At this, Duanmu Qing’s mother couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment, and her typically quiet husband, Duanmu Ming, shared the sentiment.
Both had assumed this young man might be a doctor *and* a potential son-in-law their daughter had brought home, only for Duanmu Qing to wrap up the introduction so quickly.
Fortunately, thanks to Duanmu Qing’s nudge, her mother snapped out of it, stepping aside to clear the path, allowing Xu Fei and Duanmu Qing to enter the house.
Once Xu Fei and Duanmu Qing settled inside, Duanmu Ming immediately headed to the kitchen to cook.
This caught Xu Fei off guard—men who willingly cooked were a rare sight in rural areas.
“Doctor Xu, you might not know, but my dad used to be a famous chef in the village. He retired from it, but his skills are still sharp!”
“Usually, my mom handles the cooking, but whenever we have guests, my dad takes over. He says he can’t stand the few dishes she makes!”
Seeing Xu Fei’s surprise, Duanmu Qing quickly explained with a smile.
“Really? I’d never have guessed Uncle had such talent,” Xu Fei replied.
Duanmu Qing’s mother poured a cup of tea and handed it to him.
Xu Fei took it, sipped, and then said,
“Since Uncle’s busy in the kitchen, it’s a good chance to talk. You haven’t told me yet—what’s the deal with Auntie’s back pain? Any specific details?”
At the mention of the main issue, Duanmu Qing perked up, eager to fill Xu Fei in on her mother’s condition.
Back in the day, their family was poor. When Duanmu Qing’s mother was pregnant, there was no such thing as resting or preparing for childbirth like nowadays.
Even with a big belly, she had to toil in the village fields, working gruelling farm labour.
Being young at the time, she brushed off any concerns despite what others said.
It wasn’t until she grew older that she realised she might have planted the seeds of a chronic problem back then.
Now, whenever rainy or overcast days rolled in, her mother’s back pain flared up unbearably, sometimes so bad she couldn’t even get out of bed and had to lie there resting.
Duanmu Qing had been too young back then to do anything about it.
Later, once she started earning money from work, she took her mother to hospitals far and wide, visiting countless so-called experts.
None of them could cure her. The experts would look at scans and say there was nothing major, just to rest more and take some medicine.
But back in their rural home, her mother’s condition reverted to its old state, with no relief in sight.
Out of options, Duanmu Qing sought advice from various sources and eventually got hold of a traditional Chinese medicine prescription.
She brewed the herbs for her mother, and it actually worked—whenever the weather turned gloomy and the pain kicked in, a dose of the medicine would ease it.
But who wants to rely on medicine every time it rains?
That experience stuck with Duanmu Qing, sparking her faith in Chinese medicine.
Though the prescription didn’t cure her mother outright, it was far more effective than the Western doctors at those big hospitals.
From then on, while working in the provincial capital, Duanmu Qing kept her ears open, asking friends and family to help her find a reliable Chinese medicine practitioner.
