Su Chenghuiâs parents died young. Old Master Li was the eldest member of the family. Su Qingsang had always been an insignificant one in her family of origin, so it was never her responsibility to take care of the family guests.
Occasionally, she ran into some of those guests. None of them looked at her in a friendly way.
To be honest, that was the reason why Su Qingsang didnât like spending time with relatives. She liked simple relationships. The simpler, the better.
Huo Jinyao fell into silence. He thought of Su Qingsangâs personality and how she grew up.
âForget it, then,â he smiled and said. âIâll tell Grandpa that youâre not coming back here.â
âWill that be inappropriate?â Su Qingsang really didnât like spending time with relatives, especially ones she barely knew.
However, she was not silly. She was aware of how she was supposed to deal with some interpersonal relationships.
Huo Jinyao was the oldest grandson of Old Master Huo. Old Master Huo liked him, but still, it would be inappropriate for him to be too proud and to neglect the other family members and some family friends.
âItâll be alright,â said Huo Jinyao. He would take all the pressure. He didnât want to displease his great-uncle and great-aunt, but neither did he want Su Qingsang to be unhappy.
âStay in Lin City, if you donât want to come here. We can come to visit together with our mother when she recovered.â
As for the relatives and family friends who would be visiting during the New Year, he would deal with them.
âHuo Jinyao,â said Su Qingsang. She was making things difficult for him by being self-willed, wasnât she?
âItâs alright. This is only the start of our marriage. The first New Year is no big deal. Next year, the year after that, weâll be celebrating every next New Year together.â
Su Qingsang knew that he was just trying to comfort her.
âHuo Jinyao.â
âEh?â
Su Qingsang wanted to say thank you, but those two words were far from enough. Besides, it was not necessary for her to say that to him.
âI miss you.â
Huo Jinyao curved his lips in a smile. Those three words made him a lot happier than before. âUm, I miss you too.â
âGo back to work. I have to start working too.â She heard footsteps from the outside.
âOkay. Iâll come back to you when I finish my job.â
âAlright,â Su Qingsang didnât say no, but ended the call, pressed the phone against her chest, let a little smile appear on her face.
Finding her real mother didnât seem really important anymore, because now she had her Mom and Huo Jinyao.
As for her real mother, she would take her time to find out who she was. She believed that there would be at least some clues about that woman.
What Huo Jinyao said could be right. Her real mother might be someone special. That could be why Su Chenghui didnât want to tell her name.
One thought flashed across Su Qingsangâs mind. It disappeared so soon that she failed to grasp it.
The weather in Lin City grew colder and colder. It was about a week before the New Year. Some companies had started their New Year vacation.
People who worked in hospitals didnât have real vacations. The first seven days of the New Year were holidays, but there would be doctors on duty every single day.
This year, Xiang Caiping was staying in the hospital, so Su Qingsang volunteered to work on New Yearâs Day and the day before that.
The hospital expected fewer patients during the New Year than usual. Some Chinese people believed that going to the hospital on the first day of the year would bring bad luck, so normally, they would wait in spite of any discomfort they had.
Giving birth on New Yearâs Day wasnât something impossible, but it was statistically rare. If no accident happened, Su Qingsang could have some rest during the New Year.
The only thing she lamented was that Xiang Caiping had to stay at the hospital, so she couldnât go home either.
At New Yearâs Eve, Su Qingsang finished her work early. After work, she asked Xiao Yu to look after her mother, then went home.
Xiao Yu was the second caregiver that she hired. Xiao Ning had to go home for the New Year, so she hired Xiao Yu.
She went back home. Sister Lu was a local resident. She didnât leave, because she knew that Su Qingsang would come home.
âSister Lu, thank you for the hard work.â
Earlier, Su Qingsang arranged for sister Lu to work an extra day.
Sister Lu did a great job. She made some dumplings and a few other dishes.
âThank you, Sister Lu,â Su Qingsang gave her the red envelop that she prepared for her as a bonus, and said, âThank you very much for looking after us during the past few months. You can go home and celebrate the New Year with your family now. Iâm looking forward to having you again in the New Year.â
Sister Lu accepted the red envelop and left.
Su Qingsang packed the delicacies and then returned to the hospital in a haste.
It was about seven PM when she arrived. When she did, she told Xiao Yu to go home.
âMom, are you bored lying here? We are having dumplings today,â Su Qingsang took out the dumplings, and said, âYou can watch TV while Iâm arranging the food.â
âIâll watch you,â seeing that Su Qingsang was busy at preparing the food, Xiang Caiping felt touched and also a little guilty.
âIâm sorry that you have to spend the New Yearâs Eve at the hospital together with an old lady like me.â
âMom, I donât want to hear that,â Su Qingsang boiled the water on the induction cooker.
She brought the cooker to the hospital to heat food for Xiang Caiping. The hospital managers normally would pretend not to see it, as long as she didnât try to stir-fry food with it.
âYou are not old. If we go out shopping together now, people would say that weâre sisters.â
âYouâre just saying that to make me happy.â
âI mean it,â Su Qingsang put the dishes on the table and said, âYou have to wait a little bit. Iâll warm the rest of the food after the dumplings are ready. Mom, I hope you wonât find this New Year too humble. Itâs only the two of us this year.â
âThis is not humble at all.â
Compared to the past decades, it was the best New Year she ever had. It was a little quiet but nice enough.
âIâm just feeling that itâs a little inappropriate that you didnât go back to Rong City with Jinyao for the New Year.â
Remembering that Huo Jinyao earlier called her and said that he was too busy to come back to Lin City, Xiang Caiping felt a little sorry.
âMom, what are you talking about? Jinyao understands me. He said that heâll support my decision, whatever it is. Why are you still talking about it?â
In fact, Su Qingsang was worried about the same things. However, Huo Jinyao had promised her repeatedly that nothing bad would happen. Therefore, she stopped thinking about that and focused on keeping Xiang Caiping company.
Su Qingsang wasnât good at cooking but still did a neat job. The water boiled, and then she put the dumplings into the pot. Before the dumplings were ready, she warmed the rest of the food in the microwave.
In less than twenty minutes, all the food was ready.
She served the food on the small table attached to the hospital bed, then winded up the headboard for Xiang Caiping to lean on.
Xiang Caiping had healed well during the past few weeks. She still couldnât do intense exercise or move quickly but was already able to sit up in bed by herself.
Su Qingsang prepared the food, then filled her bowl with soup.
âMom, you canât drink alcohol, so weâll make a toast with the soup. I wish that our life will turn for the better.â
âGood,â Xiang Caiping nodded, picked up the bowl of soup, and said, âHappy New Year.â
Su Qingsang smiled. The food was simple, and the dinner took place in a hospital room. However, the atmosphere was perfect.
On the other hand, the atmosphere in the Su Family wasnât so good.