No. 43 Blurred by Rouge
Just as I remembered, Mom had been transferred to the nearest hospital, City Central Hospital, yesterday.
Traditional Chinese medicine was indeed more effective in treating chronic illnesses compared to Western medicine.
Most things in this world could be disguised with flowery words or beautiful images, but not death. For living beings, death was the ultimate end, abrupt and cruel. Excess words only amplified the sorrow.
The debate between Chinese and Western medicine was a long-standing one. But what I never understood was, if there was a 100 yuan bill and a 400 New Taiwan dollar bill on the ground, why would people argue about which one to pick up?
Why not pick up both?
“Don’t press too hard when you’re cutting. It’ll toughen the meat. Just chop it into small pieces.”
I demonstrated basic knife skills to Xiaodie in my kitchen.
“Next, we need to remove the gamey smell from the meat. There are many ways to do this. Most families just use cooking wine. But we can’t use alcohol for this dish, since it’s for my mother, and she has a blood disorder. Ginger has blood-activating and detoxifying properties, so it’s perfect for removing the gamey smell.”
I mixed the chopped meat with minced ginger, added some salt and warm water, then washed my hands. “Let it sit for a while. Xiaodie, can you pass me the sweet potato leaves?”
“Okay!”
I took the washed leaves from her and turned on the stove. “We need to preheat the wok before stir-frying vegetables. Hot wok, cold oil. Then we add the leaves.”
“Sweet potato leaves are good for digestion, anti-aging, increasing platelet count, and stopping bleeding. My mom is bedridden and doesn’t get much exercise, so eating sweet potatoes and their leaves is good for her health. Oh, and garlic. Adding a clove or two while cooking can prevent most digestive tract diseases. It’s also a great seasoning.”
It was worth noting that garlic belonged to the lily family.
I skillfully tossed the ingredients into the wok, and soon, the aroma of stir-fried vegetables filled the kitchen.
“The meat should be ready now. Remove some of the ginger, add salt and water, and steam it.”
When I was a child, I was a picky eater. My mother often chased me around with a bowl of steamed minced pork soup to ensure I got enough nutrients. Now, it was my turn to take care of her.
“What’s wrong?”
I turned around, noticing Xiaodie’s silence.
“You’re so amazing…”
Her eyes sparkled with admiration.
“Huh?”
“Yi Yao, you know, you look like a perfect housewife right now. Whoever marries you will be so lucky… no, I won’t let that happen! Marry me, Yi Yao!”
She suddenly hugged me. “I’ve decided! You’re my personal chef from now on.”
“Hey, hey…”
They said the way to a girl’s heart was through her stomach. But in reality, few girls actively sought to have their stomachs conquered.
To save money, most working-class people had given up on takeout and learned to cook for themselves.
Seven years from now, the average starting salary for graduates in Upper Capital City would be 2,000 yuan. After deducting 600 yuan for rent, 100 yuan for utilities, and other living expenses like phone bills and toiletries, you would only have about 1,000 yuan left for food. Which meant you couldn’t afford to eat takeout every day. You had to learn to cook.
And that was assuming you were healthy and didn’t encounter any unexpected expenses.
Even a common cold could cost you hundreds of yuan in medical bills. And if you accidentally scratched a luxury car, the compensation could bankrupt you.
On top of that, I still had to repay my father’s debts and my student loans.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
“With that attitude, you’ll never find a husband.”
After the soup and porridge were ready, I packed them into a special insulated container my father had bought for hospital patients. “Let’s go,” I said to Xiaodie.
“But I haven’t discovered your secret yet!”
Huang Yingdie, in my apartment, was like a curious kitten, exploring every nook and cranny. “I don’t believe you’ve always been this strong. You must be afraid of something.”
“I’m afraid of dealing with girls like you.”
I sighed and opened the door. “If you don’t come in, I’m locking you out.”
“Wait, wait, I’m coming!”
She rushed in, changed her shoes, and took the food container from me. “It smells so good… Your mother must be so happy.”
“I hope so…”
I couldn’t forget my mother’s words from my previous life, spoken on the day she died.
“Yi Yao, I wish you were a girl…”
She hadn’t left me with any grand advice, like “study hard” or “find a good wife.” Just that one cryptic sentence.
I knew she had been trying to tell me something, but I had been too preoccupied with my studies to understand.
If I were a girl, how would my life be different?
Would I have been tricked into the world of martial arts because I was more approachable to girls? Would my father have ignored my declining grades and my rebellious internet cafe escapades? Would he have refused to support my education?
Those didn’t seem like positive changes.
Our apartment was within walking distance of City Central Hospital. We chatted as we walked, and soon, we arrived at the hematology department.
“Mom.”
I led Xiaodie straight to my mother’s ward, familiar with the layout.
Four beds, one empty, three patients.
Hmm… I remembered an elderly woman being admitted to that empty bed in a week. She would pass away three days later.
Hospitals were like battlefields. You never knew when your fellow patients would leave this world.
You could be laughing and joking with them one day, and the next day, they would be gone.
“Xiaoyao.” My mother wasn’t hooked up to any IV drips or blood transfusions today. It seemed her condition had stabilized.
“Is she… the mayor’s daughter?”
Her words drew the attention of the other two patients.
“Hello, Auntie.”
Xiaodie, seemingly unfazed by their stares, smiled brightly, placed the food container on the bedside table, and sat down on a stool beside my mother. “My name is Huang Yingdie. You can call me Xiaodie.”
“Xiaodie… what a beautiful name.”
My mother tried to reach out from under the covers, then stopped, just smiling at her.
I had seen her hands countless times. The frequent injections had caused her veins to collapse, so the nurses had left a catheter in her arm for easy access.
She probably didn’t want to scare the young girl.
“Mom, where’s Dad?”
I pulled out the privacy screen and set up the adjustable table for her meals.
“He said he was going to buy some fruit.”
She watched me set up the table, her brow furrowed. “Yi Yao, you already know how to use this equipment? We just transferred here.”
My hand froze as I was opening the food container.
Damn it, I forgot this was my first time here.
I could explain away my familiarity with the bed by saying I had asked the nurses. But I shouldn’t know how to set up the meal table. Even in my previous life, I had needed my father’s help to figure it out. Which meant that, without prior experience, I wouldn’t even know such a device existed.
But I had assembled it so effortlessly…
“I saw it in a magazine article about this hospital.”
I made up an excuse and laid out the porridge and soup. “Let’s not worry about that now. Eat your dinner. I bought everything from the local market. Fresh and organic.”
My phone buzzed with a new message. I glanced at it. It was from my father: “Yi Yao, I’m outside your mother’s ward. Come out for a minute. I need to talk to you.”
“Mom, I’ll be right back. Xiaodie, can you keep her company?”
“Of course.” She was too excited about tasting my cooking to question me.
I stepped out of the ward and saw my father standing by the stairwell, smoking a cigarette. He waved at me.
“What’s wrong?”
I walked over, covering my nose, my brow furrowed.
He took a long drag, then extinguished the cigarette and tossed it into the trash can. “You’re friends with Huang Yingdie?”
“Yes.”
“Have you seen the online comments about the mayor?”
“No, why?”
I had been busy with martial arts training every day. Even when I was online, I only browsed the computer forums. I had no time for gossip.
“The internet is going crazy. They’re saying he embezzled a hundred million yuan.”
“That’s impossible. You can’t believe everything you read online.”
Although he would eventually be executed for embezzling tens of millions and causing severe economic damage to the city…
“Anyway, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to continue associating with Xiaodie.”
“Even if he’s corrupt, it’s his problem, not hers.”
“Have you considered what will happen if he’s convicted? What if Xiaodie becomes homeless and asks you for money? Will you support her?”
Like most people in this city, my father was an opportunist.
He went with the flow, siding with whoever was in power.
It was a basic survival strategy, I suppose.
“Don’t worry, even if her family falls apart, she won’t ask me for money.” I patted his shoulder. “She’s in Mom’s ward right now. If you don’t trust her, go see for yourself.”
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