By the time Zhuang Rui's mother got Liu Chuan's call, it was almost 11 a.m. Plus, she had watched Liu Chuan grow up since he was little, and he was always calling her 'godma, godma' all the time, so she already saw him as a son. Hearing that he was bringing his girlfriend over for lunch soon, she naturally took it very seriously. She quickly called Zhuang Min into the kitchen to cook. Luckily, with the New Year coming up, they had stocked up on a lot of groceries they didn't usually buy, so she could easily whip up a dozen dishes without seeming rude to the guests.
As the saying goes, haste makes waste. While washing the vegetables, Zhuang Rui's mother was a bit rushed and splashed some water on the floor. She accidentally stepped on it, slipped, and fell hard. Being in her late 50s, her body wasn't as resilient as a young person's. When she stood up, she felt an unbearable pain in her waist, unable to straighten her back. Even when she called out for Zhuang Min, raising her voice just a little made the pain in her lower back intensify.
Before retiring, Zhuang Rui's mother had always been a middle school teacher. When she was younger, she had to sit at her desk for long hours preparing lessons and grading homework, so she had always had some minor issues with her lower back and neck. She had been checked at the hospital before, and the doctor diagnosed her with mild chronic lumbar muscle strain and cervical spine problems. On top of that, the constant arm-raising to write on the blackboard had caused neck and back fasciitis and rotator cuff tendonitis in her shoulders. Every time it was rainy or overcast, she would feel aches in her back and neck. But she had always been a tough person and never let her children know about all of this. However, this fall today triggered her old problems, and the pain was so bad she couldn't even walk.
'Lei Lei, Miss Qin, have a seat for now. Sis, you take care of the guests—Lei Lei is Dachuan's girlfriend. I'm going to go check on my mom.'
Hearing his sister say this, Zhuang Rui became anxious. Forgetting to attend to the guests, he stuffed the little girl into his sister's arms and turned to walk toward Zhuang Rui's mother's room. Liu Chuan naturally followed along. The two figured that if Zhuang Rui's mother still refused to go to the hospital, they would carry her there by force.
"Dachuan, I was going to cook you something nice to eat, but your godmother is old, sigh, my body just isn't cooperating. And your girlfriend, go out and entertain her quickly. Don't make her think we're rude..."
Zhuang Rui's mother lay in bed, having spoken only a few short sentences, but beads of sweat the size of soybeans appeared on her forehead. She was clearly enduring the pain in her lower back. Anyone with medical knowledge knows that with an acute lumbar muscle strain, even coughing or speaking can make the pain worse.
Liu Chuan's tears immediately streamed down. You see, ever since he was a child, whenever he made a mistake and his dad was about to beat him, he always sheltered here with Zhuang Rui's mother. She treated him no differently than her own son. Liu Chuan rushed to the bedside in one step, even more anxious than Zhuang Rui, the actual son.
"Godmother, don't talk. Let's go to the hospital first." As Liu Chuan said this, he grabbed Zhuang Rui's mother's arm, intending to lift her onto his back.
"Ouch... it hurts..."
"Dachuan, don't move! Let my mom lie down..."
Just as Liu Chuan grabbed Zhuang Rui's mother's arm and started to lift, a sharp, intense pain shot through her lower back. Her face twisted painfully from the agony. Zhuang Rui saw this clearly and quickly stopped Liu Chuan's reckless action.
Now Zhuang Rui didn't know what to do either. Every movement hurt, and there was no way to carry his mother to the car. Zhuang Rui knew his mother had always been a very strong-willed person, having endured so much hardship raising the two siblings since they were young, and she never complained. Now she was trembling all over from the pain, her forehead covered in cold sweat. Zhuang Rui couldn't help but let his tears fall too.
"Blockhead, watch our mom, I'm going to fetch a doctor."
Liu Chuan didn't even wipe his tears, turned and walked out. He seemed to say something to Lei Lei, and after a moment, the sound of a car engine starting downstairs could be heard.
"Son, don't worry, it's nothing. Call Dachuan and tell him to come back. Where would you find a doctor during New Year's? This is an old problem of mine. There's a bottle of red flower oil on the table. Bring it here and rub it on me; I'll be fine." Seeing her son standing by the bed with tears in his eyes, Zhuang Rui's mother said softly, her voice weak.
"Grandma, have some little dragon candy. After you eat it, it won't hurt anymore..."
The little girl had somehow slipped into the room, holding a handful of candies, her voice trembling with tears. The sight of her uncle and grandmother had frightened her.
"Red flower oil, stops pain..." Something seemed to stir in Zhuang Rui's mind.
"That's right, when I looked at my own arm on the train with my eyes, the sore and numb feeling disappeared in an instant. I wonder if I can help Mom ease the pain."
Zhuang Rui's eyes lit up, and he quickly said to his mother, "Mom, I almost forgot. When I came back from Zhonghai, Uncle De brought me some special trauma medicine. He said it was brewed by an old Chinese medicine doctor and works wonders for sprains and bruises. Wait here, I'll go get it."
Zhuang Rui hurried back to his own room, wandered around for a bit, then returned to his mother's room. He had said that earlier because he was worried—if the spiritual energy actually worked and his mother asked how, he wouldn't know how to answer. Could he say he had special powers？
"Mom, turn over and lie on your stomach..."
Zhuang Rui helped his mother turn over, pushed her clothes up to expose her waist, and could see with the naked eye a red, swollen lump protruding high on her spine at the waist. He picked up the red flower oil from the table, poured a little into his palm, rubbed his palms together vigorously until he felt a surge of heat, then quickly pressed them onto his mother's lower back. A wave of warmth penetrated through the skin and entered his mother's body.
At the same time, Zhuang Rui fully mobilized the spiritual energy in his eyes. A flash of orange light flickered in Zhuang Rui's eyes, and the spiritual energy, following his gaze, came into contact with his mother's swollen lower back. At this moment, Zhuang Rui couldn't care less about the consumption of spiritual energy—even if the spiritual energy in his eyes disappeared entirely, that would be nothing compared to his mother's health. When the spiritual energy touched the skin of his mother's lower back, it was like a basin of water splashed onto parched soil, rapidly seeping inward.
"Xiao Rui, it's so hot. Huh？ Why did it turn cool again…"
Zhuang Rui's mother first felt a wave of heat touch her lower back, but then immediately felt a stream of cooling energy enter her skin. The pain in her waist gradually eased as this cooling energy moved about. In just a few dozen seconds, she felt as if all the pain had disappeared.
This cooling energy that entered the body lingered for a moment at the waist before continuing to travel upward along the spine. Wherever it passed, it seemed to speed up the flow of blood quite a bit. Zhuang Rui's mother had never read any martial arts novels; otherwise, she would have felt that the situation in her body was somewhat similar to unblocking joints and acupuncture points as described in those novels.
The spiritual energy traveled to her head. Zhuang Rui's mother suddenly shivered, feeling her hair stand on end like she'd been electrocuted. It was as if she'd eaten the legendary Ginseng Fruit of Immortality—every one of her 108,000 pores opened wide, her mind became clear and sharp, the pain in her waist was long gone, and an indescribable feeling of comfort surged through her heart.
As for Zhuang Rui, he was now in tears—not from sadness, but because the spiritual energy in his eyes had been drained by nearly two-thirds. The sensation he hadn't felt in ages—like having been punched in the nose—was back, and the stinging pain in his eyes was unbearable. Still, fortunately, perhaps because his spiritual energy had upgraded to yellow, even though only a third remained in his eyes now, it was still greater in quantity than back when it was cyan, and far superior in quality.
"Huh, it doesn't hurt at all now. Xiao Rui, what kind of medicine did your Uncle De give you? It works so well. The lingering ailments I've had since my old job seem to be all gone. Oh, by the way, Dachuan's mom's back is bad too—find some time to take her some medicine. Hey, you silly child, I'm all better, why are you still crying...""
Zhuang Rui's mother turned around and saw Zhuang Rui sitting by the bed, face streaked with tears.
"Take her some medicine？ If I did that one more time, I might just kick the bucket..." This time, Zhuang Rui wasn't crying from the pain in his eyes.