Chapter 64.1

The day before the New Year, An An called Jiang Rou. The little one’s voice sounded very downcast as she asked, “Mom, when are you coming back? I miss you so much.”

When she heard this, Jiang Rou felt a pang in her nose. She had just returned from the cafeteria and was slumped in the hospital corridor. Even though it was winter, wearing the protective clothing made her feel stuffy and uncomfortable.

She did not know when she could go home and could not provide an accurate answer. Instead, she asked back, “How is everything at home? Have you been behaving?”

“I’ve been good.”

An An answered seriously, “Everything at home is fine. Uncle Dayou makes delicious food for me and Auntie every day. He makes so many tasty things. Daddy is very busy and always stays in his room talking on the phone.”

He then added a sighing comment, “It would be great if Mommy married Uncle Dayou.”

“…”

As soon as this was said, a cold warning voice from Li Xiao came over the phone, “Li Qingshu!”

It sounded like he was angry.

There was also the sound of Jin Dayou’s muffled laughter nearby.

The little one was not afraid at all and huffed, “It’s because you made Mommy angry.”

Jiang Rou knew from this that An An had misunderstood. She quickly reassured him, “Mommy was not made angry by Daddy. Mommy is out working. Don’t misunderstand Daddy. He would be sad.”

An An did not understand, “Why can’t you come home while working? Daddy used to come home every day.”

Jiang Rou tried to explain as clearly as she could, “Because Mommy is a doctor. Many people are sick outside now, so Mommy has to help at the hospital. For safety reasons, Mommy can’t come home temporarily. So An An needs to behave at home and not run around. It’s very dangerous outside right now, understand?”

“Okay.”

The little one was still a bit unhappy, but she was very considerate and said, “Then Mommy should also pay attention to safety.”

“Okay, Mommy will be careful. Thank you, An An.”

After thinking for a moment, she added, “Give the phone to Daddy. Mommy wants to say a few words to him.”

On the other end of the phone, An An looked at Daddy, who was watching TV not far away. She twisted her small body, seemingly trying to hide the phone, and said to Jiang Rou, “Daddy doesn’t want to talk. Mommy, let me tell you….”

Li Xiao guessed what Jiang Rou wanted to say and, after some little hesitation, he directly reached out and grabbed the phone from his daughter’s ear.

After taking it, he put it to his own ear but spoke with a harsh tone, “What is there to say?”

An An puffed up her cheeks in anger, “It’s mine.”

Jiang Rou heard this and couldn’t help but smile, her lips curving upwards. She spoke softly, “Thank you for the snacks you sent. They were really good, and everyone enjoyed them.”

Li Xiao’s voice turned colder after hearing this, “Do you have to be so polite to me?”

“…”

Jiang Rou fell silent. Since their last argument, their conversations had not been pleasant. No matter what she said, he would always retort sharply. It was the first time she had realized he had quite a temper.

Besides feeling a bit uncomfortable, there was a trace of curiosity. Perhaps, in the past, he had always suppressed his temper to accommodate hers.

When thinking of this, Jiang Rou tried to soothe him, “I missed you.”

This time, Li Xiao fell silent. Jiang Rou then heard the sound of the man getting up, as if he had stood up from the leather sofa and walked to the side.

Soon enough, An An’s curious voice came through, “Where is Daddy going?”

The man casually replied, “To watch TV.”

Then there was the sound of a door opening and closing. He didn’t hang up but instead spoke outside, his voice cold as he questioned, “Didn’t you say you hoped I would find someone who loves me more?”

Jiang Rou bit her lip, feeling guilty as she said, “I was also scared, and I said ‘if’…”

“No ‘if’!”

Li Xiao interrupted immediately, his tone stern, “I don’t care what you’re doing in the hospital. Take care of yourself. You’re not alone. You have family, and you have me and An An.”

At this point, his voice grew hoarse. In this world, besides her, he and An An had no other relatives. Even if Zhou Jian and Jin Dayou were his good brothers, they couldn’t replace her. “You need to come back healthy.”

Jiang Rou’s eyes reddened as she nodded and whispered, “I will.” She wanted to say more, but suddenly heard someone calling her—

“Jiang Rou, let’s go.”

Li Xiao was still speaking on the phone, “Don’t worry about things at home. I’ll take care of An An. You…”

He also heard someone calling her again and his voice abruptly stopped, “Forget it. Just take care of yourself.”

Now, that was all he could say.

“Okay.”

Jiang Rou hung up the phone.

—o—o—o—

This year, Jiang Rou didn’t go to the villa to reunite with them for the New Year. Instead, she went back to her apartment alone. She didn’t dare take the elevator, afraid she might carry the virus. Even though she had sprayed a lot of disinfectant on herself after leaving the hospital, she decided to walk up the thirteen floors, using it as a form of exercise.

It was true that walking up and down every morning and evening was tiring, but sweating a bit felt quite good. After a few days, although her legs were initially too tired to lift, she had nearly gotten used to it.

After walking up to the thirteenth floor, Jiang Rou saw the packed lunch boxes at her doorstep and smiled faintly. She knew these were prepared by Li Xiao. Knowing she would be staying here for the past few days, he had been sending meals to her daily.

Jiang Rou brought them inside and, upon opening the bag, found a note from Li Xiao. He reminded her to reheat the food if it had cooled down and wished her a Happy New Year.

The note was accompanied by a photo of him, An An, Li Xin, Jin Dayou, and Jin Dayou’s mother. It seemed to have been taken recently.

In the photo, only An An was smiling brightly; the others had serious expressions.

Jiang Rou touched the photo of An An and Li Xiao, her eyes becoming a little misty.

The food had cooled down quite a bit, but Jiang Rou was too lazy to reheat it and ate it as it was.

While eating, she turned on the TV. The Spring Festival Gala had already started. Jiang Rou called Li Xiao, and his attitude was much better this time. He reassured her not to be afraid, saying that he and An An were always there.

Whether it was his encouragement or not, Jiang Rou really felt less lonely.

After finishing her meal, Jiang Rou went to freshen up, planning to go to bed early that night.

However, it didn’t go according to her plan. After finishing her shower, she found two missed calls—one from Dong Mingming and one from Ning Xin. Jiang Rou first called Dong Mingming, thinking it might be a New Year greeting. Just as she was about to wish her a Happy New Year, Dong Mingming’s weak voice came through, “Jiang Rou, my father has passed away.”

Jiang Rou was taken aback, “Mingming?”

Dong Mingming’s voice was choked with emotion. She sniffed and said, “I’m not sad, just empty inside. The woman he was involved with has been in close contact with him and is now in quarantine. She even called me, asking me to get her son out. I hung up on her directly.”

“My mother was still very upset. I showed her the photos of him with that woman, and she fainted from crying.”

“I went to see him in the afternoon. He was unconscious and passed away without leaving any final words.”

“My boyfriend is working late, and I don’t want to bother him. My mother has fainted again, and I don’t know who to call. Jiang Rou, I no longer have a father.”

Jiang Rou didn’t know how to comfort her. After thinking for a moment, she said, “It will pass. Look forward to the future. If you’re very sad, let it out. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s his problem if he wasn’t good, but you are you. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

Dong Mingming’s voice quivered as she replied, “Okay.”

During this time, she had been tormented. On one hand, she felt that he deserved his retribution, and on the other, she felt it was unfair to her and her mother. She couldn’t understand why she had become so cold and distant.

There were some things she didn’t dare to tell her mother’s boyfriend and could only keep to herself.

“Okay.”

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Rou called Ning Xin back. When the call connected, Jiang Rou couldn’t help but ask, “Ning Xin, what’s going on?”

Since they were both at the same hospital, though they didn’t meet often, it was rare for them to call each other after work.

Ning Xin paused for a moment before saying, “The counselor had someone inform us that two classmates in our class have been infected. We need to be more cautious.”

Jiang Rou opened her mouth in disbelief and asked, “Who?”

Ning Xin sighed and replied, “The class monitor and Tian Tian.”

Then, she added, “But don’t worry too much. They discovered it in time and have already been isolated and are receiving treatment.”

Ning Xin then seriously advised, “Jiang Rou, you must be careful. We should all try to make it through this.”

Jiang Rou’s voice was hoarse as she replied, “Yes.”

After ending the call, Jiang Rou went back to her room to sleep. However, no matter how she lay in bed, she couldn’t fall asleep. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was alone this New Year or if it was the two pieces of bad news she had just heard.

In the hospital, people passed away every day, and perhaps because she didn’t know them personally, she didn’t feel too much sadness. But when such things happened to people around her, she couldn’t remain calm.

Jiang Rou tossed and turned in bed several times. Finally, feeling frustrated, she got up, grabbed her phone, and dialed the top number on her contact list.

She thought Li Xiao might still be watching the Spring Festival Gala, but when the call connected, she heard a hoarse voice, as if he had been woken up by the phone.

Jiang Rou felt a bit apologetic and said, “Did I wake you up? If so, you can go back to sleep.”

On the other end, he immediately said, “No.”

Then there was the sound of rustling. Jiang Rou heard him take a sip of water. After drinking, his voice was much clearer as he asked, “What’s up? Can’t sleep?”

Jiang Rou replied with a soft “mm” and then told him about the two pieces of bad news she had just heard. “I’m really worried about you all. By the way, with the New Year coming, what about the employees at your factory?”

Li Xiao, upon hearing this, almost laughed in exasperation. Even at this time, she still had the mind to worry about him.

Nevertheless, he answered, “They’ve all gone home.”

“Gone home?”

Jiang Rou was shocked, “Shouldn’t they be working at this time?”

Li Xiao calmly replied, “Can’t stop them. Everyone wants to go back to their hometown for the New Year.”

Jiang Rou frowned.

She wasn’t sure what to say. Many people came to G Province for work and business, and the recent outbreak of infections was due to the high flow of people.

With the crowds moving back and forth during the New Year, it was likely to become dangerous again.

Li Xiao knew what she was thinking and couldn’t help but say, “Jiang Rou, don’t think of yourself as a real Bodhisattva. Some things are beyond our control. You always tell me to stay calm; you should stay calm too.”

“Believe it or not, even if the government enforces policies to prevent people from moving around, some people will still ignore them.”

Jiang Rou knew he was right. Take the pandemics of later years as an example—countries and cities were locked down, yet people still moved around, causing a lot of problems.

She knew what should be done but felt powerless to stop it, which was truly painful.

Li Xiao continued, “Don’t overthink it. Get a good night’s sleep. Will you have a holiday tomorrow?”

“No holiday.”

“Then just sleep. Don’t hang up the phone. I want to hear you fall asleep.”

“Let’s skip that. It’s a waste of money.”

“I don’t care about this small amount of money. Go to sleep.”

Jiang Rou lay back down, looking at her phone. As she hesitated about whether to turn it off, Li Xiao’s voice came through again, “Have you laid down?”

For some reason, even though he was not physically present, just hearing his voice made her feel very content. She replied, “I’ve laid down. You should sleep too.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Rou didn’t hang up and placed the phone on the bedside. She said, “I’m going to sleep now.”

“Okay.”

“Good night. I love you.”

There was a brief silence on the other end before a light, gentle laugh came through, “Okay.”

“…”

What does “okay” mean? Shouldn’t he also reply with “I love you too”?

With a hint of dissatisfaction and complaint, Jiang Rou gradually drifted into sleep.