Chapter 119 Worry about whereabouts unknown

When I got home, the part-time worker was preparing dinner for two because Xu Zhengkang was not coming home to eat.

The hourly worker left after finishing the meal. There were two vegetarian dishes, one meat dish and a bowl of soup. Xu Sirui didn't have much of an appetite. He shoveled half a bowl of rice into his mouth, picked up a few vegetables and said he was full. Zhu Yingning couldn't finish the remaining food by herself, so she had to put it in the refrigerator. Although she knew that the rest of the food would most likely be thrown away - Xu Zhengkang and Xu Sirui didn't eat leftovers. Although she wanted to eat it, she didn't dare to eat it if it had been left overnight.

After finishing his meal, Xu Sirui took a shower, fell onto the bed, and began to sleep under the quilt.

Zhu Yingning didn't know how to comfort him, so she could only choose not to disturb him.

She stayed in her room, half-heartedly studying for a while. The second monthly exam was in early June, just ten days away. She always reviewed two weeks before each exam, striving to thoroughly cover every detail. But tonight, no matter how hard she tried to concentrate, her mind wandered.

At around ten o'clock, she put down her notebook of wrong answers, sighed, and decided to take a hot shower to clear her mind.

Xu Zhengkang returned after she had finished her shower. He had drunk a little wine and reeked of it, but his face was rosy. He hummed a little tune as he entered. Since he often came home late from social engagements, or simply didn't come home at all, Zhu Yingning had long been accustomed to this. She nodded politely but distantly, greeting him: "Uncle Xu."

He nodded and walked straight to his room. Zhu Yingning also returned to his room.

Sitting at the desk, she was about to finish cleaning up the last few wrong questions in her collection of wrong questions when she suddenly realized an important problem.

Xu Zhengkang is Zhou Tianlan’s husband. Zhou Tianlan was released on medical parole, but he seemed to have no reaction at all...?

Do you not know, or do you know but don’t care?

They thought about this problem because they were afraid that Xu Sirui would get angry about it, and what they feared came true. The next morning, since there were still school sports events and school started later on the day of the sports meet, they didn't have to go out early, so the three of them took the rare opportunity to sit at the same table for breakfast.

Breakfast was simple milk and buttered toast.

Xu Sirui's meals were both precious and lukewarm, especially breakfast. Thanks to his morning grumpiness, he was even more picky than at lunch or dinner. He'd cut a loaf of buttered toast into nine small pieces with a knife and eat them piece by piece with a fork. Xu Zhengkang, on the other hand, devoured his meals with gusto, prioritizing efficiency. It was usually fine when the father and son didn't run into each other, but whenever they ate breakfast together, Xu Zhengkang would find Xu Sirui disapproving.

The same is true today.

After Xu Sirui used a knife to cut off the edge of the toast and insisted on dividing the remaining piece into nine equal parts, Xu Zhengkang made an impatient click of his tongue and scolded, "If you don't want to eat it, throw it away and don't eat it! It's like no one is begging you to eat it."

His sudden words stunned Zhu Yingning who was sitting next to him. Although he was not yelling at her, her heart was still pounding.

I subconsciously looked at Xu Sirui, and Xu Sirui's face was indeed extremely ugly.

Although it smelled bad, the rhythm of his hands did not change, and he continued to slowly dismember the toast on the plate, which seemed like a kind of provocation to Xu Zhengkang's indifference.

Xu Zhengkang's face darkened, and he was about to get angry. Before he could lose his temper, Zhu Yingning quickly snatched the toast edge that Xu Sirui had cut off and put it on his own plate. He laughed dryly and said, "It's because I like to eat toast edges that he specially cut them off. Haha..."

Such a stupid reason certainly couldn't fool Xu Zhengkang. Zhu Yingning laughed for a while and then stopped. After all, it takes a lot of shamelessness to laugh dryly alone, and she thought she wasn't that thick-skinned enough.

No matter how stupid he was, Xu Zhengkang could see that this was a step forward. Not wanting to affect his mood so early in the morning, he reluctantly suppressed the desire to continue scolding Xu Sirui and stood up and left the table.

When he walked to the entrance to change his shoes, Xu Sirui spoke, turned his back to him, and asked, "Don't you have anything to say?"

His tone had nothing to do with respect or filial piety. Xu Zhengkang felt a surge of anger, but without delving into the meaning of his words, he slammed the door and left with a bang.

Xu Zhengkang didn't understand what Xu Sirui meant, but Zhu Yingning did. He wanted to ask Xu Zhengkang if he had anything to say about Zhou Tianlan's illness.

As it turns out, there really isn't.

Zhu Yingning looked at Xu Sirui, who was staring at the uncut toast in front of him, his eyes darker than ever.

**

Zhou Tianlan's surgery was scheduled for three days later, and she needed to fast for eight hours before the surgery. Since the surgery happened to be in the afternoon, she had to go hungry the whole day.

When Zhu Yingning and Xu Sirui went to visit her, they happened to run into Xu Sirui's grandparents, Zhou Tianlan's parents. The two elderly people seemed unaware that their daughter was already a middle-aged woman in her late teens. Xu Sirui's grandmother, in particular, held her daughter's hand, tears welling in her eyes as she said distressedly, "Lanlan, let's just listen to the doctor and be patient. Wait until you recover and then eat whatever you want, okay?"

It turns out that even at this age, I can still be treated as a child by my parents.

Zhu Yingning watched from the sidelines, feeling a mix of emotions. Ever since she could remember, Liu Guifang had stopped treating her like a child. She would tell her about the family's financial situation, confide in her about the discord between her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, or gossip about someone in the village. She had always thought it was perfectly normal for a daughter to take on the responsibility of supporting her mother at such an early age, but now she realized that this kind of dynamic could exist between mother and daughter.

It was hard to tell whether it was envy or just a simple emotion caused by the scene. She shook her head to get rid of unnecessary thoughts, and sat down next to Zhou Tianlan with Xu Sirui. Just like last time, they talked about all sorts of things to entertain her.

Only after Zhou Tianlan was pushed into the operating room did Zhu Yingning find time to go to the bathroom.

Coming out of the bathroom, she saw Xu Sirui's grandmother and Zhou Tianqing standing at the door talking. She wanted to say hello, but she noticed their serious expressions. Zhu Yingning had no desire to pry, but they were too close to her, so she overheard some of their conversation.

They were talking about Xu Zhengkang.

What Xu Sirui's grandmother meant was that no matter what, they had to contact Xu Zhengkang and ask him to come over in a nice way. No matter how much of a jerk he was, he was still Zhou Tianlan's husband. If he didn't show up in such an occasion, even if Zhou Tianlan didn't say anything, she would inevitably feel sad in her heart. Don't let this matter affect her mood after the operation.

Zhou Tianqing held the opposite opinion, thinking that Xu Zhengkang’s best state was to play a living dead and not to shake Zhou Tianlan’s resolve.

Zhu Yingning had previously wondered about the relationship between the Zhou family and Xu Zhengkang, but now she learned that the two families had broken up after Zhou Tianlan was imprisoned. The two elders were so angry about their son-in-law that they almost went to the hospital. Zhou Tianqing even went straight to Xu Zhengkang, had a big quarrel with him, and even poured water on his head.

However, for the sake of Xu Sirui's mental health and to prevent him from having to choose between his father's and mother's families, they have always avoided arguing with Xu Zhengkang in front of Xu Sirui. If they unfortunately meet occasionally, they will try their best to maintain the appearance of strangers.

The mother and daughter discussed it for a long time. Finally, Xu Sirui's grandmother couldn't persuade Zhou Tianqing anymore. She sighed, waved her hand, and said, "Okay...you young people should handle this matter."

Zhu Yingning walked out only after they left.

Xu Sirui was waiting on a chair outside the operating room, looking at the empty floor in front of the operating room with an expressionless face.

Zhu Yingning sat next to him, looked at him worriedly, and stared at the empty floor in front of him in a daze with him.

She was a little worried that Xu Sirui would get emotional and go fight with Xu Zhengkang. Fortunately, Xu Sirui's mind didn't seem to be on Xu Zhengkang. He stayed in the hospital all day on the day Zhou Tianlan had surgery.

**

After the surgery, Zhu Yingning went to the hospital almost every day, while also taking care of Zhu Zhiwei's affairs. Yiyi had found a new job and had already left. Although Zhu Zhiwei was looking for a new employee, she hadn't found a suitable candidate yet, so the two of them had to take over the job.

She wished she could have three heads and six arms so that she could take care of Zhu Zhiwei's shop, Xu Sirui's affairs, and complete her study tasks perfectly.

Perhaps noticing how exhausted she was, a few days later, Xu Sirui told her that she didn't need to visit Zhou Tianlan anymore.

"But……"

"Okay, you take a good rest, I'll go see her myself. My mom is being taken care of by my aunt and the others, and if things don't work out, they have money to hire a nurse, so you don't have to worry about it."

She wanted to say, "I'm not worried about Aunt Zhou. She has many people around her to take care of her, so she doesn't need me to worry about her. I only go with her every day because I'm worried about you." But in the end, she held back and said nothing. She really hadn't slept well for several days. Adhering to the principle of sustainable development, Zhu Yingning nodded in agreement with his suggestion, but only half agreed: "Okay, I'll rest for a while and go with you tomorrow."

Then let him go to see Zhou Tianlan alone.

As dinner time approached, the hourly worker knocked on the guest room door and asked her if she needed Xu Sirui's meal prepared.

"Wait a minute, I'll call him and ask."

The hourly worker nodded and stepped aside.

Zhu Yingning first called Xu Sirui's cell phone, and heard his cell phone ringing in his room. He actually forgot to bring his cell phone when he went out, so he called Zhou Tianqing again. The other end answered quickly, and Zhu Yingning asked her if she was in the hospital.

"Yes, what's the matter?"

"I want to ask Xu Sirui if he will come home for dinner tonight. If he doesn't, I won't serve him here."

Zhou Tianqing was stunned: "You ask Ruirui? But he's not in the hospital?"