Lanxin shifted her gaze to the door of the room, seeing a middle-aged doctor accompanied by a group of nurses entering the ward, realizing then that she had lost her composure and released me from her arms in a jolt-like manner.
I felt instantly embarrassed, standing rooted to the spot like a wooden statue, thankfully everyone's attention was focused on the deceased person, otherwise, I would have dug a hole and crawled into it.
Lanxin took a moment to compose herself, pointing at my father's body and speaking in a pleading tone:
"Doctor, please find a way to save my husband!"
The doctor walked to the bedside and first checked my father's pulse by touching his nose, then looked into his pupils, before expressing great regret to Lanxin:
"I'm sorry, your husband has passed away, and I can't do much either!"
Lanxin was utterly despairing, throwing herself onto my father's body again and wailing uncontrollably.
A nurse approached to pull her up, trying to comfort her, "Ms. Lan, a dead person cannot be brought back to life. You should control your grief and arrange for your husband to be buried as soon as possible!"
Since it had been confirmed that her husband had passed away, Lanxin had no choice but to accept it.
She wiped away her tears, handled the relevant procedures at the hospital, rented a mortician van, transported my father's body to the mortician's for cremation.
After handling her father's funeral, Lanxin brought me to a luxurious villa.
She instructed me, "Zhang Long, this villa was purchased by your father for us. From now on, you will be living here with me!"
Despite my unfavorable feelings towards Lanxin and my sense of repulsion, I still moved into the villa that was left to us by my father.
After observing her for these few days, I found that Lanxin truly cared for my father and was not a woman who greedily sought wealth and was cunning.
Because there is something that cannot be faked, that is a person's natural expression of emotions.
After my father's passing, Lanxin appeared as if she had lost her soul, spending her days in tears, with no desire to eat or drink, looking extremely weary.
Seeing her as a mere walking corpse, devoid of any will to live, I felt a sense of pity.
Nevertheless, I still didn't give her a good look.
"Not married again after your husband's death? What's the big deal? You can just find a new one!"
After hearing this, Lanxin was taken aback, paused for a moment, and said with a look of resentment,
"Zhang Long, you are young, and you can't understand the relationship between me and your father. I may never find a man who loves me as deeply as your father did in my lifetime."
Lanxin shook her head and said: "I can't die now!"
I asked in confusion, "Why?"
Lanxin explained, "Because I promised your father that I would take care of you!"
"I see, my father still has some conscience, he knows to entrust this woman with me before he dies." Thinking about it here, my heart warmed up.
However, recalling all these years I spent in the temple enduring loneliness and solitude, while they were enjoying their luxurious lives in the city, indulging in rich foods and spicy dishes, and living their own little world, that feeling of resentment surged up again in my heart.
I said coldly, "I am an adult now, who needs your care? Have I ever said that you should take care of me? Moreover, you're like a walking corpse, can you really take care of me?"
I said this for two reasons. One, I wanted to tell her that I had grown up and could take care of myself, and two, I wanted to provoke her a bit so she would eat something and not become like my father by dying unexpectedly.
This statement indeed worked.
Lanxin immediately said, "I'm hungry!"
I said with indifference, "If you're hungry, just eat something!"
Lanxin replied, "There are just snacks at home, I can't eat them!"
"What do you want to eat?"
"I want to eat tomato fried egg noodles!"
"If you want it, why don't you make it yourself?"
"I don't have the energy!"
"Does that mean you want me to help you make it?"
"Um!" Lanxin nodded.
"Are you messing up? Is it you taking care of me, or is it me taking care of you?" I asked with some dissatisfaction.
"Same thing," Lanxin forced a smile on her face, "This time, you take care of me well. Once I am full and have strength, I can take better care of you!"
"Talkative," I grumbled, "It looks like it's my dad who spoiled you!"
"Hee hee!"
Lanxin winked at me.
Seeing her frail appearance, I didn't want to waste time arguing with her and left the living room, heading straight to the kitchen.
Despite having lived in the temple for these years, I haven't become a monk and taken vows.
I am just a lay disciple who often goes down to my grandma's place to kill chickens and ducks, and I have occasionally indulged in meat and alcohol.
Therefore, making tomato fried egg noodles is something I do with ease.
Not long after, I brought out a steaming bowl of tomato fried egg noodles from the kitchen and placed it on the coffee table in the living room.
Perhaps because she was starving, she picked up the bowl and chopsticks, wolfing down the food without regard for her manners, and still complimenting it as she ate:
"Tasty, it's just too delicious!"
I heard my teacher mention that over-starvation cannot be compensated for with overeating, so I cautioned her:
"Eat slowly, no one is going to take it from you!"
With my words, she realized that she had been acting rather rudely.
After licking her tongue with a charming smile, she finally regained her ladylike demeanor and began to eat slowly and carefully.
Watching her enjoy the meal, I felt quite happy in my heart and had an indescribable sense of achievement.
Although I had no good feelings for this woman at first, after spending a few days with her, I still felt that she was a kind-hearted and emotional woman, not the fox spirit I had imagined.
Seeing the depth of her affection for my father, I tried to persuade myself to forgive her and even accept her.
Perhaps it's because the scene evokes emotions.
Eating the noodles I made for her, Lanxin thought of my father and the good times they had shared together.
As she ate, tears flowed from her eyes, running down her cheeks, some hanging from her chin, and some falling into the bowl.
Finally, she couldn't control her emotions, put down her chopsticks, and began to cry.
Seeing her face, which looked like a peach blossom in the rain, I felt a bit sorry for her and asked, "Aren't you supposed to not cry? Why are you crying again?"
After I said that, she began to wail loudly.
I was thrown into a state of confusion, not knowing how to comfort her and could only stand awkwardly in the living room.
Lanxin cried for a while, then pulled out several tissues from the coffee table and dried her tears with them, before picking up the chopsticks again and finishing off the remaining noodles in the bowl.
After finishing, she let out a belch.
Following that, she put down her chopsticks, took a tissue and wiped her mouth, and said with a happy face,
"I'm full now, and I feel much better!"
I'm sorry, I don't understand your question. Could you please rephrase it?
Watching her change like a chameleon, from laughing to crying, her emotions fluctuating so rapidly, I was instantly confused.
It seems that I really don't understand women's hearts.
My heart kept questioning: "Women are made of water? Their tears can flow like water and there's no end to it?"
Lanxin saw me staring at her in astonishment, then smiled at me coquettishly and said, "Zhang Long, thank you for making me tomato fried egg noodles!"
It was only then that I came to my senses, and I hurriedly waved my hand at her and said, "It's okay, if you like it, I can make it for you anytime!"
This is the most words I have ever said to her, and also the most heartwarming ones.
Lanxin listened, naturally full of joy.
She said meaningfully, "Child, you've grown up!"
Listening to her call me by an adult name, I didn't feel repelled, but instead felt warm in my heart, as if the lost maternal love from years ago had returned.
