Hidden moth

Chapter 259: Light Clothes and Fat Riding, Still Braving Dangers

He Kao was about to ask something when someone came forward and asked, "Are you two here for a massage?"

The person who spoke was a pretty girl wearing a slim-fitting white coat. She should be a receptionist, shopping guide or lobby manager, and she was wearing a badge that said "Health Consultant".

Li Xiuyuan smiled and nodded, "Yes, we want to find a way to regulate our health."

Health Consultant: "I'm sorry, but you need to make an appointment to see Dr. Chang for bone setting. Do you have an appointment?"

Li Xiuyuan waved his hand and said, "We came to Luzhou for a trip during the Spring Festival. We heard about Gongfu Chang's reputation and came here specifically for a health massage. We didn't make an appointment in advance."

The girl pointed to the front desk and said, "You can scan the QR code and add WeChat and make an appointment through the WeChat mini program."

The two of them cooperated and walked over to scan the code, fiddling with their phones and asking, "So can we make an appointment today?"

Health Consultant: "I'm so sorry, Dean Chang is fully booked lately. But it's okay, you can make appointments with other teachers. They are also inheritors of the United Nations Intangible Cultural Heritage and Dean Chang's proud students. There are introductions over there..."

On the left wall of the hall, there are banners, group photos, certificates, etc. surrounding the introduction of Master Chang Anju himself. On the right wall, there is a row of ten photos, which are half-length portraits of seven men and three women.

The photos all show handsome men and beautiful women with good physiques. I don’t know if the photos have been retouched. There are introductions next to them.

These ten are all students of Gongfu Chang, inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, and senior osteopaths of the hospital. Six of them have gone home for the New Year, and there are still two men and two women on duty. We should be able to meet them this afternoon.

Li Xiuyuan pointed at the first photo and said, "This guy has a good look. Can I have a massage with him?"

Health Consultant: "Teacher Duan Xinglou, of course, I'll arrange it for you right away... May I ask where this gentleman is?"

He Kao: "Can I also make an appointment with Teacher Duan?"

Health Consultant: "Sure... Teacher Duan has an assistant. Let him stretch your muscles first."

A staff member led them into the locker room, which was divided into men's and women's locker rooms, and there was also a shower room. After showering, they changed into special massage clothes.

The clothes were all made of pure cotton, and could be chosen by size. They were disposable and not recycled, so customers could take them home. The fees here weren't cheap either. The ten senior bone setters charged 600 yuan each, while Dean Chang charged 2,000 yuan each.

One hour is 45 minutes, which is equivalent to one class. It is not yet clear how good the apprentice's skills are, but if Chang Anju himself does it himself, he feels that two thousand yuan is indeed not very expensive.

The two came together, so they were taken to the same room. The interior was well decorated. In addition to two massage beds, there were also leisure chairs, sofas, and coffee tables.

The first people to arrive were not Teacher Duan Xinglou, but two girls in slim-fitting white coats, who looked to be in their twenties, with regular facial features and figures.

They brought two cups of tea. Li Xiuyuan took a sip and nodded, saying, "Hmm, not bad. It has the effect of clearing the meridians. It's suitable to drink a few sips before relaxing the muscles and promoting blood circulation."

He Kao also took a sip and found that it was not tea but some kind of medicinal drink. It did have the effect of clearing the meridians, and the taste was very good. It seemed that the service details were quite well done.

The two celebrities also wore name tags on their chests: "Li Xiaoli, a Chinese medicine masseur" and "Lü Quan, a Chinese medicine masseur." Li Xiaoli, who was standing next to Li Xiuyuan, said, "You're an expert too, aren't you?"

Li Xiuyuan quickly waved his hand and said, "I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I've tasted this kind of medicine before."

Lu Quan, who was beside He Kao, smiled and said, "Most people don't have your ability. This is a medicinal drink specially prepared by our Dean Chang. It's very precious!"

As they spoke, He Kao asked them to lie down on the massage bed. He muttered, "Didn't we make an appointment with Teacher Duan Xinglou?"

Ms. Lu Quan explained, "We are all Mr. Duan's assistants. Before we start the bone adjustment, we will help you relax your muscles and activate your blood circulation, kneading your tendons and meridians until they are relaxed. Only then can we let Mr. Duan give you a massage to achieve the best results."

It’s actually a buy-one-get-one-free service... Although the assistant here didn’t hang the photo on the wall, He Kao felt that she must have practiced it specially. Her techniques are very professional and her strength is very clear.

What is strength? It's not simply about the amount of force, but the precise placement and correct technique, so that the effect can penetrate deep into the bones. In short, it takes personal experience to describe it.

In short, this is a very high-quality health massage, and the two assistants talk while they massage.

Li Xiaoli: "Sir, I feel that you are in very good health."

Li Xiuyuan: "Does that mean there's no need for bone straightening?"

Li Xiaoli: "Massage and bone setting not only have the effect of medical rehabilitation, but also have the effect of relaxation and health care. It is very beneficial to the body."

He Kao interrupted, "What about me?"

Lu Quan: "Sir, your body is also very good, but it feels a little tight."

He Kao: "Where is it tight?"

Lu Quan: "The back, that's where I'm pressing."

He Kao: "I'm already very relaxed. My muscles aren't tense at all."

Lü Quan: "It's not the muscles, it's the tightness of the air."

He Kao: "Tightened breath?"

Lu Quan: "Yes, I feel tight, that's how I feel... What do you do for a living?"

He Kao: “Guess!”

Lu Quan: "Are you a police officer? You work in criminal investigation. You're often in situations where you need to be alert, like disguised and lurking... That's why your back feels tight."

Li Xiuyuan smiled and said, "You guessed right."

Lu Quan: "Ah, is he really a policeman?"

Li Xiuyuan: "He's not a policeman, he's a programmer at a big company who often pretends to be hardworking."

The two of them were lying on the massage bed, talking, their faces facing a hole for ventilation. Their voices were a little strange. But He Kao was really a little surprised, because the girl was right.

All mortals have spiritual perception and can feel the so-called qi, but few people can feel it as clearly as she does.

It seems that this assistant is also the successor of Kung Fu Chang, but he has only been learning for a short time and is not very old, so he has not yet been rated as the "senior bone setter" of the hospital and can only be an assistant for the time being.

She probably hasn't formally practiced the Xingshen technique yet, and Chang Anju wouldn't teach this publicly in the hospital. He usually teaches bone-setting massage techniques and the corresponding kung fu.

But she had practiced the auxiliary skills for building the foundation before entering the door, and she was quite good at it... Many times, achievements cannot be measured by the length of time of practice, otherwise what is the point of talking about qualifications?
He Kao felt that this girl named Lu Quan was very talented. Regardless of whether she could get started in practicing the art of awakening the spirit, she should have no problem practicing the art of observing the body.

For the time being, she could only keep these words in her heart and could not say them out loud. She was the successor of Kung Fu Chang, and Chang Anju would probably have her own considerations in the future.

Two assistants helped the client relax his muscles and activate his blood circulation, which lasted for about forty minutes. This was not only a technical job, but also a physically demanding one. They were already sweating slightly, but He Kao and Li Xiuyuan felt very comfortable.

Massage emphasizes strength, but not force. Various soothing techniques are interspersed throughout, allowing the masseur to relax and rest. Otherwise, exerting strength continuously for an hour is almost impossible for the average person, and the client would find it unbearable.

The rhythm of the technique is also very important, and it should be unexpected from time to time. For example, when you feel numb and tingling, there may be a sudden sour and refreshing feeling, and when the sour and refreshing feeling becomes unbearable, it may suddenly become soothing.

This change in rhythm will interrupt continuous thinking. In other words, if you are still thinking about something at this time, your thoughts will be interrupted and you will not be able to continue, and your mind will gradually relax.

This is called affecting the spirit through physical adjustments. People tend to become drowsy, but it is difficult to actually fall asleep because of the constant bursts of sour and refreshing stimulation.

Well, this is He Kao’s personal experience. In short, this assistant’s skills are very good.

About forty minutes later, their appointment with the senior bone-setting master and intangible cultural heritage inheritor, Mr. Duan Xinglou, finally came in. Mr. Duan first performed bone-setting massage on the older Li Xiuyuan, which took about five minutes to complete.

Li Xiuyuan seemed very satisfied, humming comfortably, and finally turned over and lay on his back, seemingly falling asleep.

He Kao found it very interesting. The service cost 600 yuan per hour and lasted 45 minutes, but the assistant was busy for the first 40 minutes, and Teacher Duan himself only worked on it for the last five minutes?

After dealing with Li Xiuyuan, it was his turn next.

As soon as Duan Xinglou, the "senior bone setter", took over, He Kao felt that the five minutes were well worth it... His joints seemed to be soft, not painful, nor simply sore, numb, itchy or swollen, anyway, it was indescribable.

Usually the masseur will ask the client whether it hurts here or there, whether the pressure is enough, etc. Then he will point out the reaction of a certain part of the body, which may mean that there is a disease or something is wrong with the body.

But Teacher Duan didn't say these words throughout the whole process. He just greeted politely and exchanged a few words.

He Kao restrained his demeanor, revealing no trace of his cultivation. Since he'd paid, he might as well relax and enjoy the service. It was only five minutes, but it felt longer than an hour. It wasn't painful, but it felt like my entire skeleton was falling apart. He hadn't lost control of his body, but he was too lazy to even move his hands and feet, and a light layer of sweat formed.

After the massage, the client will normally feel a little drowsy.

Teacher Duan gave a few more brief explanations, saying that both of them were in good health and normal, with nothing requiring rehabilitation or correction, but that regular massage could also have a good health-care effect.

He Kao followed Teacher Duan's gesture and turned over to lie on his back, with a pillow behind his head, his hands folded on his lower abdomen, and a blanket covering his body - just like Li Xiuyuan next to him.

Duan Xinglou also gave a hypnotic hint, whispering that he could relax and have a good nap, and that he would wake up in about an hour and a half, and then he would feel particularly refreshed.

Then he and his two assistants left, leaving the old man and the young man alone to rest in the room. About ten minutes later, Li Xiuyuan suddenly said, "Boy, are you really sleeping?"

This sentence was not uttered with divine thoughts, but it cast a spell to prevent any movement in the room from being transmitted out.

He Kao lazily replied, "It's all one thousand two hundred yuan. I paid the bill, so of course I want to take a good nap."

Li Xiuyuan: "Chang Anju is in the office upstairs, drinking tea with someone."

He Kao: “I know.”

Li Xiuyuan: "He has broken through to the third level of cultivation, which is inconsistent with the information reported and registered."

He Kao: "Ah, I didn't notice that."

Li Xiuyuan: "It should have happened not long after he broke through to the third level, after he contacted the information office of the clan law hall..."

Chang Anju was in the hospital, and a visitor arrived that afternoon, not for a massage. Instead, they drank tea and chatted in the office. The visitor was a police officer, the head of public security in the area, dressed in plain clothes.

The police officer must be very familiar with Chang Anju. He told him that the Spring Festival was coming soon and he had to pay attention to this and that. He also mentioned that during this period there were always people reporting that the orthopedic hospital was providing irregular services.

Although these complaints and reports have been verified to be nonsense, Chang'an Ju still needs to take them seriously.

Unregulated services? Although this bone-setting hospital is run like a club, He Kao's on-site inspection showed it to be as regulated as possible. Could anyone have reported this?
If the boss says there's something, then there's something. And you never know. A competitor or someone simply dislikes Chang Anju and reports him. It doesn't take much effort anyway.

Even if a bone-setting hospital operates legitimately, it would be troublesome to constantly receive such reports, so it would also need to smooth over relationships. For example, Chang Anju's relationship with this police officer seemed to be well maintained.

Although they were talking in the office with the door closed, they could not escape Li Xiuyuan's perception. He Kao also detected it, but he had not yet realized that Chang Anju had broken through to the third level.

Chang Anju did not use any magical powers at this moment and was in a natural and normal state, so it was indeed difficult to judge.

Li Xiuyuan: "You've been asking questions non-stop since I got in the car today. Why aren't you asking any more questions now?"

He Kao: "I'm a bit too lazy to think about it. Anyway, I'm here just to accompany you."

Li Xiuyuan was unwilling to let him rest, and pressed on, "What do you think of Kung Fu Chang, and what do you think of this hospital?"

He Kao: "Kung Fu Chang is indeed well-known, and he is very attentive in teaching his disciples. Most of the time, he doesn't even need to do anything himself."

Li Xiuyuan: "Speaking of teaching apprentices, among those three people just now, who do you think has the most potential and is likely to be able to enter the practice of magic?"

He Kao: "It's not the senior bone setter Duan Xinglou with the picture hanging on the wall, but the assistant who gave me the massage. The name on the badge is Lü Quan."

Li Xiuyuan: "You're not mistaken! What else?"

He Kao: "Also, this hospital has some tricks up its sleeve, and their marketing is really good."

Li Xiuyuan: "You can't just look at the marketing. Everyone knows the tricks, but to really put your heart into it and achieve something like this, that's their real talent."

He Kao agreed, "Well, he knows the tricks, has the skills, and is willing to put in the effort."

Li Xiuyuan: "Don't you want to find some faults?"

He Kao: "If I really want to find fault, there are certainly some. For example, the program is 45 minutes long, but the assistant was asked to come for the first 40 minutes, and the chiropractor who was specifically asked to come only came for the last 5 minutes."

Li Xiuyuan: "During surgery, is the surgeon responsible for skin preparation and suturing?"

He Kao: “I don’t know.”

Li Xiuyuan asked another question: "Is there any bone-setting massage in your hometown?"

He Kao: "Yes, there are many places that offer bone setting massage, but the skills of ordinary masters cannot compare to those here."

Li Xiuyuan: "Please be specific and give an example."

He Kao: "My grandfather once twisted his waist, so he went to the town to find a massage therapist to correct his bones, and I went with him.

It's not a big place, just a room facing the street. The fee is not expensive, fifty yuan per session, and there are no strict time constraints, each session is only about half an hour."

Li Xiuyuan: "How's your craftsmanship?"

He Kao: "The craftsmanship is actually pretty good. I went there ten times in total and spent 500 yuan, so it's fine."

Li Xiuyuan: "How many years has the bone-setting master been doing this? What's the situation with that shop?"

He Kao: "The master was less than 50 years old at the time and had been working for almost 20 years. It had always been a small shop in the town."

Li Xiuyuan: "How many deals does he do per day at most?"

He Kao: "This is physically demanding work. Even though it's only half an hour, you still need to rest for a while afterward to recover. It's impossible to do it non-stop. Pressing ten or eight times a day would be tiring... He also sells other things, mainly medicinal wine and other things."

Li Xiuyuan: "Occasionally having ten or eight customers a day is fine, but if it was like this every day, he would be exhausted. Moreover, his time would be completely tied up and he wouldn't be able to do anything else.

Let's assume another situation: your reputation has spread, and so many customers come to you, you will definitely be too busy to handle it all... If you are a Kung Fu master, what should you do?"

Elder Li inadvertently started the on-site teaching mode again.

He Kao laughed and said, "Just like what Kung Fu Chang is doing now."

Li Xiuyuan: "That's right! In fact, ordinary massage doesn't require Chang Anju to do it himself. The real skills he needs to do are only a few times, and it won't take more than five minutes.

But if it really only takes a few minutes to finish, people will inevitably feel that he is perfunctory and the money is not worth it.

So he taught a group of apprentices, and asked them to first warm up the customers by stretching their muscles and promoting blood circulation. He would only start massage after the customers felt comfortable. The customers immediately felt a big difference - Master Chang truly lived up to his name, Master Chang!
This way he could charge a high price and save time. He must have done it this way a few years ago. After his apprentices had mastered the skills, he continued to use his routine, which led to the current scale of his business.

Otherwise, if he were to do it all by himself, pressing every button himself, no matter how high his fees were or how good his publicity was, how many orders could he possibly get after working himself to death all year round?

He Kao: "I've looked up his information. Strangely, although there's an introduction online, there's not much information available. This hospital does such a good job of on-site promotion, but it doesn't even have a website, and hasn't done much to attract traffic..."

Li Xiuyuan: "The traffic promotion you mentioned is just the client projects you usually deal with, which are of a different nature. How many people do you think will see his introduction online and fly to Luzhou specifically to see him for a bone-setting massage, just like the two of us did?"

He Kao also smiled: "There shouldn't be many people, and this isn't a courier order."

Li Xiuyuan: "The business is different, and the routines are also different. He doesn't need to do that. There is no need to spend that cost, and it is not effective marketing.

He has real skills. It is enough for him to open up a certain circle of customers. He may not be able to handle the business volume.

I just chatted and inquired a few things. There was a period of time in the second half of last year when Chang Anju was said to have gone out for further studies. He was not in the hospital for a few months... He must have gone to track down the murderer and seek revenge, which matches the information you have.

If he hadn't taught those ten or so apprentices to keep the business going, this place would have closed down! Xiao Kao, how do you think he's doing?"

He Kao: "He has learned his craft for so many years, has cultivated himself, and has worked hard for so many years. It is only natural that he lives a comfortable life."

Li Xiuyuan said with emotion: "I have investigated the financial situation of this hospital. In the past few years, there was some pressure due to the large investment, but now it has an annual profit of tens of millions.

He could have lived a comfortable life without having to risk his life chasing a murderer across thousands of miles to such a chaotic place. He only had a second-level cultivation at the time, which honestly wasn't enough to protect himself, and the experience must have been difficult, but he went anyway.

**
(End of this chapter)