Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It was 11 am when Wang Yao returned to the cottage. Chen Ying was cooking lunch. A nice smell of food came out of the kitchen.
“Smells delicious!” Wang Yao went to the kitchen and saw Chen Ying was busy cooking.
“Just one second, lunch will be ready soon,” said Chen Ying with a smile after she had seen Wang Yao.
“Do you need a hand?” asked Wang Yao with a smile.
“No, thanks,” said Chen Ying.
“Okay, I’ll stop interrupting you,” said Wang Yao.
Wang Yao went to the dining room next to the kitchen and waited there. He put another bowl and a set of chopsticks on the table.
Chen Ying brought in the dishes one by one a moment later.
“What are these?” asked Wang Yao.
He was surprised to see all these familiar dishes.
Chen Ying had cooked sweet and sour pork, braised intestines in brown sauce, and stir-fried cucumber with spring onions. All the dishes she cooked were classic Shandong cuisine. The dish not only tasted delicious but also looked nice.
Chen Ying cooked Huaiyang cuisine yesterday and Shandong cuisine today. She was good at different types of cuisine. Given her cooking skill, she could work in a luxury hotel.
“Wow, you cooked so many dishes. I won’t be able to finish all of them. Why not join me for lunch?” Wang Yao pointed at the chair next to him.
“No, thanks,” said Chen Ying.
“Didn’t you say that you’ll try to satisfy all of my requests? Now I have a request, please join me for lunch,” said Wang Yao.
“Okay,” said Chen Ying.
The two of them sat down to eat together. The way Chen Ying ate was quite graceful. She took her time. It seemed that every movement of hers was regulated.
“Why didn’t you want to have lunch with me?” asked Wang Yao casually. But his question made Chen Ying think for a while.
“Rules,” said Chen Ying eventually. She didn’t seem to have answered the question directly.
“What rule doesn’t allow you to have lunch with me?” asked Wang Yao.
Chen Ying didn’t answer. She just smiled as soon as she had finished dinner and put down her bowl and chopsticks.
“I’m finished. Thank you,” said Chen Ying.
“You ate so little,” said Wang Yao. “You just had one small bowl of rice and eighteen mouthfuls of food.”
Chen Ying was surprised to hear that.
“You were counting? I’m really full now, though,” said Chen Ying.
“Well, since you don’t want to eat with me, I won’t force you to do it next time. I need to go out in the afternoon; can you come with me?” asked Wang Yao.
“Sure,” said Chen Ying.
Chen Ying stood up and left. Wang Yao suddenly felt bored having to face a table of delicious dishes alone.
Wang Yao took a break after lunch. Then he called his aunt. Zhang Xiufang was very glad to know Wang Yao was visiting Beijing again. She asked Wang Yao to have dinner in her unit. Wang Yao couldn’t say no, so he promised he would go.
Wang Yao and Chen Ying went out after a short break. Since they were going to a place far from the cottage and it would take too long to walk there, Wang Yao decided to ask Chen Ying to drive him there.
“Can we find a place to buy something first?” asked Wang Yao.
“Okay,” said Chen Ying.
Most of the people were working at the time, so there were not many cars on the road compared to the peak hours, of course. It was Beijing after all.
They went to a shopping center nearby to buy some stuff. Along with the gifts Wang Yao brought from his home, Wang Yao reckoned he was well prepared to visit his aunt. He checked the time before leaving for his aunt’s unit.
“Where did you learn to cook? You can cook Huaiyang cuisine as well as Shandong cuisine. What else can you cook?” asked Wang Yao.
“I can cook a bit of all the major Chinese cuisines. I’ll cook something different next time if you want me to,” said Chen Ying.
“That would be great!” said Wang Yao.
After they came out of the shopping center, they noticed there were much more vehicles on the road. It took them over an hour to get to Wang Yao’s aunt.
“Let me carry the things for you,” said Chen Ying.
“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t bring much stuff with me. I can manage. Shall we go together?” asked Wang Yao.
“No, thanks, I prefer to wait here,” said Chen Ying.
“Okay, but you don’t need to wait for me here; you can pick me up at around 7:30 pm,” said Wang Yao.
“Okay,” agreed Chen Ying.
Wang Yao went upstairs with the gifts. He knocked on the door, and his aunt answered it. He was surprised to see that his aunt was at home. She was wearing an apron. She might have been cooking.
“Hello, Auntie,” said Wang Yao.
“Hi, Yao, you don’t need to bring gifts,” said Zhang Xiufang.
“I’ve got some health supplements for you. I’ve also brought pancakes and snow pea noodles from home,” said Wang Yao.
“Thank you!” Zhang Xiufang was smiling. She looked much better than she was during the Labor Day holiday.
“How have you been feeling lately?” asked Wang Yao.
“I feel much better. I didn’t expect you to be such a good doctor. Where did you learn medicine?” asked Zhang Xiufang.
“A goddess from heaven,” said Wang Yao.
“Stop joking, come sit down. I’ll fetch you a glass of water,” said Zhang Xiufang.
His auntie got him a glass of water before cutting up some fruit. She kept smiling, and the smile was from the bottom of her heart. His aunt’s family moved to Beijing a number of years ago. Beijing was a strange place for them. They didn’t know anyone. Even after they had lived in Beijing for such as a long time, they still felt like they weren’t apart of the city. Because they didn’t have any other family members here, they were so glad to see Wang Yao.
“When will Uncle come back?” asked Wang Yao.
“I told him you were visiting us today, so he’ll come home early,” said Zhang Xiufang.
Zhang Xiufang’s husband came home at around 6:30 pm, and his cousin came back just a little past 7 pm. She looked even skinnier than last time.
“Hi, Yao, welcome,” said Wang Yao’s cousin. She was more welcoming this time as well.
“Thank you,” said Wang Yao.
“Go and wash your hands; we are about to have dinner,” said Zhang Xiufang.
She cooked a full table of dishes. Wang Yao chatted with his aunt’s family while eating. Time passed quickly.
“You don’t need to go back tonight. You can stay here,” said Zhang Xiufang.
“No, thanks. I’ve got some things to do tonight,” said Wang Yao.
“Come here tomorrow then,” said Zhang Xiufang.
“No, thanks. You are very busy, and I don’t want to disrupt you,” said Wang Yao.
“You are not disrupting us at all!” said Zhang Xiufang.
His aunt and her family walked Wang Yao downstairs when he left. Chen Ying had been waiting for him.
“Go home, it’s getting cold,” said Wang Yao.
“Okay, drive safe,” said Zhang Xiufang.
The car slowly went out of the complex.
“The girl who came to pick up Yao is quite pretty. I’m not sure if she’s Yao’s girlfriend or not,” said Li Xianghong when walking upstairs.
“I don’t think so according to the positions they sat in the car. If she was his girlfriend, he would have sat at the front passenger’s seat, not in the back seat. The girl seems to be his driver,” said Wang Yao’s cousin.
“Driver? Having a pretty girl as a driver?” said Zhang Xiufang in surprise.
“Mom, what is Yao doing here? That car is not cheap at all. What kind of family can afford to buy a car costing over a million and have a private driver?” asked Li Na curiously.
“I don’t know,” said Zhang Xiufang.
“You should go to bed now,” said Li Xianghong.
“Okay,” said Li Na.
After Zhang Xiufang and her husband had returned to their bedroom, Zhang Xiufang continued to think of their conversation just now while lying in bed.
“Do you know why Yao comes to Beijing?” asked Li Xianghong softly.
“I think he’s here to see a patient,” replied Zhang Xiufang.
“To see a patient?” said Li Xianghong in surprise.
Beijing had the best medical recourse in China. It had most first-class hospitals and the best doctors. People from all over the country came to Beijing to see a doctor every day. If a person couldn’t be cured in Beijing, they would probably not be cured in any other places in China. The only alternative was to find a doctor overseas.
“It seems that Yao’s patient is a very rich person. Since the person is in Beijing, what kind of disease would require Yao to treat?” wondered Li Xianghong.
Zhang Xiufang started to worry about her nephew now.
“Do you think he will get into trouble?” asked Zhang Xiufang.
“I don’t think so. He’s been here once already. By the way, you can ask him tomorrow who he is treating,” said Li Xianghong.
“Okay, I’ll ask him tomorrow.”
…
Wang Yao had some wine during dinner. He didn’t go to bed straight away after he had returned to the cottage. Instead, he read a chapter of Taoism scriptures for a while. He turned the light off and went to sleep after observing the sky for a moment.
It was gloomy and dusty the next day. The whole city was akin to being covered by a poor-quality plastic film. It made Wang Yao very uncomfortable.
He arrived at Su Xiaoxue’s house at around 9 am.
Apart from Su Xiaoxue’s mother, he found Dr. Chen was also there. Dr. Chen seemed to be very interested in Wang Yao. He arrived at Su Xiaoxue’s house early in the morning and checked Su Xiaoxue’s pulse.
“Good morning, Dr. Wang,” said Dr. Chen.
“Good morning, Dr. Chen. I’m here to see her hands. I put some herbal paste on her palms several days ago,” said Wang Yao.
“Hello, Xiaoxue.” Wang Yao greeted Su Xiaoxue who couldn’t speak with a smile.
Hello, Dr. Wang, thought Su Xiaoxue silently.
Wang Yao slowly opened the gauze bandage on Su Xiaoxue’s finger. The gauze was not common. It was marinated in herbal decoctions to minimize the pain and prevent infection of the wounds.
After Wang Yao had removed the gauze, everyone could see Su Xiaoxue’s ulcerated hand.
What is this?
Both Song Ruiping and Dr. Chen opened their eyes widely. Dr. Chen came to the edge of the bed and bent down to check Su Xiaoxue’s palm.
Her palm was still ulcerated. However, he could see the pink muscle among those dark purple wounds. Some pieces of dead tissue were found on the gauze. They were as black as coal. The pink muscle was as shiny as an oasis in the desert.
They knew very well what it meant.
“How can this be possible? How can this be possible!” exclaimed Dr. Chen repeatedly.
This was like injecting new life into a withered tree. This was bringing a skeleton back to life.
“It worked!” said Wang Yao with a smile. He took out a bottle of Muscle Revitalizing powder and applied the decoction evenly on Su Xiaoxue’s palm.
Dr. Chen, who was standing next to Wang Yao, was staring at the white porcelain bottle and the green decoction coming out of it. He didn’t even blink.
He even wanted to snatch the bottle from Wang Yao’s hand.
“What decoction is this? How can it be so magical? Where did this young man obtain such a wonderful decoction?
The decoction was absorbed by Su Xiaoxue’s palm quickly as if the dry earth was absorbing raindrops.
Wang Yao then wrapped the gauze around Su Xiaoxue’s palm carefully. He couldn’t wrap it too tight or too loose around her palm. It was a basic nursing technique Wang Yao was not good at because he didn’t have much experience in doing it.
“Have a good rest, I will come to see you again at night,” said Wang Yao to Su Xiaoxue.
“I’m leaving now. See you tonight,” said Wang Yao to Song Ruiping.
“Thank you; I’ll walk you out.” Song Ruiping was very thankful.
Dr. Chen also followed them out of the house and went back to the cottage together with Wang Yao.
