A Spirit Spring like this should not have side effects.
With a hard brake, Jing Shu reached the villa, only to find no one there.
Turned out Grandma Jing had fainted in their own place at Building No. 25.
Since the rains began, the family had moved into the villa, leaving the ground floor unit in Building No. 25 empty. Grandma Jing used to go tidy up once in a while, but lately she had been going often, almost every day.
When Jing Shu arrived, Grandma Jing lay on the bed with eyes shut tight. Other than rapid breathing, there were no clear signs. Faced with a sudden fainting spell like this, especially in the apocalypse, it left everyone at a loss.
All the windows were open to give her enough air.
Jing An was drenched in sweat. Grandpa Jing paced in tight circles. Wu You'ai looked on the verge of tears. Third Aunt Jing Lai stood pale faced. Jing An had already called a doctor, who was on the way.
"The doctor said the elder should lie flat without being moved to avoid secondary injury."
Jing Shu scanned the room and noticed a strange man, tall and thin, wearing glasses, scholarly in appearance. She frowned, went to Grandma Jing's side first, and checked her breathing again. It was fast, her heartbeat quick.
Still alive.
As long as she was alive, even with one breath left, Jing Shu could flood her with Spirit Spring. To avoid an overdose, she dripped a little diluted Spirit Spring onto Grandma Jing's lips first.
"Dad, what doctor did you find? Reliable?" Jing Shu asked.
Jing An looked awkward. "Not sure if he is reliable. He is a Western doctor, the resident doctor for Banana Community. He said without full equipment it is hard to diagnose, but he would take a look. If needed we can move her to West Mountain."
So, not very reliable.
"It should be hypotension causing dizziness, weakness, and palpitations," the man said. His voice was old and a little hoarse, but his words were steady, strangely reassuring. "I suggest correcting her posture and quickly restoring blood volume. As for medication, you will have to find it yourselves."
"Nonsense. My grandmother has high blood pressure," Wu You'ai said.
Everyone knew Grandma Jing had hypertension and took her medicine on schedule. Even if she did get hypotension, it should not be severe enough to need blood volume support.
If it were hypertension, they would believe it. She had never had low blood pressure.
"Who are you?" Jing Shu asked.
"This is the guy who was chatting with Grandma when she collapsed," Wu You'ai said. "He says he lives next door. I think he wanted to hurt her."
Wu You'ai bristled like a little cat. She had few people she truly cared about. If any, one was her mother, one was her grandmother, and now, barely, Jing Shu.
Jing Shu frowned. "Your name? How did you know my grandmother and end up chatting with her?"
She took a closer look at the man. Because of his height, he kept his head lowered, face in shadow, hiding his true expression.
He had a young face, but an oddly old voice. It was strange. From the sound alone you would not link him to a villain. It was a voice that invited trust.
He smiled wryly, shoved his hands into his pockets, and leaned against the wall. "My surname is Lin, two trees make Lin. Call me Lin Yi. I met grandma days ago. Somehow we hit it off. She is very interesting. Always so full of life, always cheering up someone like me, who feels dead inside."
Grandma Jing had been happily chatting with someone? Why had Jing Shu not heard about this? Lin Yi. The name sounded familiar too.
But she only cared about Grandma Jing's condition now. No time to dwell on a name.
"You should reflect on this," Lin Yi added. "You leave an elder alone every day with no one to talk to. Elders do not want to bother their families, so she chatted with me instead."
Lin Yi observed the patient. "I am not a practicing physician, but my secondary specialization was neurology. Blood pressure falls within that scope. Rest assured, I did graduate. You should choose to trust me rather than waste time."
"Are you crazy? Who would trust a stranger who might want to kill someone?" Wu You'ai snapped.
Lin Yi blinked. "How did you know I have a mental illness?"
Wu You'ai fell silent. That made him even less trustworthy in her mind.
Jing Shu checked the time, then called. "Minister Niu? Last time Mr. Qian had an old Chinese doctor, right? Yes, please invite him over. Thank you. We will settle up afterward."
Western medicine without equipment was rough.
Better to have an old Chinese doctor take the pulse and reassure them. A combination of Chinese and Western approaches would be best.
The Western doctor arrived first, carrying only simple tools. He measured blood pressure and did a basic check.
Jing Shu felt a twinge of regret. With technology so advanced, home blood pressure monitors were convenient. She should have bought one earlier. This might not have happened.
"Hypotension. Seriously low," the doctor said. "Any medical history?"
Jing An quickly explained.
"Has she been taking her medication as usual?" The family nodded. "We have never exceeded the dose all these years."
Moments later, the old Chinese doctor arrived and took Grandma Jing's pulse. He reached the same conclusion as the Western doctor, exactly what Lin Yi had said.
Then it hit Jing Shu. Why would Grandma Jing have low blood pressure? Because she had been drinking Spirit Spring every day. It nourished the body and must have cured the hypertension. But she kept taking antihypertensives. Of course the pressure would crash.
That was it. Everything made sense. If Grandpa Jing could even regrow lost teeth, then Grandma Jing's blood pressure could well have normalized. No need for extra medication.
The two doctors adjusted Grandma Jing's position for recovery. The old Chinese doctor performed massage and acupuncture. Neither had brought drugs, but the old doctor said this would be enough.
"Do you have anything to restore blood volume?"
Jing Shu nodded. "Do blood mushrooms count?"
"Yes, yes. Quickly, give her some."
The family hurried to cook blood mushrooms and fed them to the patient. Jing Shu finally exhaled. A false alarm after all. She had feared the worst. Turned out it was a mix up caused by the Spirit Spring.
So it was not Lin Yi who harmed Grandma Jing.
Whether it was the Spirit Spring, the blood mushrooms, or the acupuncture, Grandma Jing finally woke.
===
"Two Trees Make Lin. My Name Is Lin Yi" is a wordplay based on how Chinese characters are formed.
The Chinese surname 林 (Lín) is literally made of two 木 (mù) characters stacked side by side. 木 means "tree."
So when Lin Yi introduces himself as "双木林 (shuāng mù lín)," he's explaining: "My surname Lin is written with two trees."
Then he says, "我叫林一 (Wǒ jiào Lín Yī)," meaning, "My name is Lin Yi."
It's a cultural way of introducing his name clearly, especially in speech, since some surnames sound similar but are written differently. By saying "two trees make Lin," he ensures people picture the character 林 instead of another "Lin."