Chef Hua
Chapter 76: Episode 62: Can It Be Cured?

Chapter 76: Episode 62: Can It Be Cured?

"Your meaning is..."

Hua Xiaomai was first shocked, then quickly understood, and consequently felt a wave of guilt.

Indeed, faking illness could never deceive the experienced, faced with an expert, one was doomed to be tragically exposed!

She quickly stood up from the chair, looked at the godlike Doctor Xing, and apologized with a smile, "I’m sorry, I know I’ve caused you trouble today, but I had no other choice..."

"That’s not a big issue, after all, your intentions were good." The godly senior chuckled, then his face turned stern, "However, when I said you have been overexerting yourself lately, I wasn’t lying on your behalf. Although your constitution is not bad, you still need to take good care of yourself. Otherwise, in twenty or thirty years, there could be endless troubles! The prescription I wrote for you contains mostly herbs that strengthen the body and the medicinal properties are quite mild; if you honestly take them, it will only benefit you without harm."

Hua Xiaomai busied herself with agreeing wholeheartedly and after thinking for a moment, said softly and politely, "Sir, could you please help me hide today’s act of faking illness from my elder sister? I don’t want her to..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Doctor Xing had already turned and walked briskly into the inner room, leaving the curtain on the door swaying slightly.

Hua Erniang was already seated in a chair in the room, her hands neatly folded on her lap, her head bowed, appearing somewhat nervous and uneasy.

Today, she had come to accompany Hua Xiaomai to see the doctor, and was unexpectedly asked to have her pulse checked as well, without any mental preparation, causing her to feel flustered.

Having been married to Jing Taihe for over two years and not having conceived, Old Lady Jing had once called for a doctor from Fire Knife Village to check her pulse. Back then, the phrase "congenitally deficient, unable to bear children" uttered by the doctor struck her like a bolt from the blue.

Anyone in poor health harbors some aversion to medical consultation. Hua Erniang knew well that the medical skills of the few doctors in Fire Knife Village were mediocre at best, and their words were not necessarily accurate, and it was precisely for that reason, though she never voiced it, she still harbored a faint hope in her heart.

However, today’s Doctor Xing, regarded as the "Gynecological Sage" of Fuzhe County by Zuo Jinxiang, was indeed renowned. If even he pronounced that dreaded "no", then she really would be left without a shred of hope!

Even knowing that Hua Xiaomai had insisted on the pulse diagnosis for her own good, Hua Erniang couldn’t resist silently cursing her sister in her mind, and as she raised her eyes, she saw Doctor Xing already seated opposite her.

Throughout it all, the godly senior had remained calm and composed, his lips curved in a faint smile whose meaning was unclear, his fingers gently tapping on the tabletop, not in a hurry to speak. His eyes slightly lowered, as if pondering something.

Hua Erniang felt as if she had never before been so powerless in front of an unthreatening old man, unsure of how to position her hands and feet, her heart in turmoil without settling down. After a moment of silence, she couldn’t help but start anxiously, "Sir, please just speak plainly. I am aware of my own condition. It’s not like it’s only been a matter of a day or two, I..."

"You’ve suffered quite a bit in your early years, haven’t you?" the old sage looked at her with lifted eyelids, interrupting her leisurely, "Ever endured freezing?"

Hua Erniang was taken aback, not knowing what to say.

Wasn’t suffering a natural part of life?

Her parents had passed away when she was fourteen years old, and at that time, Hua Xiaomai was not yet ten. Her elder brother Hua Dashan and his wife were lazy and gluttonous, always looking for easy ways out, lying around the house all day, wishing for meals to be served to their mouths, and they were good at bossing others around.

With no land to their name and living in dire poverty, Hua Dashan got the idea of selling his sister, planning to sell Hua Xiaomai to a wealthy family as a maid in exchange for some silver taels to enjoy a few days of luxury.

Hua Erniang put her life on the line and made a commotion at home for three days, and finally managed to stop Hua Dashan. From then on, she gritted her teeth and took on the entire household’s burden. In spring and autumn, she would take Hua Xiaomai up the mountains to dig up medicinal herbs to sell for money, and in winter, she would lie on the ice-cold river, breaking ice holes to catch fish.

In Shengzhou, the cold in winter was incomparable to that in Fire Knife Village. While others fished for fun and freshness, she did it to earn money. Lying on the ice for long, her arms and legs felt like they didn’t belong to her, numb with cold—would this count as having endured freezing?