Chapter 62 Frozen Shoulder

Neither of the two young women had a large appetite, and since the hotpot portion was quite generous, Zhang Fan ended up eating the majority of it.

Shaohua's mother had recently been suffering from a flare-up of scapulohumeral periarthritis, which was causing her agonizing pain. She had visited the hospital once, where a doctor prescribed some painkillers and told her to go home and exercise.

However, how on earth was she supposed to exercise when the old lady's arm hurt so much that she couldn't even raise it?

The atmosphere during the meal was quite pleasant. With Shaohua mediating, Jia Suyue stopped picking on Zhang Fan as much.

As they ate and chatted, since they happened to be dining with a doctor, Shaohua decided to consult Zhang Fan about the issue.

"My mother is suffering from periarthritis of the shoulder. It hurts so much she can't even lift her arm. She went to the Traditional Chinese Medicine hospital, and they just prescribed some anti-inflammatory drugs and told her to exercise at home. But now her arm hurts so badly she can't even raise it—how is she supposed to exercise?"

Periarthritis of the shoulder is characterized by gradual shoulder pain and progressively restricted mobility of the shoulder joint. It is a chronic specific inflammation that can severely impair the functional activities of the shoulder joint. There may be widespread tenderness around the shoulder joint, radiating to the neck and elbow, along with varying degrees of deltoid muscle atrophy.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fan smiled cheerfully. Wasn't this right up his alley? He said, "The usual exercise method is wall climbing. Have your aunt face the wall and perform a climbing motion with her fingers, though it can be quite painful. Moreover, periarthritis tends to get progressively worse before reaching a pain threshold and then gradually improving. It's a self-limiting disease."

"Then what should we do? My mother suffers terribly when she tries to move it, and it breaks my heart just to watch."

"Well, how about I give her a massage? It can help alleviate the pain, though this condition still requires time and a natural healing process."

Shaohua hesitated slightly. "Would I be imposing on you too much? I can pay a consultation fee, though." Her mother was in such agony that any relief would be welcome, even if she wasn't very familiar with Zhang Fan.

"It's no trouble at all. My profession is to be a doctor, and treating patients is what I do. It's all the same regardless of who the patient is."

Zhang Fan didn't mind the trouble in the slightest.

Jia Suyue bit her chopsticks as she watched Zhang Fan, then gave Shaohua a mischievous smile and said, "He's offering favors without any reason—something smells a bit fishy here!"

Zhang Fan quickly explained, "This condition simply happens to be quite common among middle-aged and elderly women. As people get older, it becomes particularly prone to acting up."

"Hmph!" Jia Suyue sneered at Zhang Fan. Having no time to deal with her, Zhang Fan exchanged contact information with Shaohua, arranging for her to bring her mother to see him the next day.

After the meal, the two women went shopping, effectively driving Zhang Fan away.

"Didn't you notice?" Jia Suyue said, looking at Shaohua. "The way he looked at you was like a wolf ready to take a bite out of you."

Shaohua looked back at Jia Suyue and replied, "You're exaggerating. If it weren't for my mother's arm, I wouldn't have exchanged contact numbers with him. You're not upset, are you?"

"Relax. I wouldn't even give him a second look. But come to think of it, having a doctor in the family isn't a bad idea—it would be even better if he were a bit more handsome."

"Alright, stop daydreaming. Let's hurry up and shop; we still have to go home and cook later."

Shaohua's parents were ordinary workers on the reclamation farm. Years of grueling physical labor had left them with various minor ailments as they aged—the toll of having severely overdrawn their physical health in their youth.

The reclamation farms had been established back in the day to secure the borderlands. Countless southerners had traveled thousands of miles to support the frontier, literally dedicating their youth and their descendants' futures to the cause. Putting rights and wrongs aside, their contribution to stabilizing the frontier was indelible.

A reclamation farm was a unique community: farmers in times of peace, soldiers in times of war. There was a running joke on the frontier that if you met a Uyghur person from a reclamation farm who couldn't speak the Uyghur language, they would open their mouths and declare, "Zhong!" (Alright!)

Shaohua's grandfather was from Zhejiang. When the army was demobilized and transitioned from military to civilian roles on the frontier, her grandfather responded to the state's call and took root there. Her grandmother was no less remarkable: the phrase "Eight thousand Hunan women ascending the Tianshan Mountains" referred precisely to her grandmother. This was arguably the state's most successful endeavor in aiding the frontier. Later attempts at frontier support dwindled year by year, akin to the poor New Year's offerings of Wang Xiaoer—whether it was an issue of the times or the caliber of the personnel remained to be seen.

In the desolate and uninhabited Gobi Desert, they built city after city with their bare hands, enduring snow and ice through arduous struggle. Looking at those cities now, they were much more than mere urban settlements—they were towering monuments.

Shaohua was a third-generation member of the reclamation farm community. From her appearance, manners, and speech, there was not the slightest trace of a southern girl.

The next day, Shaohua brought her mother to see Zhang Fan. Whether it was love at first sight for Zhang Fan, he couldn't say for sure, but he simply found himself eager to see her.

A modest and virtuous maiden is a fitting match for a gentleman; perhaps he had simply clicked with Shaohua.

Zhang Fan had taken special care to tidy himself up. Catching a reflection of himself in the mirror, he thought, *Not bad! A fine, upstanding young man.*

Shaohua's mother was in her fifties. Although she had labored in the fields year-round, she could not conceal an inherent scholarly grace. Her gentle and composed demeanor instantly brought a sense of peace to anyone who met her.

Shaohua's temperament likely came from her mother.

"Auntie, how long has your arm been hurting? Has it been about a week?" Zhang Fan asked after a brief physical examination.

"Yes, about that. The pain just suddenly started last week. I can't even cook for Huazi's father anymore."

"Auntie, I'm going to massage your arm. It will hurt a little, but once the pain passes, the range of motion in your arm will improve significantly, and you'll find it much easier to move on your own when you get home."

"Alright, I can bear it. You may begin."

Shaohua clutched her mother's other hand and said to Zhang Fan, "Dr. Zhang, please be as gentle as possible. My mother is getting older and might not be able to handle too much."

"Don't worry, she'll be fine," Zhang Fan assured Shaohua with certainty.

"Hah! Hah!" Shaohua's mother possessed remarkable endurance. The pain of mobilizing adhered joints was something most people simply could not withstand; let alone making a sound, many would have broken down in tears. She merely let out two muffled groans.

Zhang Fan applied considerable force with his hands, using his left hand to stabilize the shoulder joint while his right hand grasped her mother's arm, pulling and stretching the adhesions up, down, left, and right.

The fibrous layer was thick and tough, composed of dense connective tissue rich in blood vessels and nerves. Forcibly stretching open the adhered areas would accelerate the recovery process.

Both Shaohua's mother and Zhang Fan were covered in sweat—her mother from the pain, and Zhang Fan from the exertion.

When the treatment session concluded, Zhang Fan slowly released her arm and said, "Auntie, try it now."

Her mother slowly raised her arm, turned to Zhang Fan, and said, "Dr. Zhang, it feels much better. I can raise it high enough to touch my head now. Thank you so much."

"It's nothing, just doing my job. This treatment needs to be done every day for about a week straight, and you'll be fully recovered. Once you get home, make sure to keep up with the wall-climbing exercises."

"Thank you, Dr. Zhang. Let me wipe your sweat." With that, Shaohua handed Zhang Fan a tissue.

"You're welcome, it's my duty." Since they were still at the hospital, Zhang Fan couldn't say much more, so he walked them out to the hospital entrance.

Zhang Fan stood watching for a long time, feeling a heavy and unnameable discomfort settling in his chest. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt ill at ease.

He missed home. Seeing Shaohua supporting her mother's receding back made Zhang Fan yearn for his own parents.