Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 42

Ren’ai Hospital in the Capital.

Lu Jing, wearing a soft white wool sweater, walked briskly into the inpatient department.

Unlike her usual worried look, today her face was glowing, her long hair was flowing, and she looked very happy, as if she were walking on air.

Even her voice was a bit higher than usual: “Ah Chuan! Let’s have dumplings for lunch!”

Lu Chuan put away his tablet and looked up at her: “Why are you so happy?”

Lu Jing opened the insulated bag on the table and turned back to smile at him: “Am I?”

Lu Chuan: …

If you didn’t smile when you turned around, it wouldn’t be so obvious.

“Did something bad happen to Zhou Yongzhi?”

Thinking carefully, the only thing that could make his mom this happy at this time was something unfortunate happening to her ex-husband.

Lu Jing had already taken out two large insulated boxes and, while opening the lids, she scolded him:

“What are you talking about? He’s your dad! Even if you wish him ill, what does that have to do with me? Such bad luck.”

But you are so inexplicably happy…

Lu Chuan simply stopped asking.

At this moment, Lu Jing handed him a heavy insulated box—it was really big, filled with dumplings, probably thirty or forty of them!

There was some vinegar in a small compartment, but not much.

The fragrance of the dumplings and the sour aroma of the vinegar hit his nose, making Lu Chuan swallow involuntarily, his long-dormant appetite suddenly awakened.

“So many dumplings? Mom, we should share—”

He stopped mid-sentence when he saw Lu Jing sitting in front of the hospital bed, opening an identical insulated box. There were only a few fewer dumplings than his.

“Mom,” Lu Chuan hesitated, “aren’t these too many dumplings?”

But no one answered him.

Lu Jing eagerly picked up a plump dumpling and stuffed it into her mouth.

After gobbling down three dumplings, she remembered her son, the patient, and hurriedly looked up at him, absentmindedly urging:

“Eat quickly, hurry and eat!”

Lu Chuan was silent for a moment, then picked up his chopsticks.

He had been in the hospital for a long time and hadn’t had much of an appetite, but now, smelling the dumplings, his stomach suddenly rumbled.

When the first dumpling entered his mouth, the indescribable fragrance of the vegetables and meat intertwined, and the tender juices burst in his mouth…

Lu Chuan slowly chewed and swallowed the dumpling, then immediately reached for the next one.

This silent eating continued until the half-closed door of the ward was suddenly knocked open.

Standing outside was a middle-aged man in a hospital gown, with short hair and dark skin. He was leaning on a crutch, one leg wrapped tightly.

Leaning on his crutch, his stern expression suddenly turned embarrassed, and he smiled awkwardly: “Uh… sorry to bother you… what are you eating?”

Lu Chuan met his gaze, having never experienced anything like this in his life, and was momentarily stunned.

Beside him, Lu Jing chuckled, making the man outside blush even more.

She quickly tried to stifle her laughter: “Sorry, we’re eating dumplings, with shepherd’s purse and pork.”

Standing closer, she saw the man’s Adam’s apple bob, and his ears turned red too:

“May I ask where you bought them?”

Seeing Lu Jing not answering, he quickly explained: “I live in the ward opposite. The smell is so fragrant, I couldn’t help myself… sorry.”

Imagine a man in his forties or fifties, craving a bite of dumpling so much that he ran over to ask. It was indeed embarrassing.

He turned to leave, ready to escape this socially awkward situation.

Seeing his embarrassed look, Lu Jing felt bad—these dumplings were indeed delicious. She had stuffed herself last night. Now that someone was asking, how could she laugh?

So she quickly called out: “If you don’t mind, I have extra. Bring a bowl, and I’ll give you some.”

The man hurried back on his crutch to get a bowl. It seemed he was really eager to eat, despite his earlier apologies.

Watching her divide half the dumplings from her box, Lu Chuan couldn’t hold back any longer:

“I can eat all of these.”

Lu Jing gave him a reproachful look: “I can eat them too! But I stuffed myself last night and had a stomachache. At noon, I cooked too many again…”

She tried to hide her reluctance, pretending to be nonchalant: “Since someone else likes them, I can control my appetite.”

“By the way, Ah Chuan, give him some of yours too. I cooked so many dumplings, I forgot your appetite has been small recently. Don’t overeat and upset your stomach.”

Saying this, she took his insulated box without waiting for a response and sighed:

“Have I been in the Capital too long? Why do I think the shepherd’s purse from our hometown is so delicious?”

“Hometown?”

Lu Chuan was surprised.

“Yes,” Lu Jing looked at him: “Didn’t you leave our address for that young girl last time? She sent ten pounds of wild vegetables from Ning Province by express delivery yesterday, mostly shepherd’s purse.”

“I saw how fresh it was and quickly bought some meat to make dumplings.”

She hadn’t expected it to be so delicious. Originally, she cooked ten dumplings to try as a midnight snack but ended up cooking pot after pot, eating ten after ten…

She ate thirty in total, took two digestive tablets, and finally fell asleep after tossing and turning.

But there was no need to tell her son this in detail, it was too embarrassing.

But it was enough to surprise Lu Chuan.

He remembered sending that message on WeChat and then hearing nothing back, and suddenly he was amused:

This girl really keeps her word, sending wild vegetables as promised.

This straightforward personality relieved Lu Chuan—he had been worried she would ask for some big favor in return.

As a result, he let go of his inner resistance.

Then, savoring the remaining dumplings, he felt the address was well given.

Just then, the patient from across the hall knocked on the door again, shyly handing over a lunchbox, almost making Lu Jing laugh out loud again.

She held back her laughter and filled the lunchbox with dumplings.

The man at the door was both embarrassed and awkward, and his stomach growled, making both mother and son in the ward look over.

The middle-aged man finally gave up: “Did you make these dumplings yourself? Where did you get the ingredients? They taste great! Just from the smell, I’m drooling.”

Lu Jing handed the lunchbox back: “Yes, the meat is just black pork from the supermarket, but the shepherd’s purse was sent by a girl from the countryside…”

She smiled awkwardly, clearly not planning to share the vegetable supplier’s contact.

The man was stunned, then quickly grabbed two bags of fruit from the floor by the door:

“Uh… thank you so much.”

He placed the fruit at the door and hurriedly crutched back to his ward, not giving them a chance to refuse.