Chapter 53: Senior Sister, You Still Owe Me a Meal

Tang Man let out an “ah” sound and noticed that Hu Haiying’s gaze fell on a spot on the back of her neck. She was stunned for a moment before realizing something and subconsciously touched it with her hand.

Yesterday, Xie Li stayed overnight at her place, and it was inevitable that he left some marks on her body.

After Hu Haiying left first, Tang Man took out her phone to take a photo of the back of her neck. There was indeed a mark there. She was wearing revealing clothes today, so it was a bit obvious. However, at first glance, it looked like an allergic reaction to an insect bite.

She looked at her phone for a while, not knowing if it was psychological, but after Madam Hu mentioned it, she felt it became even more noticeable.

After staying outside for a while, Tang Man rubbed it, feeling that it couldn’t be concealed. She gave up and walked towards the ward with her phone in hand.

However, after taking a few steps, she looked up and saw a familiar face.

Pei Ling.

He was holding a bouquet of flowers, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and long pants, walking towards her with a black baseball cap on his head. He stopped not far away, probably spotting her before she noticed him.

Meeting her gaze, Pei Ling smiled and called out, “Senior Sister.”

Tang Man paused for a moment, her eyes falling on the medium-sized bouquet of fresh flowers in his arms.

“Why are you here?”

Pei Ling smiled and lowered the bouquet in his hand a little. “I came to visit Auntie.”

He raised the bouquet slightly. “My younger sister asked me to bring it over. She’s busy now and can’t come.”

“It seems quite a coincidence that I ran into you as soon as I arrived, Senior Sister.”

Tang Man also found it quite a coincidence. Or perhaps she was overthinking, but seeing Pei Ling mention the word “coincidence” made her feel it wasn’t entirely pure.

As they talked, they walked towards the ward. Before pushing open the door, Tang Man hesitated for a moment but still pushed it open directly.

However, to her surprise, Old Tang was no longer in the ward, and even Xie Li had left. In the spacious ward, only four people remained, one of whom had an extremely low presence – the caregiver.

Madam Hu Haiying stood in front of the bed, pulling open the curtains a little to let some sunlight seep in. The room had the air conditioning on, and the temperature was quite pleasant.

Although Madam Hu Haiying had lived in the city for a while before, ever since Yang Qing got married, Hu Haiying and her husband returned to their hometown. The elderly couple, who stayed in the countryside all year round and occasionally went for a walk or two in the mountains, were now somewhat unaccustomed to the dry cold of the air conditioning.

She stood motionless at the door, blocking Pei Ling, who couldn’t help but glance into the room. However, he didn’t see the person or thing that made Tang Man halt.

So he placed his hand on Tang Man’s shoulder, lightly patting it. It was a very slight touch, not enough to make one feel disgusted, and at the same time, he called out, “Senior Sister.”

Tang Man turned her head to look at Pei Ling before walking in. Without needing her introduction, everyone knew each other. When they saw Pei Ling appear behind her, Gu Yuanke stood up, somewhat surprised. “Pei Ling, why are you here?”

Pei Ling smiled and handed over the bouquet. “I came to visit Auntie.”

“These are the flowers Cheng Ting asked me to bring over. She’s very concerned about Auntie.”

Yang Qing became a little happy. She reached out and took the bouquet from Gu Yuanke’s hand, looking at it for a while with a smile on her face. She had met that little girl, Cheng Ting, who was lively and easy to get along with. They had things in common before, making her likable.

So, she placed the bouquet on the bedside table and was about to talk to Pei Ling when a nauseating feeling suddenly welled up in her stomach. She couldn’t hold it back, and the urge to vomit also followed. She covered her mouth, got out of bed, and ran towards the bathroom.

In an instant, Yang Qing’s face turned ashen.

This had been the norm during this period. Yang Qing vomited every day. She used to be particular about eating, but during this time, she became even pickier. Moreover, her pregnancy reactions were very strong. She couldn’t stand even a bit of fishy smell, and sometimes even the fragrance of flowers and plants made her uncomfortable.

However, this was the first time Tang Man saw Yang Qing’s pregnancy reaction.

Miserable and unsightly.

Even the exquisite and beautiful Yang Qing was so miserable and unsightly during pregnancy.

Standing outside the door, she could still hear Yang Qing’s incessant retching from the bathroom. Gu Yuanke walked in with a glass of water. She could still hear the man’s low voice comforting her.

Amidst these sounds, she was stunned for a long time. For some reason, she suddenly thought of Xie Li. It was a sudden association, following a strange memory and thought. The brain had the ability to automatically process information and generate logical connections.

It was as if a huge hole suddenly appeared before her eyes, so deep that she couldn’t see the bottom. She stood on the edge of the cliff, almost about to step into it with one foot.

Never had there been a moment, a second, that could make Tang Man realize more than now that the hole was marriage.

It was as if she could see the future of marrying Xie Li at a glance. Perhaps, like Yang Qing now, she would become pregnant with a child in a state of bewilderment, and then time would grind away. All the traces on her body would be polished into smooth surfaces, but just the thought of it gave her an unbearable feeling.

That piece of interest hanging high above the abyss also turned into a fish bait at this moment. The next second, as soon as she bit the bait, her throat would be pierced by the sharp iron hook.

Although many women envied Yang Qing, thinking that this woman had lived a carefree life all her life, never lacking in wealth and love from men.

But Tang Man didn’t want to live like Yang Qing, entangled with love and hate all her life, going back and forth in countless choices, living like a spinning top, half her life caught up in trivial matters of love. At such an age, her brain hadn’t grown at all.

However, Madam Yang could not be considered a love-struck fool. If she were, she would be a very selfish one, pursuing passion and excitement. As soon as there was a hint of dissatisfaction in her love life, that romance would come to an end. After breaking up, she would still cry her heart out as if the sky had fallen, only to spend half the night feeling sad because of a negligible fine line at the corner of her eye due to prolonged crying.

Madam Yang had been pursuing love all her life, being sentimental and pretentious. But Tang Man felt that her mother had been living a noisy life all along. Her love was also false because no one’s love lasted only a few short months, not even as important as a wrinkle at the corner of her eye.

It was also because of this that many people said Tang Man’s temperament took after Yang Qing. This often carried a derogatory meaning because many who said this were not praising or envying the carefree and unrestrained nature of the mother and daughter.

Pei Ling walked over and greeted Hu Haiying, following Tang Man in calling her “Grandma.”

Hu Haiying glanced at Tang Man, her expression still relatively calm. But in the eyes of outsiders, she was just a somewhat serious old lady. Put on a pair of glasses, and she could become a guidance counselor.

Tang Man didn’t notice Madam Hu Haiying’s glance. She had already snapped out of that inexplicable train of thought, as if unaffected, her face as usual as she looked at her phone.

During the time she was away just now, Xie Li had sent her a message saying that he had something to take care of at the company and had left with Director Tang, saying that he would come to pick her and Grandma up for dinner in the afternoon.

He was probably taken away by Old Tang.

Thinking of her old man’s expression this afternoon and his anger that was about to erupt but hadn’t, her hand paused. She lowered her head, swiped her phone screen, and then replied to Xie Li with a sentence.

At this time, Pei Ling sat down beside her. The caregiver on the side brought over a cup of brewed tea and placed it in front of Pei Ling.

He said a soft “thank you.”

His fair face naturally exuded a pure brightness. Such young people were always popular with aunties, who might start thinking of a few unmarried girls of similar age at home.

The atmosphere in the ward was quiet for only a moment. Pei Ling smiled and spoke to Hu Haiying, “Grandma, you’ve been here for a long time, staying in the hospital without going out for a walk, right?”

Hearing this, Hu Haiying put down the ball of yarn in her hand. She was always very patient with young people.

“It’s been a week.” Hu Haiying’s gaze occasionally swept over the somewhat guilty-looking Tang Man sitting opposite her, smiling as she asked, “What are the fun places around here?”

She had only been here a few times over the years. Back then, many places here had not been developed, and the urban planning was quite unreasonable. There were several old, run-down residential areas in the east and west, with buildings that looked like they were about to collapse. Now, everything had changed.

However, since Yang Qing got married and returned to her hometown in the countryside, she had never come back. The main reason was that she was too lazy to move and also despised her daughter Yang Qing. She had always wondered how she, who had been clever for most of her life, could have given birth to such a brainless daughter. So, based on the choice of “out of sight, out of mind,” it was Tang Man who went back there to see her every year.

Pei Ling noticed that Hu Haiying was interested, so he mentioned a few places. Tang Man listened and realized that she had basically been to all of them.

Either with Si Jiahe or with Du Henian, and some places she had been to more than once. This was the downside of dating in the same city. In the end, when you looked back, you would find that many memory nodes had become blurred, and you began to be unable to distinguish who was with you during certain past years.

But after hearing Pei Ling talk about these scenic spots and places to play, she couldn’t help but look at him.

After all, it was quite surprising and curious for a single person to be so familiar with the city’s attractions and entertainment spots.

After entering the room, the young man took off the baseball cap on his head, which drooped messily on top of his head but didn’t look disorderly. Instead, it looked very clean and bright. Perhaps it was because he had walked around outside, and his overly fair face even had a slight flush.

Noticing her gaze, Pei Ling raised his head to meet her eyes and said very naturally with a smile, “Senior Sister still owes me a meal. Why don’t you treat me now? It just so happens that we can take Grandma out for a meal together.”

“I know a pretty good private cuisine restaurant.”

Under Tang Man’s gaze, Pei Ling turned his head to the smiling Hu Haiying across from him and said, “I’ve been to that restaurant a few times. It’s run by a friend of my father’s, and the taste is excellent. Grandma, we can go there and try it out in the afternoon.”

Tang Man looked at Hu Haiying, who already had intentions, and suddenly felt like a hunted rabbit that had crashed into a tree stump. She raised her eyes to take a look.

Well, well, this tree stump was just a small tree, not more than a year or two old, with a trunk thinner than her head.