Chapter 65 Moonlight
Xu Mo came to her father's ward. Summer had arrived in Nanshi. Cicadas were buzzing outside the window, and the glass window blocked out the brightness and stuffiness outside.
She stood by the bed, looking at her father, who lay there resting with his eyes closed. The light wrinkles on his face were particularly noticeable in the midday sun. When she was still studying in Nanshi, he'd come to pick her up from school, and her classmates would tell her he was handsome. She'd been brimming with pride, thinking not everyone was lucky enough to have such a handsome father. But at some point, he seemed to have suddenly aged. His skin had become loose and dry, his hair had grayed and thinned, and even his figure seemed to have shrunk.
But she had just seen him during the Chinese New Year, and he was not that old then.
Grandma didn't come today, and mom was at work, so she brought food to dad.
Father Xu didn't know she was coming. When he saw his daughter appear in the ward, he was stunned for a moment: "Momo, why are you back?"
Xu Mo put the thermos on the bedside table: "Grandma called me, I came back to see you."
Father Xu coughed and said, "Oh, it's grandma. I told you that you're very busy at work, so I won't disturb you."
Xu Mo didn't plan to tell her father that she was unemployed.
She opened the lid of the thermos and took out the small lunch boxes one by one: "The project is over, I'm taking a long vacation, and I'm staying at home during this time."
Father Xu's eyes flashed with surprise for a moment, then as if he had thought of something, his expression faded. "I saw on the news that your company seems to be laying off employees. You'd better not take such a long leave. I'm fine, you can go back to work tomorrow."
Xu Mo's heart suddenly felt a little bitter. The flash of surprise in his eyes made her feel mixed. In fact, he must have missed her very much, but she always told him that she was busy with work and had never been home. She helped him open the lunch box and handed him the chopsticks: "Don't worry about it, I know what's going on. Let's eat first."
Father Xu took the chopsticks hesitantly, and Xu Mo took a chair and sat beside him.
"How did you get injured like this?" Xu Mo asked.
"Oh. I was crossing the street on my way to work when a young man was driving and wasn't paying attention. He almost hit me. My mind went blank at the time and I fell."
"He didn't touch you?"
"No."
Xu Mo looked at the heavy plaster cast on his leg: "What did the doctor say?"
Father Xu smiled and said, "It's okay. It was just a minor injury. It's just that he's older now, so he needs to stay in the hospital for a few more days."
The ward fell into silence. Father Xu ate his meal and observed his daughter's expression.
"Where's Xiaolin?" Father Xu asked. "Where is he now?"
"He's at work."
"Oh." Father Xu said, "You came back alone?"
Xu Mo nodded.
Father Xu sighed, "Daughter, you two haven't had your wedding yet. Aside from the time he came back with you during the Chinese New Year, we haven't heard from him since. Tell me the truth, how has he treated you?"
Xu Mo was stunned for a moment. She hadn't expected that not having a wedding would actually cause the elders to worry about her marital status. She pursed her lips and looked up at him: "Dad, we're fine. It's just that we both have to go to work and are quite busy. We don't want to have a wedding, so we don't want to have one."
Father Xu sighed and said, "Logically speaking, if your father cares about you, he should come back with you if he is sick."
“…”
Xu Mo looked out the window. The sun was so bright that it seemed to burn her eyes.
Why didn't Lin Jingchuan come back with her? He had just said yesterday that he wasn't busy during this period.
Xu Mo got up and took the plastic cup in the ward and poured herself a glass of water: "Dad, a lot of things have happened in his family recently."
"Is it because his father treated him badly during the Chinese New Year that he doesn't want to come back?"
“…”
Father Xu sighed, "Momo, you're my only daughter. I don't ask for you to be successful, I just hope you live a happy life. Now that you're marrying someone far away, and the man he's with is several years older than you, I'm a little worried. That's why I couldn't control my emotions during the New Year. If you get a chance, please apologize to him on my behalf."
Xu Mo was stunned for a moment, she looked at him: "Dad." Although he was very good to her, he was also a leader outside and rarely spoke in such a humble tone.
Only then did she realize that all her rejection of Lin Jingchuan during the Chinese New Year was due to her worry for her daughter. He had been so worried about her during this period, but she hadn't even called him because she was busy with work.
In a daze, she stared at the bright green leaves outside the window, and did not realize that the door of the ward was quietly pushed open.
When I turned around again, I saw Zhao Tingyu standing at the door.
The man was wearing a black T-shirt and light grey shorts, with a hint of worry in his stern eyes.
He placed the fruit basket in his hand on the bedside table, and as he walked over, a light cool breeze blew beside Xu Mo.
Zhao Tingyu's gaze lingered for a moment on the face of the woman he hadn't seen for a long time, then he looked at the elder on the bed.
"Uncle Xu."
Father Xu put down his chopsticks and smiled at Zhao Tingyu as if he had expected this. "Tingyu, you're here."
Seeing Xu Mo was a little surprised, Father Xu explained to her, "Tingyu has been coming back often during this period. He often visited me during the time I was in the hospital."
After leaving the ward, Zhao Tingyu and Xu Mo walked out of the hospital side by side. He held the car keys in his hand and looked at the woman in a white dress beside him. He hadn't seen her for a few months, and her appearance hadn't changed much, but there was always a hint of sadness on her face.
Zhao Tingyu asked, "You haven't eaten yet?"
Xu Mo came back to her senses and looked up at him: "Yeah."
Zhao Tingyu: "Shall I take you out for dinner first?"
Xu Mo nodded and got into his car.
The car was very quiet. Apart from the gentle breeze from the air-conditioning vents and the breathing of the two people, there was no other sound.
"Dad just said that you've been coming back often lately." Xu Mo said slowly, "What about the company?"
Zhao Tingyu adjusted the navigation and drove out of the parking lot: "You know, even if I go to the company, it's just a different place to play with my phone. The company's business is very simple, and it can still run without me."
Xu Mo was silent for a moment, and he looked at her fair profile again: "Didn't you get sick some time ago? The doctor told me not to lie at home all the time, but to go out more often. So I come back here often to accompany Uncle Xu."
Xu Mo asked in a low voice: "How is your illness?"
"After taking the medicine, the disease never recurred," said Zhao Tingyu.
"That's good."
Zhao Tingyu was silent for a moment, then said, "If I had known that taking medicine would cure it, I should have been treated earlier."
Xu Mo tilted her head and looked at him in confusion, not quite understanding what he meant.
But Zhao Tingyu's Adam's apple rolled, and he whispered, "Get well soon, be a normal boyfriend soon, and we won't break up."
Xu Mo could feel her heart tremble slightly, although only for a moment.
She looked out the window. It was hot, and there were few pedestrians on Nanshi Road in the afternoon. The road was scorched by the sun, and the temperature was so high that even her vision was distorted.
She turned her head away and looked out the window. He couldn't see her face, only her exceptionally slender white neck.
His eyes fell on her clasped hands, and Zhao Tingyu asked, "How are you doing lately? Are you still feeling unwell after the car accident?"
Xu Mo lowered her eyes. She didn't expect him to still remember the car accident she had some time ago. "No more."
"Did you take a leave of absence this time?" Zhao Tingyu asked, "You should be very busy at this time of year."
Xu Mo hummed vaguely.
Having been together for many years, Zhao Tingyu knew her subtle expressions all too well. He quickly noticed something was wrong with her expression and then remembered that she had mentioned something about work going wrong to him before. "What's wrong with you? Is there something wrong with your work?"
"Grandma called you last night, and you came back last night." Zhao Tingyu frowned slightly and looked at her, "Did you resign?"
Xu Mo knew she couldn't hide it from him, so she stopped lying and nodded.
She changed the subject: "What are you going to take me to eat?"
"Chen's," Zhao Tingyu said. "That was your favorite place to eat in high school. Every time you came home for Chinese New Year, you'd say you wanted to eat there, but during the New Year, the boss would go home for the holiday, so you never got to eat there."
Xu Mo nodded.
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