Wendy Lynch rode her electric scooter and soon arrived at the Eldorado Gold nearest to her company.
She had bought her grandmother’s earrings from this exact store last time. The clerk back then hadn’t been impatient with her tight budget, instead treating her with immense warmth, which left Wendy with a great impression of the brand. Pushing open the glass doors, she was greeted by a metallic luster bathed in warm yellow lighting. The dazzling sea of gold before her was breathtaking.
Spotting a customer, a saleswoman immediately approached with a smile. "Hello, miss. What would you like to see today?"
Wendy had just reached the counter when her gaze casually swept across the gold prices on the digital screen. She stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening instantly. She rubbed her eyes, thinking she had read it wrong. Looking closely again, the screen clearly displayed: "Today’s Pure Gold Price: about 125 dollars/gram."
"How is it so expensive?" Wendy gasped.
She distinctly remembered that when she bought the earrings last year, gold was only about 110 dollars/gram. In just one year, it had jumped by 13 dollars about per gram. At the current rate, a decent gold bracelet would cost over about 3,300 dollars.
That was no small sum. In the past, she would have hesitated over and over, eventually settling for the next best thing like a lightweight pendant or a small chain. However, she was now a woman with 28,000 dollars to her name! What was a mere twenty or thirty thousand?
When she was a child, her parents worked out of town, so she lived with her grandmother in Donnerton. On summer nights, her grandmother would sit in the yard with a palm-leaf fan, fanning Wendy while telling her age-old folktales until she fell asleep. In the winter, when Wendy’s hands and feet were freezing, her grandmother would tuck Wendy’s little hands into her own warm coat, slowly heating them with her body warmth. Whenever Wendy craved soy sauce chicken, even though they were financially tight, her grandmother would go to the market to pick the plumpest free-range chicken just to make her a super delicious meal. Watching Wendy eat until her mouth was shiny with oil, her grandmother would smile brighter than anyone else.
Money could always be earned back. With the tips from her future emails, she would seize even more opportunities. But her grandmother was getting older, and her birthdays were numbered. Every day that could bring her happiness was incredibly precious. How could Wendy wrong the grandmother who had always doted on her just because the price of gold had gone up?
Wendy smiled and spoke up. "Hello, I’d like to pick out a gold bracelet for my grandmother."
The saleswoman was an experienced older lady. Hearing Wendy’s request, she nodded with a smile. "Buying a bracelet for an elder, huh? Then a plain band is definitely the way to go. It’s classic, timeless, and comfortable for the elderly to wear without snagging their clothes."
Pulling out several plain bands of varying weights from the display, she laid them out in front of Wendy one by one. "Take a look at these. They range from fifteen to fifty grams. You can choose based on your budget and the size of your grandmother’s wrist."
Wendy picked up the bracelets to compare them, her fingers tracing the cool golden surfaces as she felt the weight of the metal. She recalled that her grandmother’s wrists weren’t very thick. A bracelet that was too heavy might be tiring to wear, while one that was too light wouldn’t feel substantial enough.
Finally, her gaze settled on a twenty-gram plain band. Weighing it in her hand, she found the circumference to be just right, and its surface had a very comfortable matte finish.
"I’ll take this one," Wendy said without hesitation.
The saleswoman immediately pulled out a digital scale to confirm the weight and carefully checked the purity hallmark before expertly calculating the price. "This one is exactly twenty grams. At today’s rate of 115 dollars per gram, plus a crafting fee of 2 dollars per gram, your total comes out to about 2,550 dollars."
Wendy took out her phone and paid briskly. Watching the saleswoman carefully place the bracelet into a red jewelry box, her heart filled with anticipation. She could almost see her grandmother’s eyes crinkling with joy when she received the gift.
By the time she walked out of the gold shop with the jewelry box in hand, the sky had already darkened. Wendy rode her electric scooter homeward in a delightful mood, her mind entirely focused on what she would say when she saw her grandmother tomorrow.
Soon, it was exactly midnight.
A notification popped up on her screen: "You have a new email."
Wendy opened her inbox.
[Time Mailbox: You have a letter from September 21, 2025.]
"Grandma was perfectly fine when eating her cake. How did she suddenly suffer a stroke after taking a nap?!
"The doctor said she had already missed the optimal window for resuscitation when she was brought in. Her condition is critical now.
"Even if she wakes up, it’s highly likely she will be paralyzed.
"I regret it so much. If only I had taken her for a medical checkup earlier, maybe we could have prevented this.
"Right now, I just hope she survives this crisis."
...
Reading the email, Wendy’s head BUZZED as if struck hard by a sledgehammer.
She wondered how her grandmother could possibly have a stroke. The older woman was always so healthy, frequently going out to square dance with her friends. How could a stroke happen so suddenly?
Her heart pounded frantically, feeling like it would burst from her chest, and her breathing grew rapid. Her mind was an absolute mess. One second, she saw her grandmother’s kind smile, and the next, the phrases "missed the optimal window" and "critical condition" from the email flashed before her. The intertwining of the two nearly pushed her to the verge of a breakdown.
"No, I can’t panic!" Wendy pinched her thigh hard, the sharp pain helping her regain a shred of rationality.
The email was from the future, which meant the stroke hadn’t happened yet. As long as she found a way, there was still time to save her!
She typed furiously on her keyboard, searching for "stroke precursors" and "stroke screening methods." Information popped up on the screen line by line. She read it word by word, her eyes glued to the monitor, terrified of missing any crucial details.
As Wendy quickly absorbed the wealth of information, her panic gradually subsided. Although a stroke was a very serious condition, with timely intervention, it was actually one of the most manageable critical illnesses. There were warning signs before a stroke, such as sudden dizziness, limb numbness, or slurred speech. Furthermore, physical examination items like a carotid ultrasound, blood pressure monitoring, and blood sugar and lipid tests could screen for stroke risks in advance. If issues were detected, severe cases could even be treated with thrombolytic injections to clear blockages, reducing the probability of a stroke from the root.
Seeing this information, Wendy’s intense anxiety eased slightly, though her back was already drenched in cold sweat, her clothes clinging chillingly to her skin.
Thank goodness there was still a chance! According to the email, the stroke would happen after the weekend birthday banquet. There was still time before the weekend. As long as she returned to Donnerton tomorrow and immediately took her grandmother to the hospital for a checkup, she could definitely detect the risks in advance and stop the tragedy from happening!