When they arrived at the health center, Li Suian rushed inside in a flurry to call for a doctor. In no time, several doctors and nurses came running out pushing a stretcher.
Wen Qi was wheeled into the treatment room for various examinations, and the results showed low blood sugar and a stomach condition.
Li Suian hadn’t even had a sip of water since returning from the mountains, and she finally felt relieved upon hearing what the doctor said.
Wen Qi was hooked up to an IV and wouldn’t wake up for a while, so she drove the three-wheeler back home. She fed the animals first, then made some food for herself, and brought some for Wen Qi as well.
Back home, Da Hu was waiting eagerly by his stainless steel food bowl, with a bone already gnawed clean beside his mouth. His dark, shiny eyes stared at Li Suian, clearly hungry.
She patted his big head, said a few soothing words, and then went to cook.
Her meal was simple—there was leftover cold rice and dishes from this morning, which she could just reheat.
As for Wen Qi, the doctor said he had a severe stomach condition and needed soft, easily digestible food, so she planned to cook him some porridge.
There was a bit of the green peas she’d shelled this morning left over. She rinsed some rice, chopped some ham into thin strips, and made a pot of pea and ham porridge.
Once the porridge was on the stove, she hurried off to feed the pigs, the cow, and the chickens, ducks, and geese. So many mouths to feed, all clamoring for food—it kept her busy as can be.
The animals loved to make noise, especially when they saw their owner preparing their food.
The cow bellowed loudly, one call after another. The pigs climbed right up onto the low pen wall, craning their heads up and squealing. Even the chickens, ducks, and geese came running back at the commotion, looking for food. The big goose stretched its neck out long, its honking shaking the sky.
The animal calls rose and fell one after another. Though Li Suian heard them every day, she still found them unbearably noisy each time. Who said living alone was lonely? Her place was practically in chaos, lively as could be.
They made her head ache, so every time she fed them, she couldn’t stop muttering under her breath.
“What are you yelling about? The whole village can hear you. Keep it up and I’ll sell you all off!”
Too bad the pigs and cows couldn’t understand her threats—until the moment they got their food, their calls wouldn’t stop.
By the time she’d finally fed all those mouths, even the usually energetic Li Suian felt completely worn out. Fortunately, it was time to eat. After three bowls of rice, she was full of energy again.
Da Hu also polished off a full bowl of food, licking his bowl shiny clean as usual.
The porridge for Wen Qi was done too. She had an insulated lunchbox at home and filled it to the brim for him.
By the time she packed up and headed out again, the sun had already set and dusk was approaching. Da Hu wanted to follow her and hopped into the passenger seat on his own.
Li Suian didn’t shoo him away—it was good to have him along for company.
By the time they reached the town health center again, it was completely dark. Da Hu couldn’t go into the hospital, so Li Suian folded up half of the bedding spread in the cargo area, making a sleeping space for him.
After settling Da Hu, Li Suian carried the lunchbox into the health center. Wen Qi’s IV wasn’t finished yet, but he was already awake, lying quietly in bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.
Li Suian walked up to the bedside and said with surprise, “You’re awake! You must be hungry—I brought you some food. Eat it while it’s hot.”
Wen Qi turned his head to look at her, saying nothing. His deep, dark eyes were calm and unruffled, like a stagnant pool devoid of any life.
Li Suian, however, was completely different from him. She wouldn’t let his cold demeanor create an awkward silence; she remained as warm and enthusiastic as a blazing fire.
She busied herself with opening the lid of the lunchbox, taking out a spoon, and gently stirring the porridge that was still steaming.
Wen Qi watched her, as if trying to figure something out. A strange glimmer flickered in his eyes before vanishing in an instant. This was the first time he had ever felt such vibrant vitality radiating from a person.
He was a withered tree on the verge of decay, while she was a fresh sprout just beginning to bloom. Meeting her felt like a withered tree encountering spring. But what did spring matter? A withered tree was still a withered tree—there was no possibility of it ever flourishing with lush branches and leaves again.
Li Suian always felt that this man carried a depth that didn’t match his age. He looked to be only twenty-three or twenty-four, yet he gave off a lifeless aura—even the old men in the village had more energy than him.
She walked to the other end of the hospital bed, pulled out the crank from underneath, and raised the head of the bed so Wen Qi could sit up halfway. Then she scooped up a spoonful of porridge, brought it close to her lips to blow it cool, and held it to his mouth.
Wen Qi didn’t open his mouth. Since waking up, he hadn’t spoken a single word. Now, looking at Li Suian, it took him a long moment before he managed to squeeze out two words: “Thank you.”
Li Suian smiled brightly, still holding up the spoonful of porridge. “What’s there to thank? We’re neighbors—we should help each other out. Come on, eat up. This is pea and ham porridge I made. It’s delicious, but it won’t taste as good once it gets cold.”
The sweetness of the peas, the savory aroma of the ham, and the fragrance of the rice all intertwined. The enticing smell stirred an appetite in Wen Qi, who hadn’t eaten properly in a long time.
He wanted to raise his hand to take the bowl of porridge himself, but he found his arms too weak—he couldn’t muster any strength at all.
Seeing this, Li Suian’s delicate brows immediately furrowed, and she couldn’t help but start nagging: “Just lie still and let me feed you. The doctor said your low blood sugar is quite severe, and your stomach isn’t in good shape either. It’s obvious you haven’t been eating properly.”
“Honestly, you’re a grown man—how can you not know how to take care of yourself? You’ve starved yourself until you’re as thin as a beanpole…”
The young girl’s rosy little mouth chattered on endlessly. Amid her stream of nagging, Wen Qi silently opened his mouth. The moment Li Suian saw him do so, she immediately stopped talking and quickly fed him a spoonful of porridge.
Wen Qi felt that his ears had finally gotten some peace, but strangely, he didn’t find it annoying at all—what was that about?
The porridge tasted even better than it smelled. His stomach, which had been surviving on nothing but bland instant noodles for a month, suddenly seemed to be tasting some kind of delicacy, and his hunger immediately roared to life.
His poor stomach felt utterly wronged—even a wild boar deserved to eat fine grain once in a while! What was the point of feeding it instant noodles every single day?
Li Suian fed him spoonful after spoonful. The aroma of the porridge lingered in the ward, tempting even the other patients to feel hungry.
The adults could endure it—clenching their teeth and drinking a few sips of water to get through it—but the sick child in the room couldn’t.
A little boy in the same ward, only three or four years old, swallowed hard and tugged at his grandmother’s clothes with a pitiful whimper: “Grandma, I’m hungry.”
The little boy still had a fever-reducing patch on his forehead, looking listless as he cried out for food. His grandmother’s heart ached at the sight.
“Alright, alright. Grandma will go out and buy you a bowl of rice noodles, okay?”
At this hour, there were still vendors in town selling late-night snacks.
The little boy shook his head. “No, I want congee.”
The grandmother looked troubled. There was no congee for sale in town either—where was she supposed to buy it?
The hospital beds were close together, and Li Suian overheard the exchange between the grandmother and grandson. She glanced at the congee in her insulated lunchbox—there was still more than half left.
Wen Qi wouldn’t be able to finish it either, so she said to the boy’s grandmother, “Grandma, if you don’t mind, I can share some of my congee with you. There’s still quite a lot left here.”
The old woman was overjoyed and thanked her repeatedly. “I don’t mind at all, not at all! Thank you so much, young lady. This little terror is impossible to please—where on earth was I supposed to find him congee!”