Chapter 13

Su Xinghui went to the backyard, and sure enough, his aunt Su Cuie was busy in the kitchen. He called out "Auntie," and Su Cuie looked up, happy, "Xinghui is here! You must be hungry. Auntie’s food will be ready soon."

Su Xinghui sat on a small stool by the stove and started adding firewood to the stove. When he was a child, this was his favorite chore.

Su Cuie asked while stir-frying, "Xinghui, I heard you started working?"

Su Xinghui said, "Yes, I’ve been working for over twenty days."

Su Cuie said, "You must work hard. By the way, when are you getting married?"

Su Xinghui was a bit embarrassed, "Auntie, I don't even have a girlfriend."

Su Cuie laughed, "Then you need to hurry up."

The aunt and nephew chatted for a while, then brought the food out to the main room, and the family started eating.

Yu Maode’s eldest son, Yu Gaoping, and second son, Yu Gaoshan, had long since married and moved out, and both daughters had married off. Only the youngest son, Yu Gaofeng, still lived with the old couple.

Yu Gaofeng was Su Xinghui’s cousin, but he was only a month older than Su Xinghui. Both were only twenty-one this year.

Yu Gaoping and his wife farmed at home, Yu Gaoshan made a living selling fish, and only Yu Gaofeng followed his father in practicing medicine. In every generation of the Yu family, only one descendant practiced medicine, while the others either farmed or studied. Because the Yu family was not only a family of medical practitioners but also a family of scholars and farmers, in Yu Maode’s generation, his family was the only one in Yujiawan that practiced medicine.

Yu Maode had excellent medical skills, great martial arts, and a head full of knowledge. He passed his martial arts and land to his eldest son and his medical skills to his youngest son. Unfortunately, his second son only liked making money and refused to learn anything. Fortunately, there was his nephew Su Xinghui, who not only liked to learn martial arts from him but also inherited his knowledge. How could Yu Maode not love Su Xinghui? ===== CHAPTER 25 =====

The Yu family’s daily life was very simple. Yu Maode paid attention to health preservation; he ate little meat and mostly vegetables. The meat he did eat was mostly fish. Qingyu Township was located on the banks of the Changjiang and was named after fish, so fish were naturally abundant.

Today, there was a plate of pan-fried small fish on the table. Here, these small fish that never grew big were called *Zizi* fish. Pan-fried with oil and stewed with seasonings like green onion, ginger, garlic, and chili, the taste was superb.

There was also a plate of stir-fried diced meat with fresh lotus seeds, which Su Cuie had stir-fried specifically for her nephew. Every summer, lotus seeds were Su Xinghui’s favorite.

Besides these two meat dishes, the rest were vegetables. But these vegetables were grown by Su Cuie herself, and stir-fried in a country stove with a large iron wok, they had a unique flavor.

There weren't many dishes on the table, but they were all to Su Xinghui’s taste, and he ate with great relish.

Yu Maode didn't eat much; after eating some vegetables and a bowl of rice, he went to rest. This was his daily habit. Su Xinghui chatted with Yu Gaofeng. Yu Gaofeng hadn't passed the college entrance exam and was learning traditional Chinese medicine at home with Yu Maode. He was quite talented in TCM.

Of course, Yu Gaofeng couldn't practice medicine independently yet; he still had to learn from his father for at least a few more years.

The two brothers were similar in age and had played together since childhood, so they were very close. Su Xinghui knew that Yu Gaofeng had a girlfriend in the neighboring village, so he asked, "Third brother, when are you planning to get married?"

Yu Gaofeng said somewhat embarrassedly, "I don't know yet, probably in a year or two."

Su Xinghui said, "Let me know in advance when you get married; I’ll definitely come."

The two brothers chatted for a while, then heard the dogs in the village barking in unison. They didn't pay much attention; dogs barking was a very common thing and nothing to be surprised about.

But before two minutes had passed, Su Xinghui heard the sound of a car, and the Yu family’s dogs barked loudly. He and Yu Gaofeng went outside and saw a taxi driving over and stopping in front of the door.

Su Xinghui wasn't surprised. Yu Maode’s medical skills were excellent, and now, besides people from nearby villages, many people from the city came to seek his help. This was probably another patient seeking treatment.

However, when the patient got out of the car, Su Xinghui discovered it was someone he knew. He called out, "Lu Xiaoya!"

The patients were an old woman and a beautiful young girl. The young girl was carefully helping the old woman out of the car. Hearing someone call her name, she looked up and called out happily, "Su Xinghui, why are you here?"

Lu Xiaoya was Su Xinghui’s junior, also studying in the Chinese Department at Jiangcheng University, one year below him. After the summer break, she would be a senior.

When Lu Xiaoya was at school, she and Su Xinghui were both student union cadres, so they had a good relationship. She admired Su Xinghui’s talent, and Su Xinghui also had a good impression of the pure and beautiful Lu Xiaoya.

Of course, because Su Xinghui had a girlfriend in college, he and Lu Xiaoya only admired each other. After Su Xinghui returned to Xinhe County, the distance between them grew, and they had no further contact.

Especially later, when Su Xinghui learned that Lu Xiaoya’s father was the Director of the Provincial Party History Office, he would never take the initiative to look for her. He was afraid Lu Xiaoya would think he was approaching her because her father was a department-level official, and thus look down on himself.

At that time, Su Xinghui was still full of sour pride.

Besides knowing that Lu Xiaoya’s father, Lu Zhenghong, was the Director of the Provincial Party History Office, Su Xinghui also knew that he would have a smooth official career in the next dozen years.

One of Lu Zhenghong’s old leaders was in the capital. During this year’s leadership transition, the central government sent a new Provincial Party Secretary to Hudong Province. He had a good relationship with Lu Zhenghong’s old leader. Because this old leader had worked in Hudong, he had asked him for a lot of advice before coming to Hudong.

And Lu Zhenghong was the one recommended to the Provincial Party Secretary by this old leader. After taking office, within a year, he promoted Lu Zhenghong to the position of Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee and a member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee. From then on, Lu Zhenghong embarked on the fast track of his official career.

A dozen years later, he even sat on the throne of the Secretary of the Hudong Provincial Party Committee.

Of course, Su Xinghui didn't know many of the inside stories, and many were just hearsay. However, this didn't prevent him from knowing that Lu Zhenghong was a super potential stock. In this life, he naturally wouldn't be so aloof. Although he wouldn't go so far as to curry favor with Lu Zhenghong, it was necessary to maintain a good relationship with Lu Xiaoya.

Seeing the old woman walking with difficulty, Su Xinghui quickly stepped forward to help Lu Xiaoya support her and asked, "Lu Xiaoya, are you here for medical treatment?"

Lu Xiaoya nodded, "Yes, this is my grandmother. She has rheumatoid arthritis. She saw doctors at big hospitals for a long time with no effect. Through a recommendation, we came to Dr. Yu. We’ve been here a few times, and now Grandma’s condition is much better. By the way, you haven't said why you’re here. You aren't sick, are you?"

Su Xinghui laughed, "I’m not sick; Dr. Yu is my uncle."

Lu Xiaoya said in surprise, "Really? That’s great! How could it be such a coincidence? We are so fated!"

Lu Xiaoya’s words slipped out, but as soon as she said them, she felt there was something wrong with the phrasing and couldn't help but blush. Fortunately, the old woman didn't notice. Her rheumatoid arthritis was already quite severe, and she was in great pain, walking with a staggering gait, needing to concentrate to move step by step.

Su Xinghui pretended not to hear. He carefully helped the old woman into the main room and found a chair with a backrest for her to sit on.

Seeing that the time was about right, Su Xinghui prepared to call Yu Maode to wake up. Unexpectedly, Yu Maode had already gotten up. He washed his face and went to the main room to start seeing the old woman. ===== CHAPTER 26 =====