Mr. Sheng looked at his tense wife and his daughter, whose eyes were always red from crying, and a flicker of disgust appeared in his gaze.
The house hadn't seen a day of peace since they'd officially recognized Sheng Xinglian. 'If I'd known it would come to this,' he thought, 'it would've been better never to have acknowledged this daughter at all.'
But he would never dare say that out loud. The elegant wife he once had was long gone; this one would tear him to shreds!
This daughter was his own flesh and blood. If he wanted peace in the household, he would have to be cruel to Jiaojiao.
Mr. Sheng said wearily, "All of you, stop blaming Jiaojiao. Tomorrow, I'll take out an ad in the paper to announce that the Sheng Family is severing all ties with Gu Jiaojiao."
Mrs. Sheng: ...
A pang of pain shot through her heart, but looking at the tear-stained face of her biological daughter, she forced the feeling down and remained silent.
As the eldest son, Sheng Shijing said, "Since Dad has made his decision, I have no objections."
The second son, Sheng Shiwen, was all for it. "We should've done this ages ago. I have no objections either."
Old Three put down his chopsticks and said meekly, "I have no objections either."
'He had plenty of objections, actually. Jiaojiao was already married, and they weren't even letting her come back for a proper visit. What difference did making a public announcement make now?!'
Sheng Xinglian was ecstatic on the inside, but she put on a reluctant expression and said,
"Dad, Sister is already in a terrible situation. Isn't this a bit too heartless of you?"
Mr. Sheng closed his eyes, not wanting to speak, only to hear his wife roar in a fury.
"Xingxing, you're just too kind! She's a nobody to this family. After we fed and housed her for eighteen years, what more could she possibly want?"
Gu Jiaojiao had no idea she had been completely abandoned by the Sheng Family. At that moment, she was speaking to the Su Family.
"Dad, Mom, could you help Su Shuochi and me heat two buckets of water? After we've bathed, I'll examine him. His legs can be healed; it's just a matter of time."
Gu Jiaojiao's smile was incredibly infectious, like a sunflower blooming in the sun.
It scattered the gloom and despair hanging over the Su family, making everything feel as clear as a sunny sky.
"Jiaojiao, are you telling the truth? When do you think Chi will be able to stand?"
Su's mother asked, looking at Gu Jiaojiao with hope in her eyes.
"I can't say for sure how long it will take. I'll need to examine him to know the specifics."
Although Gu Jiaojiao was one hundred percent confident she could heal Su Shuochi's legs, a doctor never makes absolute promises.
She already knew from taking his pulse earlier that the meridians below his waist were blocked and the nerves in his legs had been damaged by medication.
A complete recovery wasn't impossible, just a little complicated. Even if the nerves in his legs were necrotic...
...they could be repaired with deer tendons and an application of tendon-mending ointment to restore normal function.
If they weren't necrotic, it would be much easier. She couldn't draw a firm conclusion without examining him with proper instruments.
"Then I'll go heat the water for your baths. As long as he can be cured, time isn't an issue."
Mr. Su's voice was filled with excitement. He finished speaking and hurried off toward the kitchen.
"Well, well. Look at you, Gu Jiaojiao, bringing your little act all the way to the Old Su Family. Filling my parents' heads with nonsense again? Since when did a sickly little thing like you learn how to practice medicine?"
Su Qinchun, wearing a pair of open-toed sandals, kicked the corner of the table with a loud THUD.
With a cry of "Ouch!" Su Qinchun clutched her foot and plopped onto the floor.
"Chun Ni, what's wrong?" Su's mother shot to her feet. 'Her son is already disabled; she can't let anything happen to her youngest daughter too, or she won't be able to go on living.'
Seeing blood seeping from her toe, Gu Jiaojiao put her anger aside and immediately went to help her take off the sandal.
She didn't find it dirty in the least. It wasn't that she wanted to kiss up to Su Qinchun; she was acting on pure medical instinct.
In her past life, she had treated countless patients in a single day, many of whom were far dirtier than Su Qinchun was at that moment.
"I'll go find a spiderweb to put on it," Su's mother said, turning toward the kitchen.
"No! The wound has to be cleaned thoroughly and treated with antibiotic ointment, or she could get tetanus."
Gu Jiaojiao stopped Su's mother.
"What do you know!" Su Qinchun, sweating from the pain, gave her a shove.
"Jiaojiao is your sister-in-law, Su Qinchun. Where are your manners?" Su Shuochi warned in a low voice.
The man's voice turned low and magnetic. "Jiaojiao, you don't know where the ointment is. I'll take you to our room to get it."
Su Shuochi was terrified that his wife, in her haste, would materialize the antibiotic ointment right in front of his mother and sister.
Gu Jiaojiao took the cue and pushed his wheelchair away. Of course she wouldn't pull things out of her space in front of everyone.
'This man really underestimates me.'
"So, you know where the ointment is?" Back in their room, Gu Jiaojiao leaned in and whispered in his ear.
"Can your stone produce ointment?" Su Shuochi retorted, though without much conviction.
"No."
"Then what did you mean about applying ointment?"
"Well, it *does* need ointment. Was I wrong?"
"Jiaojiao wasn't wrong. There's some basic wound medicine in that cabinet," Su Shuochi said, pointing to the chest of drawers.
"She just broke the skin a little. Regular antibiotic ointment will be enough." 'The ointment in my space is just regular stuff, anyway.'
Gu Jiaojiao didn't say that last part out loud. 'He doesn't really think some Immortal is giving me these things, does he?'
She grabbed the ointment and went back out. Hearing Su's mother scolding her daughter, Gu Jiaojiao handed the ointment and a small bottle of saline solution to her.
She instructed Su's mother to first clean Su Qinchun's wound, then apply the ointment, and finally wrap it with gauze.
When Su Shuochi wheeled himself out, he saw that his wife was holding a few extra items.
He watched her with a burning gaze, his heart racing. 'Maybe there really is hope for my legs.'
'That old man—no, the old Immortal—had said that the owner of the stone could pull him from the abyss.'
The reverence Su Shuochi felt for the Immortal now was matched only by the disdain he would feel for the old man in the future.
For he was, after all, just a mortal—and a crass one at that...
The couple took their baths separately. Su Shuochi was in a great mood, feeling that there was finally hope he might stand again.
"Jiaojiao, if you're tired, you should get some sleep. We can take a stroll around the compound tomorrow and materialize some food to bring back."
"Aren't you curious how long it will take for you to be able to stand?"
"I am, but you're tired. Get some rest. I've been injured for a year; one more day won't make a difference."
Gu Jiaojiao was impressed by how composed the man was. 'But I really want to know!'
So she bolted the door and pulled the 75cm ultra-large-bore 3.0T MRI machine out of her space.
This was far superior to a CT scan. CTs involved ionizing radiation, which could cause a certain degree of radiation damage.
On the other hand, no studies had ever definitively shown that an MRI's magnetic field caused any harm to the human body.
Moreover, MRI scans offered much higher soft-tissue resolution.
They were significantly better than CTs for visualizing structures and lesions within the central nervous system and joints.
Su Shuochi had had ultrasounds before, but he'd never seen an MRI. "What is this?"
He had now grown calm enough to accept that his young wife could produce items worthy of an Immortal at will.
"It's a piece of medical equipment, a little more advanced than an ultrasound," Gu Jiaojiao said, her expression turning serious as she focused on her work.
After the scan, the results were far different from what Gu Jiaojiao had determined by taking his pulse. Some of the nerves in Su Shuochi's legs were already necrotic.