Chapter 674 - Rich man Ailmen
Tos.h.i.+ Amano had already considered Su Tao as an equal. As someone who could become an Imperial Physician, he had a wide breadth of mind. He knew that there were no seniors in the study of medicine, and only those who learn better could take the lead. In terms of qualification, Su Tao was a National Healer from China, while he’s an Imperial Physician of the Seto Clan, and the two of them were on equal heights. Hence, Tos.h.i.+ Amano has considered Su Tao as his equal despite the difference in age.
At the same time, Su Tao was neither servile nor overbearing. He knew how to advance or retreat, which roused Tos.h.i.+ Amano’s admiration for him.
When he thought of the fact that there wasn’t someone comparable to Su Tao in j.a.pan’s medical industry, he couldn’t help feeling a little anxious. In a few more decades, when Su Tao s.h.i.+nes, wouldn"t j.a.pan"s medical industry be suppressed by China’s medical industry?
But despite his concerns, he still showed good manners and said, “The mistress of the Seto Clan will host a banquet later to thank you for treating s.h.i.+nin.”
The reason why he could get a good impression of the Seto Clan was because Su Tao had no idea of s.h.i.+nin’s ident.i.ty when he helped out. If they knew that he was trying to get close to the Seto Clan on purpose, he would definitely not receive such good treatments. At most, they would dismiss him off with some money.
But after Su Tao briefly pondered it, he shook his head and refused, “I think that there’s no need for a banquet; it’s just a small effort for me. Please tell the mistress of the Seto Clan that there’s no need for such politeness, or it would seem that I have a motive instead.”
When Tos.h.i.+ Amano heard Su Tao’s words, he had a flash of admiration in his eyes. Everyone would find it an honour to forge a relations.h.i.+p with the Seto Clan, but Su Tao had rejected the opportunity.
However, he didn’t know that Su Tao had no favorable impression of the Seto Clan, and Su Tao was a nationalist.
“Please wait here. I’ll seek instructions from the Seto Clan’s mistress.” Tos.h.i.+ Amano helplessly said after hearing Ni Jingqiu’s translation.
After Tos.h.i.+ Amano left, Ni Jingiqu sourly looked at him and grumbled, “I finally know why you pulled me along. So you wanted me to act as a free translator for you.”
“Yeah, who knows if they would curse me? I’m more relieved with you around. At the very least, I won’t get cheated by them.” Su Tao smiled.
“You’re afraid of being cheated?”
Su Tao was sly, and there weren’t many people in the world who could cheat him.
“Well, there’s a language barrier between us.” Su Tao smiled as he continued, “If one day, Mandarin becomes an international language, it will no longer be so troublesome.”
“Mandarin is pretty popular nowadays, and many countries have considered Mandarin as an important language.” Ni Jingqiu smiled.
“That’s because they know that China has a huge market to develop, and anyone who’s financially able would like to travel around the world. So they’re just learning Mandarin to suck our money.” Su Tao sighed.
Ni Jingqiu was briefly stunned before she smiled. “That sounds a little extreme, but it also sounds logical at the same time.”
After a brief pondering, Su Tao asked with a playful smile, “Do you think I should make a rule? In the future, anyone who wants to be treated by me would have to speak Mandarin.”
A light flashed through Ni Jingqiu’s eyes. Su Tao’s words were prideful and arrogant, but at the same time, there was also an overbearing tone in his words. She subconsciously brushed her fringe and replied, “I’m afraid that they will only think that you’re being unreasonable and trying to bring hype to yourself.”
Listening to her words, Su Tao smiled and kept quiet. At this moment, Tos.h.i.+ Amano returned with a woman following behind him, and the woman was someone that they met yesterday. She’s the mistress of the Seto Clan, Yuko. Standing beside her was a young lady that seemed to be seventeen or eighteen, Kiko. When Su Tao looked at the young lady, he suddenly found her familiar.
When he saw Kiko taking out her phone and waving it before him, he was briefly stunned before he smiled and had instantly recalled the upskirt incident.
“You guys know each other?” Yuko curiously looked at Kiko. When Kiko heard that Su Tao was coming, she was more excited than anyone.
Kiko moved over to Yuko’s ears and explained what had happened. When Yuko looked at Su Tao once more, her gaze became more gentle. She had given an evaluation for Su Tao, a righteous and courageous Chinese young man.
“Mr. Su, why don’t you have lunch before leaving? I have already got someone to prepare the meal, and if you leave now, they would’ve gone through the trouble for nothing.” Yuko threw out a sincere invitation in a sweet voice.
The maid standing beside her was proficient in Mandarin, so she translated Yuko’s words at the same time.
“Thank you for your goodwill. If that’s the case, then I can only do as you say.” Su Tao knew that he would seem narrow-minded if he rejected at this moment, and he would only leave a bad impression about Chinese in them.
“Ms. Ni, you can also eat with us!” Yuko nodded her head at Ni Jingqiu and continued, “My husband has contacts with your father, and we also wanted to invite you over after learning that you came to Kyoto.”
As a prestigious family in China, it’s naturally not surprising that Ni Buwei would know the Crown Prince of the Seto Clan.
However, Ni Jingqiu knew that her father only met the Seto Clan once, and Yuko was just being courteous so she replied, “Thank you for your invitation!”
Su Tao and Ni Jingqiu followed the two of them to the back of the building. The place wasn’t s.p.a.cious, but the decorations were elegant with a huge paper fan hanging on the wall, painted with cherry and a phrase by Li Yu, “Cherry blossoms falling on moonlight steps as she looks sad, lounging upon her ivory bed, for the same regret this day last year she has. Like languid clouds as her disheveled head; with tears wetting her corset red. For whom is she lovesick? Drunk, she dreams with the window curtain thick.”
Su Tao knew that this was a display of goodwill to have lunch here. The entire place would show the strict system of the inner palace, and it would give out a feeling that this is also a cage despite being an influential family.
Those outside could only envy the luxurious building, while those inside lived a suppressed lifestyle.
Even with guests around, they still maintained the principles of not talking while you’re eating, causing the atmosphere to be monotonous.
Everyone had a square table before them with all sorts of small dishes laid out. The taste was pretty good without any flaws, but for some reason, the atmosphere felt uncomfortable.
Su Tao did not pay too much attention and ate as he normally did. As for Ni Jingqiu, she had only tasted every dish as a token before she placed her chopsticks down and looked at Su Tao, who was feasting his heart out. She was amazed by Su Tao’s adaptability. Even if he was thrown into this secluded Imperial Palace, he could probably live a brilliant life as well.
When the lunch ended, Yuko took a sip of tea before she finally said, “Aside from thanking you for treating s.h.i.+nin, I still have something that I would like to ask you.”
With the maid acting as a translator, it wasn’t a problem for them to communicate.
If you’ve eaten from others, you wouldn’t be in a position to refuse. Since they had treated him to a meal, he would naturally help them, so he smiled. “Please, go ahead and ask!”
“s.h.i.+nin would often have all sorts of health problems, take this fracture as an example. He had only suffered a sprain, and according to Doctor Amano’s judgment, his bone shouldn’t be so fragile. But our Imperial Physicians have done a check-up on him, and they didn’t notice anything unusual with s.h.i.+nin.” Yuko spoke as she waved her hand at the maid, who handed a file to Su Tao.
Su Tao knew what the other party’s intention was, and they wanted him to perform a check-up for s.h.i.+nin.
Yuko had investigated Su Tao, and she was shocked by all of his achievements. Since he’s a famous doctor who’s hard to come by, she naturally couldn’t allow this opportunity to slip from her fingers.
From the file, Su Tao could tell that the other party was well-prepared since they even provided a version in Chinese for his convenience.
The information recorded all of s.h.i.+nin’s conditions for the past six months. Every single month, s.h.i.+nin would practically suffer from an illness like enteritis, pneumonia, and this fracture. Although he was swiftly treated by the Imperial Physicians, it didn’t make sense since they couldn’t find the root of the problem.
Deep in her heart, Yuko did not have too much trust for the Imperial Physicians, so she had also tried to invite several famous doctors in the country to take a look. However, all of them had the same conclusion.
Since s.h.i.+nin often falls ill, Yuko has gathered a lot of information. She has also heard of TCM in China having the ability to treat mysterious and complicated illnesses, and this was how she came up with the idea of inviting a physician to take a look at s.h.i.+nin.
But due to the strict rules and regulations of the inner palace, ordinary physicians couldn’t enter this place. So even if she wanted to invite a famous physician over, she still had to go through all the troublesome procedures.
Hence, she thought of a shortcut by using a consultation method to request Su Tao’s help and avoid the troublesome procedures.
Roughly half an hour later, Su Tao finished reading the materials and said, “According to my a.n.a.lysis, Prince s.h.i.+nin does have a disease.”
Widening her eyes, Yuko asked in a worried tone, “What disease is he suffering from?”
Pressing his hand down in the air, Su Tao replied, “This isn’t something troublesome, you only have to make a slight adjustment. Strictly speaking, his condition is called the Rich Man’s Ailment. His living environment is too good, and this is why his body does not have much resistance to the outside world. Take the fracture as an example. He didn’t lack nourishment, so he does not lack calcium, but he was in an unfamiliar environment yesterday. In the process, he was too happy and lost control of his ligament that led to a sprain, while ultimately ending in a fracture. As for his enteritis and pneumonia, it’s also because he does not have much interaction with the outside world. So if he consumes some food or gets a cold, it will break out. If I have guessed it correctly, someone near him must have mysophobia. If it’s not you, then it must be his nanny.”
Yuko was shocked when she heard the translation. Su Tao could even a.n.a.lyse that the nanny has mysophobia from those pieces of information?
Back then, she had purposely picked a nanny with mysophobia because she would be clean, and at the same time, it meant that her milk was also purer.
“What has this got to do with mysophobia?” Yuko curiously asked.
“In China, we have a saying; those who are dirty won’t easily catch illnesses. It might not sound scientific, but there’s some logic in this. There are many unknown bacterias in the world, and they exist around us, and also at places that we can’t see. The right method is to strengthen the physique so that it can resist against the outside world. For example, a mother’s milk is the first food that the baby takes, and not only does it contain nutrients, it also contains the antibiotics from the mother. From the first moment that he had started taking milk, it had already been determined that he will be weaker than anyone else.” Su Tao tried to explain it as simply as he could.