With the spread of mechanization, things are much better now. Harvesters and seeders are integrated, reaping and sowing at the same time, finishing farm work in just a few days. The biggest change is no more handing in public grain or paying agricultural taxes—you just sell the harvest directly.
But oddly enough, as farming gets easier, more and more land is being left fallow, and fewer people are tilling the soil. The reason is simple: it all comes down to profit. Back in the day, people farmed because they had no choice—there weren’t many other options, and at least it could feed a family. Now farming is convenient, but you barely make a few thousand yuan a year. Seeds, fertilizer, and pesticides keep rising in price. It’s better to grit your teeth and work in the city, where you can earn more in a month. Still, folks are reluctant to give up their rural land—it’s a safety net. If things go south outside, at least back in the village you’ll have food to eat and won’t starve.
The house was simply decorated, and the old couple had aired it out for a month or two before leaving, so there was basically no smell. Zhou You happened to be home and planned to take them for a check-up. “Check-up? What check-up? I’m perfectly healthy—I’m not going.” “Why waste the money? If you’re sick, see a doctor; if you’re not, why go looking for trouble at the hospital?” “No way, no way. I’d rather rest at home. Hospitals are places where people go with long faces.” “Besides, I’m fine now. What you don’t know won’t hurt you. If they find something wrong, then what? Do you treat it or not? It’s just a headache.”
Zhou You used to not get this attitude. He thought check-ups were normal—catch problems early, right? What’s there to fear? But as he got older, every check-up flagged something off, and the same happened with his colleagues’ parents. It started to get on his nerves.
Worse still, follow-up visits often led nowhere. Either the doctor recommended surgery or told you to just leave it alone. Then there were the absurd cases: different doctors in the same hospital gave different opinions, and hospitals elsewhere disagreed too. Some conclusions were even completely opposite, leaving you at a loss. In the end, people had no choice but to go to big cities like Beijing or Shanghai. For ordinary folks, getting to those cities for treatment was the pinnacle. Going abroad? Forget it—how many times does a regular person leave the country in their lifetime, let alone for medical care? The costs alone would break you. A trip to those cities meant expenses for appointments, lodging, and travel, especially for specialist slots you could barely snag. It wasn’t until the internet took off that booking became possible.
Gradually, Zhou You developed an ostrich mentality—too much hassle. As the saying goes, Western medicine always treats symptoms, while Chinese medicine occasionally treats the root. Western medicine, after all, is all about cutting and slicing—every surgery drains your vitality.
But now it was different. Zhou You had money and time, and his parents’ health had to come first, even though they were both fit. “Since I’ve got time now, let me take you for a check-up. Otherwise, I’ll be worried when I’m working away from home. It’s not expensive—cheap, really. If you end up messing with my work because of this, what then?” Zhou You pulled out his trump card: himself. It’s an old Chinese tradition: using the kids’ work, marriage, or future as leverage almost always works.
The next morning on an empty stomach, Zhou You took them to the county hospital for a check-up. He’d wanted to go to the city hospital, but his parents refused, so the county it was. At the county hospital, they went straight to the体检 department, picked two packages, paid, and started. County doctors only handled common ailments; anything more complex required a trip to the city, province, or Beijing/Shanghai. But routine check-ups were fine.
Zhou You followed the whole process: blood draw, height, weight, eye exam, internal medicine, surgery, ultrasound, ECG, CT, carbon-13 test. Finally, he added a thyroid ultrasound. Lately, he didn’t know why, but more and more people were being diagnosed with thyroid issues during check-ups—either 4A or 4B. Hospitals couldn’t keep up with the surgeries. Mild cases meant half a thyroid removed; severe cases took both. Total removal required lifelong medication, causing huge inconvenience.
When the thyroid surgery craze hit a few years back, patients noticed the numbers climbing—at least one or two out of ten people had thyroid problems. No one could pinpoint the cause—diet or the stress of modern life? Either way, the cases kept rising. Doctors didn’t know what to do, and patients were lost too. Many called it a “lazy cancer” that might never spread until death. But who would gamble on that? Especially when the stakes were their own life.
After all the tests, Zhou You took the old couple shopping at the mall, buying a few clothes. He also picked up some spares for himself to keep at home. Along the way, his parents kept asking about work and relationships. “You, how’s work? Tiring? Has anyone set you up with someone? Now that our house is built, bring a girl home for Mom to see someday,” his mother said, eyes full of hope.
What could Zhou You say? He thought, *I’m not done having fun yet. Why get married? Your son’s prime years are just starting. Talking marriage is like ruining me.* Marriage isn’t easy these days. If things go wrong, half my assets are gone. No kids? Fine. But if there are kids, they’d suffer. How miserable are kids without parents? Growing up emotionally incomplete, getting bullied with no one to turn to.
“I’m in the prime of my career, just starting out. I don’t have the energy for romance. If I slack off and lose my job, who’d want me? How would I support them?” Zhou You casually dropped a bombshell. Hearing that, his parents didn’t dare push further—in their minds, work came first.
Thinking of that, he pulled out Zhang Jiayi’s autographed photo. “Mom, look at this. I ran into him a couple days ago, had a meal together. Knowing you like him, I asked for his autograph.” Zhou You also opened his phone to show her a group photo. Li Fengying grinned wide, flipping the photo over and over. “Look how well he acts in those dramas. City housing prices are insane—how many people have they screwed over?” Then her face fell. “Good thing our You is capable. Otherwise, your dad and I would feel like we let you down, not being able to buy you a house.”
Seeing his parents upset, Zhou You thought back to his own miserable past life. But even then, he rarely blamed them. Because once he grew up and faced life’s pressures, he realized how hard it was just to keep a family safe, healthy, and together.