“Go up first. After Xiao Chen drops me off, he’ll come back for you!” Zhou Yuqian said, his head resting against the seat back, not even lifting his eyelids as he spoke.
Lai Hui agreed and gently kissed his cheek before stepping out of the car.
The elevator was eerily quiet with only her inside, like a lamp-lit box locked from the outside, with no control over entering or leaving. When the seventh-floor light lit up, the doors opened, and she stepped out, escaping the stifling box.
The corridor was dimly lit, with darkness at the end, her high heels echoing in the emptiness, occasionally mixed with the groans of patients, like the howls of ghosts from the underworld, fading into the air after just a couple of sounds.
In the fourth room on the left, Lai Ruying, lying in bed chatting with her caregiver, turned to see her daughter entering. Her face, marked by years of illness, resembled a rough-skinned pear, dotted with large and small black spots, her cloudy eyes softening as they looked at her daughter.
“Oh, you’re here. Come, sit here!” The caregiver stood up to offer her seat to Lai Hui and added with a smile, “She was just mentioning you, saying you must be busy and haven’t had time to visit recently.”
Lai Hui smiled back at her, glanced at her mother in bed, walked around the bed, and placed the fruit basket on the table.
“Mom, you worry too much. I’ve just been busy with work these past couple of days, haven’t I come today? With you saying that, Xiao Yu might think I’m an unfilial daughter!”
Lai Ruying’s head followed her daughter’s movements — only her head could move — her withered face turned towards the window, her eyelids lifting slightly to look at Lai Hui.
“I was just chatting with Xiao Yu, worried that you’re too busy to take care of yourself.”
“Oh! Sister Hui bought fruit, you two chat, I’ll go wash them!” Xiao Yu, thinking the mother and daughter hadn’t seen each other in days and would have much to talk about, tactfully took the fruit basket and left the room.
As soon as Xiao Yu closed the door, Lai Hui spoke to her mother, “I’m a grown woman now, can’t I take care of myself? You focus on getting better, don’t worry about me!”
Lai Ruying, her voice old and hoarse, said, “Ah, I know you, child. Without me, you wouldn’t know how to look after yourself. Remember when you were in high school, if I was too busy to cook, you wouldn’t even say you were hungry, just watched me finish with a customer’s haircut, and that’s when your stomach problems started…” She went on and on, as if her mouth had been sealed for days, now bursting with words once the seal was broken.
