The Self-Cultivation of a Reborn Massage Therapist

Chapter 12 Confidence
Gu Qiang had his eyes closed.

His thumb, which was being held, felt a little warm. He pursed his lips and didn't say anything, listening attentively and feeling deeply.

"The Bladder Meridian of Foot Taiyang begins at the Qingming acupoint, which is here."

The sound was very clear, and Gu Qiang carefully felt the acupoints on the customer's head.

"It meets the Governing Vessel at the Baihui acupoint, which is here."

"The muscles on both sides of the back of the neck split downwards. Most of them are important acupoints. Based on the symptoms described by this man, today we will learn about this one on the inner side of the right scapula."

“Attachment, Soul House…”

"It's okay if you can't remember these acupoints. Today, we just need to familiarize ourselves with this meridian, and then we'll take a look at this gentleman."

"Headache, difficulty urinating, lower back pain."

"So, after dealing with the tender points, how do we continue to alleviate the pain?"

"We select the Weizhong acupoint from the Bladder Meridian of Foot Taiyang."

"Weizhong is the He-Sea point of the Bladder Meridian. There is an old saying that you can seek Weizhong for back pain. Stimulating this point can not only relieve back pain, but also relieve symptoms in the lower limbs."

"How do you locate it? It's midway between the biceps femoris tendon and the semitendinosus tendon."

In the massage parlor, colleagues and customers listened attentively to Zhao Xiaochui's explanation, and they found it quite novel to see that he could relieve back pain by massaging behind the knees.

"Use kneading and pressing techniques, 100-200 times, until a local soreness is felt. Remember to remind customers when doing this in the future."

Gu Qiang nodded vigorously: "I understand, thank you, Little Hammer."

Zhao Xiaochui patted him and laughed, "Let's take it slow."

"Ah."

"Little Hammer." At this moment, Da Qiao suddenly spoke up. He glanced sideways in Zhao Xiaochui's general direction and asked, "Have you memorized the Twelve Regular Meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians?"

"Yes." Zhao Xiaochui's attitude was very certain and confident.

This isn't the kind of confidence someone this age should have.

But Zhao Xiaochui's five years of hard study before his rebirth were all for this confidence.

Seeing the silent technicians, Zhao Xiaochui didn't boast. There are a total of twenty meridians and 361 acupoints. These people simply don't have the resources to learn them all.

"Let's take it slow. We don't use many acupoints in daily life," Zhao Xiaochui tried to reassure them.

And so, whenever Zhao Xiaochui's guests fell asleep, he would give pointers to his ambitious colleagues. When Lao Gu and Da Qiao also lowered their voices to ask for advice, even the middle-aged women at the back of the line stopped waiting for Zhao Xiaochui. In an hour and sixty minutes, they could always get Zhao Xiaochui's guidance, so the sixty yuan was much more cost-effective than spending ten minutes with Zhao Xiaochui.

Of course, many of the quiet, regular customers just smiled and said nothing.

There are 20 meridians. Although people don't know how many acupoints there are, they can tell at a glance that this young man has worked hard.

Putting aside the effectiveness of the massage, how much is that hard work worth?

Don't even mention 60 yuan, you might not be able to find a mid-to-high-end massage therapist who knows all the meridians well even if you spend 600 yuan!

As time passed and night fell, the evening rush hour arrived in Beijing, and massage parlors entered their busiest time of the day.

………………

Jinchan West Road is becoming increasingly lively. Heading east along this road and crossing the north-south Jinchan North Road, you will leave the jurisdiction of Xiaoxiaofatou Subdistrict in less than 200 meters.

This is Nanmofang Street, where OCT, a high-end community that opened at the beginning of the century, is located, right next to Happy Valley amusement park.

Secretary Liu's family lives here, and their simple dinner consists of four dishes and a soup.

His child has gone to university. This is his niece having dinner with Secretary Liu, his wife, and the elderly.

A white-collar woman with exquisite yet understated makeup, her eyebrows slightly raised, and her eyes occasionally flashing with determination and wisdom.

“We’ve secured the order from the Sports Bureau,” the woman said, putting down her chopsticks with a hint of helplessness in her voice. “Uncle, actually, we could have just gotten rid of this order. My brother’s company doesn’t need this kind of business.”

"It's not illegal and you can make money, why wouldn't you do it?" Secretary Liu said nonchalantly, not taking Liren's words to heart. It was a serendipitous encounter, and he'd even gained a favor—pretty good, right? Liren knew her uncle's personality, so she changed the subject:
Is there something wrong with that young man?

"What do you say?"

The beautiful woman thought for a moment and shook her head: "It's a bit magical."

"I had someone check his luggage. There were two books, 'Meridian Studies' and 'Traditional Chinese Medicine Internal Massage,' both of which were almost worn out from being read so many times. There were also some new books, which were textbooks for massage and manipulation at a university of traditional Chinese medicine. It seems he has been reading them quite a bit recently."

“The young man gets up early and fights for space with the square dancing aunties in the small square in front of the street office every morning to practice his ‘Six-Character Mantra’,” Secretary Liu said with a smile. “Some of them are his regulars, so no one chases him away. They can only dance to the music while listening to his ear-piercing voice.”

Secretary Liu thought for a moment and sighed, "Talent is something that can't be explained. Just six words like 'shh,' 'ha,' 'hu,' 'xi,' 'chui,' and 'xi' can be heard by my colleague, who says he can hear them even from two buildings away when he gets up early these days."

At this point, Secretary Liu suddenly stopped, thought for a moment, and then solemnly said:

"Xiao Ning, if you have some free time recently, you should give it a try. I have a feeling that this kid can cure diseases. Internal diseases can be relieved through traditional Chinese massage."

"Uncle, I'm a surgeon." The beautiful woman had been in a car accident before.

“Li Ying is also a surgeon,” Secretary Liu said, recounting the information he had gathered. “A friend from the Beijing Sports Bureau said that even professors at Peking University Third Hospital admit that her skill level is no lower than that of the health care group.”

What level of health care group?

"What level is required to be qualified to set up a health care team?" The conversation between the uncle and nephew was quick and vague. Everyone else at the table listened quietly without participating.

“Even at the lowest level, someone of my rank can pull some strings to meet with people,” Secretary Liu said with a self-deprecating laugh, “but are they willing to put in the effort to deal with us?”

"That kid can do it?"

"Just give me the money. He's a money-grubber, but his character is reliable."

The beautiful woman gently stroked her long, flowing hair and nodded softly.

…………

Zhao Xiaochui was unaware that people were talking about him.

Just as he was about to go to a KTV to earn some extra money, he was greeted by an unexpected customer at the entrance of a massage parlor.

The health care worker at the Beijing Sports Bureau training base.

"You've offended all your colleagues at the base," the middle-aged man said bluntly.

Zhao Xiaochui looked at his serious face in surprise, thought about it carefully, and then nodded dejectedly.

He thought it was a promising path, but as the middle-aged man said, he did what others couldn't, so why would anyone else give him a way out?

Zhao Xiaochui still lacks social experience.

"My surname is Dong," the middle-aged man introduced himself. "I've been watching you all night. Is this your one-finger push technique?"

One-finger Zen Pushing Method, the first major lineage of Tuina (Chinese massage) and a national intangible cultural heritage with the number IX-4.

Seeing that the middle-aged man meant no harm, Zhao Xiaochui put aside his restraint and shook his head: "I learned it from a book. The book is called 'Chinese Internal Kung Fu Massage', which was compiled by two doctors from the south based on folk techniques, summarizing their experience and clinical trials."

Traditional Chinese massage has different schools of thought. The founder of the One-Finger Zen Massage Method is a master, a true master, a famous person in the Republic of China, and a relative of a high-ranking official after the liberation. There are legends that he was cured by the master and his disciples.

But the master's descendants are always busy tracing the origins. The One-Finger Zen Pushing Method has been traced back to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and even linked to Indian yoga and Indian massage techniques.

Zhao Xiaochui has no access to any particular school of thought, let alone the masters, he can't even meet the next generation of their successors.

Seeing him shake his head, Doctor Dong asked, "So you're strengthening your body internally through external exercises?"

Zhao Xiaochui understood this problem. It takes five years to become a massage therapist, making it the slowest path to mastery among all branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Why? Because it requires training. Once mastered, the training step can be skipped, and the massage techniques can be applied directly to the body.

There is a shortcut: decades of traditional martial arts fundamentals (not just routines, but internal and external training) plus a foundation in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Take a look at this path...

You should just stick to learning massage.

(End of this chapter)