Lu Shengxun and Hua Shuo's Friendship and Medical Support

Lu Shengxun and Hua Shuo's Friendship and Medical Support is defined less by formal declarations than by what happens when Lu Xun is in trouble: he turns to Hua Shuo, and Hua responds with practical help, criticism, and the ease of someone who knows he can speak plainly. Their bond brings medical support and friendship into the same scenes. Hua does not simply tend to a patient; he is also the friend willing to scold Lu, tease him, and take an interest in the complications of his marriage to Su Xiangwan.

Friendship in an Emergency

The clearest measure of their closeness comes when Su Xiangwan develops a fever. Lu Xun has already taken medicine and tried to steady his breathing, but he is sweating and sinks down beside her bed. From there, he calls Hua Shuo and tells him to come examine her. The scene places Lu in two roles at once: he is physically unwell himself, yet remains fixed on guarding Su Xiangwan. His request is terse and urgent; Hua’s response makes clear that this kind of crisis is not new to their friendship.

Hua initially rebukes Lu for leaving his ward and running about when Su Xiangwan is safe at home. His irritation is paired with concern: he objects not to being called, but to Lu’s recklessness. After Lu insists, Hua agrees to come. He arrives soon afterward, bringing Lin Yanche with him, and the two men pause at the doorway when they see Lu sitting on the floor beside Su Xiangwan. The image makes the cost of Lu’s vigil visible, while Hua’s arrival turns private panic into a situation that can be managed by people he trusts.

Hua’s practical concern extends to Lu himself. He tells him to stop watching and return to his ward, and asks Lin Yanche to call Su Qingrou to care for her sister, since the men should not remain in that role. The advice is direct rather than ceremonious. Lu, still impatient, complains that they have arrived only to stand and stare; Hua answers by insisting that Lu, too, must accept care. Their familiar argument reveals a reciprocal bond: Lu summons Hua when help is needed, while Hua feels entitled to tell Lu when he is endangering himself.

Medical Help and Repeated Reliance

The crisis at Su Xiangwan’s bedside is part of a recurring pattern in which Lu Xun expects Hua Shuo to be available when illness or injury intrudes. When Su Xiangwan faints at an elevator after walking out with burning fever and failing strength, Lu orders the bodyguards to have Hua wait at Scenic Mountain Villa. His threat to have Hua’s studio razed if he cannot see him on his return is comically excessive, but it also shows how urgently he wants Hua on hand. The scene does not establish a diagnosis or explain the precise treatment Lu expects; it does show that Hua is among the first people Lu turns to when Su Xiangwan’s condition becomes alarming.

That reliance is striking because the bedside scene leaves Lu himself visibly compromised. He has taken a pill, removed his mask, and used medicine before calling, yet ends up collapsed on the floor. Hua’s medical role therefore intersects with a broader friendship in which Lu’s own vulnerability cannot be kept entirely out of view. Lu calls for help on Su Xiangwan’s behalf, but Hua sees the caller’s condition as well and directs him back toward care. The relationship is expressed through this double attention: Lu focuses on the person he loves, while Hua refuses to overlook the friend who is neglecting himself.

Candor, Teasing, and Domestic Complicity

Hua’s familiarity with Lu also appears in lighter, socially awkward exchanges. After Lu has let someone leave, Hua reacts with disbelief, as though Lu had been waiting eagerly for that person’s arrival only to send her away. He then asks whether Cheng Chuchu has caused trouble for him. Lu responds irritably, but Hua does not retreat; instead, he offers to help think through Cheng Chuchu so she will not create problems for Lu and his wife. The exchange presents Hua as more than a doctor summoned in emergencies. He is close enough to comment on Lu’s emotional reactions and to treat the state of Lu’s marriage as a subject for friendly intervention.

In another tense encounter, Lu rises and excuses himself, leaving Hua Shuo and Cheng Chuchu to settle their own dispute. Cheng challenges Lu about having brought Hua into the situation, and Lu answers evasively before leaving. The moment suggests that Hua can be drawn into Lu’s difficult social circumstances, though the scene does not fully explain what Lu intended by involving him. What it does establish is the ease with which Hua is present in Lu’s orbit, including situations that are neither clinical nor calm.

What the Relationship Reveals

The friendship works through contrast. Lu’s commands are impatient and sometimes extravagant; Hua’s replies are blunt, practical, and teasing. Yet beneath the friction is dependable action: when called, Hua comes, and he brings another trusted friend rather than treating Lu’s request as an inconvenience. His concern also resists Lu’s tendency to make himself secondary to Su Xiangwan’s needs. In the fever episode, Hua attends to the immediate medical emergency while reminding Lu that his own body and hospitalization matter too.

The available scenes do not provide a history of how the friendship began or describe its full range. They establish its working character instead: medical reliance joined to personal candor. Hua can be summoned as a physician, trusted as a friend, and permitted to challenge Lu without ceremony. That combination makes him a practical support in moments of crisis and a comic counterweight to Lu’s intensity, while his interventions repeatedly expose how little distance separates Lu’s private attachments from the people who help him manage them.