Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“How do you feel?” asked He Xiuhua. She was not concerned that the decoction might not work. On the contrary, she was concerned that it would further damage her husband’s health
“This is not an elixir. It won’t react so fast,” said Wang Fengxiang grumpily.
However, he could actually feel the warmth inside his belly. Soon, the warm feeling also moved to other parts of his body, including his upper and lower limbs. The heat made him grumpy on such a hot day. After all, he was not well, so he was not in a good mood anyway.
He Xiuhua helped her husband with dinner after she had finished cooking.
“Do you want to sleep?” asked He Xiuhua.
“Yes,” said Wang Fengxiang.
It was hot outside but not hot inside; he should be able to fall in sleep without the air-conditioner. However, he still couldn’t fall in sleep.
Aye!
Wang Fengxiang sighed, then turned his body.
What is going on?!
Suddenly his body was frozen.
Huh? What is happening to my right leg?
He tried to move his right leg, and it moved! Although the movement was minimal, it was better than nothing.
It made him extremely happy.
He wanted to tell his wife of this good news, but he didn’t as she had fallen asleep already. She looked so tired and had huge bags under her eyes.
He knew how tired she had been recently. She had been busy looking after him. When he was in the hospital, she stayed with him all the time to look after him. She didn’t eat or rest well at the hospital, and he wasn’t very nice to her. She really should have a good rest.
What was a real couple? In ancient China, a wife would lift a tray to be level with her eyebrows to show great respect for her husband. But that was not practical nowadays. A real couple should share weal and woe and should never abandon each other. That was already hard to achieve.
Wang Fengxiang tried to move his right leg and practice movements on the bed. His movements were very gentle as he didn’t want to wake up his wife.
He Xiuhua didn’t wake up until a bit past 4 pm, as she was so tired. As soon as she woke up, she found her husband lying next to her was moving his right leg. She didn’t feel any difference at the beginning.
“Hey, did you have a good rest?” asked Wang Fengxiang with a smile.
Wait!
He Xiuhua suddenly sat up.
“You can move your leg?!” asked He Xiuhua.
“Yes,” said Wang Fengxiang with a smile.
“When did it happen?” asked He Xiuhua excitedly.
“It happened just now,” said Wang Fengxiang with a smile.
“Come here, let me help you,” said He Xiuhua.
“No, you can rest for a bit longer. You’ve been so tired recently,” said Wang Fengxiang.
“I’m not tired. I don’t mind as long as you can recover.” He Xiuhua’s eyes were full of tears.
How come Wang Fengxiang’s leg could move again?
The couple was thinking of the reason while lying in bed.
“Is it because of the decoction Yao brought?” asked He Xiuhua.
“Yes, probably. I should drink more in the evening,” said Wang Fengxiang.
“Don’t drink too much. I think you should follow his instructions,” said He Xiuhua.
“Okay,” said Wang Fengxiang.
It started to get dark. Wang Fengxiang took the decoction again after dinner and waited for the changes in his body.
Meanwhile, something was happening in Beijing, thousands of miles away from Lianshan.
Dr. Chen gave Su Xiaoxue an acupuncture treatment again.
Song Ruiping was standing next to Su Xiaoxue’s bed and looking at her daughter. Part of the gauze was removed, and the skin was showing an abnormal pink color. Although it still looked a bit horrible, it looked much better than the scary, dark purple ulcers. The change was fundamental.
“I will come back in three days.” Dr. Chen wiped his face with a warm towel and breathed a sigh of relief.
It took him a lot of energy to do the acupuncture, especially at night.
He had been doing acupuncture on Su Xiaoxue every three days. He gave one treatment session during the day, and one at night.
“Thank you, Dr. Chen,” said Song Ruiping.
“You are welcome. This is all that I can do. The effect of acupuncture is limited. When will Dr. Wang come here again?” asked Dr. Chen.
“He had promised to come back as soon as he can,” said Song Ruiping.
This time, she didn’t ask anyone to push Wang Yao.
Although she was still concerned about her daughter and was often anxious, she started to calm down as Su Xiaoxue was gradually getting better. After discussing with her husband a few times, she decided to wait. Wang Yao kept his words last time, so he should keep his words this time. All she could do was wait.
As long as Xiaoxue will get better, I don’t mind waiting, thought Song Ruiping.
The nights in summer were short. From dust to dawn, it was around ten hours. One could just have one dream during those ten hours.
Some people would dream of something romantic, some would dream of being rich, some would dream of a great career path, and some would have a nightmare of monsters and floods.
Wang Fengxiang had a dream of working in the fields. In his dream, he was waving a hoe, as if he had endless energy, and his limbs were moving perfectly fine.
It was his dream and what he had been thinking of all the time recently.
But a dream was just a dream.
Another day began as the sun rose from the east. People started another busy day.
Wang Fengxiang was lying by himself on the bed. He could hear someone busy working in the kitchen. It was his wife preparing breakfast.
Wang Fengxiang smiled. He was very happy.
Suddenly, he had some feelings in his arm. So, he tried to lift his arm then move his fingers.
“Haha!” He laughed.
He made progress again overnight. Of course, he was happy.
“Breakfast is ready!” His wife walked into the bedroom with a bowl of noodles and found her husband could sit up by himself. He leaned on the quilt moving his right arm.
“You can move your right hand?!” exclaimed He Xiuhua.
“Yes, I just found I could move my right arm when I woke up,” said Wang Fengxiang with a smile.
“Great!” He Xiuhua was too happy to say anything more. “Well, have breakfast first,” she said.
“Sure, let’s have breakfast,” said Wang Fengxiang.
Now they were sure that Wang Fengxiang regained some movement after taking Wang Yao’s decoction.
“Don’t tell anyone about this,” Wang Fengxiang reminded his wife.
“Okay,” said He Xiuhua.
“We should buy some presents for Yao’s family,” said Wang Fengxiang.
“Good idea, I will go to town right away,” said He Xiuhua.
Wang Yao did them a great favor. They should buy something decent to thank him.
“Okay, buy something decent, don’t worry about the money,” said Wang Fengxiang.
…
Zhang Xiuying was busy working at home around 10 am when she heard someone knocking at the door. Then, she saw He Xiuhua arrive with presents.
“Hi, Xiuhua, please come in,” said Zhang Xiuying immediately.
“Hi, Xiuying. Yao is not home?” He Xiuhua looked around after entering the house and found that Zhang Xiuying was at home by herself.
“He’s normally on the hill during the day. What can I do for you, Xiuhua?” Zhang Xiuying took a look at the expensive presents.
“Nothing special. I just came to thank Yao,” said He Xiuhua.
“Thank him? For what?” asked Zhang Xiuying in surprise.
“Yao came yesterday morning to bring a decoction for Xiangfeng. His right leg started to move yesterday afternoon after taking the decoction, and his right arm started to move this morning, too,” said He Xiuhua.
Zhang Xiuying now understood the purpose of He Xiuhua’s visit. It was her first time realizing what a good doctor her son was. Although she knew her son had treated Tian Yuantu and her husband’s younger brother successfully, she had no idea what kind of illnesses they had. Zhang Xiuying knew very well of Wang Fengxiang’s condition. She had seen a paralyzed Wang Fengxiang lying on the bed. Wang Fengxiang couldn’t perform any self-care tasks by himself. It only took one day for Wang Yao to make Wang Fengxiang regain movement in his right leg and arm. This was significant.
Where did he learn how to treat diseases and illnesses? Zhang Xiuying had thought about this more than once. Anyways, it is a good thing that he can help people.
“Xiuhua, I’m glad that Fengxiang is recovering. You don’t need to thank Yao. Bring these stuff back. We’ve been neighbors for such a long time, we can’t accept such expensive presents,” said Zhang Xiuying.
“You have to accept my gratitude,” said He Xiuhua.
“You really don’t need to buy anything for us. By the way, please don’t tell anyone that Yao gave a decoction to Xiangfeng,” said Zhang Xiuying.
She knew her son; he preferred to keep a low profile and wouldn’t just treat anybody.
“Sure, I won’t. Don’t worry,” said He Xiuhua.
Eventually, Zhang Xiuying accepted the presents as He Xiuhua insisted.
“Well, thank you for the presents,” said Zhang Xiuying.
Meanwhile, Wang Yao was giving a massage to Zhou Wukang.
Zhou Wukang’s arm turned red and seemed to be bigger than usual.
“How do you feel?” asked Wang Yao.
“I have a burning sensation in my arm,” said Zhou Wukang honestly.
“Okay, good,” said Wang Yao as he took out the Blood Deblocking powder.
“I’ve brewed this decoction for you. Use it like you usually do,” said Wang Yao.
“Thank you,” Zhou Xiong took the precious decoction with both hands.
“I will go to Beijing in a few days and will probably stay in Beijing for a while. Please make sure Wukang takes the decoction,” said Wang Yao.
“Sure,” said Zhou Xiong.
Wang Yao left Nanshan hill together with Zhou Xiong and Zhou Wukang at noon. When he arrived at home, Zhang Xiuying told him about He Xiuhua’s visit.
“Could you visit them in a couple days and return the presents to them?” asked Wang Yao.
“Okay,” said Zhang Xiuying.
Three days was neither long nor short.
It was long enough to make a miracle.
Wang Fengxiang experienced the miracle.
Three days ago, he was lying in bed all the time. He couldn’t perform any self-care tasks. Now, he was able to hold on to furniture for support when walking around in his house. Although he didn’t have much strength in his legs, he was able to flex his elbow and fingers.
After walking around the courtyard, he sat down for a break.
After all, he had just recovered from a serious medical condition; he was still quite weak.
“Take it easy, don’t rush,” said He Xiuhua standing next to him.
“Okay,” said Wang Fengxiang.
A man came in when Wang Fengxiang was talking to his wife.
“Hello,” said He Xiuhua with a smile.
“Hi, Xiuhua, is Fengxiang getting better?” asked the man.
“Yes, much better, please come in,” said He Xiuhua.
The middle-aged man came into the house and put down the fruits he bought. Then he started to talk to Wang Fengxiang and He Xiuhua, who soon knew the purpose of the man’s visit.
The middle-aged man wanted to know if Wang Fengxiang had taken any special medication or folk prescription.
The news of Wang Fengxiang’s recovery had traveled all over the village in the last few days. He was not the only paralyzed patient in the village. There were a few people with a similar condition, and they had all been ill for a long time. Some of them had gradually recovered, but definitely not as fast as in three days. Wang Fengxiang had regained more function in three days than those who had been recovering for months. This, of course, attracted the attention of those people’s family members. They thought he had taken some special medication, so they all came to ask him.
“I just took the medication prescribed by the doctors in the hospital,” said Wang Fengxiang.
