Chapter 21: A Grave Misunderstanding

A sudden commotion erupted as four people swarmed into the adjacent bed, 516.

Tao Fei, unable to sleep any longer, reached out to pull the privacy curtain, but no sooner had she let go than it was yanked aside with a sharp rattle.

"Sorry about that! It feels so stuffy with the curtain drawn. I like to look at the view outside."

The woman with the round, moon-shaped face beamed a brilliant smile at Tao Fei. She sat cross-legged on the hospital bed, clutching a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts. She shouted to the two men who had just entered, telling them to hurry back to their shop, and then called to her mother, who was busy stuffing bags into the locker, to sit down and rest for a moment instead of cleaning.

The aroma of the roasted chestnuts made Tao Fei swallow hard. It was strange; ever since she had taken over this body, she had felt nothing—no pain from injections, medication, or her minimally invasive incision. The three-fresh wontons Tang Songyuan had brought that morning, which he claimed were delicious, had tasted like wax in her mouth. It was as if this body were made of stone, yet now, a sudden craving had stirred in her belly.

Tao Fei turned away to resist the enticing scent of the chestnuts.

"Sister Tao Fei, right? My name is Wu Xiuli."

This Wu Xiuli looked like she was in her early thirties!

"Hello."

"Hello, hello!"

Wu Xiuli glanced at the small card at the head of Tao Fei’s bed, her smile widening even further.

"Sister Tao Fei, are you here all by yourself? Where is your family?"

"That chubby man who just walked out is my husband. Isn't he handsome?"

No sooner had Wu Xiuli finished speaking than Nurse Li Ya entered with the medical chart. Seeing the table tray over bed 516 covered in chestnut shells, she couldn't help but frown.

"Wu Xiuli, your surgery has been scheduled. Please be aware that you must not consume anything, not even water, after five o'clock this evening."

"What? So soon?! How can I have the strength to go under the knife without eating? And not even water? I’ll die of thirst!"

"Mom, what are you saying! When can I eat, then?"

Wu Xiuli continued peeling chestnuts as she spoke, acting as if the surgery were of no concern. Her mother, however, was flustered, firing questions at Li Ya. Li Ya responded distractedly as she hung the medical records and the nameplate on the bed. Glancing at Wu Xiuli, who had now opened a bag of spiced melon seeds, Li Ya gently reminded her that shelled snacks were not allowed on the beds.

"We paid so much money to stay here, and we can't even eat snacks? What kind of lousy hospital is this!"

Wu Xiuli's mother flared up immediately, and Wu Xiuli pouted her chubby lips in annoyance.

"I am merely reminding you for the sake of ward hygiene. Post-operative care, in particular, requires cleanliness and dryness. You may eat if you insist. As for when you can eat, I will note it in the care requirements. If you're worried, you can ask the attending physician."

Although this was a high-end private hospital that most could not afford, money still attracted a motley mix of people with varying levels of decorum. If she spoke too softly, they ignored her; if she spoke too firmly, she risked being reported by the families. Li Ya had no desire for trouble.

"That little nurse looks like a vixen; I can tell she's no good!"

"Mom, you shouldn't say things like that about people."

"I'm the best judge of character. I can tell a person's nature and temperament just by looking at them—whether they're a good person or not..."

"Mom, you're the best!"

The mother and daughter chirped back and forth, a lively pair. Tao Fei secretly marveled at how their temperaments were cut from the same cloth; they certainly made the tedious time of waiting much more entertaining.

"Sister Tao Fei, what are you here for? I have an ectopic pregnancy. I don't know how it happened—how it ended up outside the uterus."

Wu Xiuli held out the paper bag of chestnuts toward Tao Fei.

"Uterine fibroids, I believe. It’s almost healed. No thank you, I’ll pass."

Looking at Wu Xiuli’s bright red fingernails, Tao Fei’s appetite vanished, and the aroma of the chestnuts seemed to fade away instantly.

"I’ve heard that if a woman is in a bad mood, she’s prone to uterine fibroids. Are you the introverted type who holds things in? Life is too short to be unhappy! You live a day whether you're smiling or crying. If something really happens, crying won't solve it."

Wu Xiuli clapped her plump, white hands. Seeing that Tao Fei didn't reply, the expression on her round face solidified her judgment, and she turned to her mother for confirmation. Receiving an affirmative nod, she burst into laughter.

Tao Fei didn't consider herself introverted. She had been both a top student and an active member of the arts—dancing, singing, playing instruments, and painting. She had won countless awards and trophies that she couldn't even count.

Being rational did not mean being introverted.

However, she didn't know if *this* Tao Fei’s personality was introverted, though she likely wasn't the type to harbor gloom. Love was the best tonic and beauty product for a woman, and since this Sister Tao Fei had a loving husband and a well-to-do family, why would she be in a bad mood? If there was one thing that might affect her mood, it would be the mother who had shown up this morning. Having a mother like that was truly shocking.

At lunchtime, Wu Xiuli's husband brought in two large bags of food. Finding the hospital meals too bland, they had ordered six boxes of stir-fried, deep-fried, and oily dishes from a restaurant outside. The three of them gathered around the small tray table on the bed, filling the room with the scent of their meal.

"Sister Tao Fei, aren't you eating lunch? Would you like some?"

Tao Fei smiled and shook her head, feeling uncomfortable with the stranger's excessive enthusiasm.

"You're a patient, how can you not eat? I’m terrified of being hungry. I don't mind eating four or five times a day. When I gave birth to my third child, I could eat a whole chicken in one sitting, six or seven times a day. It exhausted my mother to take care of my confinement. Mom, have a chicken leg."

Wu Xiuli took the chicken leg her husband had just placed in her bowl and transferred it to her mother’s.

"There's no one like your own mother in this world; even the best mother-in-law doesn't compare to your own flesh and blood. I’ve had three children, and my mother-in-law didn't lift a finger to help with my confinement. I know she resents me for only giving birth to girls. What’s wrong with girls? Girls are a parent’s little comfort. Anyway, I’m going to be good to my mother for the rest of my life, and when my daughters grow up, they’ll be good to their grandmother. Sister, how old are your kids? What’s your mother-in-law like..."

Wu Xiuli rattled off her grievances against her mother-in-law while she ate. Her husband kept his head down, not daring to utter a single word of rebuttal.

It seemed the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law dynamic was a timeless puzzle, with tales of strife found in every era.

Tao Fei licked her parched lips; she was actually quite hungry. She had forgotten to drink water all morning, all thanks to that money-grubbing mother of hers.

Tao Fei prepared to head to the cafeteria to buy something, but she rummaged through her bedside drawer and couldn't even find a dime. Even if she could pay with her phone, the problem was that there was no phone in the drawer!

Where was her doting husband, the "Uncle," when she needed him?

"Tao Fei, you must be hungry, right?"

Just as Tao Fei’s resentment toward Tang Songyuan began to bubble up, he appeared before her.

"Is that your husband?"

Wu Xiuli stared at Tang Songyuan, clicking her tongue in amazement.