Chapter 8 Please, just a couple more bites, okay, sweetie? ...

Before the two of them could say anything, Wen Feng's phone rang.

It was his mother. He glanced at his phone, then at Yu Xue, who smiled at him and said, "Go out and answer it."

"Okay." Wen Feng took his phone and walked to the stairwell.

The call finally connected, and her mother's anxious voice came through the other end, "How is Xuexue? Is she taking her medicine properly? Is she getting treatment? Has she been feeling any better lately?"

Wen Feng glanced back to make sure Yu Xue hadn't followed him out, and whispered, "That's good."

He paused, then added, "It's just that you're not eating properly."

“Oh dear, I’ve seen her eat.” The mother’s voice became even more anxious. “She never eats much at my place, just a little bit of rice. She says she doesn’t like rice but prefers vegetables, but I’ve never seen her eat much. I can count how many noodles she eats.”

Yu Xue's image appeared in her mother's mind, and she sighed deeply: "Does she usually eat like this at home? You should tell her that this is not good, that she needs a balanced diet, that she needs to eat everything, and that she needs to eat a lot of food, including vegetables and rice."

Wen Feng: "She won't eat."

"Are you made of wood?" Mom said. "If she won't eat, try to coax her. If you just let her have her way, what's the point of having you stay with her at the bedside? I'd rather go."

The father's deep voice came from the other end of the phone, "Is the child afraid of gaining weight, afraid of not looking good on camera?"

"Is health more important or beauty?" His mother's voice became sharp. Wen Feng could imagine his mother's expression; his father must have been glared at again.

The father defended his statement: "That's not what I meant. I meant, isn't that the child's job?"

Mom: "Work is not as important as your health."

Dad shut his mouth.

The mother turned to Wen Feng and said, "She's not in a good state right now. You can't treat her like a normal person. You have to comfort her, just like you would your cousin."

Wen Feng frowned. His cousin was only eight or nine years old. "That's too much."

“It’s not an exaggeration,” Mom said. “As long as she can eat properly, what’s wrong with coaxing her? Don’t tell me you don’t know how. Your dad and I have coaxed you a lot since you were little. Besides, your dad is so old, and he still needs to be coaxed to take his medicine. What’s so exaggerated about that?”

Wen Feng: "...Won't that make her feel disrespected? She'll get angry."

Mom rolled her eyes. "Are you stupid? Can't you read between the lines? Look at her face. Take advantage of her good mood and coax her to eat properly. Make sure she eats meat too, not just vegetables. Didn't she terminate her contract with the company? No one's supervising her meals anymore, right? If they are, give me their phone number and I'll talk to them."

"No." Wen Feng took a deep breath. "I'll try. I've hung up, Mom."

Hearing his concise tone, his mother had little confidence in his "give it a try".

I always felt that nothing would come of it.

When he returned, Yu Xue had already fallen asleep in bed. He stood outside the ward for a long time, afraid to go in, lest he wake her up if he pushed the door open.

Forget it, he should just leave. Yu Xue had finally gotten a good night's sleep, and he didn't want to disturb her.

He rummaged through his pockets for a while, found a pen and his notebook, wrote a note, and slipped it under the door.

He drove away.

He didn't go home, but slept in his apartment in the city center. The next morning, around 7 a.m., he learned that the voyeur had resigned and run away. He originally wanted to return the phone, but according to his assistant, the phone had already left the province overnight.

He then contacted the staff member in charge of Yu Xue's affairs.

After Yu Xue terminated her contract, Wen Feng set up a small studio for her, mainly to manage her work and receive external information. Sometimes Wen Feng was busy with work, and Yu Xue would stay home all day, practically retired from the entertainment industry, not even going online. Even if she saw some rumors, she wouldn't know how to deal with them and would just pretend not to see them. If no one spoke up, the rumors might spread far and wide before Wen Feng even saw them, and by then, it would be much more difficult to resolve.

Fortunately, his father was still strong and capable in his old age and could help manage the Wen family's business, so Wen Feng could free up his hands to focus on dealing with Yu Xue's affairs.

In fact, Yu Xue has almost disappeared from the internet over the years, except for her songs which are often brought up for discussion.

But when she is mentioned, a bunch of messy rumors still circulate.

Recently, the incident of Wen Feng being seriously injured and hospitalized suddenly became a hot topic. Many people said it was domestic violence, and Wen Feng's schedule was also dug up. Although the specific schedule could not be found, a photo of Wen Feng appearing at the airport the day after Yu Xue was injured was found.

The rumors of domestic violence were dispelled, and Yu Xue's album was brought up again and became popular once more. Some of the previous rumors were also clarified in the process.

The internet is now divided into two camps: one says Yu Xue is using her injury to create hype, while the other says they've never criticized her before and always felt she was wronged.

Wen Feng thought it was great; it was much better than the one-sided situation before. If Yu Xue hadn't been sick, he would have encouraged her to take this opportunity to release another album, consolidate her popularity, and resume her work.

However, judging from the current situation, it seems unlikely that work will be able to resume this year.

When Yu Xue woke up the next morning and didn't see Wen Feng, before she could even feel disappointed, a nurse came in and handed her a note, "Your husband left this for you, right? It's at the door. I found it."

Yu Xue took the document: I'll go take care of some work and come back to have lunch with you.

Yu Xue smiled and said, "Yes, thank you."

At 11:30, Wen Feng still hadn't come up. There was only half an hour left before dinner, and Yu Xue felt that Wen Feng was probably too late. She really hoped that the chef who was cooking today had been delayed and could start dinner half an hour later, giving Wen Feng a chance to keep his promise.

But at 11:50, the nurse was already shouting in the hallway that dinner was ready, and Wen Feng still hadn't arrived.

She had been doing crafts for an hour with the nurse's help that morning, and now her neck was a little tired. She turned her head a couple of times, got out of bed to get her lunch, and bumped into someone walking in from outside.

"Ouch." Yu Xue fell backward, and Wen Feng quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Stand still." Wen Feng was holding a food box in one hand, so it wasn't convenient for him to hug her.

Before Yu Xue could even enjoy a romantic moment in his arms, she was ordered to stand up straight.

Wen Feng placed the food box on the table and said, "Mom asked me to bring this for you. She stewed the chicken herself. Wait a moment, I'll go get you some rice and vegetables."

He also bought Yu Xue a taller folding table so that she could sit more comfortably while eating.

Yu Xue chuckled and said, "So you're planning to stay for a long time?"

Wen Feng: "Your legs will go numb if you eat while you're curled up in bed."

Yu Xue was stunned. It was true. She didn't like eating in bed. It was uncomfortable to stretch out, and it would go numb if she curled up. Standing up would block her from eating. Besides, Wen Feng was a man, and it looked awkward for her to eat with her legs up. So every time she ate, she would keep switching her legs back and forth.

She didn't expect Wen Feng to see it.

He saw it and helped her solve the problem.

Yu Xue also knows that she has a problem. She doesn't speak up when she has needs and keeps them bottled up. If others can't see it, she will keep it bottled up forever.

She dared not speak, and was afraid that others would find out. She didn't speak because she was afraid others would think she was pretentious, and she was afraid that others would say she was cowardly.

But Wen Feng wouldn't do that. He could help her solve anything and would never say anything.

Wen Feng was willing; he wanted to see Yu Xue happy, something he had always wanted since childhood.

Yu Xue stayed at Wen Feng's house for a while during junior high school. After Yu Xue left, Wen Feng knew that her cell phone could only make calls and send text messages, and that her father would check it regularly. So he chose to send her letters every week, seven at a time. The envelopes were glued shut, and the yellow, worn-out envelopes gave off a serious and rigid vibe. Even though he didn't receive any replies from Yu Xue, he persisted in sending them.

The fact that it wasn't returned at least means that Yu Xue received it.

He sent letters for almost two years, and then one week, his letters were returned. He was not giving up, so he sent them again, but they were returned again, saying that no one had checked them and that he could not get through by phone.

He asked his mother if Yu Xue had moved, and his mother said she didn't know.

Their contact ended abruptly.

The next time they got in touch was when Yu Xue was a sophomore in college. She took the initiative to contact Wen Feng's mother, who then introduced Yu Xue to Wen Feng.

When the two got married, Yu Xue was just twenty years old. A month before the engagement, before her mother had even prepared the "change of address" gift, Yu Xue started calling her father and mother.

Yu Xue had always been cold and indifferent to him, never mentioning sleeping together or consummating their marriage. Therefore, Wen Feng didn't dare to ask her if she had received those letters.

While Wen Feng was lost in thought, Yu Xue had finished eating and was about to wipe her mouth.

Wen Feng watched her eat three or four mouthfuls of rice, three or four mouthfuls of celery, and a piece of chicken the size of a fingernail, and rolled his eyes inwardly.

This isn't about losing weight, it's about choosing a burial plot.

He asked, "Did you sleep well last night?"

Yu Xue nodded: "It was alright. I had a nightmare, but at least I didn't wake up in the middle of it and slept soundly until dawn."

Wen Feng: "Why don't you eat more?"

Yu Xue: "Am I not very hungry?"

Wen Feng: "What did you have for breakfast?"

Yu Xue: "Half a bowl of porridge. The porridge at the hospital doesn't taste good."

As Wen Feng asked, he tried hard to recall how his mother had comforted him when he was a child. He mentally prepared himself for a long time, but he didn't do anything.

Seeing that Yu Xue had finished wiping her mouth and was about to get up and go back to bed, he said, "Eat a little more."

"No, thank you." Yu Xue waved her hand.

Wen Feng realized he had been too abrupt, so he softened his tone and said, "Eat some, have a piece of meat. Chicken is delicious."

Upon hearing his voice, Yu Xue's pupils contracted slightly, and she laughed, "You're really funny to talk to today."

Wen Feng pressed on, his tone softening slightly: "Eat some more, have some soup, and a couple of pieces of meat. It's especially delicious."

Wen Feng: "Eat up, okay? Have two more pieces."

Yu Xue smiled and sat back down at the table. Wen Feng had already served her the soup.

"No one has ever coaxed me like this before," Yu Xue said, amused but also a little embarrassed. "Then I'll eat two more pieces."

"Mmm." Wen Feng placed the bowl in front of her and added, mimicking his mother, "Good girl."

Upon hearing this word, Yu Xue turned her head and laughed, her hand holding the spoon trembling.

A note from the author:

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