Love Lies chapter 3

The old man leaned over, reached out, and wiped away a tear that had trickled to the corner of the old woman’s eye. “What are you thinking about? If you’re not well, what will happen to me? And what about Lily? We won’t allow anything to happen to you. Besides, Lily is already in her twenties. After she gets married, you’ll still have to take care of your grandchildren!” The old woman smiled.

“Eat up, or it’ll get cold,” the old man said as he held the lunch box out to the old woman again.

After the old woman finished eating, the old man stood up. While packing up the lunch box, he gently reminded her, “Take a rest. I’ll come to see you again tonight.” He helped his wife lie down, covered her with the quilt, smiled at her, and then quietly left the ward.

After leaving the ward, the old man picked up a green lunch bag from the waiting chair outside the ward, rushed downstairs, and got on the bus. After two or three stops, he got off and walked into the Eighth City Hospital next to the bus station. He went up to the third floor, stopped in front of a ward, put the blue bag that he had used to carry food for his wife on the chair in front of the door, took a deep breath, and put on a smile. Then he gently pushed open the door, first nodded friendly to the other patients in the room, and then walked up to a girl in her twenties. The girl looked haggard and her hair was a bit messy. The old man put the green lunch bag on the bedside table and said as he opened it, “There’s always traffic jams on the road these days. Are you hungry?” As he spoke, he took out the lunch box. The lunch box also had separate compartments. One half was rice and mung bean porridge, the other half was steaming cucumber and sliced meat, and there was also a salted duck egg.

The girl struggled to sit up, and the old man quickly reached out to carefully help her up, adjusted the pillow behind her so that she was lying semi – reclined. Then, the old man took out a floral porcelain spoon from his right coat pocket, wiped it on his lapel, and handed it to her. The girl looked at the food and showed a reluctant expression, saying, “I don’t want to eat.”

A look of reproach immediately appeared in the old man’s eyes. “Man can’t live without food. How can you not eat? These are all the things you liked the most when you were a child. When you’re sick, you need to take medicine and also eat well.”

The girl obediently took the spoon and while eating slowly, she asked, “Is Mom okay?”

“She’s fine. This morning I gave her the letter you wrote. She read it and said, ‘This girl has gained weight. I wonder who will marry her.’ Your mom is also very busy. She goes out to do square dancing every morning. She’s so healthy that even I can’t keep up with her. By the way, she said she’ll write to you in a couple of days.”

A faint bitter smile appeared on the girl’s face. “Dad, spend more time with Mom. She’s not in good health. Don’t let her know I’m so seriously ill. She’ll be heart – broken. I’ll write to her again in a few days.” She looked at her father again. “Dad, you’ve lost weight too. You should take care of your health.” As she spoke, a tear rolled down from her eye.

The old man reached out to gently wipe away her tears and brushed aside a wisp of black hair that had fallen on his daughter’s pale forehead. “Don’t think too much. Just focus on getting better. There’s always a way out. After you finish eating, take a nap. I might come a bit late tonight. Uncle Wang wants to talk to me about something.”

After leaving his daughter’s ward, the old man picked up the two lunch bags and rushed downstairs as he had come, then got on the bus again. After three stops, he got off. It was close to his home, but instead of going home, he walked into the Tenth City Hospital in the opposite direction. He climbed the stairs to the second floor, gently pushed open the door of a ward, walked in, and collapsed onto a hospital bed. Soon, the doctor came in and hung up an IV drip for him…

(Recommended by: Chen Liang)