Er Biao's Predicament

Er Biao chose a location for his shop that was exactly diagonally opposite Old Madam Liu's house.

This place is the farthest from Old Madam Liu's house.

This was to avoid competing with his teacher. Although Er Biao's main business was still conventional massage, he had, after all, mastered the family's secret techniques passed down by Old Madam Liu, so it was only right to avoid suspicion.

In the traditional master-apprentice system of ancient times, if a disciple wanted to open a clinic after completing his apprenticeship, he had to be at least 80 miles away from his master's clinic, or even go to another city to practice medicine, because this way his patients would not conflict with his master's.

When Su Ziyang arrived, Er Biao was mopping the floor. Su Ziyang looked around the room from outside the door and saw two massage beds, a table, and a cabinet behind the table.

A row of chairs was placed near the door so that patients could sit down when there were many people.

"Brother Biao!" Su Ziyang shouted loudly from the doorway.

Er Biao, who was bending over mopping the floor, was startled and turned around, laughing and scolding, "You walk so quietly, you scared me!"

"You're the one who's hard of hearing, blaming others. The decor is quite simple, isn't it?"

Su Ziyang sat down in the chair.

"That's a must. We should learn from our master's room layout—simple yet refined."

Er Biao chuckled and sat down next to Su Ziyang. Knowing that Su Ziyang didn't smoke, Er Biao took out a cigarette and lit it by himself.

"You called him 'Master' quite affectionately, and your approach was concise and to the point. I just hope you don't oversimplify his technique."

While teasing Er Biao, Su Ziyang took the bound booklet out of his schoolbag and placed it in Er Biao's arms.

"What?"

Er Biao, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, squinted as he flipped through the pages.

"Holy crap, you college graduates are something else, you've even written a book about it."

Er Biao excitedly flicked his cigarette ash onto the book. Er Biao quickly stubbed out the cigarette, shook off the ash, and started reading.

"Tch, is this how you treat my book, flicking cigarette ash on it? I knew I shouldn't have given it to you!"

Su Ziyang rolled his eyes at Er Biao and made a move to take the book back.

Er Biao dodged and ran to the side. "The things we sent out, and the things we're asking for back. Hurry up upstairs and help me set things up. Maybe move the bed or something."

"You have an upstairs too?"

When Su Ziyang heard that something was wrong, he stopped arguing with Er Biao.

"Yes, but other people have to rent both floors together. So I won't rent another place. I'll just live upstairs. I've only cleaned downstairs, not upstairs. I'm just waiting for you!"

Er Biao chuckled, locked the downstairs door from the inside, and led Su Ziyang upstairs to the second floor.

This storefront is quite unique. Going out the back door from the first floor, there's a very small courtyard with a small toilet. You can hang some clothes to dry or air out a quilt in this courtyard.

Then there was a very steep staircase next to it. Su Ziyang followed Er Biao upstairs and found that the upstairs and downstairs were the same size. It was more than enough for three people to live in, let alone one.

The second floor seemed to have been uninhabited for a long time; the room had only been lightly swept, and the windows were open for ventilation.

"Hey bro, I came here just to ask you to help me put up some wallpaper."

Su Ziyang saw a large roll of wallpaper behind the door and picked it up without thinking.

The two worked until nine o'clock in the evening to put up the wallpaper, clean the whole house, and put together a small table. Once everything was tidied up, there were no problems with daily life.

"Let's go out for a drink."

Er Biao and Su Ziyang quickly rinsed themselves off at the tap and went straight out for dinner.

Since the opening time for the shop was chosen by Daoist Master Xiao Yang at nine o'clock the next day, neither of them drank much and went back to the shop to sleep.

At nine o'clock the next day, without any complicated ceremonies, Er Biao set off a string of firecrackers on time, and that was it for the business to open.

Su Ziyang, unusually, posted a congratulatory message on his WeChat Moments wishing Er Biao's business a prosperous future.

It's impossible for a shop like this to have customers right after opening.

It's certain you'll be sidelined; the key is whether you can make a name for yourself in a short period.

In other words, it depends on whether people approve of your massage techniques. For example, if you finally get a customer, but you give them a terrible massage and they're not satisfied, then you're doomed.

If a customer comes in and praises your technique after the massage, or if you solve part of their problem, they are more likely to become a repeat customer.

After setting off firecrackers, the two removed the red cloth from the sign for massage and bone setting, thus officially opening for business.

Around noon, Er Biao's first opportunity came.

A parent rushed in, carrying a child who looked to be about six or seven years old.

"Do you use IUDs? My child's IUD fell out."

"Dislocation" is a local slang term meaning a joint that has been dislocated. It's a colloquial term derived from the perception that joints are like linked rings.

This question stumped Er Biao; yes, he didn't know the answer.

If he hadn't learned Old Madam Liu's special skills, he would have just positioned himself as a massage and relaxation therapist.

Er Biao looked a little embarrassed and was about to say he didn't know how when Su Ziyang stood up from the side, "Let me see. Just put the child down."

Su Ziyang, holding the child, noticed tear stains on the baby's face from crying, "That hand hurts, baby."

The child didn't speak, but pointed to his right elbow.

"You can't move."

Su Ziyang spoke in a friendly manner to put the children at ease.

"His right elbow is habitually dislocated. I live in the neighborhood behind his house, and I was about to go to the hospital, but I saw your sign says 'Bone Setting,' so I'm thinking if you can do it, I won't go to the hospital."

The child's parents explained the situation to Su Ziyang.

Su Ziyang nodded to indicate that he understood. "Let me see."

Su Ziyang held the child's Little Hand with one hand and felt the dislocated olecranon socket with the other. With a gentle twist, the Bones slightly sprang back into place.

"Alright!"

Su Ziyang stood up and gestured for the child to move.

"That's it?" The child's parent looked at Su Ziyang in disbelief and asked in shock.

"Ah, all done. Come on, baby, move around a bit."

Su Ziyang had a mint in his pocket. He handed it to the child and told him to take it with his right hand. The child gently moved his little arm and found that it really didn't hurt anymore. He happily took the candy and ran into his father's arms.

"How much?" The parent touched their child's arm and, finding it was indeed healed, was overjoyed. They then took their wallet out of their pocket.

"It's free, it's free."

Just as Su Ziyang was about to say 60 yuan, Er Biao spoke first.

Su Ziyang didn't know what Er Biao meant, but since it was Er Biao's own shop, he couldn't say much since the boss had spoken.

The parent insisted on paying, but Er Biao repeatedly refused. "You live in this neighborhood behind here. Today is my first day of business, I'm just giving you a little something for good luck and to make a friend. I won't charge you for the child's matter."

Upon hearing that Er Biao was so honest and open-minded, the parents immediately asked for Er Biao's WeChat and business card, saying that they could come over if there were any massage services available.

After seeing off the first customer of the day, Su Ziyang asked, puzzled, "Brother Biao, why didn't you take the money?"

As soon as Su Ziyang asked this question, he immediately saw that Er Biao's face turned very ugly.

"Holy crap, what happened, Brother Biao? Did you eat bitter melon?"

Su Ziyang was a little surprised, not knowing what was wrong with Er Biao.

"Brother, you know I can't take money." Er Biao sat in the chair and habitually lit a cigarette.

"Why?" Su Ziyang still didn't understand what Er Biao meant.

"I don't know how to set bones. If you hadn't been here, I would have pushed him out. I can't put this dislocation back in place. He said it's a habitual dislocation and he'll definitely have to come back again. What would I have done if you weren't here!"

Er Biao took two deep drags on his cigarette, exhaling a thick cloud of smoke.

"I was too naive. I thought I could open a shop just by learning some massage techniques. But I've discovered there are some things I can't handle freely. Like this person, if I don't charge him, I won't do the treatment next time he comes, and he can't gossip about me. But it's different once I take his money!"

"Oh my god! I thought it was something serious. Is this a big deal? I'll teach you, you'll learn it in half a day!"

Su Ziyang patted his chest, snatched the cigarette from Er Biao's mouth, and threw it outside the door. "Don't smoke anymore, it's making my head hurt."

"That's easy? You can learn it in half a day?" Er Biao was no longer upset when he heard this. He stood up, grabbed Su Ziyang's arm, and shouted loudly.

"Ah, what's this all about? This is the simplest thing!" Su Ziyang nodded.

You are truly my lucky star.

Er Biao shouted loudly, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Stop! I feel disgusted watching men like that. Go to your market and buy a hen, a sheep's hoof, or a pig's hoof or something. Come back and I'll teach you!"

Su Ziyang is the legitimate successor of the Bian Clan Bonesetting. Although his skill level has not reached that of the Old Master Bian, he can still handle most bone injuries.

Upon hearing this, Er Biao immediately rode his electric bike to the market.

Nearly forty minutes later, Er Biao returned with chicken feathers on his body.

"These things are hard to buy."

Er Biao was carrying a large rooster, with a bright red comb.

"You bought such a good chicken?"

Su Ziyang stared in astonishment at the enormous, huge rooster!

"Wow, that cost several hundred. What are you doing? Killing a chicken for an anniversary celebration?"

Er Biao threw the chicken on the ground, then took out a pair of sheep trotters and a pair of pig trotters from his pocket.

Why did you buy so much stuff?

Su Ziyang took the heavy thing from the pocket and looked at Er Biao with some confusion.

"Weren't you going to teach me your bone-setting technique? You kill a chicken and then sacrifice three animals!!!"

Er Biao also looked at Su Ziyang with some surprise.

"You've been reading too many novels. I'm telling you to use this thing to practice joint setting! Let me make this clear!"

Su Ziyang looked at the large, stern-faced rooster on the ground with a bit of fear. This creature could be considered one of the most notorious bullies in the countryside. Not only did it have a harem of wives and concubines, but it also loved to bully and peck children.

"It's alright, it's alright. I'll eat it in a bit!"

Er Biao, carefree and completely unconcerned, said, "Let's get started, Teacher Su!"