A Serious Problem

After discussing a plan with his mother, Su Ziyang returned to the kitchen.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was still somewhat dull. Aunt Tong had a dark face and didn't say a word, Uncle Qiangzi kept clicking his teeth.

Su Ziyang's father took out a bottle of Xifeng from the cabinet, along with two small wine cups, one for himself and one for Qiangzi, and then filled them with the liquor.

The wine glasses weren't big, holding about an ounce of wine each. Qiangzi watched as Su Ziyang's father filled the glass, picked it up, and downed it in one gulp.

"Drink slowly!" Su Ziyang's father saw Qiangzi's depressed expression and poured him another glass.

The atmosphere at the table was extremely awkward. Even though Su Ziyang's parents repeatedly urged them to eat, neither of them showed any interest in touching their chopsticks.

"Aunt Tong, Uncle Qiang, please give me some face and have a bite to eat. My dad spent all morning cooking these dishes, so please eat some to show your respect. I've only been back a few days, and we haven't eaten together yet. Since we're here, let's eat together. What's the point of not touching our chopsticks!"

Su Ziyang was a junior at the table, but he still spoke with considerable authority, after all, Su Ziyang was someone Aunt Tong and Uncle Qiangzi had watched grow up.

After this encouragement, both of them picked up their chopsticks. Although they started eating, they still didn't talk to each other.

Su Ziyang kicked his mother's foot under the table, and Su Ziyang mother immediately understood.

"Sigh, son! You didn't even give me a massage this time you came back. You always said you'd give me massages when you came back for vacation before. You didn't even offer to this time!" Su Ziyang's mother said, straightening her back.

"Mom, you don't do any work. Why are you giving me a massage? That stuff is tiring!" Su Ziyang stuffed a piece of braised pork from the plate into his mouth.

The braised pork melted in his mouth, and the aroma was so enticing that Su Ziyang almost swallowed his tongue. He hadn't eaten anything this delicious since he returned. If there hadn't been two outsiders present, Su Ziyang Su Ziyang have wielded his chopsticks with incredible speed and precision.

"Tongtong, look at this little rascal! He was so well-behaved when he came back before, always saying, 'Oh Mommy, let me massage your shoulders!' Now look at him, I have no face left, I have to ask him for it, and he might not even give me a massage!"

As Su Ziyang's mother spoke, she glanced sideways at Su Ziyang. After all, they were both adults, Tongtong also felt that it was not a good idea to stay in someone else's house like this. She took advantage of the opportunity of Su Ziyang's mother speaking to her to back down gracefully.

"Haha, why are you making him massage you? He's been working for a year, and he's on vacation. Can't you let him rest properly? You're only doing this because your eldest son has this skill. Otherwise, you'd have to pay people to give you massages!" Tongtong chuckled and tried to persuade Su Ziyang's mother.

"That's right, look at my Aunt Tong, she knows how to talk. I won't even mention charging according to international standards, you just transfer 200 yuan to me and I'll give you a week of massages. How about that, Mom, is the price fair or not!" Su Ziyang chuckled.

These words made everyone present laugh. Su Ziyang's mother chuckled and scolded, "You call that international pricing? You're dreaming! Give me a massage after dinner, my back has been hurting terribly these past few days!"

Upon hearing his mother's words, Su Ziyang Su Ziyang grabbed her hand, stared intently at his palm for a long time, and then nodded thoughtfully. "Mom, you do indeed have some lumbar muscle strain and a herniated disc!"

"Eek~"

Aunt Tong was naturally perceptive. Seeing Su Ziyang staring at her best friend's hand for a while, she came to this conclusion and curiously exclaimed, "Eek!" before asking a question.

"Ziyang, you can even read palms!"

Before Su Ziyang could speak, Su Ziyang father offered his support. "Those who study traditional Chinese medicine have diverse backgrounds; they know a little about everything."

As the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his father. When Su Ziyang called his mother away, Su Ziyang's father already had a pretty good idea of what Su Ziyang was up to.

"Quickly, let Aunt Tong take a look at me. Is there anything wrong with me? Look at my marriage, look at my marriage!" Aunt Tong, like a child, picked up a stool and sat down next to Su Ziyang.

Seeing that Aunt Tong had indeed taken the bait, Su Ziyang stared intently at Aunt Tong hand for a long time. "Aunt Tong, let me look at your left hand!"

"Isn't it supposed to be men on the left and women on the right? Why do we have to look at the left hand?" Aunt Tong asked in surprise.

"Look, you all have to look! The left hand represents innate qualities, the right hand represents acquired qualities! You all have to look, you all have to look!"

After saying that, Su Ziyang stared intently at Aunt Tong's left hand for a long time, and sure enough, he noticed something amiss.

As mentioned before, when Su Ziyang was learning from Daoist Jin, Daoist Jin also explained a lot about palmistry and face reading to Su Ziyang. Although Su Ziyang was not an expert in this field, he was still a beginner. So Su Ziyang was not just guessing this time.

"Aunt Tong, let's put aside everything else for now. As a doctor, I'll start by talking about your health! Do you often have trouble sleeping? And do you experience palpitations, shortness of breath, and poor digestion? Most importantly, you seem to overthink things, and sometimes you have headaches, dizziness, and blurred vision! Furthermore, you often sweat, experience night sweats, thirst, and are easily agitated. Sometimes you cry involuntarily, and other times you feel inexplicably happy, almost uncontrollably!"

Aunt Tong was stunned by Su Ziyang's words. "Little Ziyang, you're amazing! Your mother really gave birth to a good son. You've really put in the effort to study! I have all the symptoms you described. It's incredible! You're so amazing! You even noticed them. Could you treat Aunt Tong? Don't you traditional Chinese medicine practitioners usually prescribe herbal medicine?"

"Okay. After we finish eating, I'll take your pulse and then prepare some traditional Chinese medicine. Once you drink it, it should basically solve the problem." Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Su Ziyang breathed a sigh of relief, and Qiangzi, who was standing next to him, also seemed much more relaxed.

When treating patients with emotional disorders, it is crucial to guide them gently and patiently. This is because you might inadvertently touch a very sensitive string in their hearts. What you think is a minor issue may actually be a deeply ingrained internal conflict for them.

"Tell Aunt Tong how you figured that out! Tell her!" Aunt Tong wasn't satisfied with just getting an answer, so she grabbed Su Ziyang and started digging deeper.

Seeing Aunt Tong's persistent questioning, Su Ziyang's father felt a little guilty. Some of the symptoms Su Ziyang had mentioned were actually told to Su Ziyang by Qiangzi. Su Ziyang's father thought Su Ziyang was putting on an act to trick Tongtong into taking the medicine. Now, seeing Tongtong's inquiries, Su Ziyang's father felt uneasy. "Tongtong, let's eat first. We can discuss it after we eat!"

"Oh, you guys eat first! Come on, Ziyang, tell Aunt Tong about it. I'm really curious about this. I even learned how to read palms online before. But Aunt Tong's brain isn't working very well, so I didn't really understand it!" Tongtong waved her hand at the group, insisting on grabbing Su Ziyang to make sure she understood.

Seeing the eager look in his Aunt Tong's eyes, Su Ziyang chuckled and said, "Aunt Tong, look. These three most obvious lines, from top to bottom, are the heart line, the head line, and the life line."

"Yes, yes, I know that!" Aunt Tong nodded vigorously.

"Look at this area between the heart line and the wisdom line, it's called the Fangting in medical terms!" Su Ziyang said, pointing to Aunt Tong's palm.

"Wait a minute!" Aunt Tong interrupted Su Ziyang, took out her phone from her pocket, and started recording.

This whole sequence of actions left Su Ziyang somewhat stunned. "What are you doing, Aunt Tong?"

"Oh dear, my memory is terrible these days. I'll record it and listen to it later. I'm afraid I'll forget what you said!" Aunt Tong explained.

Upon hearing Aunt Tong's words, Qiangzi, who was sitting next to her, instantly became furious. He then whispered a few words to Su Ziyang's father, who was sitting next to him. After hearing this, Su Ziyang's father raised his glass, and the two clinked glasses and drank it all!

"Haha, Aunt Tong. No need, what I said isn't complicated, just something to have a laugh!" Su Ziyang said, trying to turn off Aunt Tong's phone recording. This was a habit Su Ziyang had developed in the hospital, because there were some patients in the hospital who would secretly record doctors' conversations and then demand compensation from them. So Su Ziyang felt a little disgusted when he saw Aunt Tong recording.

"Hiss~" Aunt Tong, who had just been laughing, suddenly became annoyed the moment Su Ziyang touched her phone, and then raised her voice, "What's wrong with recording a couple of lines? Aunt Tong's memory isn't very good!"

Seeing Aunt Tong's sudden outburst, Su Ziyang finally understood what "unpredictable mood swings" meant. Su Ziyang quickly laughed and said, "Go ahead and record it, hahaha. I heard from my mom that you were famous for your fast memorization and excellent memory when you were in school. I thought you didn't need this! Hahaha!"

Su Ziyang's laughter was a little awkward, but Aunt Tong didn't seem to care at all. Seeing that Su Ziyang wasn't stopping her from recording, her face instantly lit up with a playful smile again, "Your mother is just exaggerating. She was a better student than me back then. Come on, tell Aunt Tong what happened to Fang Ting!"

"Come here, look at this square face, isn't there a cross-shaped mark here?"

Aunt Tong looked at it carefully. "There really is one! What does this mean?"

"This indicates an irregular heartbeat. If there were three cross-shaped lines on the chest, the problem would be serious. You only have two, so you occasionally experience palpitations, chest tightness, and other symptoms!"

After Su Ziyang finished speaking, Aunt Tong immediately grabbed her best friend's hand, who was also Su Ziyang's mother, stared at it for a long time, and then her face darkened. "You don't have this, you're healthier than me!"

After saying that, she turned back and gestured for Su Ziyang to continue. Su Ziyang then pointed to Aunt Tong's love line and said, "Look at your love line. Doesn't it extend into the gap between your index and middle fingers, and it's broken and fragmented?"

"Right!"

This is a sign of poor spleen and stomach function!

After listening to Su Ziyang's words, Aunt Tong took Su Ziyang's mother's hand again. She looked at her and found that Su Ziyang's mother's love line was also normal, and her expression worsened.

Su Ziyang has sharp eyesight and keen observation skills. The moment Aunt Tong's expression changed, Su Ziyang knew it wasn't good news. She had started comparing herself to her best friend and was starting to feel bad about feeling inferior.

"Go on!" Aunt Tong turned to look at Su Ziyang, her voice rising slightly.

"Haha, that's all!" Su Ziyang decisively gave up on continuing the explanation because he realized that if he let Aunt Tong continue the comparison, who knows what subtle but sensitive changes might occur in Aunt Tong. So he immediately stopped explaining.

To everyone's surprise, Su Ziyang's words only made Aunt Tong more displeased, and her tone became sharp and sarcastic. "You child, no wonder your mother says you're not treating her well now. You're so unfilial! How can you only say half of what you mean? You just mentioned quite a few symptoms, and now you stop halfway through. Do you think I'm annoying? You can't think I'm annoying. Before you were born, your mother and I were good friends! It's not your place to complain about me!"

As soon as Aunt Tong spoke, Su Ziyang's mother, who was sitting to the side, looked displeased. She had just said that Su Ziyang was not good to her, but that was just an act for her best friend to see in order to persuade her to cooperate with the treatment.

Unexpectedly, she escalated the issue to the point that Su Ziyang was unfilial. Furthermore, what does Su Ziyang's refusal to teach you palmistry have to do with filial piety? You are an elder, and my son respects you, but does that mean he needs to be filial to you? We can't even help you, and you're lecturing my son in front of us!

Su Ziyang's mother grew angrier the more she thought about it, her face turning extremely gloomy, as if she were about to burst into tears.

"Tongtong! That's enough! What are you saying? Ziyang showed you this because he's a kind child! What are you saying?!" Qiangzi was the first to get agitated, slamming his hand on the table and standing up.

When Tongtong saw Qiangzi talking about her, she turned and pointed at Qiangzi, saying, "I haven't even settled accounts with you for your affair. If you're not satisfied, we'll get a divorce this afternoon. You cheated on me, and I'll make sure you leave with nothing! And wasn't what I just said wrong? Pingping herself said her son treated her badly, even asking her for money for massages and stuff. What's wrong with what I said? Pingping is too embarrassed to talk to him, so I'm speaking up for Pingping! What's wrong with that? These days, if a child is unfilial, they need to be disciplined. A sapling won't grow straight if it's not pruned! If he grows completely crooked later, then it's all over! When he stops feeding Pingping, Pingping might even have to ask me for help!"

Su Ziyang's father is a man, and while he didn't pay much attention to Aunt Tong's first words, these words now sound incredibly offensive to him.

Aunt Tong's words left Su Ziyang with only one thought, "Why the hell is she acting like she's in charge in my own home?! Why is she lecturing me?"

"You son of a bitch, you lunatic! Get out here!" Qiangzi was a normal person. He looked at Su Ziyang's parents, whose faces were as black as the bottom of a pot, and reached out to pull his wife out.

The moment Qiangzi erupted, Su Ziyang shoved him back onto the stool. Qiangzi was startled by Su Ziyang's strong grip; he was middle-aged and had spent years doing manual labor, so how could this seemingly frail boy suddenly render him immobile?

Before Qiangzi ask any questions, Su Ziyang gestured for everyone to be quiet. "Quiet down, quiet down!"

All eyes turned to Su Ziyang. Su Ziyang glanced at the four people at the table, then chuckled softly, "Aunt Tong, don't be angry. Haha, you're right. I should improve my behavior! Don't worry, I'll continue explaining this palm reading to you! I apologize."

Aunt Tong looked at Su Ziyang apologizing and nodded seriously. "That's more like it! Come on, child, continue telling Aunt Tong the story!"

"Haha, okay!"

Su Ziyang waved to his parents and gave them a wink, signaling them not to be angry. Everyone at the table could be angry, but Su Ziyang Su Ziyang couldn't. As a doctor, he knew how to treat patients; it was his professional ethics and the requirement of the Great Physician's Sincerity.

"Auntie, look at your hands, they're quite red. That's due to hot flashes, which is why you sweat so much and feel thirsty. This is a sign of yin deficiency and excessive internal heat. Also, look at your wisdom line; it's quite long, almost reaching your hand. This indicates excessive thinking, which is common among those who do mental work!"

Looking at the wisdom line that had extended to the edge of Aunt Tong's palm, Su Ziyang suddenly felt a little worried. Su Ziyang had heard Daoist Jin say that once the wisdom line runs through the entire palm, it means that the person has serious mental problems. Moreover, according to research, many mentally ill people who commit suicide also have this kind of wisdom line running through their palm.

Su Ziyang initially thought she was just experiencing a severe case of menopausal syndrome, but Su Ziyang realized he had oversimplified the situation!

"Aunt Tong, that's basically the situation. After dinner, I'll take your pulse and prescribe some medicine to help you regulate your body!"

With the "okay" answer in response, Aunt Tong became happy and started eating her meal without caring about the feelings of the others at the table.