“Young man, I don’t know what hospital you work at, but the standards here are much higher than everywhere else,” Dr. Pale explained. 

Li Yun smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. “Dr. Pale, I’m sure the standards at the General Hospital are high, but MRI has an error rate of 5%. That is still a high margin of error.”

“Then are you recommending Dr. Vetter get another MRI to confirm the AA diagnosis?” Dr. Pale asked sharply. 

“Dr. Pale, you’re the doctor, I’m just here to listen as a family friend,” Li Yun responded. “It’s ultimately up to Dr. Vetter to decide.”

Li Yun knew when to save his energy and back down. It was useless recommending Huifu and acupuncture when the hospital would not allow it. If he placed himself in their shoes, he would have done the same. In the end, Dr. Vetter requested more time to decide. Before departing, Li Yun spoke to Nali about an alternative treatment plan.

“Li Yun, what do you really recommend?” Nali asked in Mandarin.

“It’s a bit complicated, but it’s likely adhesive arachnoiditis, but it can’t be cured,” Li Yun didn't know Huifu could cure Dr. Vetter. AA was a chronic inflammation of the spine. Huifu could alleviate the pain and reduce the inflammation, but only time could tell whether it could treat her condition.

“Then does she have to deal with this for the rest of her life?”

“My company has a medicine, but it’s not approved over here. However, I can make a modified version for her to take as a supplement.” Oddly enough, supplements weren’t well regulated.

“How well will it work?” asked Nali.

“It will improve her quality of life. The problem will be convincing her to drink it.”

“Can you make it in tea form? She enjoys tea, and if I give it to her as herbal tea, she’ll likely agree.”

Creating a Huifu tea wouldn’t be too difficult, and he agreed to send her the tea by tomorrow afternoon. When Wen Nali received the package, she prepared the tea as instructed and gave Dr. Vetter the tea in the afternoon.

“Nali, is it really alright for mom to take this?” asked Nick.

“It’s an herbal tea, so it should be all right,” Wen Nali was not sure herself, but Li Yun had labeled all the ingredients, and it was mostly herbal plants she had heard about from her grandparents. It should be all right if it was just herbs.

Dr. Vetter had already suffered through enough pain and her regular prescription pain medicine was giving her fewer results. She felt like a druggy who was reliant on drugs to nullify the pain. There were times when the pain left her in an insomniac and depressed state. As her future daughter-in-law placed the herbal tea in front of her, the fragrant ginger and honey steam whiskered into the air. She lowered her head above the mug and inhaled the light steam. Feeling as though the steam had entered into all her pores, her body relaxed while her mouth watered in anticipation. 

“This smells heavenly,” Dr. Vetter commented, sipping the hot tea. She had never tasted any tea with a unique combination of floral and earthy undertones. The aftertaste left by the sweet honey left her craving for more. “And it’s delicious.”

Dr. Vetter did not think much about its effect until the next morning. The soreness and pain she had felt for weeks had seemingly disappeared.

“Nali, your friend’s medicine works like a miracle!” Dr. Vetter explained. “Do you have more?”

“Only that one,” Nali replied. “He said the tea version is not meant to be consumed regularly. He made it specifically for you because it’s easy to consume.”

“Mother, are you really feeling better already?” Nick was skeptical his mother appeared in good health so quickly.

“There’s still a bit of morning restlessness, and my feet are still numb, but I have never felt better,” Dr. Vetter responded. “What will happen if the pain comes back?”

“Li Yun said he’ll visit you in the afternoon,” said Nali.

Dr. Vetter nodded and returned to her room. Nick was rather curious about the herbal tea.

“Nali, how much did you spend on the tea?” Nick asked.

According to Li Yun, one dosage of Huifu was $75. He had given her the first dosage as a gift, but Nali wanted to pay for the remaining if needed. Nick grew concerned when she told him the price.

“Nick, Li Yun is a qualified surgeon in China, you don’t have to worry about it being a scam,” said Nali.

“Yes, but that’s the thing, why is a surgeon working for a company that develops a TCM drug?” asked Nick. “Don’t you find it odd? They are two different fields.”

“Li Yun knows a lot about TCM.”

“$75 tea is unheard of.”

“But it’s more effective than the hundreds you have already spent on medical bills,” said Nali.

“It might work initially, but we don’t know the long term effect. You’re not even thinking about the potential danger it will put the mother in. We should have asked Dr. Pale if the tea is safe for consumption.”

“I thought you don’t like Dr. Pale.”

“At least he’s a board-certified doctor with 20 years of experience. It’s suspicious that your friend suggests trying the tea first before consulting a doctor.”

Nali frowned when Nick emphasized the word ‘friend,’ as though there was something between Li Yun and herself. “What is with the tone?” Nali asked sharply.

“Let’s not pretend you didn’t date him before.”

She didn’t keep it a secret, but she rarely posted about her relationship on her social media page. The only time she did was after she got engaged to Nick. It meant that Nick had likely asked one of her friends about it.

“We dated before, but just friends now,” Nali admitted, she didn’t like to beat around the bush.

It didn’t make Nick feel more secure. Nick was a bit older than Nali, and although he wasn’t unattractive, very few people considered him handsome. At first, he thought it was a blessing that his girlfriend was so beautiful, but the more they were together, the more he worried she would leave him, especially when she was upfront about wanting to focus on her career. 

Nali had other guy friends, but no one who was an ex boyfriend. According to a mutual friend, Nali had three serious previous relationships but felt that Li Yun was the best suited for her and never understood why Nali broke up with him.

“Really, he has a girlfriend.” Seeing Nick’s mind was still drifting, Nali wondered if they were rushing into marriage. She was ambivalent about marriage. It wasn’t because she didn't like the idea of marriage, but she didn’t see the need for them.

They had only been together for 10 months, and the main reason they were planning to marry was because Nali got pregnant. She had considered abortion rather than marriage, but her parents and Nick suggested they kept the baby. Nick was already 30, and with Ms. Vetter condition, he wanted to give her a grandchild before anything happened to her. Since his father passed away early, his mother raised him up by herself.

“Were you in a serious relationship?” Nick asked. He didn’t know much about her previous relationships, but they were going to wed soon, so it was a good time to ask.

“We dated for six months, but it wasn’t going anywhere,” Nali was open about her relationship. She liked being in a relationship, but she didn’t understand why some people made it like it was such a big deal. Nali put her jacket away and then sat across from Nick. “Nick, you’re the person I’m going to marry and have a family with.”

Nick felt awkward for a moment. He hated to feel inadequate about himself, but it was how she made him feel sometimes. Not knowing how to respond, he retreated to his mother’s room.

That afternoon, they waited for Li Yun to arrive. Wen Nali was relieved to see him arrive with Rouxi, who greeted everyone in the living room. 

“Nali, it’s nice to meet you in person!” Rouxi had friended Wen Nali on social media a while back, so they were both familiar with each other. 

“Ah, you too, Beibei has been trying to get me to watch your broadcast, but I’ve been too busy with work,” Wen Nali commented.

Afterward, she introduced Rouxi to Nick and Dr. Vetter. There was a bit of awkwardness from Nick, but he invited everyone into the living room. 

“You used to live in the States?” Nick casually asked Rouxi. “You don’t have any accent at all.”

“I used to live by the west coast,” said Rouxi. “So I actually have a slight accent speaking in Mandarin.”

As they chatted, Li Yun pretended to check up on Dr. Vetter. Her condition was noticeably better after taking Huifu, but the alignment of her spine could still cause her condition to flare up. Although Huifu could reduce the inflammation, the adhesion between L1 and L2 spine was already set. Surgery was the best method to remove the adhesion, but there was also a possibility it would make the condition worse. 

“Should I try tuina?” Li Yun thought it was an option.