Chapter 2 — Loving You Is A Lifetime Order

After drawing for two hours, I stood up to pick up the glass to pour water, suddenly my wrist hurt, the glass slipped from my hand and fell to the ground, shattering. I didn't pay any attention, searched my suitcase, took a plaster and stuck it on my wrist, then continued drawing. Suddenly my phone vibrated, I opened it and saw a message from Lo Hanh Gian: 【I think your wrist is not okay, don't use too much force.】 I blankly looked at the screen. It turns out that while watching the movie, I held milk tea with my left hand, felt tired a few times so I rubbed it, then changed to my right hand. He… noticed. I thought for a moment and answered: 【Yes, I know.】 Then I threw that reminder into the clouds. At two o'clock in the morning, I finally finished the manuscript, packaged it and sent it to Ngoc Me. After drinking half a cup of Americano coffee with goji berries, I still didn't see her answer. She must have gone to see Chu Cong early. What a broken promise! If I can't cut her some money tomorrow, I will no longer be Phuong Trung Ha! I secretly opened the door to the living room, washed my face, brushed my teeth, then secretly returned to bed. As soon as I closed my eyes, my wrist started to ache again. But I was so sleepy, I didn't bother getting up to change the plaster, so I closed my eyes and went to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, I discovered that my left wrist could barely move. Every time I moved it, it hurt so much that tears fell from my eyes. 6 My parents heard the sound and rushed into the room. Seeing my face full of tears, dad quickly said: "Let's go to the hospital." Mom wanted to hold my hand and see, but every time she touched my wrist, I felt a pain in my heart and tears fell. She had to let me stay in my pajamas and put on a down jacket over it. While preparing to go downstairs, the door suddenly opened - Lo Hanh Gian appeared. His eyes immediately stopped on my wrist, and my mother immediately explained: "The baby suddenly can't move her wrist. I don't know if it's a broken bone. We're taking her to the hospital." Lo Hanh Gian frowned, reaching out to touch my wrist. I backed away in panic, shaking my head repeatedly: "No... it hurts..." As I spoke, tears welled up in my eyes, my mother hugged my back and comforted me: "My son is a doctor... No one will touch you, watch out for the stairs." As soon as he got there, Dad suddenly remembered: "I'm dead, I drank alcohol this morning, I can't drive..." Mom was angry and wanted to scold me, but Lo Hanh Gian had already returned to get the fur coat, held the keys and said: "Aunt Phuong, let me drive." The streets of Tet were quite deserted. We soon arrived at the hospital and went straight to the emergency department. The doctor looked at the experience and immediately said it was not a broken bone, Lo Hanh Gian also confirmed the same. But my mother was still worried and insisted on having an X-ray taken. Result: tenosynovitis. The doctor prescribed pain-relieving patches, told her to apply heat, massage, wear a wrist brace — and most importantly, limit the use of her hands. But I'm a cartoonist. Today we can still update, but what about tomorrow, the day after that... I asked the doctor: "If the pain goes away, I can use it again, right?" Before he could hear the answer, Lo Hanh Gian interrupted in a cold voice: "Once you're cured, you'll forget the pain, doctor, there's no need to treat her anymore." Those words made me quiet, obediently not daring to say more. The doctor discovered that Lo Hanh Gian was also a colleague, so he chatted a few words, then suddenly turned to me and said: "It's really good to have a family member who is a doctor, you must listen to what I'm told." Me: “…” I don't know when did he become my "family member"? 7 On the way home, my mother seemed unusually excited and pulled Lo Hanh Gian asked about how to treat my wrist using Oriental medicine. Lo Hanh Gian held the steering wheel and said in a faint voice: "Acupuncture." Mother immediately urged: "Tung Trung, from tomorrow you go to Hanh Gian for acupuncture." As soon as I heard the words "acupuncture", I shivered, remembering when I was a child. Grandfather Lo Hanh Gian is a famous Oriental medicine man in the area, famous throughout the province for his acupuncture profession, and the number of people coming to his clinic is endless. When I was a child, I was often sick, and my mother often took me to his clinic. Over time, I became his "little medicine maker", running back and forth to help pound the medicine. One time he was sick and couldn't be examined. I had a high fever and cried while looking for him: "Grandpa, if you die, I will die too!" Children spoke without restraint, everyone laughed, only I cried. Lo Hanh Gian came home from school and comforted me: "I'm here to take care of you, you crybaby." But I know, his dream was not to become a doctor. He is like Uncle Lo, likes literature. Uncle Lo became a high school Literature teacher, and he entered the Chinese Medicine Department of Z University, inheriting his grandfather's bowl and robe. It was not until last year, when his grandfather passed away, that Lo Hanh Gian quit his job and returned to manage the clinic. My mother often has back pain, sometimes comes for treatment, then tells me a few stories about him - mostly things like "very good skills", "gentle person", "handsome and single doctor"... I'm tired of hearing this, but now she starts that familiar song again. Lo Hanh Gian just smiled modestly: "Auntie praises me too much, I'm still far behind my grandfather in terms of skills." I pouted and added: "That's true." The air suddenly stopped for a moment, my mother turned to glare at me, then quickly explained to him: "It's just shy, it has nothing to do with your medical skills." Lo Hanh Gian suddenly glanced at the rearview mirror, the corners of his lips curled up, and smiled softly: "That's true..." 8 Back home, I went online and sent a photo to Ngoc Me. She finally relented and agreed to give me a week off from posting, so I could update again when the vacation was over. My mother urged me to go to Lo Hanh Gian's place for acupuncture every day. It was so annoying that I snuck out, sat at Starbucks to order a cup of coffee, and planned to stay there until dinner time. But just after drinking a glass, Lo Hanh Gian texted: 【Aunt Phuong told me to come for acupuncture, why haven't I seen you yet?】 【Are you lost? [address]】 【Are you afraid of me, or afraid of my medical skills?】 I stared at the chat box, the other side was showing "typing...". Before I could send it, another message popped up: 【Grandpa left you a gift, don't you want to see it?】 I arrived at the clinic on my lunch break, there were no patients, and I didn't see any other doctors. Lo Hanh Gian saw me and immediately said: "Come inside." He sat me down and asked me what I ate this morning and what I drank just now. I answered each question, then saw him open the needle bag, pull out a thin needle and come closer. I immediately jumped up and tried to run, but he held my wrist tightly. “It won't hurt.” “You lied to me!” “I didn't lie to you.” Lo Hanh Gian bent down and said, "If it hurts, I can bite you." I was half-believing and half-skeptical, but he tried again: "Once you're done, you can paint again." Hearing that, I immediately held out my wrist: "Quickly light it!" Lo Hanh Gian gently held my hand and started with the other hand. Sure enough, he didn't lie, it really didn't hurt that much. I just glanced once and then quickly turned my head, not daring to look closely. Suddenly I heard him ask: "Why didn't you think about it?" return home to find a job? “Because development is better in big cities, this year my boss promised to triple my salary!” It's not that I made it up, my boss told me it himself before the holiday. But the boss also added another sentence - this year will be busier, with increased salary, overtime will also increase. "That means I have to work until ten o'clock every night..." After a moment of silence, Lo Hanh Gian hummed softly: "Then congratulations Ms. Phuong, even in the ICU, you can continue to create masterpieces." I was stunned — why is his mouth so poisonous? Thinking for a while, I came up with a sentence: "Going to the ICU also requires money. Isn't it because I risk my life like this to make money?" Lo Hanh Gian raised his head and glared at me, so angry that his eyelids stuck together, staring at me for a moment, then turned around and walked out, the door hit the frame hard and made a "bang" sound. I pouted, glanced at the electronic calendar hanging on the wall - it was only the seventh day of Tet, why had he already opened the door for medical examination? 9 After acupuncture once, plus applying medicine, I felt my wrist was really better. Lo Hanh Gian: 【Apply medicine for a week, remember to come early.】 I went to the clinic on time for five days in a row, you helped me apply medicine. There was a time when he was busy and asked me to wait. Seeing that I couldn't sit still, his assistant offered to help me apply the medicine, but he flatly refused: "If you don't do it well, she will bite someone." The assistant glanced at me in surprise, then grabbed the acupuncture bag and walked away. I turned around with a cold face: "I really want to bite you, Lo Hanh Gian." He suddenly gave me a pink thermos cup: "Drink this and then I will give you acupuncture." After speaking, he turned around and left. I opened the lid, the hot steam rushed up, making me move to the side, but then I brought my nose closer - it felt comfortable. I tasted a mouthful... burning my tongue. Drinking this entire cup would take several hours!