By the time Auntie Tan had finished all of her treatments, it was already four in the afternoon. The Chinese medicine clinic wasn’t located in a busy commercial district. Surrounded by abundant greenery, it was peaceful and quiet. No one was in a hurry to leave, so they sat together on the sofas, chatting.
Tan Qingwen looked at her sister-in-law. “You’re only in your fifties, not even sixty yet. How did you end up with high blood pressure and a herniated lumbar disc?”
Zhu Hong, Auntie Tan, didn’t seem particularly concerned. “I’m already in my fifties. That’s not exactly young anymore. Once you reach this age, having a few minor health problems isn’t a big deal.”
Smiling, Lin Yi’an said, “Auntie, you have a great attitude. You should keep it that way.”
Zhu Hong beamed. “See? Even Yi’an says so.”
Tan Qingwen shot her a reproachful look. “You should’ve told my brother and Chengjun as soon as your back started hurting. The longer you put it off, the worse it gets.”
Lin Yi’an nodded. “Aunt Tan is right. If something doesn’t feel right, it’s better to say so early and get treatment as soon as possible. Recovery will be much faster.”
Zhu Hong laughed. “All right, all right. If anything bothers me next time, I’ll come straight to Yi’an.”
Lin Yi’an smiled. “I hope you won’t have any discomfort, Auntie. But if you do, just give me a call.”
Zhu Hong took her hand. “I’d rather have you treat me. When you’re the one doing my acupuncture, I feel completely at ease.”
Then she turned to her sister-in-law. “Why don’t you let Yi’an check your blood pressure too? You’re always running around everywhere. How long has it been since you last had a physical?”
From the side, Zhou Mingshi answered, “More than a year.”
Zhu Hong looked at him. “And here you are lecturing me, when you’re no better at taking care of yourself.”
Wang Yuehua smiled and said, “Sister Tan, let An’an check you too. She often takes my pulse and Lin Weiqi’s, and everything has been fine.”
Tan Qingwen held out her arm. “Then I’ll let An’an take a look. I’m in excellent health. I’m sure there won’t be any problems.”
Lin Yi’an took out a blood pressure monitor and measured Tan Qingwen’s blood pressure. When it was done, she turned the screen toward her. “Aunt Tan, your blood pressure is a little high, and your heart rate is slightly elevated as well…”
Tan Qingwen froze for a moment before looking at the monitor. “It really is. I haven’t been feeling quite right these past few days, but I’ve been so busy that I didn’t pay much attention to it.”
Zhou Mingshi glanced at her, then walked over and asked Lin Yi’an, “Can you check blood sugar here as well?”
Lin Yi’an nodded. “Yes. I’ll test Aunt Tan’s blood sugar.”
Having just received a look from her son, Tan Qingwen didn’t dare protest. She obediently let Lin Yi’an check her blood sugar.
Lin Yi’an took out the testing kit. After disinfecting her fingertip, she collected a drop of blood. Once the result came back, she said, “Your blood sugar is normal.”
Tan Qingwen let out a sigh of relief. Lin Yi’an then sat down and took her pulse. When she finished, she said, “Your daily routine has been irregular for a long time. You’ve been staying up late and haven’t been paying enough attention to your diet. You have qi deficiency and spleen deficiency, and your stomach isn’t in great condition either. I’ll prescribe a few courses of herbal medicine to help regulate your health.”
Tan Qingwen asked, “Chinese herbal medicine?”
Lin Yi’an nodded. “Yes.”
Zhu Hong rolled her eyes at her. “This is a Chinese medicine clinic. Of course she’ll prescribe Chinese herbs. What, were you expecting Western medicine? Mother and son are exactly alike. Neither of you likes drinking herbal medicine.”
Tan Qingwen: “…”
Zhou Mingshi: “…”
Two seconds later, Zhou Mingshi said, “Yi’an, prescribe the medicine. She’ll take it.”
Tan Qingwen made one last attempt to resist. “I don’t know how to decoct herbal medicine.”
Lowering her head, Lin Yi’an began writing the prescription. “That’s all right. Aunt Tan can stay with me for the next few days. I’ll have Zhizhi prepare the medicine for you. We have a proper herbal decoction pot at home. All you’ll need to do each day is drink the medicine. You won’t have to worry about anything else.”
She had always been resourceful and patient when it came to her patients. Faced with her future mother-in-law, she had even more ways to look after her.
Wang Yuehua said, “An’an has a house near the Chinese medicine clinic with plenty of rooms, so Sister Tan doesn’t need to worry about where to stay.”
Tang Qingwen: “…”
Seeing the look on his aunt’s face, Tan Chengjun couldn’t help laughing. “Aunt, Yi’an has already thought of everything for you. Just accept it. It’s only herbal medicine. Pinch your nose and drink it.”
Lin Yi’an added, “You can have some candy afterward.”
Hearing that she could have candy, Tan Qingwen immediately said, “It’s fine. I’m not afraid of drinking herbal medicine.”
Tan Chengjun nearly burst out laughing again, only to receive a light smack from his mother.
‘Leave your aunt a little dignity.’
By the time the herbs had been prepared, it was already past five. Tan Chengjun invited everyone to dinner. There was a restaurant near the Chinese medicine clinic that served good food, and Lin Yi’an would occasionally treat the clinic’s doctors and nurses there. At her suggestion, the whole group headed straight to the restaurant.
After dinner, they agreed on the time for Auntie’s treatment the next day, then said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
Wang Yuehua returned to the Lin residence, while Tan Qingwen and Zhou Mingshi followed Lin Yi’an back to her house.
With both her son and future daughter-in-law so concerned about her health, Tan Qingwen had no way to refuse and could only go with them.
As long as Aunt Tan took her medicine on time, Lin Yi’an didn’t actually insist that she stay with her for several days.
However, from her experience, people who had lived with an irregular routine for years rarely changed overnight. Not only would she likely skip meals, she might also continue drinking alcohol at business functions and staying up late while taking the medicine. In that case, the herbs would do little good.
Besides, she was reluctant to drink herbal medicine in the first place. Even if she took the prescription home, whether she would actually drink it was still a big question.
Back at the house, Aunt Wang had already prepared dinner. Ye Lingzhi hadn’t gone to the restaurant with them because she had returned early to decoct Tan Qingwen’s medicine.
The group sat in the living room chatting when Tan Qingwen’s phone rang. She picked it up and glanced at the screen. It was Gu Boyuan.
Gu Boyuan was her boyfriend. Both of them had children of their own, and they had been together for many years without registering their marriage. Nor did they intend to do so in the future.
Picking up her phone, she said, “I’ll take this call next door.”
Zhou Mingshi and Lin Yi’an sat on either side of her. He had just caught a glimpse of the caller ID on her phone. Without changing his expression, he simply gave a quiet, “Mm.”
Tan Qingwen answered, “What is it?”
Gu Boyuan’s voice came from the other end of the line. “When are you coming back?”
Tan Qingwen replied, “I’m staying at An’an’s place for the next few days. I won’t be going back.”
Gu Boyuan asked, “Why did you suddenly decide to stay at her house?”
Tan Qingwen said, “I haven’t been feeling very well these past couple of days. I’ll stay with An’an so she can help me recover.”
Gu Boyuan’s tone immediately became concerned. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?”
Tan Qingwen replied, “Just a bit of qi deficiency. It’s nothing serious. That’s all.”
After hanging up, Tan Qingwen returned to her seat. Ye Lingzhi brought over the freshly decocted herbal medicine. “The temperature is just right. You can drink it now.”
There was already a bowl of candy on the coffee table. Under the watchful eyes of the three people looking at her, Tan Qingwen could only pick up the bowl of medicine. She took a deep breath and downed it in one go. The moment she finished, Lin Yi’an handed her a piece of candy she had already unwrapped.
Tan Qingwen said, “It wasn’t that bad after all!”
Zhou Mingshi said, “If you don’t want to drink medicine, then you should take better care of yourself. What are the people around you doing? Why aren’t they reminding you to eat and rest on time?”
Tan Qingwen replied, “What does that have to do with them? Once I get busy, I forget everything. Even if they reminded me, I’d have to have time to listen.”
Zhou Mingshi said, “That only proves the two of you aren’t suitable for each other. When you’re with the right partner, you know they’re looking out for you, so you’ll listen to what they say.”
It was obvious that mother and son weren’t talking about the same thing at all.
After a brief pause, Tan Qingwen said, “We’re both well past our youth. We should each be responsible for taking care of our own health. Why should someone else have to remind us?”
Zhou Mingshi lowered his eyes. “If that’s the case, then I don’t understand what the point of your relationship is.”
With that, he stood up. “I just had some fruit. I’m going to wash my hands.”
A moment later, Tan Qingwen let out a soft sigh.
From beside her, Lin Yi’an said, “He cares about you. He’s worried about your health.”
There was nothing she felt she couldn’t say in front of her future daughter-in-law. Smiling, Tan Qingwen said, “I’m not angry with him. I would never get angry with my son because of someone else. He thinks Gu Boyuan doesn’t care enough about me, but what he doesn’t know is that I’ve never liked someone fussing over me too much.”
“Every couple has their own way of getting along. If he cared too much, I’d feel burdened. Fortunately, he’s thoughtful and knows where the boundaries are. He cares about me, but not excessively, and he maintains an appropriate sense of personal space. That’s why we’ve been together for so many years.”
“You should’ve told me that,” Zhou Mingshi said as he walked out of the restroom. “Instead of saying it behind my back to Yi’an.”
Tan Qingwen smiled. “So now you know?”
Zhou Mingshi sat down beside Lin Yi’an. “You assigned Assistant Chen to stay with me, yet you have no one taking care of you. Why not send Assistant Chen back to you?”
Tan Qingwen replied, “You’ve already gotten used to having him look after you, so let him stay by your side. I’ll hire another assistant to take care of my daily needs.”
Assistant Chen had been assigned to her son from the very beginning. She had never liked having people constantly following her around. But now it seemed she had no choice but to hire an assistant after all. She was getting older, and she had to admit that she could no longer endure things the way she had when she was younger.