Chapter 65: Letting Go Zhou Jin’s gaze lingered on Tang Zhao for a long time…
Zhou Jin's gaze lingered on Tang Zhao for a long moment. The woman, Tang Zhao, returned his gaze calmly, her eyes as clear and calm as water, making him suspect the strange feeling he had just caught was merely an illusion.
He suppressed the inexplicable turmoil in his heart, straightened his sleeves, and explained his purpose. "Doctor Tang, my mother has been ill with tuberculosis and has been bedridden for a long time. Two days ago, I sent servants from the mansion to look for you, but perhaps they didn't convey the message clearly. So today, I have come personally to ask you to come to my house and treat my mother."
"I understand your intentions, my lord." Tang Zhao's voice was calm and distant. "But I am only a humble doctor, and my training is only in the common art of medicine. Your mother is of noble status, so I am afraid I am not qualified to do the job."
"Doctor Tang is too modest. Everyone in Weizhou knows that you are the reincarnation of Hua Tuo. You have brought people back to health in just a few months and cured countless serious illnesses."
"Rumors are inevitably exaggerated." Tang Zhao shook his head slightly. "Besides, I have a rule when treating patients..."
"I know," Zhou Jin quickly took over. "Before treating an illness, one must first assess the patient's lifespan. To be honest, this is exactly why my mother insisted on inviting me."
"Why does she... want to look at life span?" There was a slight hesitation in the ending tone of this question.
Zhou Jin didn't notice Tang Zhao's slight discomfort and replied, "That wasn't my intention. I asked you to come simply so you could diagnose my mother's illness and see if there's a cure. As for the theory of her lifespan—" He paused, "With all due respect, I don't believe such myths. If my mother asks, I hope you can tell her she's destined for a long life and reassure her to rest and recuperate."
"Sir, this is absolutely unacceptable." Tang Zhao's expression grew serious. "Observing a person's lifespan is my code of conduct. How could I deceive a patient's family? I cannot do anything that would destroy my reputation." After saying this, she turned, pushed open the gate, and stepped aside to enter. "Sir, please return."
Just as the door was about to close, a bony hand pressed against the door, pushing open the ray of light that was about to be cut off.
"Sister——"
With a dull "clang", the medical box in Tang Zhao's arms fell to the ground.
"What did you say?!"
She stood with her back to the light, her face hidden in the shadows, just enough to conceal the blood color that had instantly faded from her face.
"My elder sister, if she were still alive, would be around your age." Zhou Jin's voice was deep and filled with an uncontrollable bitterness. "But she's gone. We don't know where she went, let alone if we'll ever see her again in this lifetime. My mother became ill because of this worry and has been bedridden ever since. I've sought treatment from countless doctors, but to no avail."
Feeling the resistance on the door gradually disappear, he took a step forward and said, "Doctor Tang, I really have no other choice. I implore you to understand a mother's longing for her daughter and save my mother."
Seeing Tang Zhao remain silent, Zhou Jin continued, "You are also a child. If the person on the sickbed is your loved one, you would surely find it hard to bear their suffering. So, Doctor Tang, please help me."
After saying this, he bowed deeply.
Tang Zhao stood still for a long time with his head bowed, and murmured softly, "I don't have a mother."
Zhou Jin was startled and quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, I..."
Before she finished speaking, she raised her head, and the waves in her eyes disappeared, leaving only a bottomless calm.
"But I promise you."
*
Zhou Jin led Tang Zhao into the inner room.
Seeing the person on the couch sleeping with their eyes closed, Zhou Jin lowered his voice and said, "Doctor Tang, please forgive me, my mother has already gone to bed. Why don't you go to the outer room and have some tea and wait for a while?"
There was no response to what he said. Zhou Jin turned his head and saw Tang Zhao standing by the door in a daze, his eyes fixed on the couch.
"Doctor Tang?" Zhou Jin's eyes deepened slightly.
Tang Zhao came back to his senses, calmly avoided his probing gaze, and whispered, "It's okay, I can take your pulse even when you're asleep."
She took down the medical box, placed it gently on the table, took out a piece of gauze from it, then slowly walked to the front of the couch and squatted down.
Zhou Jin understood, gently lifted his mother's wrist and placed it on the edge of the bed, then took a step back.
Tang Zhao spread the gauze and lightly pressed his four fingers on the Cun, Guan, and Chi points. Just as he was concentrating on carefully examining the pulse, the person on the couch suddenly called out in a dreamlike voice, "Tiao'er!"
The hand she was pressing lightly suddenly turned over and tightly grasped her wrist.
Tang Zhao raised his eyes and met the eyes of the person on the bed who had opened them at the same time.
"Mother is awake." Zhou Jin stepped forward and squatted beside the couch.
Tang Zhao tried to get up, but Zhou's mother still held her wrist tightly.
"Mother, this is the female healer you've always wanted to see, Doctor Tang."
Mother Zhou's confused gaze slowly focused on Tang Zhao's face, and then she let go of his hand. "It's Doctor Tang. Jin'er, help me up quickly."
Sitting on the bedside, Zhou's mother's eyes never left Tang Zhao. After sitting down, she extended her hand toward Tang Zhao, "Doctor Tang, come closer..."
Tang Zhao, who had already stood up, took a step forward, seemingly unaware of the hand reaching out to her. She simply bowed and said, "How are you, Madam Zhou? I'm here to examine you."
Mother Zhou's hand fell gently, and she smiled gently: "I've heard of Doctor Tang's reputation for a long time, but I didn't expect him to be so young."
"You are too kind, ma'am."
Mother Zhou nodded, turned to Zhou Jin and said, "Jin'er, please go out first. Let me talk to Doctor Tang alone."
"Mother……"
"Ah, the woman's illness has caused you so much inconvenience."
Zhou Jin had no choice but to agree, and when he left, he gave Tang Zhao a silent instruction.
The door closed, and the room fell silent for a moment. Mother Zhou looked at Tang Zhao carefully and asked kindly, "How old is Doctor Tang this year?"
"Madam, I'm twenty-four."
"Twenty-four..." Mother Zhou's eyelashes drooped, "If my daughter were still alive, she would be around this age..."
Tang Zhao did not continue the topic, but simply said, "Madam, let me take your pulse."
"Oh, okay."
His fingertips lingered on her wrist for a long time, and Tang Zhao frowned as he said, "Madam, besides tuberculosis, it seems you also suffer from a long-term deficiency of Qi and blood. May I ask if you lost a lot of blood due to a serious injury in your early years?"
"Serious injuries?" Zhou's mother shook her head blankly. "There were some minor injuries and some pain, but no serious injuries, let alone any massive blood loss."
Tang Zhao's expression darkened: "Let me examine you again."
After taking his pulse again, her brows were filled with even more doubt. "The pulse is weak. If it were just tuberculosis, it wouldn't be like this. This pulse must be caused by years of Qi and blood deficiency."
Mother Zhou frowned in thought for a moment, then suddenly relaxed: "Could it be because...of the frequent births in her early years?"
Tang Zhao looked puzzled. "But don't you only have two children?" He paused and added, "I heard about it from Lord Zhou."
A faint, bitter smile played on Zhou's mother's lips. She shook her head gently, "I once had five children." She was silent for a moment, then, as if remembering something, her voice softened. "No, to be precise, it should be six."
Tang Zhao's expression froze: "What?"
"The eldest daughter died before she was a month old." Zhou's mother's eyes gradually drifted away. "The second daughter's name was Zhou Tiao, and she..."
Her voice paused slightly, the candlelight flickering as she continued, "My third and fourth children were both daughters. Back then, our family was so poor we couldn't even afford to raise so many children... As soon as they were born, they were quietly given away by someone, either their father or someone from my husband's family."
Her fingers unconsciously twisted the corners of the quilt, the fabric crinkling between them. "Finally, the fifth pregnancy was a boy, Jin'er. Later, his father said that having more sons would help each other and protect the family from being bullied... So I got pregnant again. However, perhaps because my body hadn't fully recovered from the previous ones, I miscarried before the full term."
"So, in the end, only two children are left by my side." The candlelight crackled, and she looked up at the source of the sound, her eyes dazed. "No, now there is only one left."
Mother Zhou smiled sadly, "My Tiao'er was killed by me."
"Over the years, I always think of her in the past. Such a small person, she learned to help with housework as soon as she could walk. When she was little, she always called me 'Aniang' in a baby voice. When her hands were burned, she would ask 'Aniang to blow on them', and when she was tired, she would ask 'Aniang to hold me'..." Her voice gradually became hoarse. "But I don't know when it started, probably after Jin'er was born, she gradually stopped acting like a spoiled child towards me."
"Back then, everyone said boys were so precious. I was taught the same way from a young age: the best food should be saved for my younger brother first, new clothes should be worn by my younger brother first, and as a sister, my responsibility is to love and care for my younger brother. And Jin'er is the son I got through so much hardship, so naturally, I put all my thoughts on him, but I forgot..."
At this point, she stared silently at the flickering candlelight. After a long pause, she spoke in a sorrowful voice, "My Tiao'er... is also my own flesh and blood, born after ten months of pregnancy."
Tang Zhao stood there in silence. Just then, the wind blew the door open a tiny crack, and the candlelight swayed, shattering the dark light in her eyes in the wind.
Mother Zhou's mood gradually calmed. She held Tang Zhao's hand and said, "Doctor Tang, I've never mentioned these words to anyone. But seeing you, I feel particularly close to you." Her eyes lingered on Tang Zhao's face, filled with inexplicable longing, "As if...seeing my Tiao'er."
As she spoke, she shook her head in self-mockery. "Of course, I know you can't be her. You don't look a bit like her. My Tiao'er... I don't know if I'll ever see her again in this lifetime."
The room was silent for a moment before she spoke again, "They say you can tell a person's lifespan. I asked you to come because I actually want to know...how long I have left to live?"
"Madam Zhou..." Tang Zhao raised his eyes, his expression returning to his usual composure. "Although you have suffered from tuberculosis for a long time and your Qi and blood are weak, if you take good care of yourself, you should live to be over 70."
"Seventy years old... is there still that much time left..."
Tang Zhao didn't respond, but turned and took the medical kit. "I'll prescribe a prescription for you. Follow it for a month and your symptoms should be relieved." She picked up the pen and dipped it in ink. "May I know your wife's name?"
"Does a name need to be given when prescribing?"
"I was negligent. I usually write down the patient's name on the prescription. Since they are the prefect's family, it doesn't matter if I don't write it down."
She picked up the pen and wrote down the name of the medicine, and a hand gently pressed her down.
"Zhaodi. My name is Xu Zhaodi."
When she was about to leave, Zhou's mother called her back.
"Doctor Tang, if you were my daughter... would you forgive me?"
Tang Zhao stood still for a moment, his back to her, before raising his hand and pushing open the door. The light from heaven poured in, casting a pale golden outline around her figure.
"I don't know." She said softly, "But if I were her, I wouldn't hate you anymore."
The words fell into the darkness behind her, and she stepped into the sunlight, never looking back.
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