Chapter 344: A Wish to Live Longer
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The villagers were very superst.i.tious. Incidents were continuing to happen to the roadwork, so they started to worry.
Had the roadwork really damaged the Feng Shui and upset the G.o.d of Earth? Were they going to be in trouble?
The villagers were haunted with fear.
The person who was in charge of the roadwork was very upset. He had to pay hundreds of thousands of yuan to compensate the two workers who had been injured. Initially he wanted to make good money out of this job. Now he just wanted to stop losing money. If he had just started the roadwork, he would have quit right away. However, the work was already half-way through. He had to continue.
w.a.n.g Yao found another car rolled over on the side of the road as he drove by. There were still some blood traces on the ground. A group of people stood next to the car. They were all talking.
w.a.n.g Yao thought the whole thing was weird. He slowed down and looked about. The road was between two hills. There was a small river next to the road, about 30 meters wide. It had nothing to do with Feng Shui. He didn’t linger for long.
Chen Boyuan was talking to his father-in-law somewhere in Lianshan town center.
“If you have to go back to Beijing, we can leave right away,” said Chen Boyuan’s father-in-law.
“No, your legs have just started to get better. I’ll take you to see Dr. w.a.n.g tomorrow,” said Chen Boyuan.
He was in good mood because his father-in-law had gotten better. His father-in-law had regained sensation and some movement in his legs after taking the decoction given by w.a.n.g Yao over the past several days. He could slightly move his legs. Chen Boyuan was thrilled. However, he just received a call from Beijing asking him to go back. He initially planned to stay in Lianshan for 10 days.
“Well, ask Xiaoya to come here,” said Chen Boyuan’s father-in-law.
“Okay, I’ll ask her if she is available,” said Chen Boyuan.
w.a.n.g Yao went back home.
“Your cousin Jiqing’s wedding is tomorrow. Will you come with me?” asked Zhang Xiuying.
“Okay, how is his mother?” asked w.a.n.g Yao.
“Still alive,” said Zhang Xiuying with a sigh. “I hope she will be able to attend the wedding.”
Nothing happened overnight.
The next day, w.a.n.g Yao didn’t rush to leave Nanshan Hill once he finished working in the herbal field. He didn’t leave until 8:30 am. Then he drove his parents to his grandma’s place.
Zhang Wenbao’s wedding was held in the village.
Zhang was a common surname in the village where w.a.n.g Yao’s grandparents lived. Zhang was the surname of over 80 percent of the villagers. There were a lot of family members on w.a.n.g Yao’s grandpa’s side, so a lot of guests showed up in the wedding.
Weddings were a happy event.
In the noises of firecrackers and people’s good wishes, Zhang Wenbao and his family forgot about their misery for the moment. Smile appeared on their faces.
People were busy with the wedding and giving best wishes to Zhang Wenbao outside.
His mother was lying on the bed inside the house. She knew the wedding was going on. She looked happy and had a sunny smile on her face.
She was so happy that her son had grown up and gotten married.
She had been waiting for this moment. It would be better if she would be able to see a grandson.
She thought about a lot that day.
When she almost fell into sleep, her body suddenly s.h.i.+vered, making her alert again.
“I need to last longer,” she encouraged herself.
It was noon, and the wedding ceremony was finished. Zhang Wenbao picked a hotel to have lunch in town. He hired a big bus. The hotel was not far from his house.
“His wife looks nice,” said Zhang Xiuying with a smile.
“She does,” said w.a.n.g Fenghua.
Zhang Wenbao’s wife looked nice, reminding w.a.n.g Yao of Shen Qingqing, whom he had met in Haiqu the day before.
The wedding ceremony and lunch took the whole morning.
By the time w.a.n.g Yao and his parents had arrived at home, it was afternoon.
w.a.n.g Yao was going to meet someone that afternoon.
Chen Boyuan was taking his father-in-law to visit w.a.n.g Yao.
They arrived at w.a.n.g Yao’s clinic at around 2 pm. Chen Boyuan’s father-in-law was in a wheelchair. It was not easy for him to get into the courtyard.
“Good afternoon, Dr. w.a.n.g,” said the old man.
“Good afternoon,” said w.a.n.g Yao.
The old man looked good.
“How do you feel?” asked w.a.n.g Yao.
“I feel much better. My legs can move slightly. Look!” The old man showed w.a.n.g Yao the movement.
As expected, the old man’s legs had regained some movement. The movement was minimal because the old man hadn’t exercised for a long while. However, this was still a good sign.
“I can see the movement. It’s a good sign,” said w.a.n.g Yao with a smile.
He checked over the old man, and found that the old man’s condition was much better than last time.
The meridians around his lower back were unblocked. The old man’s leg muscles were quite weak however, with poor blood flow. It would take a long time to get his legs to function normally again. He required herbal therapy as well as regular exercises.
“Let me give you a ma.s.sage,” said w.a.n.g Yao.
He gathered his Qi into his palms.
The old man felt as if something was entering into his legs. It was like a warm current, or flow of warm air. It went from the skin to the muscles deep inside. w.a.n.g Yao’s hands were nice and warm. The old man felt very comfortable, as if his legs were merged in hot spring.
It’s so comfortable!
The skin on the legs became slightly red. His face also turned slightly red because of the renewed blood flow.
The ma.s.sage therapy lasted for approximately 40 minutes.
“Take a break, then move your legs again,” said w.a.n.g Yao.
“Okay,” said the old man.
He rested for around 20 minutes, and had a gla.s.s of warm water. Then he tried to move his legs and feet again. The movements this time became more apparent. He could move his toes and lower legs. He had more control of his legs.
“Great! Your movements have improved,” said w.a.n.g Yao.
“Wonderful!” exclaimed the old man.
How magical it was that an hour ma.s.sage treatment could improve the movements so obviously!
“Thank you,” said Chen Boyuan happily.
“Try to ma.s.sage your father-in-law as often as you can. You can also try to let him have a foot spa in the decoction, which will improve the blood flow,” said w.a.n.g Yao.
“Okay. By the way, I probably have to go back to Beijing soon. My wife will be in town instead. What do you want her to do?” asked Chen Boyuan.
“Ask her to come here if she needs me,” said w.a.n.g Yao with a smile.
“Okay, thank you,” said Chen Boyuan.
He and his father-in-law left the clinic around 5 pm. The old man kept trying to move his legs on his way out.
“Dad, don’t overdo it,” said Chen Boyuan.
“I know,” said the old man with a smile. He had a big smile on his face, like a kid.
w.a.n.g Yao closed the door of his clinic when it was late afternoon. He b.u.mped into an elderly man on his way back home. The elderly man was walking down the hill with several sheep.
“h.e.l.lo, Mister.” w.a.n.g Yao should probably call him grandpa according to his age.
“h.e.l.lo,” said the old man.
He suddenly started to cough so fiercely that he had to bend down. His breath sounded like the noise of an oven. The whooping sound also contained other unnerving noises. w.a.n.g Yao believed he had mucus in his lung due to the excessive heat.
“Are you alright? Don’t exert yourself. Make sure you have enough rest,” said w.a.n.g Yao.
“Okay,” said the elderly man indifferently.
w.a.n.g Yao just smiled.
A lot of people didn’t want to see a doctor when they were unwell. They just delayed the treatment. They also didn’t care about any minor issues of their bodies. Sometime the issues would disappear, but more often than not, a small issue would turn into a big illness.
Like the elderly man. If he didn’t have enough rest, his coughing would definitely become worse. As an aged man, he couldn’t bear any severe medical conditions.
Illnesses were like collapsing mountains: it would damage one’s vitality. Sometimes the damage was permanent. Elderly people were more vulnerable to illnesses. Sometimes a fall would result in fracture.
w.a.n.g Yao’s parents were not at home when w.a.n.g Yao arrived at home, but dinner had been cooked.
Where have they gone?
He waited for a while, but his parents still hadn’t come back. It was getting dark outside. When w.a.n.g Yao was about to call his mother, his parents came back.
“We just went to your third uncle’s place,” said Zhang Xiuying.
“Your third uncle has come back,” said Zhang Xiuying.
“Which uncle are you talking about?” asked w.a.n.g Yao.
“The one who came back from the northeast,” said Zhang Xiuying.
“I see,” said w.a.n.g Yao.
The so-called third uncle was a distant relative. He had stayed in the northeast of China for five and a half years before returning to the village. This uncle got along well with w.a.n.g Yao’s family and was nice to w.a.n.g Yao. He always wanted a son, but couldn’t have another child due to the birth control policy. Therefore he and his wife had to leave the village 5 and a half years ago.
“They came back with a son?” asked w.a.n.g Yao.
“Yes. They finally have a son. Now that the birth control policy is no longer strict, they came back,” said Zhang Xiuying.
w.a.n.g Yao just smiled.
“They have a son, but his wife’s health was weakened by the child birth,” said Zhang Xiuying.
“What happened?” w.a.n.g Yao was surprised. He remembered that this uncle’s wife was very healthy.
“She gave birth to her son in winter. No one helped her during the first month. She had to take care of the child herself and walked around all the time. Then she started to get frequent headaches and lower back pain,” said Zhang Xiuying.
It was not easy to treat diseases gained during the first month after childbirth.
The mother’s body was quite weak after child birth. If she became ill right after childbirth, the illness would easily become severe and hard to cure.