Chapter 696: Diverting Attention

Chapter 696: Chapter 696: Diverting Attention

"After the ceremony, have Aunt Shen take this piece of calligraphy home with a sense of reverence. During the day, it can be hung in the study or the living room, wherever she spends the most time. Before she goes to sleep at night, it must be moved and hung in the bedroom, directly opposite the headboard."

"Then, you must have Master Huiyuan tell Aunt Shen personally: ’This Hundred Buddha Painting has been imbued with the supreme Dharma power of Buddhism to exorcise demons and calm the spirit. Benefactor, if you wish to dissolve the inner demons in your heart, you must, every morning and evening, sit quietly, concentrate your mind and spirit, and fix your eyes on this calligraphy, tracing each of the one hundred ’Buddha’ characters in your mind from beginning to end, stroke by stroke. Remember, you must not be distracted. You must continue this for a full forty-nine days. Only then will the evil be completely purged, and your mind will be clear and refreshed!’"

"Forty-nine days?"

Cui Guanghui was surprised. "She needs to do it for that long? With my mom’s temper, can she keep it up?"

"Haha, Guanghui, you really can’t see the forest for the trees."

Ding Kaifang, who had been listening and understood everything clearly, laughed and patted Cui Guanghui’s shoulder. "Forty-nine days... that’s just a phrase high-ranking monks use to add a sense of mystery and ritual. It’s what’s called a ’fixed number.’ In reality, who needs that long?"

"As long as your mom has absolute faith in this calligraphy and in Master Huiyuan’s words. Every morning and evening, she’ll be staring at those hundred characters with total concentration, and she even has to trace them in her mind. How much mental energy will that take? Won’t that just squeeze all those messy, fearful thoughts right out of her head?"

"As long as she keeps at it, her mind will calm down. Maybe in a week, or half a month, her sleep quality will improve. Once her sleep gets better and her qi and blood recover, the illness will naturally be cured."

"Correct." Li Xu nodded in appreciation. "President Ding is completely right. You’ve hit the nail on the head."

After a pause, Li Xu continued his in-depth analysis, "Actually, whether it’s finding a high-ranking Buddhist monk, requesting a master with supreme calligraphic skill, or holding those complicated and grand consecration ceremonies—all of it is for one purpose—"

"To make Aunt Shen feel that this matter is extremely solemn, extremely sacred, and extremely important. To make her feel a sense of awe and trust for this calligraphy from the bottom of her heart."

"Only when she truly believes will she willingly carry out the task of ’observing the characters.’ In modern psychology, this is called strong ’psychological suggestion’ and ’hypnotherapy.’ In the Zhu You branch of Chinese medicine, this is called ’using one emotion to overcome another’ and ’transforming essence to alter qi.’"

"I get it."

Cui Guanghui had a sudden realization, his eyes filled with admiration.

"So, to put it bluntly, there’s nothing special about the paper, nothing special about the ink, and the consecration ceremony is just a formality. But we have to use this external packaging to make my mom feel that it *is* special, that the calligraphy is blessed with Dharma power, and that it’s a supreme treasure capable of dispelling the shadows in her heart and curing her illness."

"Yes, that’s the principle." Li Xu smiled and picked up his teacup. "Hanging it in the living room during the day is to let her feel the protection of this sense of security at all times. Having her stare at it in the bedroom at night is to induce mental fatigue before sleep through the extreme focus of ’counting Buddha characters.’ This is what’s called ’gathering the spirit.’ Once the spirit is gathered, she can naturally fall asleep peacefully and not have nightmares."

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

Cui Guanghui laughed and shook his head repeatedly, his gaze toward Li Xu filled with adoration. "Brother Li, this plan of yours is truly masterful. It’s like winning a war without shedding a drop of blood. To think of a method that doesn’t involve medicine or needles... Thank you, Brother Li!"

Although this method had not yet been formally implemented,

Cui Guanghui, based on his keen intuition and understanding of his mother’s personality, already felt that this was a surefire plan.

What made Cui Guanghui most happy and grateful was that, according to the plan Li Xu designed, Li Xu’s identity as a "TCM doctor" was perfectly concealed from start to finish.

The only participants in the treatment would be Master Huiyuan of Golden Ray Monastery and that piece of Buddhist calligraphy.

From Shen Wen’s perspective, it would simply be the boundlessness of the Dharma, a blessing from the Bodhisattvas, having not the slightest connection to the traditional Chinese medicine she detested most.

This completely bypassed her defiance, allowing her to accept the treatment as a matter of course.

As for what would happen after she was cured, if Shen Wen eventually learned the truth...

It wouldn’t really matter.

On one hand, Shen Wen’s illness would be completely cured, and her spirits would be high again.

No matter how much she disliked traditional Chinese medicine before, faced with this ironclad fact, she wouldn’t be able to say anything against it. Instead, she would owe Li Xu a massive favor.

Secondly, although the idea for the treatment came from Li Xu, during the process, she wouldn’t have taken a single pill of Chinese medicine, received a single Silver Needle, or even had her pulse taken.

This had, in fact, already stepped outside the bounds of traditional Chinese medicine treatment.

Even if it was just deceiving herself to save face, this was equivalent to leaving Shen Wen a decent fig leaf, allowing everyone to maintain their dignity.

"Guanghui, didn’t I tell you? Doctor Li is a true master. He definitely has a way to cure Aunt Shen’s illness. See? I wasn’t lying to you, was I?"

Ding Kaifang was very happy, and there was even a hint of pride in his expression, as if he shared in the honor.

"Yes, yes, Brother Ding has a keen eye for talent. It was I who was ignorant of Brother Li’s abilities, a bit like a frog in a well." Cui Guanghui smiled and raised his teacup. "Come, let me offer a toast to Brother Li and Brother Ding with this tea in place of wine."

"Whoa, whoa, hold on now."

Li Xu laughed and waved his hand, clinking his cup against theirs. "It’s too early to be saying all this. While the method works in theory, whether it’s effective or not still depends on Aunt Shen’s cooperation. You two really shouldn’t praise me to death just yet."

The three of them chatted in the tea room for a little while longer, finalizing some of the subsequent details.

Afterward, Cui Guanghui personally drove Li Xu to the entrance of his residential complex before rushing back, anxious to arrange for the high-ranking monk to write the calligraphy.

...

「Late at night.」

Cui Guanghui drove back to the mountainside villa and quietly opened the door.

Only a dim, yellow floor lamp was lit in the living room. His father, Cui Jianmin, was sitting on the sofa, watching TV, but the television was muted, showing only the picture.

"You’re back," Cui Jianmin said in a low voice.

"Yeah."

Cui Guanghui sat down on the other end of the sofa. "Where’s Mom?"

"She took half a sleeping pill a little while ago and barely managed to fall asleep. I don’t know how long she’ll stay asleep."

Cui Jianmin sighed. "I had to sneak out, too. I can only go back to the room to sleep after your mom wakes up. Otherwise, the slight noise of me opening and closing the door would startle her awake. Her nerves are completely shot right now. The moment she’s startled awake, she starts shaking and breaks out in a cold sweat, and it takes her a long time to recover."

Given Shen Wen’s current condition, Cui Jianmin had to stay by her side at night.

Otherwise, Shen Wen would only be more terrified being alone in the large bedroom.

"From the look on your face, that Doctor Li gave you an idea?"

Cui Jianmin asked, observing his son’s expression.

That morning, Cui Guanghui had invited Li Xu and Ding Kaifang over for tea under the pretext of "friends dropping by," so Shen Wen was unaware of the real reason.

But as the head of the household, Cui Jianmin naturally knew the inside story.