no other options, Ishihara Tarou had to resolve the issue through Luo Ziling.
Luo Ziling informed Ishihara Tarou that his mother, Ling Ruonan, would make time to discuss important matters with the Japanese guests soon.
As for official talks, Ling Ruonan could represent them, but he would also report Ishihara Tarou's request to the relevant departments.
Luo Ziling's uncertain attitude left Ishihara Tarou quite displeased, yet he had no choice.
Ishihara Tarou departed Yan University's campus before others and returned to the hotel to rest.
Xu Chongzhi did not leave and remained on campus, using the pretext of discussing some academic matters with Luo Ziling.
Luo Ziling, Luo Liansheng, Xu Chongzhi, and Xu Zhiyuan then discussed some areas of collaboration.
After that, Luo Ziling brought Ling Ruonan out to discuss collaboration matters with Xu Chongzhi. In terms of negotiations, Ling Ruonan was more professional than Luo Ziling and Luo Liansheng, so Luo Ziling entrusted the matters to Ling Ruonan to handle.
Seeing Ling Ruonan before Ishihara Tarou and engaging in substantive talks pleased Xu Chongzhi.
The talk with Ling Ruonan also achieved substantial results, which made him even happier.
Ling Ruonan didn't meet Ishihara Tarou until the afternoon of the next day.
When meeting with Ishihara Tarou, Luo Ziling accompanied Ling Ruonan.
Luo Ziling directly presented evidence to Ishihara Tarou of Ishihara Naka's involvement in espionage activities, informing both that the matter had drawn the attention of relevant departments. The original plan was to arrest Ishihara Naka for espionage and expel him, but considering the special status of the Ishihara Family and that Ishihara Naka hadn't succeeded in transmitting the gathered military intelligence, a mutually beneficial resolution was considered instead.
Before coming to Huaxia, Ishihara Tarou was prepared to pay a price.
The conditions proposed by Ling Ruonan did not catch him off guard; they were even slightly less than he expected, so he readily agreed without much hesitation.
What Ishihara Tarou hadn't anticipated was the challenging request put forward by the intelligence agency staff who arrived afterward.
An Huaxia agent working in Japan was unfortunately arrested by the Japanese side.
This was a quite important intelligence staffer, and Huaxia planned to use waiving the punishment of Ishihara Naka to exchange for this intelligence worker. This request altered Ishihara Tarou's expression, but after some confrontation, he finally gritted his teeth and agreed.
The freedom and future of his grandson were more important.
The negotiation between Ling Ruonan and Ishihara Tarou started at two in the afternoon and ended by ten in the night.
Luo Ziling did not participate in the negotiations, and neither did Ling Ruonan.
When the intelligence staff arrived, Ling Ruonan excused herself to leave.
During the meeting between Ling Ruonan and Ishihara Tarou, Luo Ziling was not present throughout. But after the intelligence agency officials arrived, he accompanied them most of the time. After the negotiations ended, Ishihara Tarou returned to the hotel to rest, intending to finalize detailed discussions of the cooperation agreement with Ling Ruonan the next day, followed by the signing of the agreement.
Of course, these tasks did not require Ishihara Tarou to handle personally; his assistant would help him complete them.
Luo Ziling left with the intelligence agency officials.
The intelligence official responsible for the negotiation was not meeting Luo Ziling for the first time, and they had collaborated several times.
As they were leaving together, Luo Ziling patted the other's shoulder and said with a smile, "I helped you out big time again, you owe me one!"
The man also patted Luo Ziling's shoulder and smiled, "Thank you for helping us seize the opportunity. If you ever need us, and we can help, we'd be glad to assist."
"It looks like our collaboration will be very pleasant."
"I think so too!"