On the morning of his sixth birthday, Youbao ran to the kitchen and saw his mother cooking longevity noodles.
"Mom!" Youbao tugged at Su Niannian's sleeve, "Where's my birthday present?"
Su Niannian wiped her hands and took out a cloth bag embroidered with dandelions from her pocket. "Open it and take a look."
Youbao couldn't wait to untie it. There were nine silver needles neatly arranged inside, the shortest of which was only as long as her little finger.
"It's a silver needle!" She jumped up happily. "Can I learn acupuncture now?"
"Let's practice on your dad first." Su Niannian smiled and raised her chin towards Shi Heng on the sofa, "He's the most cooperative."
Shi Heng immediately put down his phone. The financial news page was still lit, but he had already rolled up his shirt cuffs.
"Come, Daddy is ready, the little doctor can prick anywhere you want."
The first acupuncture treatment was on the carpet in the study.
Youbao was kneeling, his little face tense, holding the shortest silver needle in his hand, staring at his father's hand without blinking.
"Find the Hegu point..." Su Niannian held her daughter's small hand and gently pressed it on Shi Heng's base of the thumb. "Can you feel the depression here?"
Youbao shook his head, a little anxious, "Mom, I can't find it..."
Seeing this, Shi Heng took the initiative to use a pen to make a small black dot at the base of the tiger's mouth, and coaxed him in a gentle voice: "Come, stick it here with Daddy, don't be afraid."
The first needle poked the skin crookedly and didn't even pierce the epidermis.
"It's okay, try again." Shi Heng encouraged her with a smile, holding his daughter's wrist firmly with his left hand, and said gently, "Daddy doesn't feel any pain, just take your time."
By the fifth stitch, there was a subtle sensation of the needle tip missing.
"Do you feel anything?" Su Niannian asked softly.
Shi Heng raised his eyebrows slightly, with a smile in his eyes, "Yeah, sore and swollen, very accurate."
Su Niannian pinched her daughter's fingers and said softly, "Yes, that's it, twist gently..."
Youbao held his breath and carefully turned the silver needle, his little face slightly flushed with concentration.
The next day at breakfast, Shi Heng put down his coffee cup and said in mock surprise, "Strange, the migraine I had last night doesn't seem to be as severe anymore."
Youbao was drinking from a milk cup with milk stains around his mouth. Upon hearing this, he immediately put the cup down, his eyes sparkling, "Is it because of the acupuncture points I pierced?"
Shi Heng reached out and wiped the milk stains from the corner of her mouth, his eyes full of doting, "Of course, our Youbao is the best."
Su Niannian chuckled at the side, "Do you want to consolidate it for a few more days?"
"Yes!" Youbao immediately jumped off the chair and ran to get the needle bag, "Dad, I'll give you another injection today!"
Shi Heng smiled, stretched out his hand, and nodded in agreement, "Okay, Dad is always on standby."
That night, Youbao wrote neatly in his notebook:
"July 15th, Dad, five needles at the Hegu point. Dad said his headache is much better. We'll continue tomorrow!"
…
In September, Youbao went to elementary school with his schoolbag.
On the first day of school, she fell asleep on her desk.
"I know all of these." After school, she complained to Shi Heng who came to pick her up, "The 'Song of Medicinal Properties' that Mom taught us yesterday was more interesting than this."
After the final exam of the first semester, Shi Heng attended Youbao's parent-teacher meeting.
In the classroom, other parents whispered:
"I heard that her brother and sister took the college entrance examination at the age of twelve? And her brother even won the top scorer. How come she didn't even write the test paper?"
"I guess it's because the family spoils him too much and there are no rules."
"A child of a genius is nothing more than this..."
The homeroom teacher, Mr. Li, said tactfully, "Mr. Shi, your daughter may need an evaluation of her intelligence."
The classroom suddenly became quiet, and all eyes were focused on him.
Shi Heng looked calm as he flipped open Youbao's blank test paper, glanced at it, and suddenly smiled.
He raised his eyes and pointed at the last question on the math test with his slender fingers.
"Teacher Li, how many people in the class have solved this additional question?"
Teacher Li looked embarrassed. "This is a math Olympiad problem, primarily designed to test students' mathematical talent... Unfortunately, no one in the entire grade currently has..."
Before he finished speaking, Shi Heng had already led Youbao to the podium, "Youbao, show it to the teacher."
Youbao picked up the chalk and fluently wrote down a series of steps to solve the problem on the blackboard.
In less than two minutes, she put down the chalk and turned to look at Teacher Li. "Teacher, did I do it right?"
Teacher Li stared at the blackboard, his lips trembling slightly. "This... this is a standard Olympiad solution..."
The classroom was dead silent, and the other parents looked at each other in confusion.
Shi Heng said gently, "Of course, it's wrong to hand in a blank paper. Youbao, apologize to the teacher."
Youbao pursed his lips, bowed deeply to Teacher Li and said, "Teacher Li, I'm sorry."
Teacher Li blushed.
Shi Heng picked up his daughter with one hand and carried her schoolbag with the other. As he left, his eyes swept across the silent classroom.
"Now, does anyone still think my daughter needs an intelligence evaluation?"
After saying that, he strode away holding Youbao.
On the way home, Youbao leaned against the car window and didn't say a word.
Shi Heng rubbed her head and asked, "What's wrong?"
Youbao turned around and suddenly whispered, "Dad, I'm sorry."
Shi Heng turned the steering wheel and changed the subject, "I'll take you back to Beijing to see your grandparents tomorrow."
…
The next afternoon, at Beijing Kangrui Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Institute.
The elevator door slowly opened, and Shi Heng took Youbao into the top-floor laboratory.
Youbao opened his eyes wide and watched the researchers in white coats busying themselves with various instruments.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
