As the grandfather and grandchild were bonding, from the doorway of the hospital room, Du Qing poked his head in and teased with a smile, "Did we come at a bad time?"
"Yeah, we really do feel superfluous," said a few other boys outside. It was Monday today, and after their classes, they insisted on following Du Qing over.
Among them, Little Fatty was the plumpest. In their rush to take a shortcut, they just missed Ruan Jianguo, who took the main road. Thus, the walk made Little Fatty’s face turn red and sweaty, with a thin layer of perspiration on his forehead.
Clutching a lunch box, he approached Ruan Jiaojiao with a grin to show it off, "Sister, come, have some porridge. This is the porridge your brother brought you."
"Ruan Lei, you have no shame, it was obviously made by Third Aunt!" Ruan Chi couldn’t stand his bragging and immediately called him out, but right after doing so, he leaned in to Jiaojiao and said, "Brother stoked the fire!"
Ruan Jiaojiao was amused by their antics, her tearful eyes sparkling. The affection she saw in the boys’ eyes made her feel so treasured, and they all thought how adorable she was. They resolved to protect their cute and delicate sister even better in the future!
There was quite a lot of porridge that Du Qing brought. Ruan Jiaojiao didn’t have much of an appetite and couldn’t drink much of it, which was fortunate as Du Qing thoughtfully brought her favorite malted milk drink. He fetched some hot water from the cafeteria, brewed her a cup, let it cool down, and then fed it to her little by little.
Drinking the sweet malted milk, Ruan Jiaojiao looked at her doting Ruan family members with eyes full of contentment, her heart feeling settled like never before, as if after more than a decade of drifting through life, she had finally found her roots.
Of course, she couldn’t forget the little villain at this moment.
She tilted her head to look at the little villain, shaking off the hand that he held hers with, and when he looked at her, she gave him a sweet smile.
Ruan Jiaojiao was hospitalized for three days this time, and luckily, there were no complications midway through.
After being discharged from the hospital, the Ruanlin Family was still not reassured, and ultimately, they decided to take her to see Qian Xiabai.
Since Qian Xiabai had previously predicted her fate and she had been gravely ill this time, she believed in him even more.
She took this visit very seriously, not only going to Aunt Niu’s to get three pounds of meat but also some pastries and cookies. Knowing that he liked to smoke, she specially went out to buy two pounds of tobacco for him.
Carrying big and small bags to Qian Xiabai’s house.
The moment they entered the courtyard and saw Qian Xiabai sitting in front of the house, basking in the sun, she prompted Ruan Jiaojiao to call out to him.
"Grandpa Qian," Ruan Jiaojiao said obediently. She quite believed in Qian Xiabai, perhaps because she herself was a Wandering Spirit occupying someone else’s body.
"Is that Big Sister who’s come?" Qian Xiabai turned in her direction and asked with a smile, quickly responding when he heard Ruan Jiaojiao call him grandpa, "Eh, good girl."
"How have you been recently, Brother Qian?"
"Doing well," Qian Xiabai laughed, stood up, and as Ruanlin approached, sniffed the air and his expression brightened with anticipation, "What good things has Big Sister brought?"
"Haha, I know what you enjoy. Just a few days ago, I saw it in town and got you two pounds. They said it’s new this year, try it and see how it smokes. If it’s good, I’ll bring you some more next time," Ruanlin said with a laugh.
"You are too kind, Big Sister, far too kind," Qian Xiabai demurred, but his hand was already reaching out. Once he got the bag of tobacco leaves from her, he immediately took it to his nose to sniff, conjuring up a look of utter bliss at the aroma.