Chapter 22: Seeing a Doctor – It’s All Minor Issues

Su Jinyan and her companions braved the cold for half an hour in the courtyard before finally being summoned again.

Upon re-entering the house, they noticed that the old man’s face showed clear signs of displeasure, but Su Jinyan could detect a hint of happiness on Zhao Yuanyi’s indifferent face.

This Huo Zhongtian was indeed impressive; he clearly seemed to be someone quite extraordinary.
After taking the pulses of Zhao Zhengjun and Sun Shi, he directly got to work preparing medicine.

After a while, he tossed a large pile of medicine onto the kang (a heated bed), instructing them that each person should take fifteen doses and come back in half a month for a follow-up.

Su Jinyan approached cautiously and asked, “Old man, can you treat my father-in-law and mother-in-law’s issues?”

Huo Zhongtian snorted, “Just a few minor problems. If they hadn’t been dragging on for so many years, I could have had them fixed in ten days or half a month! Now, the old lady has been suffering for three months, and the old man for over ten months.”

“Alright, off you go. Don’t disturb me; that old man Xin is truly annoying! He comes to find me over such minor issues!”

With that, he climbed back onto the kang to continue sleeping.

Minor issues?

The disabilities that had plagued their family for years were just minor problems in his eyes.

Su Jinyan squeezed Sun Shi’s hand and smiled, “Mother, did you hear that? Your and Father’s illnesses can be cured, so don’t worry.”

Sun Shi excitedly wiped her tears and vigorously nodded, “Thank you, old gentleman. Thank you.”

Zhao Zhengjun’s face, which had been frozen for years, also relaxed. His first thought wasn’t that he would finally be able to walk again, but rather that he wouldn’t be a burden to his son anymore!

After bidding farewell to Huo Zhongtian, the group exited the house.
Just before leaving, Su Jinyan looked back at Huo Zhongtian’s feet and noticed that he had a slight limp while walking.

After everyone left the courtyard, Xiao Li used a wire rod to hook the iron latch on the inside of the door.

Once they got into the car, Xiao Li curiously asked, “Comrade Zhao, how did you manage to persuade that cranky old man to continue treating your family?”

Zhao Yuanyi replied, “I didn’t say much. I just sat there with him for a while.”

Xiao Li: …

Another eccentric!

He glanced at Zhao Yuanyi through the rearview mirror, eager to discern whether he was telling the truth or joking, but the calm expression on his face was more profound than that of his superior.

On the way back, Su Jinyan took Zhao Yuanyi to browse a department store and a supply and marketing cooperative, asking Xiao Li to take Zhao’s parents’ home and meet them again in three hours at the department store.

All her cash tickets were in the space; she led Zhao Yuanyi straight to the department store.

Today’s main purchases were clothing, toiletries, and a sand pot for boiling medicine.

Because the kitchen and bedroom had already been arranged by Xin Huimin and Su Chengguo, with new bedding and pillows, and the kitchen stocked with grains, oils, and seasonings like potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Seeing the well-stocked and stylish department store, Zhao Yuanyi felt an urgent urge to earn money.
With limited fabric and cotton tickets, Su Jinyan first bought herself and Zhao Yuanyi a pair of popular black cotton jackets and black pants, then purchased brightly colored cotton jackets and pants for the two children.

Given their limited financial resources and lack of income now, there was no need to buy anything extravagant.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to buy anything for her in-laws; for now, they wouldn’t be going out much, so whatever they wore at home was fine. She just needed to wait a few days to exchange some tickets to buy things for them.

Now that she had just returned and it was approaching the New Year, she and Zhao Yuanyi were planning to take the children to meet their grandparents, other relatives, and some family members.

After finishing the purchases for the family of four, she wanted to buy autumn clothes, but they didn’t have enough fabric tickets for that.

Having bought the clothes, she and Zhao Yuanyi used their only bicycle ticket along with one hundred seventy-six yuan to buy a Phoenix brand two-eighths bike.

In this era, going out was either on foot or by bicycle, with buses and work vehicles being the only other options. Not having a bicycle was inconvenient.

It was the New Year, and the department store could be described as packed with people. The cash tickets they had saved for a year and a half were used during these few days.

Especially red fabric and paper, which were snatched up daily and often sold out.

Pushing the bicycle while carrying their bags, Zhao Yuanyi maneuvered through the department store crowd. Meanwhile, Su Jinyan bought some toiletries, aluminum basins, enamel basins, enamel rice bowls, aluminum lunch boxes, enamel cups, flashlights, candles, and matches—anything she found useful.
She also bought some Harri oil for Zhao Zhengjun and Sun Shi.

Since they had left the countryside, it was time to start tidying up, starting with their appearance.

And to be honest, perhaps it was her little bit of pride at play, but seeing Zhao Zhengjun and Sun Shi made her feel somewhat ashamed, wanting to dress them neatly and cleanly. Not that they needed fancy clothes, but at least they should be presentable enough to be taken out in public.

With their disheveled appearance resembling that of refugees, wouldn’t the Su family only feel more distressed?

After finishing the major shopping, the two of them didn’t have to wait long at the department store before Xiao Li arrived.

She rode in the front while Zhao Yuanyi rode the bicycle behind her. Xiao Li showed him a few simple routes and delivered him back home.

“Yuanyi, take this for emergency use.”

After getting off the vehicle and entering the courtyard, Su Jinyan handed Zhao Yuanyi two-hundred-yuan, fifty jin of grain tickets, ten jin of meat tickets, and twenty industrial coupons.

Zhao Yuanyi furrowed his brow slightly, wanting to say that it wasn’t necessary, but with just two yuan to his name, he felt a sense of desperation that weighed heavily on him.

It was an awkward situation where even a penny could hold a hero back, making his expression even more unpleasant.

Seeing this, Su Jinyan immediately understood his thoughts. She stuffed the cash into his palm and huffed, “Didn’t you all say that I would take charge of this household?”

After stepping closer, she gently hugged him. “Darling, I believe in you. You’ll give me a better life. Everything is just temporary, right?”

Sun Shi, who was about to step out, hurried back inside, pretending she hadn’t seen anything!

Zhao Yuanyi’s tense body relaxed a bit as he ruffled Su Jinyan’s hair. “Alright, let’s get back quickly; the kids must be missing you.”

He would definitely provide her with a better life and wouldn’t let her look longingly at a coat she liked but couldn’t afford to buy!

Su Jinyan urged him to go back inside to put things away, while she went into the kitchen to check on supplies, which were well-stocked for now. Taking the opportunity, she secretly swapped half of the well water in the water jug for space water.

Back at the Su family home, she was slightly taken aback by the gun parts and golden bullets laid out on the coffee table.

Looking at Su Chengguo and Zhao Qi, who were seriously engaged in assembling the parts, she chuckled, “What’s this, Dad? Are you really training him from such a young age?”

They certainly dared to play around!

Zhao Qi didn’t run over to greet her in excitement but merely waved and immersed herself in the pile of parts.

Su Chengguo smiled with satisfaction, “You can’t say otherwise! This kid is quite good at it—better than your brother was back then.”

Suddenly, mentioning Su Jinyu, Su Chengguo’s expression darkened.

At that moment, Xin Huimin was not around. Su Jinyan placed the clothes on the sofa and asked, “Dad, have you heard anything about my brother yet?” Before Su Chengguo could respond, she continued, “Even if he’s on a mission and it fails, whether he was captured by the enemy or escaped, there must be some word from above, right?”

Su Chengguo looked up towards the staircase and said quietly, “You know where your brother is. The affiliated special forces above are keeping tight-lipped about that incident. I can’t do much; it’s only because your grandfather put in a lot of effort that we learned that the mission was in Country M. Your brother wasn’t captured or killed; the situation seems to be unclear to those above as well.”

Su Jinyan sighed. The story was serialized, and as a cannon fodder character, it goes without saying that her brother was also a secondary character only known as a formidable figure. He had achieved the rank of colonel at a young age, yet the reasons for his disappearance weren’t written in the story, so she didn’t know either.

Being abroad was indeed quite troublesome. Whether alive or dead would depend on Su Jinyu’s capabilities.

But from her extensive experience with countless novels and dramas, she knew that even if Su Jinyu returned alive, things wouldn’t necessarily be easy.

The first thing he would face wouldn’t be the care of the state but a series of interrogations.

What happened to you abroad? Why did you take so long to return alive? What caused the prolonged silence? Did you complete your mission? Most importantly, did you defect? What’s your purpose in coming back this time?

Most likely, even if everything was cleared up, he would still leave a black mark in the eyes of those above and would find it hard to be reused in the future.

After a moment of silence between the two, Su Chengyun said, “Yuanyi, you didn’t feel pressured into marrying her, did you?”

Su Jinyan merely smiled and said, “No, it was my own decision.”
“Don’t worry. Zhao Yuanyi may come from the countryside, but he’s smart, capable, and has a good heart. Most importantly, he likes me, and he makes his whole family pamper me.

I believe he just needs a chance; once he has one, he’ll be extraordinary, and you’ll see for yourselves later.”

At this point, Xin Huimin spoke up, “Well, they are reasonably nice folks; the parents are honest and straightforward.”

“I’ve checked Zhao Zhengjun’s background; he has served as a soldier for seventeen and a half years. He used to be a company commander, and during an operation, he was injured while saving his comrades. I contacted a few of his former comrades, and their reputation is quite good.”

Su Jinyan responded, “They did a thorough background check!”

Su Grandfather then said, “Our family doesn’t have those prejudices; as long as they are capable and of good character, that’s all that matters. Since they are married, let’s treat them well. When the person arrives later, let’s not belittle them.”

“Rest assured, Dad.”

“Understood, Dad.”

“You think we can drive them away after you say this?”

Everyone responded with laughter.

Su Jinyan was somewhat puzzled: “Are they bringing people over now?”

At this point, only her uncle and aunt, as well as her little aunt and her husband, had come over. None from the younger generations were present.
They all had work, so there was no time.

After a bit of small talk, a car engine could be heard outside.

Su Grandfather stood up, “They’re here, let’s go.”

Everyone stood up and rushed out of the house.

Su Jinyan felt somewhat moved.

At what rank was her grandfather now? He didn’t even need to go out to greet an incoming colonel.

This was all for her!

As they stepped outside, Zhao Yuanyi had already gotten out of the car, bringing Zhao Zhengjun and Sun Shi with him.

Su Jinyan looked at the seemingly composed Zhao Yuanyi and smiled, “Yuanyi, come introduce yourself to Grandfather and Grandmother.”

“This is my respected grandfather and grandmother.”

“This is my strict yet loving uncle and aunt.”

“And this is my beautiful little aunt and dashing little uncle.”

Such introductions—!!

The Su family members: …

Zhao Yuanyi remained calm, smiling slightly as he nodded to greet everyone before introducing Zhao’s parents.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, they all entered the house together.

Without Aunt Liu, Xiao Li, the aide, directly took over and helped by pouring a pot of tea.
As the youngest, Su Jinyan naturally took on the task of serving tea. Just as she poured everyone a cup, her grandfather looked at Zhao Zhengjun and kindly asked, “Zhao Company Commander, are you adapting well here?”

At first, Zhao Zhengjun didn’t immediately respond to the title “Zhao Company Commander.” But a few seconds later, he realized it, abruptly standing up, snapping to attention, and saluting, “Reporting to the Colonel, adapting!”

Su Grandfather waved his hand with a smile, “Quickly sit down; we are family, no need for formalities.”

However, Zhao Zhengjun didn’t truly relax and, with a firm voice, stated, “Yes!” before promptly sitting back down.

At this moment, his posture was upright, hands resting on his knees in the military sitting position, no longer that hunched and self-deprecating figure from earlier.

Su Grandfather understood that saying anything further would only increase his nervousness, so he remained silent.

Su Chengyun then said, “So, Yuanyi, you didn’t finish junior high but managed to get into medical school?”

Zhao Yuanyi nodded, “Although I didn’t finish junior high, I’ve always been studying high school material. After receiving the college entrance exam notification, I’ve been assisted by Yan Yan, which is how I got into university.”

“Do you enjoy studying medicine?”

“It wasn’t about that at the start; I wanted to learn medicine to treat my parents.”

“Now, with your parents’ illness treatable, you still want to continue studying medicine?”

Zhao Yuanyi nodded without hesitation, “Yes, but I’d like to minor in economics.”