This was ultimately her eldest aunt’s family matter, so Fang Yuan could not say much more. Right now, she was more worried about her aunt’s health.
“Eldest Aunt, is your stomach bothering you again? Let me take a look.” That was exactly why Fang Yuan had come.
Fang Xiaoyu waved her hand. “I’m fine. I probably just ate something bad.”
Fang Yuan still took her aunt’s wrist and felt her pulse.
“Eldest Aunt, this is liver qi stagnation. Your liver qi has failed to flow freely, causing the circulation of qi to become obstructed. The stagnant qi is what’s causing your abdominal pain. Is it because you’ve been worrying about Mingming?”
“Ever since I received his letter a couple of days ago, I’ve felt this tightness in my chest. It should be what you described.” Fang Xiaoyu pressed a hand against her abdomen, her face filled with lingering gloom.
“I can see you’re still in pain. Let me give you a couple of acupuncture needles.” Fang Yuan picked up the shoulder bag she carried with her and prepared to take out a set of silver needles.
“Oh, don’t. I faint at the sight of needles.” Fang Xiaoyu pressed down on Fang Yuan’s hand.
Fang Yuan smiled. “Grandpa was a renowned acupuncture master. You’re his daughter, so how can you faint from needles?”
She did not take out the silver needles. When she had first begun learning acupuncture, her grandfather had told her that before performing acupuncture, the first thing to pay attention to was whether the patient might have a needle fainting reaction. Such reactions could result from constitutional, psychological, or pathological causes. Mild cases involved dizziness, chest tightness, nausea, the urge to vomit, weakness, and coldness in the limbs. Severe cases could involve immediate loss of consciousness and even loss of bladder and bowel control. Needle fainting was relatively uncommon, but there happened to be someone in her own family who suffered from it.
“Even your grandfather couldn’t cure me of this problem.” Fang Xiaoyu smiled and shook her head.
“Then let me massage your acupoints instead. It’ll help you feel a little better too.” Fang Yuan rolled up her sleeves. “Eldest Aunt, take off your shoes and lie down.”
Following Fang Yuan’s instructions, Fang Xiaoyu lay flat on the sofa.
As Fang Yuan massaged her, she gently tried to comfort her. “You should try not to overthink things. Excessive worry harms the spleen, and excessive anger harms the liver.”
“As if I don’t know that. Once my temper flares up, I just can’t control it.” Fang Xiaoyu closed her eyes and enjoyed her niece’s massage.
“Eldest Aunt, Uncle said you were looking for me?” Fang Yuan removed her aunt’s socks as well and began massaging the Taichong acupoint on her foot. Taichong was the Yuan Source point of the Liver Meridian, used to soothe the liver and regulate the flow of qi.
“That’s right. I almost forgot.” Fang Xiaoyu sat up and looked at Fang Yuan with a beaming smile. “Ah Yuan, what kind of partner are you looking for?”
The moment Fang Yuan heard that, she deflated. Puffing out her cheeks, she said, “Eldest Aunt, don’t tell me you’re trying to set me up. Someone at the hospital tried introducing someone to me today too. I really don’t want to talk about this right now.”
Instead of being discouraged, Fang Xiaoyu became even more interested. “Someone at your hospital introduced someone to you too? What’s the young man like? Tell your eldest aunt.”
“I don’t know. I’m not looking for anyone right now.” Fang Yuan replied sulkily. She could only politely decline Doctor Zhang, but she had no such reservations with her own aunt.
“Such childish talk. If you don’t start looking now, in a few years you’ll become an old maid. By then, do you expect to settle for leftovers?” Fang Xiaoyu said with a smile as she stroked Fang Yuan’s long braid.
“One of my coworkers has a son who also graduated from university. He’s now assigned to work at the county waterworks. I’ve met the young man myself. He’s very handsome and spirited. He has both education and looks. I’m sure you’ll like him once you meet him.”
Fang Yuan glanced sideways at her aunt and deliberately asked, “Then I suppose his family background is good too?”
Fang Xiaoyu rolled her eyes at her and gave her a light pat. “Of course it is. He’s from a worker’s family, with an absolutely spotless class background. Don’t think I’m some old-fashioned conservative just because of what happened with Mingming. I’m simply terrified of all these investigations and interrogations. They may say nowadays that family background doesn’t matter, but that’s aimed at the children of workers and peasants. It doesn’t include the children of the exploiting classes.”
Fang Yuan did not like hearing that. She remained confused and doubtful about many things in the present day, but she neither dared nor was able to voice them. Just as she could not understand why, because of mistakes committed by their parents, their children permanently lost opportunities in education, employment, military service, and so many other aspects of life.
“Eldest Aunt, I really don’t want to get married right now. Let’s talk about this again in a few years.” Fang Yuan clasped her hands together in front of her chest in a pleading gesture.
“Mingming already knows to find someone, and you’re older than he is. You’re also a girl, so why are you still so clueless?” Fang Xiaoyu poked her once. “You don’t get a say in this. Your mother is too easygoing, and you’re still immature. I’ll make the decision for both of you. I’ll arrange for both families to meet, and I’ll talk to your mother. All you have to do is show up.”
Fang Yuan rubbed her forehead. Why was she being set up on another blind date? Had her eldest aunt and Doctor Zhang planned this together?
After finishing the massage for her aunt, it had already grown late. Neither her uncle nor Lu Ming had returned yet, so Fang Yuan said goodbye and prepared to leave.
Her eldest aunt held onto her and said they should wait for her uncle to return so he could ride her home on his bicycle. Fang Yuan shook her head and declined. It was a forty minute walk home from here. If she jogged back at an easy pace, she could make it in just over twenty minutes while getting some exercise at the same time.
By the time Fang Yuan got home, Fang Xiaoqin had already been waiting for her at the doorway for quite a while.
“Xiao Mao said you went to your eldest aunt’s place tonight. Why are you back so late? You had everyone worried.”
That morning, Fang Yuan had already asked Xiao Mao to pass a message to her mother when he came home.
“Mm, Eldest Aunt wasn’t feeling well, so I went to check on her.” Before her mother could ask more questions, Fang Yuan added, “Don’t worry, she’s fine.”
Fang Yuan went to the room shared by Da Mao and Xiao Mao. She actually shared the same room as her two younger brothers, except that a hanging curtain divided it into two sections. Her own space was at the back with a small window, while the two brothers slept in the front.
She took several empty cigarette packs that her eldest aunt had given her out of her bag and tossed them onto her brothers’ bed.
“So many cigarette packs!” Da Mao exclaimed. He lunged forward first and gathered every one of them into his arms.
Xiao Mao abandoned his usual refined demeanor and fought to snatch even a single pack from under his older brother’s arm.
Smiling, Fang Yuan returned to her own side of the room and ignored them. These days, men collected cigarette packs and cigarette labels, while women collected candy wrappers. Whenever she had candy wrappers, she usually saved them for Fangfang next door.
After washing up, Fang Xiaoqin came into her room. Seeing her mother hesitate as though she wanted to say something, Fang Yuan spoke first.
“Mom, what’s the matter?”
She actually had something she wanted to discuss as well, namely what had happened at her eldest aunt’s house. She had been wondering whether she should tell her mother about it.
Fang Xiaoqin sat down on the edge of her bed, tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and said hesitantly, “This year, your Auntie Hao came to see me. She wants to introduce someone to you.”
After hearing that, Fang Yuan let out an “Ah!” and flopped face first onto the bed, pounding the quilt with both hands.
“Why is it another matchmaking…”
Was this what the old saying meant by being fated for romance? She had never expected Auntie Hao to join in the excitement as well.
“What’s wrong with introducing someone? Your Auntie Hao is simply grateful that you treated her headaches with acupuncture, so she’s been thoughtfully keeping an eye out for someone suitable for you.” Seeing how strongly her daughter reacted, Fang Xiaoqin chided her affectionately.
Fang Yuan had been giving Auntie Hao regular acupuncture treatments, and her headaches had now become much less frequent.
“Today Doctor Zhang at the hospital and Eldest Aunt both tried introducing someone to me too.” Fang Yuan told her mother everything that had happened.
Fang Xiaoqin smiled. “It’s because my daughter is outstanding that everyone wants to introduce someone to you. From what you’ve told me, both young men sound quite good.”
“Good? I don’t like either of them. I don’t want to get married yet.”
“You haven’t even met them, so how do you know you won’t like them? Besides, the young man Auntie Hao mentioned is also quite good…”
Before Fang Xiaoqin could finish speaking, Fang Yuan covered her mouth with both hands.
“Mom, this is really driving me crazy. I’ve been busy all day and I’m exhausted. Just let me rest for a while.”
Fang Xiaoqin pulled her daughter’s hands away and said earnestly, “I don’t want you getting married this early either. You can’t even cook a bowl of noodles properly, so I wouldn’t feel at ease sending you to your in-laws’ house yet. But if there’s a good match, you can meet him first. The two of you should spend some time getting to know each other before deciding anything.”
Seeing her daughter glaring at her with puffed cheeks, Fang Xiaoqin smiled.
“Alright, alright. I understand. Go to sleep now.”
After lying down, Fang Yuan found herself unable to fall asleep. Did everyone have to get married? Could marriage guarantee that two people would stay together happily forever?
Her father and mother had once been a happy couple too. In the end, hadn’t her mother still been left alone? Having witnessed those years of grief and suffering after her father’s death, Fang Yuan was afraid of that kind of heart-wrenching love.
…
When Fang Yuan arrived at the hospital the next morning, she first went to Doctor Jiang’s office and gave him a full report on the patients she had seen the previous day, discussing all of their cases with him.
After returning to her own consultation room, she noticed the pot of Chinese rose balsam on the windowsill outside had already withered. Remembering something, she took out a packet of seeds she had collected from the flowers, brought the flowerpot inside, cleaned away the dead stems, and scattered the seeds into the soil. She believed that before long, she would once again see blossoms blooming in full.
That morning, Fang Yuan saw only two patients. The first had a cold and fever. After examining him, she gave him a fever reducing injection, prescribed some medicine, and sent him home.
The second patient’s condition was much more serious. It was an emergency case. Several workers from the scissors factory, led by Master Hao, had brought him in together. Due to improper operation at work, half of his palm had been sliced open. By the time he arrived, the towel wrapped around his injured hand had already been soaked through with blood, which continued dripping nonstop. The injured man was deathly pale, drenched in cold sweat, and nearly unconscious.
Fang Yuan notified the nurse and arranged emergency surgery immediately. The reconstructive surgery on the patient’s palm lasted nearly two hours. As soon as she came out, Master Hao and a group of workers surrounded her.
“Ah Yuan, is An Zi’s hand going to be alright?” Master Hao asked anxiously, his face full of worry.
Fang Yuan nodded to Master Hao and reassured him with a smile. “The operation was very successful. The severed tendons, blood vessels, and nerves have all been sutured.”
“After it’s healed, will An Zi’s left hand be able to function normally again? Will he be left disabled?” the workshop section chief from the scissors factory stepped forward and asked.
“As long as the patient follows the postoperative rehabilitation exercises properly, his palm should recover normal function. However, the rehabilitation process must be gradual, and it will take some time.”
“As long as he won’t be crippled, that’s enough.” The section chief sighed in relief. Happily, he reached both hands toward Fang Yuan, but Master Hao stopped him.
“You big brute. Your skin is so rough. Be careful you don’t hurt Doctor Fang.”
“I was too rash.” The section chief scratched his head and laughed heartily without taking offense. “Doctor Fang, thank you so much!”
“I was only doing my job.” After greeting Master Hao, Fang Yuan left first.
Having performed this emergency surgery, she still needed to report the details of the operation to Doctor Jiang, the supervising physician.
“This young doctor looks so young and delicate. I never expected that after seeing such a bloody hand injury, she wouldn’t be frightened at all and could still handle everything so calmly. That’s really remarkable,” the section chief remarked with admiration.
When they had brought An Zi over, Master Hao had said they were looking for a doctor he knew. At the time, when the section chief saw that it was such a young woman, his heart had immediately sunk, and he had even regretted it a little. He had never expected her to handle everything so cleanly and efficiently. It really proved that appearances could be deceiving.
“Otherwise, how do you think she became such a great doctor?” Master Hao replied with quiet pride.