From humble beginnings to the pinnacle of life

We ended up choosing a guesthouse with its own parking lot. The owner was a warm-hearted middle-aged Tibetan man who spoke fluent Mandarin.

After helping us check in and assigning us rooms, they even recommended the most authentic Mao beef restaurant in the county.

Su Qing was an outgoing person and quickly struck up a conversation with the boss.

On the other side, Su Wan parked her G-Wagon and slowly walked into the yard.

She stood quietly alone in the corner of the courtyard, aloof and solitary, as if she were not one of us at all.

As the sun completely sank behind the distant, rolling mountains, the sky gradually darkened.

The streetlights in the courtyard turned on, casting warm yellow light onto the ground.

Su Qing turned and walked back towards the guesthouse building, while Su Wan followed silently behind her.

The two people stood one in front of the other, a few steps apart.

The knot in the hearts of the two sisters seems destined never to untie.

After returning to my room and putting down my luggage, I called Su Qing and we prepared to go to the county hospital.

As the team leader, taking good care of each team member is my bounden duty.

Although A Qiu was in charge of medical matters in the team, she didn't have professional testing equipment and couldn't determine the cause of the illness based solely on Su Qing's description of the symptoms.

Wang Ge led the rest of the group to a restaurant to order food, while I took Su Qing straight to Batang County People's Hospital.

The hospital wasn't very large, and since it was late, the outpatient department had already closed, leaving only the emergency department still receiving patients.

After registering for the emergency room, the doctor listened to Su Qing's description of her symptoms and then arranged for her to have a blood test to rule out whether the diarrhea was caused by food poisoning.

As Su Qing stepped out of the examination room, her face fell.

Seeing this, I quickly asked, "What's wrong? Is it starting to hurt again?"

She said with a reluctant expression, "They want to draw blood? Can't we skip it?"

"That won't do. The doctor needs the test results to determine the cause of the illness. Let's hurry up and go. Wang Ge and the others are waiting for us at the restaurant for dinner."

Su Qing stood there, looking timid and hesitant.

With her lips pouting and her brows furrowed, fear was written all over her face.

Seeing her like this, I jokingly teased her, "Really? You're afraid of getting your blood drawn?"

She rolled her eyes at me and retorted defiantly, "Is it that funny? Isn't it perfectly normal for girls to be afraid of blood tests?"

"You usually seem fearless, but I never expected you to be so timid when you see a needle."

I deliberately used reverse psychology to tease her, and this trick always works on Su Qing.

Sure enough, she was immediately motivated and strode towards the blood-drawing window with her chest puffed out.

But when she got to the blood collection point, she hesitated and lingered, not daring to go forward.

She waited until the nurses inside started urging her before reluctantly walking over and slowly rolling up her sleeves.

I was standing right next to her when she instinctively turned her head, her whole face turned toward me.

The moment the nurse applied iodine to her arm, her body trembled slightly.

The other hand suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm tightly.

I let her hold me, and subconsciously leaned closer to her to give her some confidence.

Watching the nurse deftly draw out a vial of fresh blood, then press a cotton swab onto the injection site on her arm, she told us to come back in half an hour to pick up the test results.

After the blood was drawn, Su Qing's tense body finally relaxed.

I led her to a bench in the corridor. She kept pressing the cotton swab on her arm, and her fear was definitely not feigned.

I took out my phone and sent a message to A Qiu: "A Qiu, you guys order your food and start eating first. We'll probably be a while before we get here."

Ah Qiu quickly replied: "How is it? Did they find out it's food poisoning?"

"I just had my blood drawn, and the test results aren't back yet."

"Okay, let me know when the results are out."

I replied with an "Mm," put down my phone, and turned to look at Su Qing beside me.

She slowly removed the cotton swab and saw that the bleeding from the injection site had stopped before pulling down her sleeve.

Then he sat quietly in the chair without saying a word.

It was unusual for her to be so well-behaved and silent, which made me feel a little uncomfortable.

I don't know if she's still gripped by the fear of having her blood drawn, or if she's worried about the test results.

I softened my tone and asked, "Are you alright?"

Su Qing gently shook her head without saying a word.

Her unusual quietness made me increasingly uneasy.

I followed up with another question: "Are you worried about the test results that will come out later?"

She remained silent for a long while before lowering her voice and saying in a muffled tone:

"What I fear most is that my health issues will hinder and delay the rest of the team's schedule."

Unexpectedly, she was actually considering these issues.

She usually seems carefree, but she's actually quite a team player when it matters.

I forced a relaxed smile and softened my tone to reassure you, "It's okay, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Even if it turns out to be food poisoning, the whole team can just stop and wait for you. Nobody will blame you."

Su Qing sighed heavily, her face filled with lingering self-reproach, and muttered with her head down:

"If only I had kept my mouth shut and stopped eating all that junk food, now look what's happened, I've dragged everyone down with me."

"Hints are always worth a thousand pieces of gold, and there's no use regretting it now. If we find out what's wrong, we can just treat it accordingly," I gently comforted her.

Perhaps because her emotions had calmed down after the blood draw, she became much quieter.

After a moment of silence, she turned her head to look at me and whispered, "Thank you."

The sound was very soft, but I heard it clearly.

The two of them stayed quietly for a while, and the long wait actually made the atmosphere relax.

I looked at her and casually joked, "Speaking of which, I always thought you were fearless, but I never expected you to be so afraid of getting your blood drawn."

As soon as I finished speaking, fearing she might misunderstand and think I was making fun of her, I quickly added, "Don't overthink it. I didn't mean to mock you; I was just a little surprised."

Su Qing lowered her head and remained silent for a while before slowly speaking: "There's a reason why I'm afraid of needles. I was terrified of being shot when I was little, and even now, the sight of a syringe triggers my body's instinctive fear."

"Were you terrified of being beaten as a child?" I repeated her words, full of confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"I had a weak constitution when I was a child, and I would often get a high fever. Once, I had a particularly severe case of pneumonia."

"In those few days, my arms and the backs of my hands were covered with needle marks. From then on, I developed a psychological fear of needles and would become uncontrollably afraid whenever I saw one."