But true or false, it was his son's gift; and even if it were fake, he could not let it show before outsiders. Family matters were to be settled with the doors shut.

Now Wei Zhao, an outsider, had spoken it aloud, and Divine Doctor Kang felt at once that he had been stripped of face.

"Young man, why do you say this ginseng is fake?" Though there was anger in his voice, he kept it even, losing none of an elder's bearing. "If you are merely running off at the mouth, then apologize, and I will pretend I never heard it. But if you will not apologize, then I am sorry — you are not welcome here."

Divine Doctor Kang's words were reasoned and well-grounded; no one could find a flaw in them, and instead they thought him magnanimous. Wei Zhao had humiliated them so badly, and all the old man asked was an apology.

Wei Zhao had not expected them to react so strongly — even old Divine Doctor Kang had leapt out. It seemed that if he did not speak up now, the trouble would spill over onto Kang Xiaobo.

Wei Zhao could only rise to his feet and explain, with some helplessness: "Wild mountain ginseng has a long rhizome head and closely set rhizome bowls; the body is as long as the root stock, shaped like a man, lying crosswise, and rather short. The transverse wrinkles on the main root are fine, dense, and clear, the color darker; the skin fine and tough; the pearl knots numerous, distinct, and easy to see.

"Cultivated ginseng is called garden ginseng: a short rhizome head, few rhizome bowls, a cylindrical body splitting into a V, running with the length, and longer; the transverse wrinkles on the main root sparse and discontinuous, the skin coarse and brittle, the pearl knots indistinct.

"As for whether this particular plant is real or fake, I imagine there are connoisseurs of such things in this hall. Divine Doctor Kang may not know — but surely there is someone here who knows how to tell."

Wei Zhao's words cut deep; plainly he was mocking Divine Doctor Kang for his ignorance. A man who could not even judge whether ginseng was genuine — and he called himself a divine doctor?

Divine Doctor Kang's face changed. He had never expected Wei Zhao to speak so methodically, so point by point. He had taken the young man for a babbler, and thought that if he stepped out himself with a few words and offered him a way down, the matter would pass. Now he found himself caught, unable to advance or retreat.

"Nonsense!" Kang Zhaoming sprang out again. "Grandfather, don't listen to this creature's ravings. Kang Xiaobo brought him here to make trouble on purpose! Let us put the ginseng away first and pay him no mind!"

Kang Zhaoming's words plainly gave the impression of a thief with a guilty conscience. If the ginseng were not fake, it ought to be brought out for the experts present to examine; what did it mean to hurry it out of sight instead?

Kang Zhaoming was indeed guilty, and he knew it. He and his father Kang Cuipu had bought the ginseng together — how could he not know whether it was real? It had come from a cultivation farm and had cost only a few thousand yuan altogether. How could it possibly be thousand-year ginseng?

But Kang Cuipu and Kang Zhaoming both knew in their hearts that the old man could not tell true ginseng from false, and that Kang Cuipu's elder brother Kang Guifeng could not either; and even if Kang Guifeng guessed it was fake, he would never shame the family before outsiders.

Besides, Kang Cuipu took only dividends from the company and never contended for power, which left Kang Guifeng with no grudge against him; the two brothers were on good terms, and Kang Guifeng often cleaned up after Kang Cuipu's misdeeds.

But who would have thought that halfway through, Wei Zhao, a regular Cheng Yaojin, would come swinging his axe out of nowhere?

"Never mind, take it away. Real or fake, it is Cuipu's goodwill," said Divine Doctor Kang. He was no fool: since Wei Zhao had spoken so, he must be sure of his ground. To press the matter further would only be to seek his own humiliation. Better to admit it with good grace — everyone knew well enough what sort his youngest son was, and his name was already ruined; a little more made no difference.

Divine Doctor Kang conceded it so lightly that no great storm followed. Since he had said as much, no one else had the heart to go on disputing whether the ginseng was real.

Next it was Kang Xiaobo's father's turn to go up with his gift. It was a very ordinary thing — a lingzhi of a few years' growth. Kang Cuipu and Kang Zhaoming, nursing their resentment, had meant to pick fault with it, but the man had said outright that it was no more than an ordinary few-year lingzhi.

There was no fault to be found in a few-year lingzhi; it had never been a treasure to begin with. To nitpick would be to pick bones from an egg, and would earn a man only deeper contempt.

Father and son Kang Cuipu and Kang Zhaoming had no choice but to wait, and to vent all their resentment on Kang Xiaobo later.

Once the several sons of the family had presented their birthday gifts, it came the turn of the grandsons. But in keeping with Divine Doctor Kang's preference for sons over daughters, only male descendants might go up with gifts; no granddaughter would ever take that stage.

The first to go up this time was Kang Zhaolong, Kang Guifeng's son.

This Kang Zhaolong looked a little older, in his twenties, wearing glasses, gentle and refined in manner. What he carried in his hands was a document, and he walked up with a steady step.

"Grandfather, this is a medical research project I worked on while studying for my doctorate at school. It has already been granted a patent, and this is the certificate of merit the school issued me." Kang Zhaolong respectfully handed over the certificate.

The emcee was about to take it, but Divine Doctor Kang waved him off and went over himself, his face glowing, all his earlier displeasure swept clean away. "Good! Zhaolong, you are a fine one. Grandfather is very pleased!"

With that, Divine Doctor Kang took the certificate, looked it over a while with a smile, then patted Kang Zhaolong on the shoulder and said, "Work hard. You are the next divine doctor of our Kang family!"

A wave of applause rose from below the stage. Everyone understood: this was Divine Doctor Kang naming his successor.

"Your eldest cousin studied medicine?" Wei Zhao was rather surprised. He had not expected that in Divine Doctor Kang's household there was actually a younger one who had studied medicine.

"Yes, my eldest cousin graduated from a proper medical college and is now working toward a doctorate in traditional Chinese medicine," Kang Xiaobo explained. "To tell the truth, he is the only one who really understands the art."

The words were somewhat ironic and absurd, yet they were the truth. Wei Zhao was speechless too. How was it that this whole household of Divine Doctor Kang's seemed like self-taught outsiders?

Then it was Kang Zhaoming's turn on the stage. His gift was even more marvelous — some ancient prescription or other. But after the example his father Kang Cuipu had set, no one had any curiosity left; they all assumed it was fake. Ancient prescriptions were hardly so easy to come by.

In this way, though, Kang Zhaoming had escaped disaster. Had he published the formula for all to see, Wei Zhao would have recognized at a glance that it was nothing but an ordinary cold-damage formula — one written plainly in any number of books on Chinese medicine in any bookshop.

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