After saying that, Lin Yi’an looked at Hu Lili’s mother-in-law. “You came all this way with your child to seek treatment, so you must have heard about my grandmother’s reputation from other people and come here because of it.”
“When Hu Lili saw me, she didn’t say a single word. She just took her child and left. Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought we’d been involved in some kind of medical malpractice. I had no choice but to bring up some of the disgraceful things she did as a child, so you wouldn’t misunderstand.”
Disgraceful things!
The moment Hu Lili heard those words, she wished the ground would swallow her whole. Especially with her mother-in-law standing right there. Her parents ran a small business and her family was fairly well-off. After getting married, she had always looked down on her husband’s family. If she hadn’t fallen in love with her husband from the very beginning, she never would have married into his family.
Humiliating herself in front of her in-laws like this was simply unbearable.
Seeing her daughter-in-law practically wishing she could bury her head in her stomach, Hu Lili’s mother-in-law knew that Dr. Xiao Lin hadn’t been making things up.
She truly hadn’t expected it. The daughter-in-law who always acted proud and aloof in front of her, who constantly criticized her for being rough and untidy, had once been such a sharp-tongued, mean-spirited child.
People often said a person’s character could be seen from the age of three. She only had one son and one daughter. Her daughter was already married, so she naturally devoted her care and attention to her daughter-in-law and grandson instead. Yet her daughter-in-law was still dissatisfied and looked down on her. Now it turned out there had always been a reason for that.
Lin Yi’an continued, “I’ve said rather a lot. If I’ve offended you in any way, I hope you’ll forgive me, Auntie.”
Hu Lili’s mother-in-law waved her hand. “Of course I forgive you. I may be a bit scatterbrained by nature, but no one’s ever had a bad word to say about me. I don’t do anything shameful, so I have nothing to fear. Dr. Xiao Lin, please take a look at my grandson. The poor child’s been having diarrhea the whole time. Even IV drips haven’t helped. We’re all worried sick…”
Hu Lili stood awkwardly to the side, unable to leave yet equally unable to stay. To make matters worse, her mother-in-law seemed determined to oppose her today. She had said she didn’t want the child treated here, but her mother-in-law insisted on having him seen anyway.
Lin Yi’an looked at Hu Lili. “This is your son…”
“If you really care about Xiao Bao, then hurry up and apologize to Dr. Xiao Lin. Standing there hemming and hawing like this, I’d say you’re not worried about Xiao Bao’s health at all.” This was the first time Hu Lili’s mother-in-law had really stood her ground.
Hu Lili’s husband nudged her. It was for their child’s health. What was so hard about saying a few kind words? Besides, she was the one in the wrong to begin with.
Hu Lili remained frozen, refusing to budge. Just then, Xiao Bao, cradled in his grandmother’s arms, let out a weak, quiet cry. Hearing her son’s feeble sobs, Hu Lili nearly burst into tears. She hurriedly looked at Lin Yi’an. “Lin Yi’an, I’m sorry. I won’t speak ill of you again, and I won’t provoke you anymore. Please don’t let my actions…”
Lin Yi’an said, “You’re not worth ruining my own livelihood over.”
Zhou Mingshi sat nearby flipping through the traditional Chinese medicine books on the table, glancing at her with a smile.
Hu Lili choked on her words.
Outside, Assistant Chen and Ye Lingzhi were chatting with Lin Shuhe and Liu Zhengying, so they naturally heard the commotion coming from the consultation room.
Grandma was taking her afternoon nap, so Lin Yi’an had to see the patient herself. After taking the child’s pulse, examining his abdomen, and checking the coating on his tongue, she began writing a prescription. As she wrote, she explained, “When you get home, cook him some rice porridge. At first, just let him drink the thin layer of rice broth on top… Once he’s taken the medicine and the diarrhea eases, cook him some soft noodles, then gradually increase the amount he eats…”
Hu Lili and her mother-in-law listened attentively, committing every instruction to memory.
After preparing the medicine, Lin Yi’an explained how to decoct it. Hu Lili paid the consultation fee, and the group hurried away.
Once they had left, Lin Yi’an and Zhou Mingshi walked out of the consultation room and sat down beside her parents.
Thinking about what they had just heard, Liu Zhengying could not help saying, “Our precious girl was always obedient and sensible when she was little. People in the village kept saying she’d been abandoned and picked up, that she somehow knew she had been cast aside. Maybe she sensed it herself, thought she was unlucky, and was afraid of being abandoned again, so she had no choice but to be so well-behaved. Every time I heard people say that, my heart ached…”
“When we found her in the snow and carried her home, she was just a tiny little bundle. Her face had turned purple, and she didn’t even have the strength to cry anymore. We were terrified she wouldn’t survive. Her father, Grandma, and I took turns holding her against our chests to keep her warm. We never dared relax for even a moment. We kept her warm like that through the entire winter. It wasn’t until spring arrived that she finally started getting better.”
“How could we ever love her enough? How could anyone say she was unlucky?”
Lin Yi’an said, “I’ve never thought I was unlucky. I knew Mom, Dad, and Grandma loved me. Whenever there was something good at home, they always saved it for me. I’ve always known that.”
It was the first time Assistant Chen had heard this story. He sighed with emotion. “You’re all such kind-hearted people.”
Now that they were living a good life, they truly deserved it.
Lin Shuhe smiled. “Kind-hearted? It’s nothing like that. The moment I saw our Bao’er, I felt an instant connection. I just knew she was meant to be my daughter. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. It wasn’t as if no one had ever offered us other children to adopt. We saw those children too, but I just didn’t feel anything. I didn’t want to adopt them. Parents and children are brought together by fate.”
Assistant Chen asked, “Did they ever catch the child trafficker?”
Lin Shuhe nodded. “They did. That trafficker sold a lot of children and even kidnapped some himself. He was sentenced to death, and the sentence has already been carried out.”
Assistant Chen said, “That’s good.”
Liu Zhengying sighed. “It’s just that Bao’er’s father and I both have physical disabilities. Because of us, Bao’er was looked down on and bullied by others. From the time she was little, none of the other children wanted to play with her. Every day after school, she’d either go into the mountains with her grandma to dig up medicinal herbs or stay home doing her homework and memorizing her lessons…”
Lin Yi’an said, “Actually, it never really bothered me. I’m not stupid. If they bullied me, I’d fight back. If I couldn’t get back at them right then, I’d think of a way afterward to make sure they got punished.”
“Most of the time, I thought they looked like clowns making fools of themselves. They were just kids with little ability, yet they loved stirring up trouble and pulling little tricks behind people’s backs. They wanted to play with me, but I didn’t want to play with them.”
“Rather than wasting time on them, I’d rather dig up more medicinal herbs, memorize a few more lessons, or do some more practice exercises.”
Hearing his daughter’s words, Lin Shuhe turned to Zhou Mingshi with a smile. “Our Bao’er has always been mature beyond her years. At first, I didn’t know who she took after. But after we found her biological parents, I realized her older brother and sister are just as steady and composed. That’s when I knew Bao’er takes after her father…”
Zhou Mingshi looked at Lin Yi’an with a smile. “She really is.”
She was steady and dependable in everything she did, speaking and acting without the slightest haste. She was the same age as Zhou Mingyuan, Zhou Mingshi’s third younger brother, yet far more mature than he was.
Assistant Chen thought so too. Miss Lin was remarkably composed, and in some ways, her temperament resembled President Zhou’s. Although President Zhou could occasionally be a bit spoiled, he was mature and steady most of the time.
Liu Zhengying said with a smile, “The best thing about our Bao’er is that she never takes things to heart. Back then, whenever the village children bullied her, I’d go argue with their parents. After I came home, I’d think about how useless I was for letting my child suffer like that, and I’d end up crying first. Instead, she’d be the one comforting me. She’d say that children who only knew how to bully others would never amount to much. They started down the wrong path at such a young age, and if they didn’t change when they grew up, they were bound to get themselves into trouble.”
“Looking back now, if Bao’er had grown up with her biological parents from the very beginning, she probably wouldn’t have suffered so many grievances.”
Lin Yi’an said, “But then I never would have met Mom, Dad, and Grandma. That would’ve been my biggest loss.”
The tears that had just begun to gather in Liu Zhengying’s eyes vanished instantly as she burst into laughter. “This child…”