"Coincidence, it's just a coincidence, Grandpa."
Lu Jiu rubbed the back of his head, unable to stop himself from secretly laughing inside.
It seems that with the blessing of this Mountain Burning Fire, his acupuncture skills have already made even Grandpa restless.
"Coincidence my ass, you think I'm blind? Spill it, when did you learn this?" Lu Mountain shouted, but the delight in his eyes was impossible to hide.
He actually used a curse word.
This was the first time Lu Jiu saw Lu Mountain lose his composure.
"Just when I was working at Jinling Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, there was a mentor who taught me." Lu Jiu casually made up a lie.
"Really?" Lu Mountain was somewhat doubtful.
Are there still Chinese medicine practitioners who know Mountain Burning Fire in today's big hospitals?
"Of course, what else, you think I taught myself?" said Lu Jiu.
Hearing this, Lu Mountain believed more than half of it.
Acupuncture is something that, if you only rely on self-study, it's very hard to grasp the essence, because it hides subtle techniques that require a master to explain and correct you one-on-one. Even reaching just an effective level takes considerable time.
And what is Mountain Burning Fire?
It's the top supplement technique in acupuncture.
Many who spend a lifetime studying acupuncture may not even learn it. If Lu Jiu taught himself, then calling him a genius would be an understatement.
So, compared to Lu Jiu self-studying, Lu Mountain was more inclined to believe someone taught him.
"You really need to thank your teacher properly. If this were ancient times, it would be akin to giving you their most treasured family technique. Be sure to greet them often, and remember to give them gifts during holidays, you understand?" Lu Mountain sternly said.
"Got it, Grandpa. But I don't have much savings right now, so maybe you could lend me some?" Lu Jiu slyly prepared to extort some money from Lu Mountain.
"Weren't you making money these past few days?" Lu Mountain glared at Lu Jiu.
"That was for my twenty thousand yuan task, can't just touch that." Lu Jiu replied.
Lu Mountain rolled his eyes at Lu Jiu and then pulled out a wad of cash, making Lu Jiu's eyes light up. He picked out several red bills and handed them to Lu Jiu, "Take it, and don't tell your parents, you hear?"
Heh, only a fool would tell.
Been through this countless times as a kid, who'd still walk into a trap when grown up?
Lu Jiu didn't hesitate to take the money, "Thanks, Grandpa."
It wasn't the first time Lu Jiu had extorted pocket money from Lu Mountain.
Each time he didn't take much, but he'd find an excuse to ask for money every now and then.
Was he greedy?
If he were truly greedy, Lu Jiu wouldn't have returned home, insisting on inheriting this small clinic.
Lu Mountain was getting on in years, and Lu Jiu's grandmother had passed away two years ago. At that time, Lu Mountain was bedridden for half a month before recovering, and since then, his health had never been as robust as before.
Lu Jiu understood that the older generation like Lu Mountain had few dreams. They expended their youth digging rivers for the country, laboriously farming and practicing medicine for their families. They endured a life of hardships, becoming accustomed to dedicating themselves to their country and family, forming a dependency on such habits.
And that dependency is called being needed!
When the country no longer required their contributions, the needs of their children became their value in life!
Lu Jiu was doing his best to create this sense of being needed.
But always asking for money was too one-dimensional; in the future, he should find other ways.
Oh right, the reward hasn't been claimed yet!
[Claim!]
[You have received a reward: Basic Cupping!]
Oh!
Finally, it's time for cupping.
Lu Jiu thought it'd be more repetitive basic knowledge.
Didn't expect this time to actually be cupping.
They did learn about this in college, but the course wasn't extensive, and skill-wise, they weren't much different from those masters working at therapy shops outside.
Just use fire to quickly heat the cups, then stick them on the back, and done!
However, gaining the basic knowledge of cupping now gave Lu Jiu a whole new understanding of it.
Cupping is actually quite similar to gua sha. If acupuncture treats a point, a line, then cupping and gua sha treat a surface.
There are many cupping techniques, such as flash cupping, throwing fire cupping, suction cupping, water cupping, walking cupping, and so on.
But basic cupping only gave Lu Jiu a general understanding of these. As for how to operate more deeply, he might need to continue acquiring knowledge in this area.
Though in this reward, Lu Jiu also learned a few prohibitions about cupping.
It's that places prone to sweating shouldn't be cupped casually.
For instance, the armpits, face, soles of the feet, and especially the neck.
Especially the neck area, where the Du Meridian is; if a therapist doesn't understand acupoints and meridians, you should avoid letting them touch your neck.
Don't just rush for therapy hearing that cupping can remove dampness. If eliminating dampness were that easy, there wouldn't be so many people getting sick.
Even those who work out often can have moisture in their bodies.
Why?
Because of overdoing it, moderate exercise can strengthen the spleen, but excessive exercise can damage it. For example, deep squats with heavy weights, persisting despite the strain can lead to nausea, which signals spleen injury.
When the spleen is impaired, it can't properly process moisture, and improper processing leads to dampness. Even if you increase your exercise trying to sweat it out, it's ineffective. Because bodily dampness is sticky, after exercising, your body heats up, opening pores, and sweat seeps out. But due to the sticky nature of dampness, it moves slower than sweat. After a good sweat, thinking you burned off fat and moisture, once you stop, a breeze blows, pores close, and the dampness that almost reached the skin's surface gets trapped back inside, all in vain. Worse, that moisture could be driven further into the body by the wind.
So, those who sweat it out even in winter are essentially risking their health.
Spring growth, summer flowering, autumn harvest, winter storage—that's the longevity method derived by our ancestors. Yet, these people heed not a single word of it but fully trust Western fitness methodologies developed over mere centuries.
Like many online critiquing health cultivation techniques, always urging practitioners to hit the ring, as if being able to fight is the ultimate standard.
With Huaxia civilization spanning thousands of years, if we all behaved like brutes, it wouldn't have lasted as long.
We remain the only ancient civilization without interruption because, through the ages, countless brutes have withered away.
What's the use of being able to fight? In the real world, longevity is key!
Sitting at his computer, Lu Jiu saw no patients arriving, so he began browsing forums again.
Suddenly, a red notification appeared on his dashboard, clearly indicating someone had replied to his post.
Lu Jiu quickly opened the message, noticing it was from "Rustic Fish Balls."
"Bro, you're amazing! After I drank the Four Harmony Formula you recommended, my symptoms improved a lot."
"Seriously, just one bowl, and I felt much better. After a night's sleep, I woke up today feeling nowhere near as terrible."
"Thank you so much, a small token as a sign of appreciation."
Seeing his account suddenly have an additional ten thousand medical points, Lu Jiu was surprised.
Medical points are a virtual currency of the Chinese Medicine Home, available for both deposit and withdrawal. They're mainly used for free rewarding of users who share medical knowledge, as a form of encouragement. Other uses include celebrating happy events by widely distributing red packets, allowing other users to ask for a lucky bonus.
It's not without precedent for someone like Lu Jiu to receive direct rewards from other users. Others in the forum have experienced the same.
However, after receiving the medical points, Lu Jiu quickly returned them.
Even if he has a practicing license, running an uncertified practice online outside the clinic is not allowed.
Accepting this money would undoubtedly be a liability.
After all, his username on the Chinese Medicine Home is Lu Jiu, and using his real name online requires some caution.
"No need for the reward, it was pure luck I was able to help. In the future, strive to get less angry and do more stretching to relax the liver, it'll benefit you!"
After returning the reward, Lu Jiu sent a reply to "Rustic Fish Balls." Upon finishing the last word, a familiar figure appeared at the clinic door.
"Dr. Lu, I'm here for a follow-up."