Tang Yuanxiao ate every last tangyuan in the bowl.
Lin Huanzhu probably knew Tang Yuanxiao had a good appetite. Even though it was just one bowl, it was a large enamel one, filled to the brim.
Besides the tangyuan, a large white egg was nestled at the bottom of the bowl.
The egg had been cooked right in the pot. It hadn’t been stirred, so it came out perfectly whole.
The egg was also white. Other than being a little bigger than the tangyuan, it looked much the same.
Tang Yuanxiao only realized it was an egg after he took a bite. The egg was cooked just right—not too hard and not undercooked. It was delicious.
The sweet tangyuan were already filling on their own. After eating the whole bowlful, his entire body warmed up, and he was full.
Tang Yuanxiao drank all the broth too.
He drank every last drop. After finishing, he washed the bowl before taking it back to the hospital room.
Mrs. Tang had already changed her pants and was now sitting there, staring blankly into space.
"Mom, do you know where Doctor Liao lives? I’m going to return the bowl."
Mrs. Tang immediately snapped out of it. "There’s no need to make a special trip to return it. Just leave it here. You can give it back to Doctor Liao when she comes tomorrow."
Tang Yuanxiao didn’t object. He took the dirty clothes and bedsheets that needed washing and went to do the laundry.
By the time he finished, it was past nine, almost ten o’clock. Only then did Tang Yuanxiao leave the sanatorium and head back to his dorm.
Mrs. Tang, however, did not have a peaceful night’s sleep.
As soon as she fell asleep, she had a nightmare. She dreamed that she was captured again, and they said they were going to lock her up and never let her out for the rest of her life.
Mrs. Tang screamed and cried, but she couldn’t break free. Then she saw Lin Huanzhu, who flashed a grin of pearly white teeth and seized her with a cold smile.
She finally managed to escape, but before Mrs. Tang could even breathe a sigh of relief, she dreamed again that Lin Huanzhu was holding a gun and trying to snatch her Tangyuan away.
"I want your Tangyuan to marry me! If he doesn’t, I’ll kill you!"
Mrs. Tang protected Tang Yuanxiao with all her might, but in the end, he was still snatched away by Lin Huanzhu. After the wedding ceremony, he was forced into the bridal chamber.
When Mrs. Tang tried to stop her, she saw Lin Huanzhu sneer, lift her foot, and kick her.
"AHHHH!" Mrs. Tang was so scared she finally jolted awake from the dream.
Her pants and the bedsheets were completely soaked with urine. Drenched in a cold sweat, Mrs. Tang called for a nurse, but no one answered.
She lay there for several hours, frozen with lingering fear, until dawn.
After that, Mrs. Tang... was even afraid of seeing Liao Jin.
Before, she had never been afraid of Liao Jin or the doctors. In fact, she felt that since she had paid so much money to get in, it was only natural for them to treat her.
But now, the thought that Liao Jin’s family had such a she-devil in it was terrifying.
When Liao Jin got the enamel bowl back, she was quite puzzled by the terrified look in Mrs. Tang’s eyes.
Mrs. Tang had been trying her best to forget Lin Huanzhu, but it was as if fate was playing a trick on her. She had never once seen Lin Huanzhu before, but afterward, she kept running into her by coincidence.
She would either run into Lin Huanzhu on her way to work in the morning or see her coming home after work.
’It’s like being haunted!’
’Thankfully... Tang Yuanxiao doesn’t come every day, so he hasn’t run into her.’
That was the only thing Mrs. Tang could console herself with.
Of course, remembering her nightmare and wanting to prevent such a thing from ever happening, she started to ponder what she would do if Lin Huanzhu really did come to snatch her Tangyuan.
’After thinking it over and over, the best solution seems to be getting Lin Huanzhu married off as quickly as possible.’
’Once she’s married, she won’t be able to get any ideas about Tang Yuanxiao.’
After that, whenever Mrs. Tang had a moment, she began to overtly and covertly suggest to the nurses and doctors that they should show some concern for Liao Jin’s "old maid," Lin Huanzhu. She urged them to marry her off soon, and if they knew anyone suitable, they should make an introduction.
Mrs. Tang even thought about which unmarried young men could possibly "handle" a girl like Lin Huanzhu.
After much thought, she recalled many of the unmarried men in the family courtyard, and Yu Le was one of them.
As for all of Mrs. Tang’s scheming... it was a good thing... that Tang Yuanxiao was completely unaware.
Mrs. Tang obsessed over all these things, yet she was completely unaware—or perhaps chose to ignore—that Tang Yuanxiao and Lin Huanzhu had only met that one time on that one day, and... had never seen each other again.
On weekends or when he didn’t have class, Tang Yuanxiao would return to his unit. He didn’t skimp on any of the duties he was able to perform.
Even though he was a student, his position was still being held for him. Juggling school and work kept him very busy.
「Time quietly slipped into November.」
The weather grew colder, but thankfully, Su Li’s car had arrived, so she could now drive wherever she needed to go.
Su Li had also learned to drive and had managed to pass the difficult driver’s license test.
As for learning to drive, what surprised Su Li was that Wu Sheng had actually managed to teach her.
What’s more, they hadn’t even broken up from all the arguing.
’Alright, Wu Sheng really did keep his word. He never once yelled at me. I, on the other hand, kind of wanted to yell at him.’
His constant harping on "Safety, safety, safety!" had left Su Li with a bit of a complex.
Now, whenever she drove, all she could think about was "safety, safety." As soon as she got in the car, her courage would shrink. She would yield to other cars from a great distance away and drove very slowly.
Thankfully, she had finally made it through.
After Su Li finished learning to drive, Wu Sheng got busy and started coming around less often.
Other than that one time he brought it up, Wu Sheng never mentioned Li Kai Xuan again, so presumably, no conflicts had arisen.
But it was an undeniable fact that Wu Sheng had gotten busier.
It was the weekend again. Su Li had originally planned to go to the library with Little Tang Mo.
She had been busy with one thing after another, and she was looking forward to a rare day off to just hang out at the library. But when she woke up in the morning, she found it was raining outside.
A fine, continuous drizzle was falling, making the already cold day feel even colder.
She had to scrap her plan to go to the library early and decided to wait until the rain cleared up.
So, Su Li and Little Tang Mo spent the morning rolling around in their warm blankets, only getting up to make food when they got hungry.
They still had some vegetables at home, so after a bit of thought, Su Li decided to make a simple little hot pot.
The mother and son ate until their faces were beaded with sweat, feeling wonderfully refreshed.
"This is delicious." Nearing fullness, Little Tang Mo sipped his soup and praised Su Li’s cooking.
"If you like it, eat some more." Su Li picked up a few vegetables with her chopsticks for Little Tang Mo.
Little Tang Mo ate it all, then looked outside as the rain gradually subsided. "Mom, it looks like the rain is stopping."
"Then we’ll go once it stops," Su Li said, glancing over.
"Okay," Little Tang Mo nodded. "I wonder if Brother Bai Shan went to the library this morning."
"It was raining, so he probably didn’t go, right?" Su Li guessed.
"I don’t know. He mentioned last week that he would go today," Little Tang Mo said, unsure.
"Are you a little worried about him?" Su Li asked.
Little Tang Mo nodded. "Mhm, a little."
"If you’re worried, let’s go as soon as we finish eating and cleaning up," Su Li said.
After they finished their meal, the rain had indeed stopped. Su Li was just about to take Little Tang Mo out the door after cleaning up when the phone rang.
Su Li went to answer it, not expecting the person on the other end to be Qin Shanshan.
"Su Li, it’s me, your sister-in-law, Qin Shanshan."
Qin Shanshan, who at their last meeting had looked like she wanted to kill Su Li, was now on the phone, laughing and calling herself "sister-in-law" in a tone that suggested they were the best of friends.
The corner of Su Li’s mouth twitched.
’Strictly speaking, she isn’t wrong to call herself that.’
’By blood, she’s Su Dan’s wife, which does make her my sister-in-law.’
’It’s just... there’s no way I’m going to call her "sister-in-law."’.