112. Feeding Him

After Sister Li left, the doctor and nurse came to check the hospital bed, and everything was normal. I put on my clothes and got out of bed, but I wasn’t allowed to leave. The nurse said that for safety reasons, I needed to be observed for another night.

Looking at my head wrapped like a mummy, I felt too embarrassed to face anyone even if I went out, so I stayed in the ward.

Yesterday, Jin Yulian had booked me a single room, a VIP bed.

The hardware at Qingxi District Hospital was decent, with many beds available, but the doctors’ skills weren’t quite on par with those in Mingzhou City. So truly wealthy and influential families sought treatment at the Mingzhou Central Hospital or even better the Hudu Grand Hospital; they wouldn’t come to Qingxi for medical care.

Neither rich families nor serious patients chose Qingxi’s hospital, which meant many beds were vacant. If you had money, you could get a single room.

Jin Yulian had been forced out by A Yun, who in turn was driven away by Ling Xue. After Ling Xue left, Sister Li had gone to handle some matters. Now, the ward was empty except for me, and I felt lonely, so I half-lay on the bed scrolling through my phone.

At that moment, a WeChat message popped up. It was from Sister Yang: “Feng, what are you doing? I miss you. Come back soon!”

I felt a little stirred—after all, every man has such desires.

I sent her an emoji covering its face and crying, saying: “Sister, I’m lying in the hospital bed.”

Sister Yang quickly replied: “What happened? Is the injury serious? Which hospital? I’ll come to see you right away.”

I said, “Sister Yang, you’re busy. Don’t come. It’s nothing serious now.”

She sent a shy laughing face emoji and said, “Feng, do you have a beautiful girlfriend taking care of you? If your girlfriend is there, I won’t come, so I don’t cause any misunderstandings.”

I sent a video on WeChat: “Look, Sister, there’s no girlfriend here—just me alone in the ward.”

After sending it, I regretted it. Sending such a video was basically inviting her to come over.

Sure enough, she replied after watching it: “Poor kid, no one to take care of you. I’m coming over now. Tell me your location.”

I wanted to refuse gently, but somehow ended up sending her the address and ward number.

Maybe it’s a common young man’s weakness—not able to endure loneliness. Lying in bed alone, I felt unbearably lonely.

Actually, I silently thought through the women I knew who I could chat with.

Jin Yulian had been driven away by A Yun. Since she chose to leave me, I didn’t want to bother her anymore. If I wasn’t serious about marriage, bothering her would just be playing the rogue and causing trouble for both of us.

After A Yun was driven away by Ling Xue, I dared not proactively disturb her either. I was treading on several boats at once. If I couldn’t decide to marry her but still bothered her, A Yun would think I was toying with her feelings—unless she approached me first.

Ling Xue hadn’t slept all night last night. Now that she had gone back, she must be exhausted and wanting rest, so I wouldn’t disturb her either. Sister Li had gone to look at a house, so the only one I could chat with was Sister Yang.

Now that Sister Yang reached out first, of course I was tempted. She had no intention of making me marry her. She contacted me partly to thank me, and partly to ease her own loneliness and emotional emptiness. Simply put, if anything did happen between us, it would be mutual consent, no strings attached.

So no matter how far my relationship with Sister Yang went, I wouldn’t feel guilty or responsible. At most, it would be an adult game between consenting parties.

I indulged in these wild thoughts, justifying my mental wandering. About half an hour later, Sister Yang arrived, dressed beautifully and carrying delicious food, pushing open the ward door.

Seeing her radiant appearance, I was momentarily stunned: “Sister Yang, you look so beautiful today—are you going on a blind date?”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized it was an ill-judged joke.

Sister Yang smiled brightly and said, “Do you like it?” I blushed and looked down, unable to answer. She came closer to the bed, and a strong sweet fragrance wafted over me.

She gently touched my forehead and asked with concern, “You’re so badly hurt. Who did this to you? Was it those loan sharks taking revenge?”

I said, “No, it’s not about the loan sharks. It was some other scoundrels.”

Sister Yang’s heart ached: “Those bastards are ruthless. So hateful... Did you report it to the police?”

I said, “Yes, I did. By the way, Sister, now that you’re here, who’s taking care of Xiaoya?”

Sister Yang said, “Xiaoya went to school. She eats lunch there. You don’t have to worry about her. You should worry about yourself and avoid causing trouble.”

I smiled bitterly: “Sister Yang, I don’t want this either! Who wants their head wrapped like a mummy?”

She said, “Then be careful next time. Try not to get into fights with those scoundrels. We don’t need to risk our lives over them.”

I nodded: “Sister, I’ll remember. I definitely won’t fight them anymore.”

Sister Yang asked, “Can you feed yourself? If not, I’ll feed you.”

I felt embarrassed to be fed, so I said, “No need to trouble you. I can eat by myself.”

Just as I was about to eat, a nurse came in and said, “You still need an IV drip today...”

Once the nurse hooked me up on my right arm, I couldn’t eat by myself.

Sister Yang smiled gently: “Don’t be shy. There’s no one else here. Let me feed you.” She opened the lunchbox and food containers she had brought.

She had brought stainless steel lunchboxes that could be stacked—three boxes of dishes and one box of rice. The food was quite plentiful. Watching her feed me, I couldn’t help but ask, “Sister, have you eaten?”

I thought about how all the food was hot, and she probably hadn’t had time to eat when she arrived. Sister Yang said, “I’m not hungry. Later, you can eat whatever you don’t finish.”

I was touched. Just as I was about to invite her to eat with me, Sister Yang had already fed a bite into my mouth, so I no longer hesitated...

I had eaten about seventy percent full when suddenly the ward door pushed open and A Yun came in carrying a lunchbox...