Aside from taking care of her son and keeping the elderly company, Zhao Qinglan would only call her husband once every seven or eight days.
Li Huai was relieved to know that everything was alright at home, and he didn't feel there was anything wrong with it, after all, his wife had already taken on a lot for him.
After Tao Ailian left the inoculum at Dr. Jiao's place that day, she came several more times, each time mentioning how pitiful Li Huai was, which made Dr. Jiao restless.
After several attempts, Dr. Jiao finally couldn't sit still any longer.
Or she could cook more meals every day and send them to Political Commissar Li. She thought her cooking skills were pretty good, and she could always use Tao Ailian's name instead.
As a single woman, it wasn't appropriate for her to directly deliver food to Political Commissar Li, but Tao Ailian was his neighbor. If she showed a little more concern for Political Commissar Li, others wouldn't dare to say anything, right?
When she told Tao Ailian her thoughts, Tao Ailian looked at her as if she were a saint.
"How can you be so kind, doing good deeds without even leaving your name?"
"Ailian, is this alright?"
"Okay, I also feel sorry for Political Commissar Li. Why don't you come to my place for dinner? I'll cook at my house."
Dr. Jiao was already anxious to see Li Huai but couldn't get a chance, and now that Tao Ailian had offered a way out, she naturally agreed without hesitation.
Tao Ailian wanted to invite Li Huai over for dinner, but she didn't want to ask him to do it herself, so she told her husband first.
"I see that Comrade Zhao is not at Political Commissar Li's house either, so he must not be eating well every day. Why don't we invite Political Commissar Li to our house for dinner?"
Deputy Chief of Staff Xu looked at his wife with some suspicion. If he remembered correctly, his wife and the neighbor had never gotten along well. Why was she suddenly concerned about Political Commissar Li's meals?
Seeing her husband staring at her like that, Tao Ailian explained, "I just feel that I didn't do well enough before. You know, we're neighbors, and you have to work with them. I just wanted to ease the tension between us."
Deputy Chief of Staff Xu didn't think there was anything wrong with adding an extra pair of chopsticks to the family; on the contrary, he was pleased that his wife had finally figured things out.
"Okay, I'll talk to Li Huai about it. Oh, and don't forget about his son too."
"Alright, let's eat together then." That was all Tao Ailian could say. Actually, she really didn't want Sanwa, this burden, to come along.
When Deputy Chief of Staff Xu extended the invitation to Li Huai, Li Huai found it strange and did not intend to accept. However, Deputy Chief of Staff Xu was so enthusiastic that he could not refuse in the end and finally agreed.
Oh well, at worst we can just send more things here ourselves in the future.
They all thought it was just a meal for four people, but when Li Huai arrived with Sanwa, there was another person in the room.
After Dr. Jiao and Tao Ailian brought out all the dishes, they sat down.
Deputy Chief of Staff Xu found it strange that Dr. Jiao was acting this way, but his wife easily dismissed the thought with a few words.
Because of their previous dinner together, he genuinely believed that Dr. Jiao and his wife had a good relationship.
Li Huai, on the other hand, felt somewhat uneasy upon seeing Dr. Jiao there as well.
Sanwa really didn't want to eat at other people's houses; he'd rather eat at the cafeteria. But he couldn't disobey his father's orders, so he reluctantly came along.
Deputy Chief of Staff Xu didn't take Dr. Jiao seriously and continued talking to Li Huai, who couldn't very well respond.
In order to create opportunities for Dr. Jiao, Tao Ailian would frequently interrupt and always pull Dr. Jiao into the conversation.
Dr. Jiao was naturally happy to have the opportunity to speak with Li Huai. At first, she was a little reserved, but she gradually opened up.
Li Huai and Deputy Chief of Staff Xu, unaware of the inside story, remained completely oblivious to anything unusual. However, the shrewd Sanwa, who had been engrossed in his meal, sensed something was amiss.
It was because that strange aunt kept staring at his father and was overly enthusiastic towards him.
Sanwa observed silently for a while, and didn't say anything after returning home.
However, on the second and third days, they were still called to eat next door, and Dr. Jiao was there every time. As Sanwa gradually confirmed his suspicions, he became more vigilant.
Actually, it wasn't just Sanwa who felt something was wrong; for several days in a row, Dr. Jiao was eating at his own home, and even Deputy Chief of Staff Xu found it strange.
"Honey, isn't it a bit too frequent for Dr. Jiao to come to our house every day?" It wasn't that he was stingy with a few meals; after all, Dr. Jiao always brought gifts and helped his wife with chores. But he just felt something was off.
Tao Ailian glanced at her husband. "Dr. Jiao is all alone in her dormitory. What's wrong with me asking her to come over for a few meals?"
"No, that's not what I meant. I just meant..."
“If you keep bringing this up, I’ll get angry,” Tao Ailian said deliberately.
Deputy Chief of Staff Xu had no choice but to stop discussing the matter.
As for Li Huai, although he also felt uncomfortable running into Dr. Jiao next door every day, it was her home, and he was just mooching meals from her, so how could he possibly offer any opinions?
However, Sanwa looked at his father and suddenly said something.
"Dad, let's not eat next door tomorrow."
"Don't want to go?" Li Huai thought that his youngest son's lazy and unwilling-to-social-entertainment habit had resurfaced.
"Dad, Mom isn't home, you can't do anything to betray her."
Li Huai was shocked. "What are you talking about, kid? When did I ever do anything wrong to your mother?"
Seeing that his father's shock seemed genuine, Sanwa understood something, but still said, "I was just saying, anyway, I don't want to eat at their house anymore."
"If you don't want to go, then don't. Dad will take you to the cafeteria." He didn't want to go anyway.
The next day, before Li Huai returned from get off work, Da Wa suddenly called, and San Wa answered the phone at home.
After the two brothers chatted for a few minutes, the third brother brought up the unusual situation.
"Brother, I think someone might be trying to take advantage of Mom's absence."
"What!" The eldest child was extremely shocked, thinking he had misheard.
"Who is it? Don't they know how good our parents' relationship is?"
"There's just one doctor who's very close to that mentally unstable woman next door. I think that woman's friend is probably no good either. I've had a few meals with my dad there, and she's practically glued to him."
The older child became anxious. "Does Mom know about this?"
“I’m not stupid. Why would I tell Mom this? She’s currently helping my second brother prepare for the college entrance exam.”
"It's good that you didn't say anything; this is something that can't be talked about lightly." Da Wa breathed a sigh of relief.
“I don’t think Dad has any wicked intentions. Otherwise, I’d definitely tell Mom and make her come back immediately.”
“You did the right thing. I won’t be on vacation for a while. You keep an eye on Dad and make sure he doesn’t get entangled with other women.”
If the parents' relationship has problems, their family's harmony and happiness will cease to exist, which is a major event for their family.
"Brother, don't worry, I'm here for you," Sanwa assured him.
The older brother trusted his younger brother's judgment and repeatedly told him to contact him if anything happened before hanging up the phone with some concern.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
