Shu Jin Yue didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Xu Si Qi had already started introducing them – the first male candidate was the only son of a seventh-grade fitter in the factory, the second was a clerk in the factory's propaganda department, the third was his classmate from Industrial University, the fourth…
"What's wrong, Comrade Xiao Shu not satisfied? No problem, just tell us your requirements. We'll definitely match them and find the most suitable one for you."
Shu Jin Yue spread her hands: "…" Brother, I just want to work, not find a partner.
"Oh my, Jin Yue, going on a blind date tomorrow? Where does he live? Which unit does he work in?" Auntie Li from the backyard, who had been eavesdropping unnoticed, chimed in.
"You definitely need to find someone better than Liu Dong! With you sisters being so beautiful, it'd be a waste not to marry into good families! Your father is just too old-fashioned – sitting on two gold and silver mountains but not knowing how to use them. When you were young, he gave you girls all the good food and drinks. Now that you're grown up, you should know how to repay…"
Jin Yue couldn't be bothered to respond. Although many people in this era favored sons over daughters, Auntie Li was definitely the "champion" among them. Her five daughters were like weeds to her, while her only son was the apple of her eye. Before and after marriage, she always forced her daughters to be "brother supporters," causing quite a few jokes.
Since childhood, she knew Auntie Li looked down on her and Shu Wen Yun the most. The old woman thought Teacher Shu had something wrong with his head to treat them like treasures, wishing every fried dough stick and meat bun they ate would go into her son's mouth instead to avoid waste.
Xu Si Qi didn't respond either, just watched Jin Yue's expression. "Then how about… if you're not satisfied with any of them, I can ask my uncle to introduce some of his comrades. It's just that they're all around his age, which might be a bit old for you."
Jin Yue's heart stirred – soldiers! This was the most honorable profession!
As for age, she had already lived two lifetimes. When it came to psychological age, who knew who was really older?
"Oh, older is good! Older men know how to cherish their wives. Once you win him over, won't he bring all the good things back to honor Teacher Shu and your mom," Auntie Li interrupted again. "Perfect timing – your second brother doesn't have a proper job, quickly get him one. And your eldest brother should have been promoted long ago. Ah, a son-in-law who doesn't take care of his brothers-in-law isn't a good son-in-law."
"Then my Uncle Li must be such a good son-in-law."
Everyone knew she had trained all five daughters to be "brother supporters," but she herself wanted to be one but couldn't. That's because Old Man Li was famously stingy – in the first two years of marriage, if she secretly gave two potatoes and one green onion to her family, he would beat her on the kang. After several beatings, she never dared to support them again.
Because of this, her maternal family brothers had cut off relations with her, though not completely – because every Lunar New Year they would come to make a scene. This was the fixed New Year "program" of No. 16 Courtyard.
"You… you little girl, are you deliberately trying to anger me?"
Shu Jin Yue couldn't be bothered with her and quickly called Xu Si Qi into the house. If he kept talking, by tomorrow everyone in the entire alley would know that Shu Jin Yue was a female player who was going on blind dates with six men at once and wouldn't even let older men go!
Five minutes later, using her young age as an excuse to politely decline the blind dates, Jin Yue clearly stated that her most urgent matter now was securing a job. To increase her chances of success, she even patted her chest and guaranteed that the money was already prepared.
"You really don't want to meet any of them?"
"Not even those from my uncle's military unit?"
"Are you sure?"
"Then I'll really send them off, alright?"
Only after confirming multiple times did Jin Yue see the visitors out. Turning around, she saw Old Shu emerging from behind the screen wall. "When did you get back, Dad?"
"Just arrived." The elderly man clasped his hands behind his back. "Jin Yue, having more choices means more paths in life. Everyone grows up and gets married eventually, right?"
"Your mother and I aren't capable people – we can't arrange many options for you, but the Xu family is truly sincere…" He made a mental note to visit them with Wanqiu another day, bringing gifts to express their gratitude.
"Ah, Dad, spare me please." Shu Jin Yue felt a headache coming on, her toes beginning to itch with discomfort. She recalled reading on her phone that for families at the bottom rungs of society, marrying off daughters was indeed recognized as a way to change their fate.
Seeing her so resistant to blind dates, Old Shu grew increasingly concerned. "Jin Yue, tell your father the truth – were you bullied in the countryside?"
"If there's anything, you should tell us. Though we're not particularly capable, we won't stand by and watch you get bullied."
Jin Yue sighed. How could the elderly couple, barely able to protect themselves, possibly help her? Speaking up would only add to their worries.
As she was thinking, a sudden scream came from the courtyard, followed by heart-wrenching sobs and noisy arguments. Many neighbors were scurrying toward the back.
"Ah, what a sin. That's Little Li's wife. What kind of life is she living? This shows that when women consider marriage, they must carefully examine the character of the man's parents, not just focus on the man himself."
Little Li was Auntie Li's only son, who had grown up with the Shu siblings. He hadn't been sent down to the countryside, but no one expected him to marry so early.
"Your Auntie Li is completely unreasonable, always taking her frustrations out on others whenever she's displeased."
Jin Yue snorted. "Then why don't we see her venting on Uncle Li?"
Teacher Shu recalled the couple's past fights and chuckled. "That's called bullying the weak. Their fights aren't mutual combat – it's one-sided beating."
It wasn't that he lacked compassion. Initially, like many others in the compound, he would try to mediate, believing men shouldn't hit women no matter what, and that couples should resolve things through discussion. But every time right after mediation, Auntie Li would scold them for meddling in others' business. Gradually, everyone stopped intervening.
Though they still enjoyed watching the drama.
"We thought she'd restrain herself after Old Li passed away, but who knew… Ah… If she could be so cruel to her own daughter, how much worse would she treat a daughter-in-law?"
Little Li's wife had been married for less than two years, yet she'd been worn down beyond recognition. She had attempted divorce several times. "For all the wrongs Auntie Li committed, it was always Little Li who had to go begging to his in-laws, pleading for his wife to return. And now, not long after they reconciled, here we go again!"
If not for Little Li being a decent man himself, she would have divorced him long ago.
Teacher Shu sighed while heading toward the backyard to watch the commotion, hands still clasped behind his back. When it came to gossip, one never grew tired of it.
Jin Yue, however, wasn't in the mood for spectating. She hadn't given Xu Si Qi a definite rejection earlier, only saying she needed a few days before considering meeting. But if Xu Si Qi still couldn't find suitable work, or if she couldn't gather enough money herself, she might ultimately have to go through with the blind date.
This matter needed to be resolved quickly – before Shu Wen Yun discovered that Xu Si Qi had been helping her.
Thinking of Shu Wen Yun, Jin Yue felt frustrated again. Her feelings toward this sister were complicated. In truth, their relationship wasn't exactly one of scheming against each other, far from the kind of hatred that would lead to life-or-death struggles. In her previous life, after Zhao Wan suffered a stroke, Wen Yun had helped take care of her for three years, until she became pregnant herself and could no longer manage patient care, at which point their second brother took over.
Moreover, Teacher Shu had shown her the nurturing kindness of a loving father.
Yet it was also true that Wen Yun had taken her job opportunity and never once came to the countryside to check on her. Shu Jin Yue couldn't bring herself to forgive her for that.
Meanwhile, in a private room at Shu City's City Hospital, several doctors in white coats were gathered around a man dressed in cadre-style clothing. The man was gazing anxiously at an elderly woman lying in the hospital bed.
Had Shu Jin Yue been there, she would have recognized the elderly woman immediately—she was the same cadre-dressed auntie she had encountered on the train a few days earlier.
"Mom, are you feeling any better?" Yang Zhengkang held his mother's hand. In just a few short days, she seemed to have aged ten years.
"Much better. You should go back to work now—don’t let me hold you up." Though Yang’s mother wanted to reassure her son, her weak voice couldn’t conceal the lingering pain.
Yang Zhengkang forced a comforting smile for his mother, but when he turned to the doctors, his expression turned grim. "What’s going on here? At first, you said it was just a common cold and even guaranteed she’d recover in two days. Now not only is she not better, she’s getting worse. How do you explain that?"
None of the doctors dared to speak.
Frankly, the situation was baffling to anyone. Old Mrs. Yang hadn’t even come to the hospital for herself originally—she’d brought her elderly sister in for a cough. By chance, they ran into Director Jin from the internal medicine department. She happened to mention offhand that she’d had a cold lately, had taken several medications without improvement, and asked if he could take a quick look.
A simple cold like this—any general internist would have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of cases a year. They could practically treat it with their eyes closed. Even ordinary folks knew to keep a few cold remedies at home and take a couple of pills when they felt sick. Who even needs to go to the hospital for that?
And to make matters more puzzling, she was being seen by the highly experienced Director Jin. It was like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.
But when asked, the old woman admitted she’d already tried several over-the-counter cold medicines at home—common ones like Analgin, Chlorphenamine, headache powder, Huoxiang Zhengqi Shui, Gantong, even Vitamin C Yinqiao tablets—yet she hadn’t improved at all.
Director Jin thought it over. Those were exactly the kinds of medications he usually prescribed. If she’d already doubled the dose with no effect, prescribing the same again probably wouldn’t help. Could it be that this wasn’t a cold after all?
And this was no ordinary elderly woman. Her son, Yang Zhengkang, was the second-in-command of a certain municipal committee. Even for the smallest issue, they had to cover all bases, inform the family of every possible risk, and ideally take preventive measures—just to avoid being held responsible if anything went wrong.
Once the patient and her family agreed, they immediately arranged for a full workup. First, they suspected a possible lung issue, then considered whether it might be an allergic condition, like rhinitis or something similar. But after running a full battery of tests inside and out, they still couldn’t find anything wrong.
"If it were a contagious disease or a severe flu and you couldn’t handle it, fine. But my mother’s case is the simplest of colds—just sneezing. And you can’t even treat that? Your hospital’s professional standards are truly disappointing."
Yes, Old Mrs. Yang’s "cold" was extremely mild, with only one symptom—sneezing.
Every morning at exactly 6:15, even more punctual than an alarm clock, she would start sneezing uncontrollably. She sneezed while lying down, while sitting up, and if she stood up and caught a chill, the sneezing would get even worse. Strangely enough, by around 8 o'clock, the sneezing would stop on its own without any medicine.
When she wasn't sneezing, she was a rosy-cheeked elderly woman who could eat and sleep well.
While others might experience fever, coughs, or headaches with a cold, she only had this one symptom, and it resolved without treatment. At first, she naturally didn't take it seriously, thinking she could just take some cold medicine herself. After taking a bunch of pills with no effect, she mentioned it in passing during a hospital visit, hoping the doctor would prescribe something targeted, thinking it would be cured in at most two or three days.
Who would have thought? Not only did it not get better, but she ended up hospitalized. Being hospitalized was one thing, and undergoing a bunch of tests that revealed nothing was another. But in the last couple of days, she had even started having trouble breathing, couldn't lie flat, and had to rely on oxygen!
It was a classic case of "the cure is worse than the disease."
"Initially, we did treat it as a common cold. When that proved ineffective, we also considered allergic diseases and nasal conditions. We performed all the necessary tests and administered all the appropriate medications…"
"Don't even mention it. How much suffering have these tests caused my mother?" After so many nasal examinations, even a young person would struggle to endure it. The elderly woman's spirit completely broke under the ordeal of "all that poking and prodding."
Several doctors in white coats hung their heads, not daring to speak. They, too, wanted to know why such a simple case of sneezing couldn't be cured. They had ruled out every possible disease that could cause sneezing, consulted specialists from the Provincial Hospital, and even made professional inquiry calls to hospitals in Beijing and Haicheng. Yet, they still couldn't find the cause. They even began to suspect the old woman was lying—
Some elderly people who lack attention and care might exaggerate their symptoms to draw concern from their children.
But every morning at 6:15, they had very punctually heard those relentless "ah-choos" inside and outside the ward, one after another, unstoppable. It didn't seem like something that could be faked.
"Where exactly does the problem lie? Can you treat it or not? Give me a straight answer," Yang Zhengkang said with a grim expression.
"Well…"
"Well what? You're a municipal hospital, aren't you? If it weren't for my mother's reminder, you almost failed to cure my aunt's simple cough. Now I seriously doubt whether your professional competence matches all those honorary titles your hospital has received!"
The hospital director wiped the sweat from his forehead. This was a blame he couldn't possibly bear.
Suddenly, hearing her son mention her sister's cough, Mother Yang had a flash of inspiration and struggled to sit up. "How about we ask that girl from the train to take a look?"
Yang Zhengkang frowned. "Mom, rest properly. Don't make things more complicated." How could a young girl be treated like some miracle doctor?
"Have you forgotten? She was the one who pinpointed your aunt's cough. We took her to so many doctors, and none of them could cure her. Some even said she had tuberculosis, and when they saw her purple lips, they diagnosed her with heart disease. It was only when I mentioned it to the doctor that they found a Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner to treat her. Now I only trust Traditional Chinese Medicine."
"Zhengkang, find me a Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner. Find that young girl."