Chapter 435 - 377: Return
Chapter 435: Chapter 377: Return
In fact, when she had greeted them a moment ago, Xiao Man had addressed the couple as "Mr. and Mrs. Sun." But when she heard their two sons call her own elders "Grandpa" and "Grandma," Xiao Man was secretly delighted. ’I can’t be too formal either,’ she thought. ’I’ll just follow their lead and call them Uncle and Aunt. Otherwise, if the adults tell me to call them Grandpa and Grandma Sun, I’d have to call the two Sun brothers Uncle Sun. Wouldn’t that put me at a disadvantage?’
Though it was impolite to stare, the Sun family’s third son, Sun Yinong, caught Xiao Man’s subtle change of expression out of the corner of his eye. He smiled faintly. ’This girl is quite clever and interesting. If she were to choose me...’
He turned to look at his older brother, only to find Sun Yiming looking right back at him. Yiming’s face was expressionless, but his eyes held a flash of warning.
Sun Yinong felt completely wronged. ’Aunt Sun relayed Grandfather’s last wish, saying to let Miss Xiao Man choose any of the Sun family sons to be her husband. Father thinks Big Brother is getting old—he’s twenty-seven and the eldest son—so it should be him who marries the Mo family’s girl. But Big Brother insisted on dragging me along, claiming it’s a "shared mission for the brothers, to enjoy fortune and endure hardship together"! Now that he’s seen how beautiful, elegant, and brilliant Miss Xiao Man is, does he suddenly think I’m in the way?’
’Sigh, the younger brother always gets the short end of the stick. It’s true what they say, you can’t afford to be second in anything. You even have to fight to be born first just to be safe!’
Sun Jingzu exchanged a few pleasantries with Xiao Man, then lowered his head and began taking items out of the box one by one, arranging them on the table. The sight of the late owner’s belongings brought a wave of emotion; Mrs. Sun and Sister-in-law Sun both lifted their handkerchiefs to dab their eyes, and Grandpa let out a soft sigh.
Sister-in-law Sun pointed out that the late Mr. Sun had gifted Xiao Man two strings of Buddha Beads, as well as two sets of golden and silver needles, all because Xiao Man had been so set on learning acupuncture at the time.
Xiao Man said, "I’m grateful for the late Mr. Sun’s wishes and have accepted the Buddha Beads. But these golden and silver needles were made for an Imperial Physician. They would attract too much attention if they were seen, and as a family heirloom, they should remain with the Sun Family. I’ve already learned acupuncture and had a craftsman create a custom set of golden and silver needles that suit me very well."
Sun Yiming smiled and asked, "There’s a rumor in Beijing that a disciple of Imperial Doctor Sun once appeared with his golden needles. Was that you, by any chance, Xiao Man?"
Xiao Man nodded. "Yes, that was me. I performed acupuncture on a patient suffering from numbness and loss of sensation in their limbs. Fortunately, I didn’t tarnish Imperial Doctor Sun’s reputation. After the treatment with the golden needles, the patient recovered quickly. They are still healthy and have full mobility today."
"By my calculations, you had only possessed the Sun’s Medical Books for less than half a year at that point."
"That’s right. I was obsessed with identifying acupoints and practicing needling back then," Xiao Man answered Sun Yiming, her tone deadpan and her words simple, making it clear she would not be explaining further.
Grandpa chimed in, "The girl is a very diligent and hardworking student. After she brought the medical books home, she’d sit under the pear tree every single day, practicing on a rubber dummy over and over again as if she were possessed. It was all out of devotion, too. She wanted to learn as fast as she could so she could treat her grandma’s eyes."
"Did you, Miss Xiao Man, personally cure your grandma’s eye condition? With just acupuncture? How did you do it?" This time, even Sun Jingzu was utterly astonished, his eyes shining with intense curiosity as he stared at Xiao Man.
Xiao Man paused for a moment before replying, "The second volume of the Sun’s Medical Books contains over twenty formulas specifically for eye conditions. I studied them for a long time. Based on Grandma’s specific condition, I took the liberty of re-compounding and combining those formulas, which I then supplemented with acupuncture. It still took almost half a year before Grandma could even perceive a little light. After that, slowly but surely, her sight returned."
Sun Yinong praised her, "Xiao Man, you’re truly incredible!"
Sun Yiming, however, simply maintained his gentle smile, his gaze soft as he watched Xiao Man. But deep down, he buried a sliver of doubt.
’After all, he held a medical doctorate from a prestigious university in Country Y and had practiced at a renowned hospital for three years. While he wasn’t an expert in traditional Chinese medicine, it was the family trade; he’d been forced to study it since he was a child and knew the principles of medicine and pharmacology by heart. For Xiao Man to restore sight to a woman who had been blind for ten years—without a scalpel, using only acupuncture and a few herbal remedies, and in just six months—was something he found truly difficult to believe.’