Regardless of anything else, Aunt He wasn’t about to let her elderly mother continue swinging a hoe around the garden.
In recent years, her mom hadn’t been able to do such intense physical labor because of her back injury. Even just sweeping the floor with a high broom was considered heavy work. Yet today, she was out there wielding a hoe like it was nothing—it was almost like a final surge of vitality before death.
It honestly scared Aunt He half to death.
She quickly cald her daughter and mother down and helped them back inside.
Grandma didn’t think it was necessary. "I'm really fine. I just haven’t moved around for years and wanted to stretch a little! My body suddenly feels so good, I just wanted to try."
Aunt He, sweating bullets, held onto her aging mother tightly.
"Alright, alright, Mom, I’m begging you, whether you’re really better or not, let's go back inside first, okay? Even just standing there straight makes my heart race! I’m really terrified you’ll hurt yourself again."
Grandma laughed heartily. "I’m really fine, I’m all better!"
"Fine, fine, you're better, you're better! Let's go inside first!"
Grandma couldn’t win against her daughter’s insistence and allowed herself to be helped back into the house. She tried to brush Aunt He’s hands off though. "Alright, alright, I'll go inside, but you don’t have to hold . My back’s healed—no need to support anymore!"
"No, no, no, just let hold you! Please, Mom! If I have to, I'll get down on my knees!"
"You silly girl."
anwhile, Little He Qing was laughing as she tidied up the hoe. Aunt He called out to her too, "Qingqing, put the hoe away properly and co inside too!"
"Got it," Little He Qing responded, setting the hoe to the side.
She thought to herself: Grandma’s sudden recovery… it must be thanks to Lin Zhengran’s dicine, right? After all, the only thing that changed between morning and now was that one pill.
Her face turned red with emotion. She didn’t know exactly why the dicine was so powerful—
But since it was Lin Zhengran who made it, sohow it felt perfectly normal.
He really was amazing.
Back in the living room, Aunt He carefully helped her mother sit down on the sofa. "Mom, sit down slowly, careful with your back."
Grandma chuckled helplessly. "I’m really fine, you don’t have to hold ."
"I’m begging you, just sit for a bit first. Watching you like this makes so anxious."
Little He Qing also sat down on the sofa.
Seeing that her mother was safely seated, Aunt He finally let out a huge sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. "Oh my god. I just got ho from work, and Mom, you gave such a scare. I need to go splash so cold water on my face. You two stay put!"
She went to the bathroom, washed her face with cold water, and looked at herself in the mirror—then glanced outside at the garden soil that had nearly been completely turned over.
Everything was real.
If this was a dream, it was way too vivid.
On the sofa, Little He Qing asked, "Grandma, does your back still hurt?"
Grandma smiled broadly. Regaining full control of her body seed to make her radiant. She stretched her arms and rotated her wrists.
"Really, it doesn’t hurt at all. I feel like I haven't felt this light in decades. Having a good body really is sothing else."
"That’s wonderful!" Little He Qing bead with happiness.
When Aunt He ca back to the living room and saw her mother stretching her arms, she exhaled again and hurried to sit down.
"Mom, how do you feel now?"
Grandma seed a bit tired of repeating herself. "I'm fine, really fine! I’ll even stand up and show you."
"Take it slow, take it slow!"
Grandma got up, and just like earlier in the garden, she casually twisted her waist and stretched her joints.
Aunt He’s eyes widened. Watching her mother go from needing help to moving freely really did feel like witnessing a miracle. According to the hospital, the back injury was irreversible and would only worsen with age.
But… seeing it with her own eyes, there was no way to deny it.
Grandma noticed her daughter standing there dumbfounded and laughed.
"You’re shocked, aren’t you?"
Then suddenly, she grew emotional and took her daughter's hand:
"Dear daughter, Mom’s poor health these years has been such a burden on you. You couldn’t even go out and enjoy yourself. Now that I’m better, it’ll ease your burden a lot. You won’t have to worry about so much anymore."
It took Aunt He a long mont to snap out of it. Seeing her mother on the verge of tears, she smiled blankly, truly from the heart.
"Mom, what are you saying? I’m really, really happy you're better! And besides, I’m not that young anymore—going out and about isn’t exactly my top priority."
As she laughed, tears welled up in Aunt He’s eyes. Her lips trembled, and she wiped at her tears with her sleeve.
"I must be getting old. Crying so easily now… Mom, you’re really better? It’s like you’re decades younger again… I never thought I'd get to see you this full of life."
The emotional outpouring was overwhelming—sothing hard for anyone else to understand unless they’d seen a loved one bedridden for years suddenly co back to life.
Little He Qing, seeing her mom’s red-rimd eyes, hurried to pull out a couple of tissues to hand to her.
Aunt He accepted the tissues, looking at her aging but now vigorous mother, crying and laughing all at once.
"It really feels like a dream."
The family let out all their emotions for a while.
Finally, they cald down enough to sit and properly talk about what had happened.
Grandma told them everything that happened around noon:
"Qingqing gave a pill earlier. She said it was from that Lin Zhengran—he even made it himself?"
Little He Qing nodded.
Grandma continued, "At first, I didn’t think much of it. But once the pill touched my mouth, it just lted away—like magic! I lay down and felt this warm sensation all over. I fell asleep without even realizing it, and when I woke up, my body felt so light…"
She seed unable to describe it fully.
"You know, at my age, with my old back injury and other little issues, my body always felt heavy and tired. But when I woke up this afternoon, it was like… like I was young again!"
Aunt He laughed. "Okay, that’s a bit exaggerated, Mom. At least you still look the sa as you did when I left for work this morning."
"It’s just a figure of speech. But seriously, that dicine is incredible!"
Hearing all this, Aunt He couldn’t help but feel like she was listening to a fairy tale. She looked at Little He Qing.
"But from what I understand, after Grandma took the pill, she imdiately got better? Just like that? What is that dicine? And when you say Lin Zhengran made it, you an he literally made it himself?"
Little He Qing answered in her soft voice:
"That’s about it. Lin Zhengran told he made it himself. There were two pills—one for Grandma, and one for you, Mom. I even have his handwritten note. It’s in my bedroom. I’ll go get it for you!"
"Two? You an… there’s one for too?" Aunt He pointed at herself in disbelief.
Little He Qing had already gotten up to fetch it. She called from the bedroom, "Yeah, there’s one for you too. I’m bringing it!"
She rummaged through her ssy drawer, where she kept all sorts of little things Lin Zhengran had given her—including a bunch of his photos.
Holding the note and the foil-wrapped pill, she brought them back out and handed them to her mom.
Aunt He imdiately stood up, carefully accepting them and reading the note.
After confirming that one pill was indeed ant for her—and realizing that her mother’s recovery really was linked to the dicine—her shock deepened.
Grandma leaned over to take a look too.
Sighing with amazent, Grandma said:
"If this were back in our day, he’d be considered a living Buddha reborn! And he’s actually Qingqing’s boyfriend! Our family’s ancestors must be smiling down on us!"
Little He Qing shyly grinned, twisting her hands.
"Grandma, it’s not like I’m amazing or anything. It’s him who’s amazing! I’m just following him."
After the shock, Aunt He hesitantly asked her daughter in a soft voice, "Qingqing, can I call Lin Zhengran to ask about this?"
"Sure! Let send him a ssage on WeChat first to check if he’s available."
Aunt He imdiately nodded, face full of respect.
"Good, good, ask him first if he’s free."
Little He Qing marveled at how her mom’s attitude toward Lin Zhengran had suddenly beco so respectful, even her tone had changed.
She quickly pulled out her phone and sent a ssage.
"Lin Zhengran? Are you busy? My mom would like to talk to you on the phone."
Back in the North, Lin Zhengran seed to have anticipated this reaction. After all, dicine infused with spiritual energy wasn’t sothing modern science could rival. Of course, the effects would be shocking.
Even though the pill wasn’t as strong as the one he gave Jiang Jingshi—not even a quarter of its strength—he had been careful not to overwhelm an elderly body.
A reply quickly ca back on WeChat:
"Not busy right now. I’m available."
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