"Okay."
Chen Wan'er tried to suppress the unease in her heart, constantly telling herself that treating illnesses was a normal affair.
But when Lin Fan's warm, small hand brushed past the tender, smooth skin of her instep, she couldn't help but gasp, her heart pounding wildly.
An inexplicable emotion flushed her fair cheeks with two streaks of red, as if she were drunk.
Lin Fan twirled a silver needle and inserted it into her Yongquan acupoint.
Her soles were already sensitive, and when the long silver needle pierced deep, a peculiar sensation of soreness, numbness, and itchiness surged, making her breath quicken and her expression turn priceless.
Lin Fan picked up a second silver needle. He turned his head and saw her small toes pressed tightly together.
On her taut, bow-like jade feet, fine veins were visible. The nail polish on her toenails resembled cute little scarlet shells.
"Don't be so nervous."
Lin Fan found it a little amusing.
"You, you're sticking such long needles into the soles of my feet, how can I not be nervous?"
Chen Wan'er said pitifully, looking as if she had been wronged.
"Alright, it'll be over soon."
Lin Fan shook his head, vaguely finding her delicate nature somewhat familiar.
He composed himself and quickly inserted silver needles onto her fair jade feet.
"The other foot."
Lin Fan took a breath, released her left foot, and beckoned for her right foot.
"Still more?"
Chen Wan'er made a pained face.
"Of course!"
Lin Fan beckoned again.
Chen Wan'er had no choice but to lift her snow-white calf and place her right foot onto Lin Fan's leg.
Lin Fan reached out to hold her calf. She instinctively flinched, then quickly realized and obediently extended her foot.
Lin Fan thought, "Her family must be well-off; she's never done manual labor. Her accent suggests she's not from around here either. Where could she be from?"
What puzzled him most was her youthful appearance, only in her early thirties.
Although Tian Mengyao had warned him that her parents would be arriving soon, he hadn't thought about it in that direction at all.
With lingering questions, Lin Fan quickly applied the needles.
Soon, Chen Wan'er's two fair, tender feet resembled hedgehogs.
Sizzle...
Steam rose from the kettle on the brazier.
"The needles can only be removed later, you'll have to bear with it for a while."
Lin Fan turned around, intending to lift the kettle.
"Be careful."
Chen Wan'er reminded him.
If her foot were to fall onto the ground at this moment, the long needles would pierce it. The thought alone was terrifying.
"It's fine, don't worry."
Lin Fan kept his lower body still and lifted the kettle, placing it on the ground beside him.
Just then, the roar of a car engine was heard from outside.
A look of panic flashed across Chen Wan'er's face.
How awkward it would be if someone saw them in this state!
"It's our village secretary."
Lin Fan recognized the familiar engine sound of the Wrangler.
"What?!"
Chen Wan'er's almond eyes widened.
Her daughter was here?
What was she to do?
"What's with your expression?"
Lin Fan looked at Chen Wan'er in surprise.
"I, I..."
Chen Wan'er felt more bitter than having eaten yellow vines.
I'm in this state with you, and my daughter is about to arrive. What kind of expression am I supposed to have?
"Quick, pull out the needles!"
Chen Wan'er cried out anxiously.
"You can't pull them out, it's not time yet."
Lin Fan suspected she had lost her mind.
Chen Wan'er gritted her teeth and reached out to pull out the needles herself.
"What are you doing?"
Lin Fan exclaimed and grabbed her arm.
"It's too late!"
Chen Wan'er heard approaching footsteps and was incredibly flustered.
She forcefully shook off Lin Fan's hand.
"Xiao Fan."
Upon hearing her daughter's voice, Chen Wan'er was utterly shocked. Distracted, her already unbalanced body lost its footing.
"Ah!"
A shriek.
"Careful!"
Lin Fan was also greatly alarmed.
There was a brazier below!
In an instant!
Lin Fan exerted all his strength, his body moving with incredible speed as he caught her.
"Phew~"
Holding the beautiful woman steadily in his arms, Lin Fan's worried heart finally settled.
If she had fallen into the brazier, it would have been a huge disaster!
"Xiao Fan..."
Tian Mengyao walked in, rubbing her sore shoulder.
She had rushed over without even eating.
"I'm so tired, what... what are you doing?"
She froze in astonishment at the doorway.
"I, I was treating someone's illness, and she almost fell."
Lin Fan had no idea how to explain.
Meanwhile, Chen Wan'er, held in his arms, wished she could die.
Chen Wan'er buried her head deeply in Lin Fan's embrace, praying to all the gods and Buddhas that her daughter wouldn't recognize her.
"You... why are you holding her?"
Tian Mengyao felt a sense of familiarity with the woman in Lin Fan's arms.
"I had no choice but to hold her."
Lin Fan shifted his body, revealing the silver needles trembling in Chen Wan'er's soles to Tian Mengyao.
"Can you see if she can stand right now?"
"Then put her down quickly! She can sit or lie down."
Tian Mengyao chided.
She walked over, wanting to get a look at the woman's face.
"Hey, you don't have to hug me so tightly, I'll put you down right away."
Lin Fan swayed Chen Wan'er in his arms.
Chen Wan'er feigned deafness, wishing she could find a hole to disappear into.
"I said, why are you walking in circles around me?"
Lin Fan was trying to find a suitable place to put her down, but Tian Mengyao kept circling him.
"Mom?"
Even without seeing her full face, Tian Mengyao could be a hundred percent sure that the incredibly familiar figure and hairstyle belonged to her mother, Chen Wan'er.
Especially the inconspicuous scar on her ankle. When she was young and foolish, she had gone to the kitchen to ask her mother for chocolate, and accidentally knocked a cleaver off the cutting board.
Her mother had pushed her aside and a rather long cut had appeared on her ankle.
"Mom?"
Lin Fan was stunned.
"Mom!"
Tian Mengyao shouted angrily.
"Wuwuwu."
Knowing she couldn't hide any longer, Chen Wan'er finally turned her head, tears streaming down her face.
"Hey!"
"Don't cry!"
Lin Fan was completely petrified.
I didn't do anything wrong, why are you crying now?
"Lin Fan! What did you do to my mom?"
Tian Mengyao exploded with anger.
She had been working herself to death at the planting base and had wanted to find Lin Fan for a massage.
To her surprise, she found Lin Fan holding her mother in the medical hall!
"Let me explain, I, I..."
Lin Fan felt like a large stone was blocking his heart.
"I didn't do anything!"
"Put my mom down now!"
Tian Mengyao pointed at Lin Fan and ordered.
"Okay, okay."
Lin Fan nodded repeatedly.
His mind was in a complete mess as he placed Chen Wan'er on the counter.
*Slam!*
Chen Wan'er came to her senses, realizing she had been placed on the counter like a piece of pork, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
"How could you do this..."