Chapter 293 - 172: [Mapo Tofu] Obtained

Chapter 293: Chapter 172: [Mapo Tofu] Obtained

Zhou Yan raised an eyebrow. ’The progress bar jumped by 25%!’

The strong support from her maternal family had clearly given Mrs. Sun a powerful boost of confidence and comfort.

Everyone in the courtyard was smiling as if they had just won a great victory.

And in fact, they had.

"Hey, Sis, did you see me block him with that stick? Pretty heroic, huh?" Zhang Zhengping asked, a touch of pride in his voice.

"You really did look like your younger self," Zhang Shufen said with a smile and a nod.

"No joke, I was a military doctor back in the day. Of course I wouldn’t mess up." Hearing this, Zhang Zhengping grew even more pleased. He looked at Sun Lihua and said, "Li Hua, you’re a sharp one. You knew to hide the money from that bastard."

"This money was saved for the winter," Sun Lihua said with emotion. "If Fenfen and Cousin Zhengping hadn’t come today, I really don’t know what I would have done."

The three elders were now deep in a lively conversation, their faces beaming with brilliant smiles.

"Your family is a force to be reckoned with. Faced with that kind of scoundrel, I actually felt a bit helpless today," He Zhiyuan couldn’t help but praise.

Li nodded in deep agreement.

"Chief Editor He, this is a case of ’a scholar meeting a soldier’—reasoning is useless. It takes folks like us country bumpkins to handle people like that," Zhou Yan said with a laugh, looking at the two of them. "Didn’t you say you were heading up at noon? Why are you still in Shangshui Village?"

"We came back with Lai Fu for an interview, and Mrs. Sun insisted on having us stay for lunch. We had just put down our bowls when those two jinxes showed up. We were worried about Mrs. Sun and Lai Fu and were trying to talk some sense into them. Thank goodness you all arrived," He Zhiyuan said with a hint of resignation. "We just didn’t have the standing to intervene. Otherwise, with my temper, I would’ve thrown a punch long ago."

"Watching them made me want to throw a punch too," Li added, clenching his fists.

Zhou Yan looked at the gentle and refined Li. ’For even him to be angry enough to want to hit someone, it just shows how detestable that couple, the Gu Changguis, really are.’

"Still, thank you for speaking up for justice," Zhou Yan said with a smile, glancing at his watch. "Are you still heading back to Rongcheng today? If you go to Jiazhou at this hour, I’m afraid you might not be able to find a ride."

"We won’t make it back to Rongcheng today. We’ll head to Jiazhou first. I need to find your grandmaster to get some more material and, while I’m at it, scrounge a meal," He Zhiyuan also glanced at his watch and said with a smile. "Alright, we’ll leave things here to you. We’ll go straight to the road outside to wait for the shuttle bus."

"I’ll walk you out," Zhou Yan nodded.

He Zhiyuan said his goodbyes to Mrs. Sun, Lai Fu, and Mrs. Zhang, then left with Li.

Zhou Yan walked them to the main road. After waiting for about ten minutes, they saw a shuttle bus swaying as it approached, kicking up a cloud of dust.

He Zhiyuan waved for the bus to stop, then looked at Zhou Yan and said, "Zhou Yan, goodbye. If you ever come to Rongcheng, come find me at the magazine office to hang out."

"Will do. See you," Zhou Yan said, smiling and waving as he watched the two of them board the bus and depart.

When Zhou Yan returned to the small courtyard, Mrs. Sun was sitting in a chair with five silver needles inserted into her right knee joint.

Zhang Zhengping was standing, and on a stool next to him, a cloth pouch was unrolled, revealing rows of silver needles.

"Li Hua, this is arthritis in your knee. It was likely caused by an old injury and frequently getting chilled," Zhang Zhengping said, looking at her. "I have the same problem. It happens when you get old. The knee joint degenerates, and mobility gets worse little by little. My acupuncture can alleviate some symptoms, but it can’t cure it completely."

"Zhengping, it’s alright. Liwei took me to a doctor last year, and they said the same thing. I’m just glad I still have one good leg to move around on," Mrs. Sun said with a carefree laugh.

"That’s not the right way to think about it. We can’t cure it, but we can slow down its deterioration," Zhang Zhengping said with a serious expression. "For example, you should stop doing strenuous activities like squatting and standing up, climbing stairs, or walking up slopes. You can just be in charge of directing the young people to do the work. You should also keep your knee joint warm. You can sew an extra layer of cloth inside your pants over the knees. Applying a hot towel to it before bed at night can also help relieve the pain."

Zhou Yan, standing nearby, jotted everything down with his pen, then tore out the page and handed it to Lai Fu, who was standing to the side with worry in his eyes.

Lai Fu read it carefully, then looked at Zhou Yan and nodded with a smile.

’This kid is so sensible,’ Zhou Yan thought. ’Now that I’ve given him the doctor’s instructions, he’ll definitely be able to take good care of his grandaunt.’

"Granduncle, her eyes... can you take a look at them?" Zhou Yan asked.

"Hand me the pen and paper," Zhang Zhengping said, holding out his hand.

Zhou Yan quickly handed them over.

Zhang Zhengping quickly scribbled out a prescription, signed his name at the bottom, and handed it to Zhou Yan. "Zhou Yan, make a trip to the local clinic or the factory hospital. Two types of medicine: a box of eye drops and a box of anti-inflammatories. Buy them for me, and I’ll teach your grandaunt how to use them."

Zhou Yan took the notebook, a slightly odd expression on his face. "Granduncle, aren’t you a traditional Chinese medicine doctor? Why are you prescribing Western medicine?"

"This is called integrating Chinese and Western medicine," Zhang Zhengping said with a hearty laugh. "I could prescribe some Chinese medicine to treat it, but that would take half a month at the very least to start working. You can’t delay with eye problems. Li Hua’s eye inflammation is pretty serious. It’s already been going on for too long. If we wait any longer, I’m afraid she’ll go blind."

"Got it, I’ll go right away!" Zhou Yan pocketed the notebook, hurried out the door, and left on his bicycle.

"This kid knows how to talk and how to get things done. He listens when you ask him to do something. He’s much better than my own grandsons," Zhang Zhengping said, full of emotion. "Most importantly, he’s as handsome as I was in my youth. I wonder which lucky girl will snatch him up someday."

"If it weren’t for Zhou Yan, Lai Fu and I wouldn’t have known how to go on," Sun Lihua added, her face full of gratitude.

"Once Lai Fu learns your craft, even though making tofu is hard work, he’ll definitely be able to make a decent living," Zhang Shufen said warmly, taking her hand and patting it gently. "You just focus on healing your eye and taking care of your leg. Look forward. There are still many good days ahead."