Chapter 442 - 384: Disgust
Chapter 442: Chapter 384: Disgust
The accusation of being "unfilial" was a heavy one, enough to stir the hearts of onlookers. The students of this era had a strong sense of justice and public decency, and those passing by all turned to look at them. Many gazes lingered on Xiao Man’s face for a few seconds, and the mix of inquiry and reproach in their eyes made her angry enough to curse.
Xiao Man effortlessly pulled Lin Aizhen’s hand away. She pointed off to the side, intending to lead them away from the main entrance where they were blocking the path. But Lin Aizhen, afraid Xiao Man would slip away again, anxiously grabbed her sleeve once more. She turned and yelled to Wu Xiaowen, "What are you waiting for? Come over here! It’s still early. We’ll have her go back, check his pulse, and write a prescription. It won’t be too late for her to come back to school after!"
Wu Xiaowen did as she was told, grabbing Xiao Man’s other wrist. "Your grandfather’s condition isn’t good," she said. "Your grandmother pushed herself to come all the way here in person to get you. You have to come with us this time, no matter what. Stop being so willful!"
The mother and daughter flanked Xiao Man, gripping her tightly. From the looks of it, if Xiao Man were truly a helpless little girl, there would be no room for discussion. They would have simply dragged her away!
Anger flared in Xiao Man. She flung their hands off and said coldly, "Is there something wrong with your ears? Why won’t you listen to my grandmother’s advice? If someone is sick, they go to a hospital. You keep pestering me, a minor. You may not be tired of it, but I’m getting really sick of it!"
Lin Aizhen stumbled back two steps, nearly falling. Wu Xiaowen, in her high heels, wasn’t much better off. But as a dutiful daughter, her only concern was her mother. Before she had even regained her own balance, she rushed to support Lin Aizhen, repeatedly asking, "Mom, are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Then she turned to glare at Xiao Man, rebuking her, "Who taught you to treat an elderly person like that? She’s sick, for crying out loud! Where is your upbringing?"
Xiao Man snorted. "I had a mother who bore me but no one to raise me. That’s who you’re talking to, and it’s not like you don’t know it! What ’upbringing’ are you even talking about? I don’t understand! Why don’t you go home and ask your precious daughter, Xuanxuan? Perhaps she can give you the answer you’re looking for."
"You!" Wu Xiaowen was at a loss for words, her expression shifting through several shades in a fascinating display.
Lin Aizhen clutched her chest, taking a few labored breaths. She patted Wu Xiaowen’s hand, then took two steps toward Xiao Man. With a look of pure pity, she said, "Oh, my poor, dear granddaughter. That grudge-holding nature of yours... it’s just like your mother and your aunt! Are you still mad at your mother? But at the time, the situation was..."
Xiao Man glanced at the growing crowd of onlookers and cut Lin Aizhen off. "Are you planning to dredge up the past? Go right ahead and air your dirty laundry here, but I don’t have time to entertain you. I’m leaving!"
Lin Aizhen quickly pushed Wu Xiaowen forward to block her way. "Manman, you can’t leave! Your grandfather’s life is hanging by a thread! You have to come treat him!"
Xiao Man said, "If his life is hanging by a thread, why isn’t he in a hospital? Are you trying to gamble with his life?"
"Manman, you study traditional Chinese medicine. Is it that hard for you to prescribe something for your grandfather? Stop making excuses! Let’s go, come with Mom!"
Xiao Man glanced at the ever-growing crowd, most of whom were clearly medical students. She smiled and said, "Aren’t you two putting me in an impossible situation? You’re insisting on dragging me away to treat a patient. I’m a medical student, yes, but I’m only a sophomore. I’m not even qualified for a hospital internship. And even interns have to be supervised by a mentor when they diagnose patients and write prescriptions. So let me ask you: are you doing this because you truly trust me, or because you’re trying to save a few bucks on hospital registration and fees? If it’s the latter, I sympathize, but I can’t help you. If it’s the former, then I must refuse. I may have dissected rabbits and fed mice my own homemade remedies in the lab, but I would never dare to experiment on a living human being. My professors would never allow it either!"
After hearing Xiao Man’s speech, the students in the crowd immediately broke into an uproar. Moments ago, they had been judging her for being "unfilial," but now their attitudes completely shifted. They began to point fingers at Lin Aizhen and Wu Xiaowen, accusing them of being both ignorant and reckless. To pressure a younger family member like this was, in their eyes, completely unreasonable—
"How is that acceptable? She’s only a sophomore! How could she possibly treat a patient on the brink of death?"
"That’s a joke! Unless they don’t care if he lives or dies!"
"And so what if she could treat him? She doesn’t have a license to practice medicine. If any kind of accident happened, she’d be held responsible. Getting expelled would be the lightest punishment—her whole future would be ruined! Aren’t they just setting her up to fail?"
"Exactly! And they’re making a scene in public, as if they want everyone to know. Did they ever stop to think what would happen to this student’s future if she failed? That woman must be brainless. There’s no way she’s her real mother!"
"Sigh. You really do see all sorts of crazy things in this world. I just don’t get it."
"..."
Lin Aizhen and Wu Xiaowen had intended to use the students’ sympathy to force Xiao Man to give in and go with them obediently. They never expected that a few sentences from Xiao Man would completely turn the tide of public opinion, leading the crowd to start chattering and criticizing them instead. Wu Xiaowen tried to explain that Xiao Man was studying traditional Chinese medicine and had long been capable of checking pulses, writing prescriptions, and saving people. But the students didn’t believe her for a second. Every medical student knew that traditional Chinese medicine was even more complex and difficult to master than Western medicine. Xiao Man had just said she was a sophomore; she probably hadn’t even learned all the different pulse types yet, so how could she be qualified to write prescriptions?
Surrounded by students pointing fingers and assailing them with sharp, merciless words, the mother and daughter, who considered themselves respectable individuals, found the humiliation unbearable. In the end, they supported each other as they made a disgraceful escape.
Of course, Xiao Man did not go with them. Her loathing for the Wu Family was bone-deep. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with them, let alone treat one of them.
’Don’t talk to me about a healer’s parental heart or the doctor’s sacred duty to save lives. I’m not that much of a saint. Doctors have the right to choose their patients, too.’
’So what if we’re blood relatives? In both her past life and this one, Wu Xiaowen had decisively abandoned her own daughter just to escape blame from the Tang family elders and preserve her own flawless, perfect image. And where were the Wu elders then? I refuse to believe they didn’t know what was going on. Wu Xiaofeng even helped his sister hide his "disfigured niece." No matter what their stance was on the matter, by failing to stop Wu Xiaowen, they were just as heartless, cruel, and merciless as their daughter. They don’t deserve my respect or my kindness!’
The two had left, but just as Xiao Man suspected, Lin Aizhen was not one to give up so easily. The mother and daughter walked for a couple hundred meters before sitting on a wooden bench by the road to catch their breath. Without her glasses, Lin Aizhen’s vision was blurry at night. She stared with hazy eyes at the twinkling neon lights in the distance. Those colorful halos of light... were there five colors or seven? She tried her best to count them but couldn’t make them out. It was as if a gray cloud had descended over her eyes... A chill ran through Lin Aizhen. ’My vision has gotten so bad,’ she thought. ’Am I really getting old?’