Candy to Stop the Medicine

Wen Jinchen was a pampered, delicate child, but unlike other kids, she wasn't afraid of shots. She was afraid of taking medicine.

As luck would have it, a handsome young boy moved in next door. The bitter scent of medicinal herbs lingered in his home.

She heard that he had lived in the capital, that his parents were divorced, and that his grandfather had brought him back to the little town.

Wen Jinchen peered through the crack in the door, wondering whether she should go make a new friend.

Shao Zhongchu was good-looking, but never smiled, always wearing a stern expression. No one dared approach him casually.

But the little girl next door was carefree, always following him around.

Shao Zhongchu looked at her crescent-moon eyes.

He didn't find her annoying after all.

One day, Wen Jinchen fell ill. Faced with the dark, murky medicine before her, she shook her head like a rattle drum. No amount of coaxing worked.

Shao Zhongchu sighed and pulled a colorful candy from his pocket.

"Drink your medicine, and then you can have a sweet."

Many years later, Shao Zhongchu was writing up a patient's chart in his white coat when he suddenly heard the patient ask,

"Dr. Shao, do you like candy too?"

There was a delicate glass jar on the desk. The candy inside had long since been eaten, leaving only brightly colored wrappers.

The patient had only asked offhandedly, but saw the usually cool and aloof Dr. Shao curl his lips into a smile. His voice was unusually gentle as he answered a different question.

"Sometimes you need someone to coax you, or the medicine just tastes bitter."

Look, the sunshine is right here.

Sunflower x honeysuckle

[Written on 2020.9.21]

Theme: Good health and all things going well.