"I’ll go get Dad for dinner!" Zhang Han dodged Wei’s gaze and hurried back into the room.
She happened to run into Director Zhang preparing to leave. Seeing his daughter’s flustered appearance and the lunchbox in her hand, he asked curiously, "What are you doing with that lunchbox?"
Zhang Han raised the lunchbox, "This is the meal Dr. Bai sent for mom. I’ve taken it out."
She fetched dishes and bowls from home. There were plenty of dumplings, enough to fill a plate, and a few side dishes, not many, but there was a bit of everything. Zhang Han’s heart warmed. Over the years, while her mother lay bedridden, hardly anyone had cared for her.
Apart from the two of them, father and daughter, others would at most ask out of courtesy, but who would really pay attention to someone bedridden and housebound year-round?
Her own mother had vanished from everyone’s sight for many years. To receive such care was rare; at least Zhang Han believed Dr. Bai was a good, kind person.
She carried the dumplings and dishes to her mother, "Mom, this is from our neighbors, Chief An and Dr. Bai’s couple, who moved here and invited everyone for a meal. Dr. Bai specifically asked me to bring these dumplings and dishes back for you. Please try some." She placed the chopsticks and vinegar in front of her mother.
Li Jiao looked at the dumplings and smiled lightly, it had been a long time since she had eaten dumplings, "Good, go and thank Dr. Bai for me, tell him your mother thanks him for his kindness." Zhang Han nodded and went out with Director Zhang.
As the father and daughter left, Li Jiao sighed, "Such good people!" She picked up a dumpling and put it into her mouth. Delicious, it was pork with green onion filling. Due to her illness, the house was nearly empty, her husband had spent all their savings on medical expenses, and her daughter hadn’t had a single carefree day, all because of her.
They couldn’t afford dumplings at home, saving money for medicine instead; the monthly medicine expenses alone could buy countless dumplings.
It was all her fault.
Li Jiao harshly beat her legs, feeling nothing from the waist down, and needing help from her daughter and husband even to sit up. What could a person at this stage do, except be a burden to her family?
Her husband was a talented man; if not for her, he might have advanced to a certain position by now. But he was still just a director because of her, though only in his forties! His hair had turned gray, aging him more than a decade—all because he was burdened with a wife like her.
It was the same for her daughter. While other children were late to mature and enjoying parental care at twelve, wearing beautiful clothes, going to school happily, and living carefree, her daughter had learned early to take care of her, turning her over, washing her, and massaging her to prevent muscle atrophy in her legs. Even during the ten-minute breaks at school every day, her daughter had to rush home to help her with toileting and turning over. The child had never had a comfortable day with her.
She was too much of a burden.
With a clang, the plate shattered into several pieces. Her daughter usually accompanied her during meals, preventing such incidents, but wasn’t this the perfect opportunity?
The white porcelain shards cut through the skin on her wrist, and as Li Jiao felt the warm flow of blood, she finally experienced a sense of relief. She hoped for another life where she could take good care of her husband and daughter, hoping that in another life, she could still live with them.
My dear family, goodbye!