A top star in the Chinese entertainment industry, but also a Taoist priest.

Chen Shouyi then put down his teacup, glanced at him, and nodded. "That's exactly what I was waiting for."

"good."

That one word eased Fang Xu's anxiety by half, but Chen Shouyi's next words made his heart jump again.

"However, your illness is indeed difficult to cure."

Fang Xu didn't reply, and waited.

"To cure this disease, we need to use a set of acupuncture point-directing techniques passed down from my master's lineage."

What Chen Shouyi said about using acupuncture points with a golden needle is indeed true.

The Wenshi School does indeed have a set of acupuncture techniques passed down through generations, using specially made gold needles specifically designed to target lesions deep within the meridians. However, that set of acupuncture techniques has a limited range of applications; it's not very effective for cases like Fang Xu's.

The second half will depend on inspiration.

"The method of acupuncture point manipulation..." Fang Xu murmured, repeating it over and over, then asked, "Master, do you need anything else?"

"Of course it's necessary. Acupuncture unblocks the meridians, and medicinal herbs nourish the body's foundation. Neither is dispensable," Chen Shouyi said.

"After the acupuncture opens the meridians, it is necessary to use precious medicinal herbs for long-term conditioning in order to completely remove that layer of cold membrane and at the same time replenish the kidney essence lost over the years."

Fang Xu immediately pressed, "What precious medicinal herbs? Daoist Master, just tell me, and I'll try to get them. As long as it's not something you can't find on the market, it's fine."

Chen Shouyi glanced at him, a slight smile on his face: "These are all available on the market. With your family background, this shouldn't be a problem."

Fang Xu visibly breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid the Taoist priest would mention things like "thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum" or "ten-thousand-year-old snow lotus," things that money couldn't buy. Since they were available on the market, things were much easier.

"Then—" Fang Xu cautiously pressed on, "Master, your... method of applying acupuncture points with golden needles..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear: Can you do it?

Chen Shouyi smiled.

"Of course I know it. I have practiced this acupuncture technique since I was a child and it has never become unfamiliar to me."

Simply administer acupuncture once every seven days, for a total of four times, while the client takes the prescribed medicine in between. This will gradually dissolve the cold membrane in the meridians, naturally restoring the vitality of the kidney essence.

Fang Xu nodded repeatedly, his expression no longer tense, but eager.

Chen Shouyi looked at his expression, smiled without saying a word, but was making plans in his heart.

The gold needles were readily available; there was a set in the big bag that Shouzhuo was carrying.

The medicinal materials were easy to obtain; he already had a general idea of ​​the prescription, which consisted of herbs like Morinda officinalis, Cistanche deserticola, Cuscuta chinensis, and deer antler glue—all of which warm and tonify kidney yang and replenish kidney essence.

Add a few more expensive ingredients, such as cordyceps, seahorse, and placenta, to make a dozen or twenty, and just write them down.

Anyway, Fang Xu will reimburse the expenses.

The real challenge is managing the spiritual energy. Each of the four acupuncture sessions requires him to use his spiritual energy to probe along the golden needles. With the meager reserves in his dantian, he'll probably be exhausted for half a day after each session.

Therefore, the price cannot be low.

He just smiled and looked at Fang Xu without saying a word.

Having worked in the corporate world for over a decade, Fang Xu had a good eye for things; the Taoist priest was just waiting for him to name his price.

He spoke almost without hesitation:

"Master, here's what I'll do—please give me a list of the medicinal herbs, and I'll buy them myself. Also, I'd like to donate one million coins for incense offerings to your Zifu Temple. Is that alright?"

One million.

Chen Shouyi did the math in his head. Adding the 100,000 or so from Zhao Mingyuan, he could earn more than 1.1 million in cash from this trip to Hengdian.

That doesn't even include the medicinal herbs. He writes down the list of herbs, and Fang Xu goes to buy them himself, but how much of the herbs are used and how much is left is entirely up to him.

This deal is a good one.

But what he wants today is more than just money.

Chen Shouyi first nodded and said "Good", then changed the subject.

"There is one more thing I need to trouble you with."

Fang Xu immediately sat up straight and said without hesitation, "Master, please speak! As long as the illness can be cured, everything is negotiable!"

When he said this, his tone was even more urgent than before.

There's a reason for this urgency.

He is an only son, and his parents have been worried sick about this for years. Whenever relatives ask about it during holidays, the old couple doesn't know how to respond.

Although his wife didn't say it, he could tell that there was something more to the way she looked at him.

It's not that I dislike it, it's that I've resigned myself to it.

This hurt him even more than being disliked.

The young Taoist priest in front of him was the only lifeline he had encountered in the past two years.

So he came to this dinner tonight with a do-or-die mentality.

Now that the Taoist priest said he could cure it, and spoke so eloquently, his faith in Chen Shouyi deepened even further.

Therefore, he was more than happy to accept the Taoist priest's request. He was not afraid of the Taoist priest making a request; he was afraid that the Taoist priest would not make one.

Chen Shouyi smiled at his expression and said directly, "Mr. Fang's company is under Huace Group, isn't it?"

Fang Xu nodded: "Yes, Juku is a subsidiary of Huace Croton."

"What I wish to ask is—" Chen Shou paused, "would it be convenient for Huace to sign me?"

Fang Xu's mouth dropped open.

He originally thought the Taoist priest wanted to charge more money, and he was prepared to charge more money; if one million wasn't enough, he would charge one hundred and fifty, and if one hundred and fifty wasn't enough, he would charge two hundred.

Money is not a problem as long as his illness can be cured.

But he never expected that the Taoist priest would make this request.

"Master... are you also interested in the entertainment industry?"

Fang Xu's expression was priceless; his eyes were wide open, his mouth was agape, and the muscles on his face were a mixture of shock and confusion, making him look somewhat comical.

Chen Shouyi smiled.

"I cultivate the path of detachment from the world and am a person of solitary cultivation. But recently, I have had a sudden urge to enter the world and practice cultivation."

"It just so happens that most of the incense offerings I've received in the past six months have come from people in the entertainment industry. I've met quite a few people in this circle and found them very interesting. So I was thinking, could I actually get involved?"

He looked at Fang Xu and said calmly, "I wonder if you could do me this favor?"

Fang Xu closed his mouth, picked up his teacup and took a big gulp of cold tea, his mind racing.

The Taoist priest wants to enter the entertainment industry.

This request... well, it's both outrageous and reasonable.

It's absurd because a Taoist priest suddenly saying he wants to be an actor would leave anyone stunned. It's not absurd because—Fang Xu glanced at Chen Shouyi again.

Wearing a purple Taoist robe, with his hair tied up with a wooden hairpin, he had a refined and elegant appearance and an otherworldly air.

With that kind of looks, he'd be top-tier even in the entertainment industry.

No, let alone first-class, many leading actors would be overshadowed if they stood next to this Taoist priest.

Moreover, the Taoist priest wasn't the kind of effeminate beauty; he had a very upright and refined appearance, with a heroic air about him in his eyes, yet he wasn't ostentatious.

This kind of charisma is, to put it bluntly, a rare commodity in today's entertainment industry.

Fang Xu, after all, works in the film and television industry, so he has a good eye for people.

To be honest, it's only because Chen Shouyi has always maintained the identity of a Taoist priest that people in the industry only think about asking him to look at their feng shui and predict their fortune; no one thinks about signing him.

If he had shown even the slightest interest in acting, his agent and film companies would have pounced on him long ago.

Putting everything else aside, if Cai Yinong from Tangren saw him, she would definitely be the first to rush over. She is a well-known beauty enthusiast in the industry, the kind who can't move her legs when she sees someone good-looking.

Thinking about this, Fang Xu realized that it wasn't the Taoist priest asking him for help, but rather that he had gotten a great deal.

As for Huace Media, to be honest, there aren't many actors they've signed with their talent agency department that are truly outstanding.

Huace is top-notch at producing dramas, but its artists have always been a weakness.

If he recommends the Taoist priest there, they will only praise him for his good judgment and will not have any objections.

Fang Xu's mind raced; these thoughts flashed through his mind almost in the blink of an eye.

"No problem! I'll contact you right away."

Fang Xu readily agreed, then immediately changed his mind:

"No, I'll have my sister contact the talent agency directly. They'll definitely give you the best agency contract!"