The recruitment drive was very successful and the employees of Thunder Horse Manufacturing managed to get 56 of their classmates or friends to come to the company in a short few days. There were still applications trickling in with more people wanting to join Thunder Horse Manufacturing.

The welfare package was good and the boss was also fairly generous. The plant also had a good number of young women and these were all attractive to the applicants. Thunder Horse Manufacturing had not been upgraded yet but the problem of acquiring talented manpower was already solved.

There was no need for Xia Lei to worry about these matters since Liang Si-Yao and Du Bai from the human resources department would. What he needed to solve was a new problem and that was how to get clinical practice for acupuncture.

Xia Lei begun his experiment when darkness descended.

His first experimental subject: a rabbit.

He used rope to tie all four of the rabbit’s feet together and secure it on the table, then used a shaver to shave the fur off a part of the rabbit’s back, exposing the skin. He then used his fingers to pinch that part of skin and make a bruise. Finally, he used a needle on the rabbit.

The bruising of skin was due to injuries to the tissues under the skin, and rupturing and clotting of blood vessels. His plan was to use the silver needles to clear the clotting in the rabbit’s blood vessels and if he could do it, it meant that he could also use the needles on Shentu Ren’s blocked blood vessels. This was also why he had asked for a weeks’ time - he needed to have practical experience and evidence that it could be done before he performed the treatment on Shentu Ren.

Normal people could only see the bruised skin of the rabbit under normal circumstances but Xia Lei could use his left eye to see what was going on under its skin. He knew exactly which blood vessels were broken and which were blocked. He could do acupuncture on a rabbit because of his incomparable ability and others would not be able to do it even if one were a practised traditional Chinese medicine doctor with fifty years of experience.

His left eye twitched and the inside view of the rabbit’s bruised skin entered Xia Lei’s vision. He focused on a blood vessel and inserted a silver needle. He had not researched a rabbit’s acupuncture points but he wasn’t going after those anyway; he was after its blood vessels. With the help of his eye, the needle in his hand went straight towards the blockage in the blood vessel and he angled the needle, slowly approaching the blockage.

When the silver needle got close to the blocked area, his arm trembled slightly and a flow of internal energy travelled from his arm and seemed to go through the silver needle in an instant. The silver needle vibrated as energy passed through it and its temperature increased by quite a bit.

The internal energy which burst from the needle hit the blockage like floodwater bashing upon the gates of a dam. There was no sound but Xia Lei could see that the blood vessel had burst. The bruising on the rabbit’s skin darkened.

‘I used too much internal energy. Need to decrease it.’ Xia Lei summarised his own failure and focused on another capillary, continuing to apply internal energy to the needle.

The capillary did not burst this time; the wall was split open. However, the blockage was mostly cleared and some blood trickled through.

Third attempt: blood vessel burst...

Fourth attempt: Blood vessel split...

Fifth attempt...

Failure, failure, success...

Success, success, failure...

He tried over and over, again and again. Xia Lei’s movements went from slow to quick and he gradually gained finer control over the internal energy he released. He was gaining more experience.

Early next morning, he gifted the bruised and battered rabbit to a neighbour and drove his car to work. Liang Si-Yao had asked him to go to her home after work the day before but he had declined. One week was a short time and he needed to practice to get his acupuncture skills to a certain level for the procedure. He could do his experimentation at the Liang household too but how would Liang Si-Yao and Liang Zheng-Chun view him if they saw him doing acupuncture on a rabbit? That was why he had chosen his own home as the location for his experimentation.

A lorry carrying equipment from China Industrial Group was already parked on the premises when he arrived at the company. It was the last shipment of the upgrading equipment specified in the contract. They only needed to wait for the construction of the new workshop to be complete, the new recruits to work and equipment to be put into production and the upgrade of Thunder Horse manufacturing would be complete.

After instructing his workers to unload the goods, Xia Lei went to the office.

Liang Si-Yao had already prepared a cup of Jin Jun Mei tea*. She was in black office-wear; black jacket, black woolen skirt, black heels and flesh-coloured stockings matched with a lotus leaf-collared white shirt. She was indescribably youthful, mature and sexy.

Xia Lei thought she looked tastier than the Jin Jun Mei tea she had prepared for him and he felt like tasting her.

“What did you do at home last night?” Liang Si-Yao asked with a smile.

“Learning medicine,” answered Xia Lei honestly.

“Must you learn it at home?”

Xia Lei smiled. “Heroes in ancient times closed themselves off in caves so I need to find someplace to close myself up in too. I want to go to your place too but I won’t be thinking about medical studies with you around. Oh, I need a week. I’ll treat Shentu Tian-Yin’s father with acupuncture after this week and who knows, I may be able to heal him.”

Liang Si-Yao pouted her cherry lips. “Shentu Tian-Yin again. When will she return you to me?”

Xia Lei rested his arms lightly around Liang Si-Yao’s waist and said gently, “Jealous? It’s not even real. You know I’m not that sort of person.”

Liang Si-Yao smiled then. She turned around and rewarded him with a kiss.

Women in love get jealous easily and even a ‘daughter of the world’ like Liang Si-Yao was no exception. She did get jealous but she was also broad-minded and easy to placate. Xia Lei just needed some gentle words to soothe her and she was fine.

“Ummm, cough.” Someone coughed in the doorway and the voice was uniquely reedy.

Xia Lei didn’t have to look back to know that it was Qin Xiang. He let go of Liang Si-Yao, then looked at Qin Xiang in the doorway and pretended to be annoyed as he said, “Don’t you know how to knock?”

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Qin Xiang shrugged, pointed at door against the wall and asked, “You mean I’m supposed to knock after I come in?”

Liang Si-Yao’s face was red as she quickly said, “I’ll go take a look in the R&D department. Yin Hao and the guys said they had new plans. Um, you two go ahead and chat.”

Qin Xiang raised his voice as Liang Si-Yao went past him. “I think our company walls - especially over here - should have notices stuck on them. ‘No love-love and no intimacy during work hours’.”

Liang Si-Yao glared at Qin Xiang and suddenly kicked him in the back of his leg.

Qin Xiang opened his mouth wide and kept it open even after Liang Si-Yao walked out the door.

Xia Lei chuckled. “You deserve it for annoying her. She’ll even hit me when she loses her temper.”

Qin Xiang smiled wryly. “Descendant of Yang Yan-Chun. I understand.”

“You should have found out something since you came, huh?” Xia Lei went on to business.

Qin Xiang walked over, lifted the Jin Jun Mei tea to his lips and took a big gulp before saying, “I didn’t sleep a wink last night. How could I have sacrificed my sleep for nothing? That punk you told me to keep an eye on went to meet someone last night. Guess who.”

Xia Lei thought for a bit. “Gu Ke-Wu.”

“Eh?” Qin Xiang looked at Xia Lei, astonished. “How did you guess?”

Xia Lei gave a small laugh. “I caused an uproar at the Shentu residence. Shentu Tian-Yin is still in charge, so he has no power within the Shentu clan to use against me. He would want someone to help, and Gu Ke-Wu is the best candidate. Gu Ke-Wu likes Shentu Tian-Yin - this is no secret. He has always seen Shentu Tian-Yin as a prize so he will surely do something when I’m getting in his way - and that is what Shentu Tian-Feng would be happy to witness.”

Qin Xiang gave Xia Lei a thumbs-up. “Awesome, but I don’t understand. You told me that the Shentu clan didn’t want Shentu Tian-Yin to fall in love or get married. Isn’t Shentu Tian-Feng smashing his own foot with a rock by going to look for Gu Ke-Wu?”

“He’s borrowing a knife to commit a murder. Shentu Tian-Feng doesn’t want Gu Ke-Wu to get Shentu Tian-Yin, of course. He’s not stupid. He knows what sort of person Gu Ke-Wu is.”

“Then you be careful. Gu Ke-Wu represents the Gu clan,” said Qin Xiang worriedly.

“I’ll be careful. You be careful too,” said Xia Lei.

“I’ll continue to keep an eye on him and I’ll contact you if I have anything.” Qin Xiang left Xia Lei’s office.

Xia Lei mulled over his thoughts by himself after Qin Xiang left. ‘I’d guessed that Gu Ke-Wu would do something when I decided to help Shentu Tian-Yin. I’m not afraid of him. If he tries something via legal channels, I’m a consultant for Bureau 101 - this identity can help me eliminate some problems. If he uses underhanded methods... He’d probably choose illegal methods, won’t he? What would he do...”

It was easy to predict what a normal person would do but people like this Gu Ke-Wu were very difficult to figure out.

While he was lost in thought, a middle-aged man in an impeccable suit appeared in the doorway and asked politely, “Excuse me, are you Chairman Xia?”

Xia Lei went forward to greet him. “Yes, I am. And you are?”

“Nn, I’m the general manager for a real estate development company under the Vientaine Group conglomerate. I am Wan Da-Hai. I’ve some as representative for my company to talk about a collaboration with you.”

Xia Lei was a little suspicious. “Collaborate on what?”

Wan Da-Hai reached out both hands to shake with Xia Lei, smiling as he said, “Our company has real estate in major cities across the country. We are in need of a large number of metal railings, steel fasteners and so on. I’d like to ask your company to manufacture these for us. This is not a small order. Our annual consumption is about 40 million.”

Xia Lei suddenly understood that this Wan Da-Hai had been sent by Shentu Tian-Yin. He definitely wouldn’t have come here to talk business if it weren’t for her.

Xia Lei laughed bitterly internally. ‘What is she doing? There’s no need for her to do this at all.’

“Chairman Xia.” Wan Da-Hai looked somewhat worriedly at Xia Lei. “Please talk with me. The prices are all negotiable - what’s important is that we confirm that our two companies will be working together.”

An order of 40 million was no small order. It needed at least two workshops to work at full power for a year to complete it. Profits for producing the parts for construction fences and steel fasteners were small but this was a long-term order. If he signed this contract, employees of two workshops would have work to do for a long time. Contracts like these were just what Thunder Horse Manufacturing needed.

“Okay, let’s talk. Let’s use the market prices.” Xia Lei quickly made a decision. This was business sent by Shentu Tian-Yin but business was business and more of these were, naturally, welcome for Thunder Horse Manufacturing to grow. He wouldn’t reject this.

It was afternoon by the time he sent Wan Da-Hai off. He invited Wan Da-Hai for a meal but he had insisted on leaving and it was unclear if this was also because of Shentu Tian-Yin. Xia Lei thought of giving Shentu Tian-Yin a call to ask her about it but gave up on the idea after some thinking. It wouldn’t be appropriate to call to thank her for something like this.

After work, Xia Lei went to the market and bought a rabbit. That night, he continued his acupuncture practice on that rabbit...

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_Jun_Mei_tea