Xue Ruifeng was just about to close the thermos container and return it to the nurse.
Suddenly, a voice came from beside him. “Serve me a bowl of porridge.”
What did he just say?
Xue Ruifeng even thought he had misheard.
Jian Yushu didn’t want the chicken wonton soup he brought, but instead wanted this shabby wild vegetable porridge?
Where was the logic in that!
The porridge was thick and creamy, clearly simmered for a long time.
Pale yellow egg strips and tender green diced wild vegetables were woven into the rice that had cooked until it bloomed open.
Just looking at it made one feel warm all over.
A spoonful lifted up clung to the spoon, then slid smoothly into the bowl, making one wonder if it would glide just as smoothly down the throat into the stomach.
Xue Ruifeng swallowed unconsciously twice, scolding himself for being so useless.
How could he be craving a random bowl of wild vegetable porridge?
He handed the bowl to Jian Yushu, then opened the oil paper package, thinking that sesame flatbread should be ordinary enough.
Could it possibly tempt Jian Yushu’s appetite too?
The flatbread was long and rectangular. When broken apart, it made a crisp “crack.”
Even Jian Yushu, who had been stirring the porridge to cool it, looked over.
The flatbread was still warm, incredibly flaky.
The syrup inside was half-melted, glistening along the torn edge of the dough.
This time, Xue Ruifeng really couldn’t hold back.
He took a bite.
Mmm. Delicious.
“Where’s my flatbread?” Jian Yushu asked as he stirred the porridge, seeing Xue Ruifeng only eating for himself.
Xue Ruifeng chewed while handing him one.
Then quickly scooped himself a bowl of porridge.
Jian Yushu’s eating disorder had developed in childhood, sometimes better, sometimes worse.
When it was mild, he could eat a little. But when it flared up, like recently, he could only rely on sugar to survive.
So he ate very slowly—if he rushed even slightly, his stomach would ache.
Sitting at the small table, he ate elegantly: one spoonful of porridge, one small bite of flatbread.
Meanwhile, Xue Ruifeng ate like a starving pig, finishing his bowl in no time.
Not bad at all!
Given Jian Yushu’s tiny appetite, one bowl of porridge and one flatbread was already his limit.
Seeing there was still some left in the thermos, Xue Ruifeng thought he might as well scrape it all clean—no point wasting food.
After finishing his rounds and handing over his shift, Xue Ruishan planned to return to his office before going off duty.
As soon as he pushed the door open, he saw Jian Yushu handing an empty bowl to Xue Ruifeng.
“Give me another serving.”
Unbelievable.
He actually wanted more food!
Xue Ruishan was about to praise his younger brother for arranging good meals this time.
But then he saw Xue Ruifeng lift his face from the bowl, half a flatbread still stuffed in his mouth.
“Huh? You still want more?”
“I figured you couldn’t finish it, and we shouldn’t waste food… so I… ate it all.”
Xue Ruishan: ???
His hand didn’t even need instructions from his brain before it smacked the back of Xue Ruifeng’s head.
“I told you to take care of the patient, and you’re busy stuffing your own face?!”
“Were you reincarnated as a starving ghost? Fighting an eating-disorder patient for food? How did our family produce someone as useless as you?”
If Jian Yushu could finish a meal and still want more, it was no small matter.
Xue Ruishan specifically sought out the nurse who delivered the food to ask who brought the porridge.
The nurse only said it was a fierce-looking middle-aged man.
Xue Ruishan immediately thought of the female patient from last night who had cut her leg.
The one who brought her in had also been a fierce-looking middle-aged man.
And she seemed to know Jian Yushu.
“This porridge…” he looked at Jian Yushu, who was still eating flatbread, “was it from that female patient last night?”
Jian Yushu didn’t answer directly. Instead, he asked, “Is her injury serious?”
“It’s okay. A glass cut—pretty long, deeper in the middle. She got five stitches.”
Jian Yushu frowned slightly. “Will it leave a scar?”
“There will definitely be a scar, especially where the stitches are. It might even become raised.”
“Is there any way to treat it?”
“Scar-removal ointment.”
Xue Ruishan took off his white coat and signaled to his sulking younger brother to clean up and go home.
After eating a bowl of porridge and one and a half flatbreads, Jian Yushu felt unusually energetic.
Without needing help, he got out of bed himself.
“Did she get any scar ointment last night?”
Xue Ruishan looked at him suspiciously.
Why so many questions today?
“No.”
“That patient’s family situation isn’t very good. Even the emergency fee was paid by a neighbor.”
“I told her about the possibility of scarring. She said it was fine, so she didn’t ask for the ointment.”
“Then prescribe me two tubes.”
Carrying the thermos and the scar ointment, on the way to the textile factory residential compound, Jian Yushu kept thinking about whether what he wanted to do was appropriate.
The porridge Lin Qiqi sent really suited his taste.
The feeling of eating freely like this morning had almost never existed in his life.
If the porridge was truly made by Lin Qiqi, he wanted to hire her to take care of his three meals.
He could pay her according to the salary of a housemaid in the capital.
Lin Qiqi needed money right now—she would probably agree.
Jian Yushu had even prepared what to say.
The spring weather was pleasant. Sunlight slanted across the big tree in the courtyard, casting patches of shade.
Under the tree, two people were supporting each other as they slowly walked back and forth.
Jiang Yunling had lost her left leg. Lin Qiqi had injured her right.
On the side where they leaned together, their arms were tightly draped over each other’s shoulders, each holding a crutch, inching forward step by step.
Several times, Jiang Yunling nearly fell, but Lin Qiqi caught her every time.
The practice didn’t go smoothly, yet neither of them showed frustration or resentment.
Instead, they smiled at each other, rested for a bit, and continued.
While resting, Lin Qiqi seemed to sense someone outside the courtyard and looked toward Jian Yushu.
He quickly stepped aside, hiding against the wall.
All the words he had prepared on the way suddenly felt unnecessary.
The sun rose higher. Even in spring, it was getting warm.
Too much sunlight would give Jiang Yunling a headache, so they ended their practice. Lin Qiqi helped her inside.
Taking advantage of that moment, Jian Yushu entered the courtyard and placed the thermos on the small stone table.
An open high school math book lay on the table, with scratch paper beside it filled with dense calculations.
He glanced at a few problems.
All correct.
Very high accuracy.
From inside the house came Lin Qiqi’s voice.
“Mom, the water’s a bit hot. Sit down first—I’ll mix in some cold water.”
Jian Yushu took out the scar ointment from his pocket and placed it on top of the thermos lid.
By the time Lin Qiqi saw the thermos, it was as if he had never been there.
Only a faint trace of warm spring breeze remained.
Lin Qiqi carefully read the instructions on the two tubes of scar ointment.
This favor… she was afraid she would never be able to repay it.