This piece of news caused a huge controversy.
The fact that a Qigong master had killed someone ignited public furor.
Those who had opposed Fang Qiu’s method immediately jumped on this opportunity to rebuke him and went to leave all sorts of accusations in his Weibo account in large numbers.
“Have you heard about the Qigong master who killed his patient?”
“You should have seen the news if you aren’t blind. Do you not know that this Qigong master has caused the death of his patient because of his old-fashioned beliefs? You are his accomplice because you promoted all these beliefs!”
“Hey accomplice, how many others are you going to allow these people who hold old-fashioned beliefs to kill?”
…
In the dorm.
Fang Qiu did not log in to Weibo, so he wasn’t sure what the situation online was like, but he did see the news that a Qigong master had caused the death of his patient.
He immediately went online to read the news article from start to end, so he had a good understanding of the situation.
He immediately noticed that this so-called Qigong master was not a true Qigong master but a scammer.
The treatment method prescribed by this scammer, who didn’t understand how to utilize true Qigong, was obviously going to cause problems.
At the same time, this news attracted the attention of the leaders of the Education Department.
The management of the Education Department usually didn’t pay a lot of attention to such news, and they would just discuss such news casually over lunch.
However, this piece of news came right after the news that Fang Qiu was instigating students to practice Qigong.
Thus, Qigong was suddenly a topic that was related to the students and education.
The management at the Education Department was still able to manage the pressure before this piece of news, but after the news that a Qigong master had caused the death of his patient, the public outcry online and offline would only intensify.
This would cause a problem sooner or later.
At the head of the department’s office at the Provincial Education Department.
A middle-aged man with white hair and a round face sat in front of his desk. He wore a suit and exuded authority. He immediately picked up his phone after he read the news and saw the public outcry online on his computer.
On the other hand, Chen Yinsheng, who didn’t even have the time to have dinner, had just returned to his simple staff hostel after work and laid on his sofa in exhaustion. Then, he turned on the television.
The news that a Qigong master had caused the death of his patient was airing on television.
Chen Yinsheng turned pale when he saw the news.
He knew what this piece of news signified.
Just as he expected, his phone started ringing in his pocket even before the news finished airing on television.
“Beep beep beep…”
He dug out his phone. Then, his hand shook when he saw who was calling, and he almost dropped the phone.
It was a call from the Education Department!
“Hello,” Chen Yinsheng took a deep breath before he picked up the call.
“Am I speaking to Chen Yinsheng?” he heard a familiar voice say.
“Yes,” Chen Yinsheng said as he nodded. “Am I speaking to Director Mu?”
“I am Mu Weiping,” the voice on the other end of the line said calmly. “I must apologize for calling after work hours.”
“No problem,” Chen Yinsheng hastily said.
“Sure,” Mu Weiping said as he nodded.
“I actually wanted to talk about the students at your university who are practicing Qigong.”
“Please go ahead,” Chen Yinsheng said.
His heart dropped.
“I hope that you will be able to settle this matter before it blows up,” Mu Weiping said calmly.
He didn’t sound angry, neither did he sound like he was pressurizing Chen Yinsheng. He merely said casually, “I’ll give you one day to settle this Qigong issue at your university. Otherwise, I will penalize the university, do you understand?”
“I do,” Chen Yinsheng said as he nodded. He sounded very soft as though he had aged in a short moment.
“I apologize for disrupting your rest. Goodbye,” Mu Weiping said before he hung up.
Chen Yinsheng stared at his phone quietly after the call.
It was impossible to tell what he was thinking, but he stared at his phone silently for a long time.
…
The next morning.
At the vice principal’s office.
“Please ask Fang Qiu to come to my office,” Chen Yinsheng immediately called Qi Kaiwen after he came to the office.
Qi Kaiwen knew how serious the Qigong controversy was recently, so he did not dare to question any further. He immediately told Liu Feifei to let Fang Qiu know that Chen Yinsheng wanted to see him.
Fang Qiu headed straight to Chen Yinsheng’s office after he received the notification.
He didn’t know what to expect.
He remembered Chen Yinsheng personally apologizing to him once before, so he guessed that this was the reason why Chen Yinsheng had not asked to see him after the Qigong controversy erupted.
However, the situation seemed a little different this time.
Fang Qiu knew that Chen Yinsheng was under a lot of pressure, and perhaps Chen Yinsheng had asked to see him because he was no longer able to resist the pressure.
Fang Qiu did not dare to hesitate.
“Knock knock…”
Fang Qiu knocked on the door after he arrived at the vice principal’s office. Then, he pushed the door open and entered.
“Sir, were you looking for me?” Fang Qiu immediately noticed that Chen Yinsheng’s complexion seemed a little sallow, as though he didn’t sleep well the night before.
“Yes,” Chen Yinsheng said as he nodded. He looked intently at Fang Qiu before he said, “Are you sure that Qigong and acupuncture are an effective combination?”
“Yes, I am!” Fang Qiu immediately nodded and said.
“Do you mind demonstrating this?” Chen Yinsheng said.
“Of course,” Fang Qiu said as he nodded. Then, he said, “However, there aren’t any patients on campus for me to apply this method on.”
“Let’s head to the hospital,” Chen Yinsheng said. Then, he rose to his feet and strode out of his office as he said loudly, “Come on!”
They entered the hospital and came to Fang Qiu’s consultation room at the acupuncture department.
Coincidentally, there was a patient waiting for his turn outside the consultation room.
Fang Qiu spotted this patient from a distance. The patient was wearing a mask but the corner of his right eye was much higher than that of his left eye.
This patient clearly had facial paralysis!
Fang Qiu entered his consultation room, and the patient entered shortly after.
“I can already tell what you’ve been diagnosed with. Please remove your mask,” Fang Qiu said to the patient.
The patient immediately removed his mask to reveal his face that was slanted to one side.
“Are you able to treat this?” Chen Yinsheng asked softly.
“Sure,” Fang Qiu said as he nodded.
“Very well,” Chen Yinsheng. “Let’s perform this on him.”
Fang Qiu nodded.
Then, he led the patient to the acupuncture chair and started to treat him using acupuncture.
Fang Qiu knew that facial paralysis patients tended to have stiffer facial muscles on one side of their face. Thus, it was very hard for them to blink or raise their eyebrows. The best treatment for facial paralysis was acupuncture.
The main pressure points he had selected were, Yifeng, Xiaguan, Jiache, and Yangbai.
The complementary pressure points were Sibai, Yuyao, Dicang, and Hegu.
He performed a weak needling stimulation and used the Dicang pressure point to reach the Jiache, and the Yangbai pressure point to reach the Yuyao pressure point, and so on. Then, the needles would have to be left for 20 minutes.
He started to insert the needles.
This time, he did not use internal Qi, but instead, he employed pure Qigong.
He knew that Chen Yinsheng wanted to know how effective Qigong and acupuncture could be when used together and that he wasn’t interested in internal Qi.
He removed the needles 15 minutes later.
As a vice-principal of a University of Chinese Medicine, Chen Yinsheng naturally knew that Fang Qiu’s method would require the needles to be left in the pressure points for 20 minutes. However, Fang Qiu removed the needles after 15 minutes, so he wondered if this was related to Qigong.
“Alright, you should be cured after two treatment cycles, and each cycle would last three days. You would need to undergo an acupuncture session every day. Please remember to keep yourself warm after you return home. You could use cotton pads, large masks, or other cotton-based products to protect the sides of your face. Please also take care of your health and try to minimize the time you have to head out to prevent catching a chill. Make sure that you have good ventilation indoors and you should use warm water when you are bathing or washing your face. Do also try to practice making other facial expressions in front of the mirror,” Fang Qiu said as he removed the final needle.
Chen Yinsheng, who had been keeping a close eye on the patient’s condition, was astonished.
He saw that the patient who had entered with a crooked nose and mouth seemed much better and was also able to make certain facial expressions.
It was truly effective!
Chen Yinsheng’s eyes widened, and he looked at the patient in disbelief.
Most treatments wouldn’t be so effective if the needles were removed five minutes earlier than as prescribed. However, since the treatment was so effective, this seemed to be because of the use of Qigong.
This was undoubtedly great news that left a lasting impression on Chen Yinsheng.
“Keep up the good work,” Chen Yinsheng said. He took a deep breath and patted Fang Qiu’s shoulder before he strode out of the room.
Fang Qiu was confused as he stood in the consultation room.
Chen Yinsheng was behaving strangely. Why did he call him the first thing this morning to witness the effectiveness of Qigong and acupuncture?
After he returned to his office, Chen Yinsheng acted as though nothing had happened. He went to work as per usual and did not mention anything about Fang Qiu’s use of Qigong.
Soon, it was 5 p.m.
Chen Yinsheng’s phone on his desk suddenly rang when it was 30 minutes before the end of his official working hours.
He took a closer look and saw that the number matched the number that had called him the night before.
“Hello,” Chen Yinsheng said as he picked up the call.
“Mr. Chen,” an authoritative voice said on the other end of the line.
“Director Mu,” Chen Yinsheng said.
“Yes,” Mu Weiping answered. His voice sounded lower than usual and piled on the pressure as he said solemnly, “Have you settled this matter as requested?”
Chen Yinsheng was not surprised by the change of Mu Weiping’s casual attitude the night before to this authoritative stance because he knew that Mu Weiping knew how to separate personal and private matters. His call the previous night was on a personal basis, and he had sounded casual and polite because he had called him after office hours.
However, now that he was calling during work hours, he would naturally take on an authoritative power that was befitting of the Head of the Provincial Education Department.
“Director Mu…”
Chen Yinsheng thought for a moment before he took a deep breath and said solemnly, “I witnessed how effective an acupuncture treatment could be when combined with Qigong this morning. Please forgive me for failing to do as you’ve asked, but I will stand by this student!”
“What? You’re going to stand by him? Mr. Chen, this is not a question about the effectiveness of Qigong, but rather, this is a question of the public outcry across the country intensifying. As this controversy grows larger and larger, it will ultimately end up affecting your university. Then, it’ll be very difficult for you and for us to salvage the situation!”