Leng Hui returned to the hospital room, and Tang Lin, lying on the bed, immediately asked, “Did you find out what happened?”
“I did. As I mentioned last time, she goes with that Qi Da every morning to collect coal. This time, luck wasn’t on her side. When she jumped off the train, she probably didn’t pay attention to the angle and ended up with a big bump on her head and a cracked leg bone. They put her in a cast, and she has to stay in the hospital for a while.”
After saying this, Leng Hui poured herself a glass of water.
“She got injured and hospitalized—did anyone find out what they were doing?”
Leng Hui knew she was referring to the train hopping. “Probably not for now. I haven’t heard anyone mention it. Qi Da was the one who brought her back.”
Tsk.
The Leng Family really didn’t know which deity they had offended lately—two people ended up in the hospital in less than half a month.
“Staying in the hospital these days costs a fortune. Is Old Lady Leng willing to pay for what she calls a ‘money-losing goods’?” Tang Lin was quite curious about this.
When she was hospitalized, there had been a fuss over the payment, but fortunately, as a company employee, part of her expenses could be reimbursed.
Leng Mei, however, was different. All her hospitalization expenses were out-of-pocket.
Leng Hui felt somewhat sympathetic toward the original host and her mother. But now that she was the original host, her feelings were a bit complicated. “Old Lady Leng refused to pay. In the end, Leng Yongkang and Leng Yongxing borrowed money from colleagues to cover the hospitalization and surgery costs.”
Tang Lin was slightly surprised. “Leng Yongkang actually dared to go against Old Lady Leng’s wishes? It seems his mama’s boy trait isn’t too severe after all.”
Leng Hui reminded her, “Even though you’re nominally husband and wife, don’t get your hopes up about him. From this incident, it’s clear he blindly defends his family. His mama’s boy trait only changes slightly when it comes to his family, but that family definitely doesn’t include you.”
As for Leng Hui herself, she hadn’t tested it yet and didn’t know.
Tang Lin rolled her eyes. “After all these years in the apocalypse, have you ever seen me develop feelings for any man?”
“That’s for the best. You need to remember that you can only rely on yourself. Men are only good for adding flowers to brocade—don’t expect them to offer help in times of need.”
When disaster strikes, everyone flees for themselves!
“Got it, you nag.” Tang Lin listened to Leng Hui’s well-reasoned words and felt a pang of sadness looking at her teenage face.
A girl in the bloom of youth should be enjoying the best years of her life, yet she held no illusions about men. As a mother, should one feel relieved or heartbroken?
Tang Lin didn’t know if there were any good men in the world, but she firmly believed there were, though they were as rare as phoenix feathers. Unfortunately, she had never met one.
Both Tang Lin and Leng Hui thought that since the Leng brothers had borrowed money to cover the hospitalization fees, Leng Mei could finally rest and recover in the hospital.
Unexpectedly, after just three days, Old Lady Leng came to the hospital and caused a scene, forcefully insisting that Leng Yongxing carry Leng Mei home. She firmly believed that “a broken bone takes a hundred days to heal” and that recuperating slowly at home was the best way.
Leng Yongxing and his wife couldn’t argue with Old Lady Leng, so they had no choice but to help Leng Mei complete the discharge procedures.
Leng Hui wanted to go back and watch this family drama unfold, but Tang Lin advised against it, “If you go back now and watch them argue, won’t you find it annoying?”
Leng Hui shook her head in refusal. “Not at all. Staying in the hospital with you every day is too boring. How could I miss such a rare chance to watch a good show? I’ll go and come back quickly, then tell you all about it to help pass the time.”
Only those who have experienced it know the hardship of being a hospital companion.
The idle folks were practically growing mold with boredom.
Stepping out of the hospital, the air instantly felt fresher.
Leng Mei was carried back on a Hua Gan makeshift stretcher by Leng Yongxing and Leng Yongkang. Not every household owned such a stretcher—they had borrowed a sleeping bench and fastened it with a bamboo pole, which worked perfectly for transporting someone with limited mobility.
The stretcher was set down on the first floor, and Leng Yongxing carried Leng Mei upstairs.
At the doorway of the second-floor home, Sun Xiaojuan had already prepared pomelo leaves.
When Leng Hui arrived, she happened to see Sun Xiaojuan sprinkling pomelo leaf water over Leng Mei. “Pomelo leaves cleanse the body, sweep away all impurities. May good fortune always follow, and everything go smoothly from now on.”
“Alright, Second Son, you can carry her in now.”
Old Lady Leng, who had stayed indoors, spoke up. Leng Yongxing gave an ingratiating smile and carried Leng Mei inside, settling her in the partitioned room belonging to the second branch.
Leng Hui noticed that the Leng Family’s stove had been moved to the corridor today. Steam rose from the pot on the stove, carrying the aroma of meat—though it smelled a bit unusual.
“Hui Hui.”
Leng Hui withdrew her hand, which had been about to lift the lid, and turned to glance sideways at Leng Yongkang. “What do you want?”
Leng Yongkang waved her over. “Come here and help me carry these two bamboo poles back inside. I need to return the sleeping bench we borrowed.”
Leng Hui went downstairs with him. “Since Leng Mei was discharged today, did the family buy meat?”
Leng Yongkang shot her a look as they descended the stairs. “Weren’t you the one who snatched this month’s Meat Coupon? How could we buy meat without a coupon? What’s in the pot is the preserved pig’s head we smoked last winter.”
“The family still has meat?” Leng Hui was stunned.
When she had pried open Old Lady Leng’s treasure chest last time, how had she missed the preserved meat?
“It’s hanging on the innermost wall of the kitchen. You didn’t know—” Leng Yongkang seemed to recall her lock-picking incident and warned, “Your grandmother only cuts a small piece from that preserved pig’s head for special occasions. Don’t you go finishing it all off.”
The innermost wall of the kitchen was pitch black, and the preserved pig’s head hanging there was nearly the same color—easy to miss if you weren’t paying attention.
Leng Hui gave a perfunctory nod to Leng Yongkang’s warning. When a craving struck, the timing didn’t matter—what mattered was who ended up eating it.
“Comrade Leng Yongkang—”
“Call me Dad!”
Leng Hui’s expression stiffened. “…Dad, since the family cooked meat to celebrate Leng Mei’s discharge, when my mom gets out of the hospital, remind your mother to cut a piece of meat to celebrate for her too.”
Leng Yongkang frowned slightly. “What do you mean ‘your mother’? That’s your grandmother.”
Leng Hui turned her head away, hoisted the bamboo pole, and headed upstairs. She had no intention of changing how she referred to them. Making an exception once was tolerable, but doing it repeatedly would mean having no principles.
After all, she was a girl with standards.
In the corridor, Aunt Li, their next-door neighbor, was a typical homemaker of that era, which made her fairly compatible with Sun Xiaojuan, who was also a housewife.
Aunt Li stepped aside to let Leng Hui pass. Once Leng Hui had carried the bamboo pole inside, Aunt Li gently nudged Sun Xiaojuan in the back and whispered, “Why is she back? Wasn’t she at the hospital taking care of her mother all this time?”
Sun Xiaojuan curled her lip. “She’s got a nose like a hound—she shows up whenever there’s something good to eat at home.”
Aunt Li’s eyes sparkled with gossip, though her tone was disdainful. “A young girl shouldn’t be so greedy. Who would want to marry a gluttonous daughter-in-law into their family?”
“Who says it’s not true? Last time, for the sake of some food, she even pried open my mom’s lock and stole eggs and flour.” Sun Xiaojuan seemed to realize only then that she had let something slip. She covered her mouth and quickly waved her hand, signaling she wouldn’t say more.
Aunt Li waved her hand dismissively and turned to head home first.
Standing there, the aroma of the meat made her mouth water so much it was almost overflowing.
Sun Xiaojuan carried the pot inside and, in the cramped kitchen, fished out the meat, sliced it, and arranged it on a plate.
The midday meal was quite lavish: sorghum cakes, a bowl of pickled eggplant, a bowl of preserved pork head, and placed right in the center was a pot of salted vegetable soup.
Leng Hui glanced around at everyone seated at the table waiting for the meal to begin and called out toward the kitchen, “What’s taking so long? Why hasn’t the preserved meat been sliced and served yet? Auntie, don’t you dare sneak a bite in there!”
The piece of meat she was about to put in her mouth abruptly halted. Sun Xiaojuan threw the meat in her hand back onto the plate, grinding her teeth in frustration.