Su Yufen busied herself wiping the two children's faces and gently scolded them.
"Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you."
As he spoke, he placed a piece of fish into each of their bowls.
"Don't just eat meat, eat some fish too."
Wang Xiulan ladled out a bowl of egg drop soup and placed it in front of Su Jianguo.
"Honey, have some soup to soothe your nerves."
He turned to Su Yufen and said.
"Yufen, in a little while, prepare some food and have Mingfu take it to Lao Er and Yuzhen. I steamed some meat buns; they're still warm."
"Why!"
Su Yufen agreed, put two large steamed buns into the lunchbox, added a few pieces of duck meat and braised pork, and after thinking for a moment, added a piece of scrambled eggs.
Su Mingfu was engrossed in eating when he heard this and quickly swallowed the food in his mouth.
"Mom, I'll go right after I finish eating."
As he spoke, he picked up another piece of duck meat and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Slow down, don't choke."
Wang Xiulan poured a glass of water for her third son with heartache.
"Be careful on the road, don't drop your lunchbox."
Seeing this scene, Su Jianguo felt a warm glow in his heart and took a big gulp of wine.
"Dad, please drink less."
Su Yufen gently advised.
"The injury hasn't fully healed yet."
Su Jianguo waved his hand.
"It's nothing! I'm happy today!"
As he spoke, he filled his own cup again.
"You wouldn't believe it, today I..."
He was only halfway through his sentence.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps and heavy breathing came from outside, breaking the warm atmosphere of the Su family's dinner.
Su Jianguo's hand, which had just raised his wine glass, froze in mid-air, and his brows furrowed involuntarily.
"Who is it? It's so late..."
Wang Xiulan put down her chopsticks and looked towards the courtyard gate with a puzzled expression.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The knocking on the door was deafening, making the dishes on the table tremble slightly.
Su Jianguo's heart tightened, and he instinctively gripped the wine bottle in his hand.
"I'll go take a look."
Wang Xiulan wiped her hands and walked quickly toward the courtyard gate.
The door had barely opened a crack when a middle-aged man, covered in sweat, squeezed in.
He was wearing a railway uniform, his hat askew, his face as pale as paper, and his chest heaving violently, as if he had just finished a marathon.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
The man was out of breath and couldn't speak.
Su Jianguo stood up abruptly, gripping the bottle in his hand even tighter.
He didn't recognize the person at all, but judging from his flustered appearance, it couldn't be anything good.
He quietly moved his feet and stood in front of his family.
"Who are you?"
Su Jianguo asked in a deep voice, his tone clearly wary.
Just as the man was about to speak, Su Yufen suddenly jumped up from her seat, and the chopsticks in her hand fell to the ground with a "clatter".
"Master Li?"
Her voice sounded very puzzled.
"You...you've come?"
Su Jianguo then loosened his grip on the bottle slightly, but his brows furrowed even more.
From the railway bureau? A colleague of the drunkard Zhang Tiezhu?
The man called Master Li looked even more pained when he saw Su Yufen.
He took off his hat, crumpled it into a ball in his hand, and his lips trembled.
"Yufen...I...I really don't know how to tell you..."
Su Yufen's face turned deathly pale instantly. She staggered back two steps and bumped into the chair behind her.
Wang Xiulan quickly stepped forward to support her daughter, her own hands trembling slightly.
"What...what happened?"
Su Yufen's voice was barely audible.
Master Li took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind.
"Tiezhu...he drank too much this afternoon and went to work...the dispatch department had arranged for him to rest, but he insisted he was fine..."
Su Jianguo's heart sank.
That scoundrel son-in-law has been drinking again?
"Then what?"
Su Jianguo's voice was a few decibels lower than usual.
"The locomotive broke down, so he went to fix it... and then..."
Master Li's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
"I stepped into thin air...and fell...I was completely dragged under the wheels of a car..."
"ah!"
Wang Xiulan let out a short scream, then covered her mouth.
Master Li's voice grew softer and softer.
"The person just... just disappeared on the spot... We searched for ages before..."
Su Yufen's body suddenly went limp like a puppet with its strings cut.
Wang Xiulan couldn't hold her up; she knelt down on the ground, staring blankly ahead, her lips trembling but unable to utter a word.
"Yu Fen! Yu Fen!"
Wang Xiulan panicked and squatted down to shake her daughter.
Da Mao and Er Mao were stunned by this sudden change. Although the two little ones did not understand what had happened, when they saw their mother's appearance, they were stunned for a few seconds, and then burst into tears at the same time.
Da Mao rushed towards his mother, while Er Mao clung tightly to Su Jianguo's leg.
The room was instantly filled with crying.
Su Yufen finally came to her senses and let out a heart-wrenching wail.
"Iron Pillar—"
Su Jianguo stood there, the wine bottle in his hand already placed back on the table.
He felt a wave of dizziness. Although his alcoholic son-in-law was useless, he was still the father of his two grandsons.
When did this happen?
He forced himself to calm down; at this moment, he needed to stand up for his daughter.
"Just...just two hours ago."
Master Li wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"The bureau sent me to notify the family... to come and collect the body..."
He couldn't continue.
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