As soon as Zhenzhen returned home, before she could go back to her room to change her clothes, Old Lady Li called her to the main room and asked her nervously, "How is it? Are his family members easy to get along with? Does his grandmother like you?"
Zhenzhen took off her woolen coat and hung it on the hanger, while holding a cup of hot tea in her palms to warm her hands: "Grandma Junjie likes me very much, and she even gave me the bracelet she has worn all her life." As she said this, she revealed her sleeves to show Grandma Li the jade bracelet on her wrist.
Mrs. Li only knew it was jade, but she couldn't tell what kind or appearance it was. She took a closer look and nodded happily: "This means I have confirmed you as my granddaughter-in-law."
"Who made your granddaughter so lovable? Everyone loves her and flowers bloom when they see her." Zhenzhen sat on the chair with a smile and crossed her legs: "By the way, grandma, I remembered that when I was in Beicha Mountain, I also dug up a jewelry box. There was also a jade bracelet in it. Although the quality is not as good as this one, it is also pretty good. I'll give one to you and my mother."
When Zhenzhen was in Beicha, she would bring back things from time to time. In the past, Mrs. Li would curiously look to see what else she had, but later she didn't even look at them. This time when she came to the capital, the bag of her things alone was so big that it was lucky that so many people came, otherwise it would have been difficult to carry.
"I don't wear that thing." Wang Sufen looked up at Zhenzhen while picking vegetables: "It's so clanking, what if it breaks while working?"
Old Lady Li sat cross-legged on a chair: "I don't like jade either. Gold ones are more comfortable to wear." As she spoke, she suddenly remembered something and stood up to look through the cabinet: "Zhenzhen gave me a pair of gold earrings before. I didn't dare to wear them then. Now I see many people wearing earrings on the street, so I'll find them and wear them."
As for the only piece of gold jewelry in her life, Mrs. Li wanted to hold it in her hand even when she slept. She opened the cabinet and took out a wooden box. After opening it, there were layers of handkerchiefs, and the pair of earrings were placed at the bottom.
She took the tea leaves out of her ears and put them on in no time without looking in the mirror. She felt the weight on her ears.
Old Lady Li quickly took the mirror and looked left and right before asking Zhenzhen and her mother, "Do you look good?"
"It looks good." Wang Sufen nodded enviously. When Mrs. Li got married, she at least had a pair of silver earrings. But when Wang Sufen got married, she only wore a red string. She hasn't had a piece of jewelry in all these years.
Noticing Wang Sufen's expression, Zhenzhen cursed herself for being careless. She stood up and didn't even bother to put on her clothes, and hurried back to the house. Wang Sufen looked up, smiled and shook her head: "You are still like a child, so confused and dazed."
Zhenzhen ran into the room and slipped into the space. She took out the jewelry box that she had exchanged for the big yellow croaker with the capitalist's wife. She took out a box at random and opened it to see that it was full of gold bracelets, gold earrings, and gemstone necklaces. She put on her small jacket that she wore at home, and Zhenzhen returned to the main room with the box and put it on the table: "Grandma, Mom, pick whatever you like."
"What the hell is this?" Old Mrs. Li threw the orange peel in her hand aside, walked over and casually opened the box. She was immediately dazzled by the jewelry piled up inside.
"Oh my god!" Wang Sufen didn't even notice that the vegetables in her hand had fallen. She moved over with a look of shock on her face, not even daring to stretch out her hand: "Zhenzhen, are you trying to rob a rich man?"
"Robbery is illegal." Zhen Zhen peeled an orange and said, "I dug these from the mountains before. You can pick whatever you want."
"No, how come you dug up all the treasures on the mountain?" Wang Sufen couldn't move her eyes away: "Isn't anyone here to find us?"
"Don't worry, they are all unowned, so you can wear them." Zhenzhen walked over and picked up a dragon and phoenix gold bracelet and handed it to Wang Sufen: "Mom, try this on and see."
"Oh, you haven't washed your hands yet." Wang Sufen looked at Zhenzhen's hands full of orange juice with a distressed look on her face. Just as she was about to reach out to take it, she saw that there were still vegetable leaves on her hands. She hurriedly got a basin of water, and she and Old Lady Li carefully washed their hands with soap and wiped them clean. Then they carefully took out the jewelry in the box one by one.
Zhenzhen stood aside and watched the two of them gesture one by one, occasionally pointing with her finger covered with orange juice and giving some suggestions. Wang Sufen's heart was about to jump out of her chest, and she pushed her aside: "My little ancestor, wash your hands quickly before coming over here, otherwise it will not look good if you touch it off the color."
Zhenzhen burst out laughing: "If the color fades, it's not gold anymore. It's copper plated with gold." However, seeing how cautious Wang Sufen was, she quickly stuffed the last orange slice into her mouth, fetched water to wash her hands, and then came over to advise the two.
The original owner of the jewelry box was Mrs. Zhang, who was in her early sixties. Most of her jewelry was of a calm style, which was more suitable for Mrs. Li and Wang Sufen. However, Mrs. Li and Wang Sufen were old-fashioned and did not want anything with extra decorations and gems. They preferred something that looked plain and heavy.
The two of them gestured for a long time, and Wang Sufen chose a pair of gold earrings and a gold bracelet. Old Lady Li also took a gold bracelet, and put the rest back and pushed them to Zhenzhen. Zhenzhen looked at the two of them with a smile: "Just pick as much as you can, I have more."
"This is a lot. I thought I would never be able to wear such a valuable thing in my life. I didn't expect that I would be blessed with a daughter when I am old." Wang Sufen looked at the big gold bracelet on her wrist happily. She put it outside her sleeve, then thought it was too conspicuous, so she stuffed it into her sleeve. After a while, she felt uncomfortable when she couldn't see it, so she pulled it down again. She was finally satisfied when she saw it half hidden and half exposed.
Zhenzhen rummaged through the box and took out two gold rings and handed them to Old Lady Li and Wang Sufen. They put them on quickly and compared themselves in front of the mirror for a long time. Old Lady Li suddenly smiled and said, "See if you look like the local rich man in the past."
Wang Sufen smacked her lips and said, "Even a local rich man doesn't have so many good things."
"Hey, here are two strings of pearl necklaces, just right for you." Zhenzhen saw two strings of round and white pearls from a separate small bag, and took them out to give one to Old Lady Li and one to Wang Sufen.
Old Lady Li waved her hand and said, "We have nowhere to take it, so you can keep it."
Zhenzhen couldn't help but hand it to the two of them separately: "Wait until the New Year to wear it."
Mrs. Li was very excited when she heard this. She gestured in front of the mirror and said, "I'm just afraid it's not good to be too ostentatious."
"It's okay. When someone asks you, just say it was given to you by your granddaughter. You should show it off."
Hearing about showing off, Mrs. Li was delighted: "If I go back to my hometown, I will wear all of them. Not many people know me here."
Wang Sufen thought for a moment and said, "When the fourth son's wife comes, I will wear it to show off in front of her and show her my big gold bracelet every day."
Mrs. Li was immediately amused: "You want to make her so angry that she can't sleep at night."
Wang Sufen thought of the fourth son's wife's habit of always being jealous of other people's things, and couldn't help laughing: "I just like to see her being sour and helpless towards us. It's fun to watch her during the New Year and other festivals."
"You won't be able to see it this year." Old Lady Li fumbled with her big gold bracelet. "The other day I asked Mingbei to send a telegram to the third and fourth sons, asking them to spend the New Year at home. Now they have grandchildren, so if a whole family were to come and spend the New Year with their families, we can't afford to support them for half a month."
Wang Sufen laughed at Mrs. Li for becoming more childish as she got older: "The third and fourth sons also send you money every year."
"That's for my retirement. It would be a big loss if they eat it back." Old Lady Li glanced at Wang Sufen: "What can Zhimuwu do with that little money? If he spends too much, Zhenzhen will have to pay for it. Our Zhenzhen hasn't even started working yet."
Zhenzhen was playing with an exquisite ruby necklace. Seeing the distressed look on Old Lady Li's face, she immediately smiled and said, "It's okay. If we have no money, we can just sell him some ginseng. We'll plant it for as many years as he wants. You can just spend it without worry."
Old Lady Li laughed out loud. She fished out the key to the cabinet from her waist, locked the pearl necklace and the big gold bracelet in the cabinet, and only took the gold earrings and the gold ring. "It's much more comfortable this way. I'll put them on when someone comes."
***
Xi Junjie turned off the fire for the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall that had been stewed for a day and a night, and directly took a can to the next room. When Mrs. Li saw the familiar can, she hurriedly took a towel and put it on the table: "Why are you making such an expensive thing again?"
Xi Junjie smiled and said, "I'm going to take my grandma to Mr. Zhang to check her pulse today. I stewed some more and will bring a can for Mr. Zhang to try later."
Mrs. Li said immediately, "Give Mr. Zhang a bowl of soup first. I guarantee he will be eager to check your grandma's pulse once a week." Zhenzhen went to change her clothes and said, "Grandma, I'll go with Junjie."
"Go ahead." Old Lady Li waved her hand without even looking up. She didn't care that it wasn't dinner time. She went to the kitchen to get a bowl, chopsticks and spoon. She returned to the room and impatiently opened the lotus leaves. A strong meaty aroma instantly filled the room. Old Lady Li took a deep breath and said, "It smells so good."
Mr. Zhang's house was in an alley not far from Houyang. Ling Xiu Lan, Xi Junjie and Zhen Zhen went to pick up Old Mrs. Xi and drove directly to the alley outside Mr. Zhang's house.
Zhenzhen had greeted Mr. Zhang in advance, so after Mr. Zhang went out to buy vegetables early in the morning, he did not go out and sat in the warm front room reading a medical book.
"Sir, we are here." Zhenzhen shouted as she entered the courtyard. Mr. Zhang stood at the window and waved at them. Pushing open the door, the warm room exuded a faint medicinal fragrance. Mrs. Xi recognized that the person in front of her was indeed Mr. Zhang Renze, and excitedly stretched out her hands: "Excuse me, sir."
"Please sit down, old sister." Mr. Zhang asked them to sit on the sofa. The old lady was still breathing heavily because she had walked for a while. Mr. Zhang made a pot of red dates and wolfberry tea and poured a bowl for everyone.
"I've always wanted to visit you, sir, but I didn't expect to be so close." Ling Xiulan smiled sincerely and said, "This time, sir, please see my mother-in-law and prescribe a tonic."
"You're welcome." Mr. Zhang smiled and took a sip of tea. "Zhenzhen is half my apprentice, and Junjie is not bad either. I usually feel bored living alone, so I hope they can come over more often to liven things up."
Xi Junjie took the opportunity to bring out the pot: "Sir, I stewed Buddha Jumps Over the Wall for you. Would you like to eat a bowl first or keep it warm on the stove?"
"Have a bowl." Zhang Renze rolled up his sleeves: "I haven't even had a good breakfast yet, I'm waiting for your Buddha Jumps Over the Wall."
Seeing the straightforward nature of the Chinese medicine master, Old Lady Xi and Ling Xiulan also relaxed a lot. Xi Junjie pushed aside the lotus leaves, and the fragrance emanated. Zhang Renze's eyes lit up immediately: "This is more delicious than what I had at the Great Country Hotel back then."
"Of course, Junjie put enough ingredients in it." Zhenzhen directly brought five bowls: "Sir, you live alone and can't finish it all, it will be a waste. We will eat with you so that you don't feel embarrassed to eat alone."
"You're greedy, so why are you making excuses?" Zhang Renze tapped Zhenzhen's forehead with his finger. After taking the bowl and taking a sip of the soup, Zhang Renze immediately regretted it: "Actually, it's quite comfortable for me to eat alone."
Zhenzhen immediately picked up a piece of deer tendon and took a bite: "I've eaten it all, you can't take it back."
The two of them were joking around, and the atmosphere became lively. After each of them finished a bowl, they felt warm all over. Mrs. Xi didn't have any serious illness, but she was always uncomfortable here and there as she aged. Ling Xiulan brought all the old lady's previous prescriptions and put them aside for Mr. Zhang to refer to.
After feeling her pulse, Zhang Renze drank a sip of tea: "Actually, you are in good health, and your minor ailments are not serious. But I see from the dates on these prescriptions that you have hardly stopped taking the medicine in the past six months, and you have become a little too weak. In my opinion, I would just stop taking the medicine. I will prescribe you some dietary supplements to follow. Come back in a month and I will see you again." Mr. Zhang wrote down the pulse diagnosis and handed it to Zhenzhen: "Let me test you. Write a few dietary supplements."
Zhenzhen has been practicing for the past six months. After reading the pulse case, she quickly wrote out a dozen dietary supplement prescriptions. Mr. Zhang nodded with satisfaction: "It seems that your efforts in the past six months have not been in vain. You have learned the skills very quickly, so shouldn't you pay the tuition?"
Zhen Zhen was confused: "What?"
Mr. Zhang sighed with a righteous look on his face: "You see, we are so familiar with each other that I am embarrassed to ask you for money. How about this..." He pointed at Xi Junjie and smiled happily: "Let him cook to pay off the debt."
The author has something to say: I have a fever today, my nose and throat feel like they are spewing fire, my brain is a mess, and my hands are weak. I have been writing intermittently since this morning and have only managed to squeeze out this little bit. I feel very depressed. This is the only update for today. Good night everyone!