Chapter 36.2

At five o’clock in the afternoon, An An woke up. 

After waking up, she seemed a little confused. She lay on the sofa, and she hadn’t fully come to her senses until Jiang Rou carried her to Li Xiao’s arms. Seeing her father, she blinked her big eyes and then gave a sweet smile.

She buried her face in her father’s embrace.

Jiang Rou said to Li Xiao, “You take care of her for a while; I’ll go get some food.”

Li Xiao raised his head and looked at Jiang Rou. “Are you sure it’s okay to go alone?”

Jiang Rou simply waved and left without responding.

She walked out of the hospital gate and strolled around the nearby streets. She checked out restaurants with a lot of people, eventually choosing a busy yet clean one. She ordered a few light dishes and a jar of duck meat porridge.

Since disposable takeaway boxes weren’t common yet, Jiang Rou asked the restaurant owner if she would return the dishes. The owner was accommodating and packed everything in a plastic bag. 

On her way back, Jiang Rou also picked up a few mangoes and a bowl of red bean double-skin milk.

Because the food took a bit longer to prepare, she returned to the ward after six o’clock. Just before entering, she heard lively voices from inside.

Jiang Rou paused her steps, quickly tidied her hair, and made sure that she looked presentable before coming inside. She then pushed open the door and entered.

As soon as she stepped inside, she saw An An nestled in Li Xiao’s arms, being playfully teased by two men standing nearby. An An, who wasn’t very brave and hadn’t encountered many people besides her parents, often buried her face in Jiang Rou’s or Li Xiao’s chest when she encountered strangers. 

However, she rarely cried, only doing so when she was truly scared or in pain.

Jiang Rou believed that apart from An An’s naturally good temperament, it was also because she and Li Xiao had always provided her with ample security since childhood. 

They had always hugged her, coaxed her, and spoke to her in a sweet and gentle manner. Whenever Li Xiao came home, the first thing he would do was hold her, and he wouldn’t let go of her during meals and would wrap her up in his clothes whenever they went out.

So, even though An An saw several unfamiliar faces while being held by her father, she did not cry. Instead, she looked around with her big eyes curiously, glancing at one person and then another. When others brought food to her mouth, she pursed her lips tightly, turning her small body and burying her face in her father’s embrace.

But after a while, she couldn’t help but sneak a peek again.

The two men laughed at her actions.

In addition to the two men, there were also a middle-aged and an elderly woman in the ward.

The younger woman was busy coaxing a child in her arms, while the older one smiled and commented, “This child is so beautiful, about the same age as my second grandchild. They’d make a perfect match for an arrange marriage.”

Li Xiao, who had been smiling while holding An An, immediately had a change of expression upon hearing this.

A man named Fu Fei, standing nearby, chimed in, “That would be great! They could grow up as childhood sweethearts.”

Chang Yong, not as clueless, noticed Li Xiao’s expression and quickly changed the subject: “An An must be around ten months old, right? ”

It wasn’t that he was trying to be overly attentive, but when he looked at the beautiful An An and then at the boy who looked like Cao Wang in the arms of Cao’s wife, he couldn’t help but think they weren’t a good match.

The elderly woman seemed to think the idea was quite good and was about to say more when Chang Yong noticed Jiang Rou entering. Although he had never seen her before, he recognized her from the photos Li Xiao had shown. She was a very fair and beautiful woman.

He greeted her enthusiastically, “Oh, it’s you! Come on in. I finally get to meet you in person. You’re even more beautiful than in the photos.”

Jiang Rou smiled at the group and said, “Hello, thank you all for coming to visit Li Xiao. You must be Manager Chang, right? You’re really quite impressive.”

Then she turned to the other man and said, “And you must be Engineer Fu Fei, right? Li Xiao has mentioned you before. You look so young! Thank you for taking care of Li Xiao.”

Jiang Rou knew she had to be extra polite to Li Xiao’s boss and colleagues.

Though she wasn’t naturally good at flattery, this was something she learned from her brother—just one word, praise.

Jiang Rou didn’t recognize the middle-aged woman standing at the foot of the bed, so she simply smiled and offered a compliment as well. “Your child is adorable.”

Though Jiang Rou didn’t say much, both Chang Yong and Fu Fei were quite pleased. They felt that intellectuals spoke in a different and more sincere way. Compared to the usual compliments about a successful career and a bright future, being called impressive and young sounded far more genuine.

Jiang Rou then placed the food she had brought on the coffee table nearby, poured some water, and began cutting the mangos.

As Jiang Rou busied herself with cutting the mangoes, she noticed that the coffee table also had some newly delivered fruits, including pears and pineapples. 

Seeing her occupied, Chang Yong quickly intervened.

“No, no, no, there’s no need for that. We’ll be heading out now. You two should eat and relax. We just came by to check on Li Xiao,” he said, motioning for the others to leave.

“Yes, don’t cut the fruit. We’ll go eat now. We need to go eat too,” Fu Fei added, clearly eager not to impose further.

Both men began making their way to the door, not wanting to intrude any longer.

Jiang Rou, maintaining her politeness, followed them to the door and said, “Won’t you stay a little longer?”

Chang Yong smiled warmly and replied, “No, I’ll come by tomorrow instead.”

Jiang Rou returned his smile and said, “Alright then, be careful on your way home. It’s getting dark.”

“Okay, sister, no need to see us off,” Chang Yong assured her as he and Fu Fei exited the room.

With Chang Yong and Fu Fei gone, Cao Wang’s mother and daughter-in-law felt it was also time to leave. They followed the men out of the ward, but as they reached the neighboring room, the older woman couldn’t help but vent her frustrations.

“Why are you so dull? Look at the daughter-in-law next door; she’s younger than you, but she’s so good at making people happy. She knows how to pour water and cut fruit for others. Even though Cao Wang’s boss didn’t eat anything, he still felt pleased just watching her.”

The middle-aged woman, feeling punished, lowered her head without responding. She thought her mother-in-law’s comments weren’t entirely justified.

The grandmother sat on the sofa, sulking. Her son was seriously injured, and yet his boss had only taken a brief look before leaving to chat in the next room. Judging by the situation, the man next door might have a bright future ahead of him. With this thought in mind, she couldn’t help but turn to her daughter-in-law.

“In the next few days, you should take the child over there and chat with them more. That girl An An is quite beautiful, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get closer as potential in-laws in the future.”

The middle-aged woman hesitated, “Isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”

Looking at the couple’s behavior, they clearly doted on the child named An An.

Cao Wang’s mother was unhappy. “What’s inappropriate about it? How precious can a little girl be? I’m just giving her the little respect she deserves.”

She then pointed at her daughter-in-law and said, “If you can’t handle this little task, then you should just go back home tomorrow.”

The middle-aged woman lowered her head even further, holding her child in silence.

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