Chapter Eighteen: Both of Them Drank Too Much
Instinctively, she raised her hand to touch her head but did not find the familiar little rabbit hairpin. Su Qing chuckled softly, “Lin Ye, you really are such a big fool…”
Su Qing set down the folder, slightly turning around to pick up another item she had noticed since waking up—a pair of steamed buns resting on the bedside table on her other side.
The packaging bore the shop’s name: “Sunshine Steamed Bun Shop.”
Su Qing smiled knowingly, recalling that Lin Ye had mentioned this place before—the delicious steamed bun shop located just downstairs from his rented apartment complex.
Because they had cooled down, the buns had hardened a bit. She took a small bite; the filling was cabbage, and the taste was indeed quite good. She imagined they must have been even more delicious fresh out of the oven.
Suddenly, the sound of the door opening echoed. Li Dehua froze in place, eyes fixed on his daughter, who was now sitting up in bed, holding two steamed buns and seemingly smiling at him.
Li Dehua dared not move or even blink. He had long imagined this moment, afraid it might be a mere illusion, that if he wasn’t careful, the dream would dissolve, and his daughter would still be lying unconscious in bed.
“Dad.”
“Ah!”
Tears streamed down Li Dehua’s face as he hurried forward, biting his own tongue so hard it bled, feeling the sharp sting and the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.
At last, Li Dehua’s heart settled—this was truly not a dream. His daughter had really awakened.
The father and daughter talked for a long time in the hospital room, speaking of whatever came to mind. A nurse on rounds overheard their voices at the door, smiled faintly, marked something on her chart, and proceeded to the next room.
She had actually started her rounds from the other end of the corridor that day—what could be the issue?
As their emotions gradually stabilized, as if by mutual understanding, they both turned their gaze to the folder on the bedside table.
“The divorce agreement requires signatures from both spouses to be valid.”
Li Dehua reached for the folder but said nothing, simply placing the pen into his daughter’s hand. After all she had endured, her awakening was already the greatest news to him.
As for whom his daughter might choose to be with in the future, as long as the person was of good character and she was happy, nothing else mattered. Besides, Lin Ye was quite a decent young man, wasn’t he?
“Dad, this agreement shows signs of tampering; it should have lost its legal effect.”
Su Qing tilted her head and playfully blinked at Li Dehua.
---
“Oh, right. So what do we do now?”
Li Dehua gently patted his daughter’s head, smiling slightly in response to her question.
Lin Ye wandered aimlessly along the road. The warm sun that had bathed him earlier that morning now only stirred an inexplicable irritation.
In the past, he had spent every spare moment in the hospital—after work, weekends—it had all been hospital time.
Now, suddenly free of pressing matters, he felt a subtle disconnection from reality, a dissonance that seeped through his entire being.
“Is she… really awake now? What is she doing? Could it be that she was already awake before I left the hospital but just didn’t want to see me, so she kept her eyes closed, pretending to remain unconscious?”
The more Lin Ye tried to suppress thoughts of Su Qing, the clearer her image became in his mind. What had once been a mundane longing, dulled by daily encounters, now crept out from every corner of his soul.
Slowly but steadily, it gnawed at his heart.
“Ah, why is today Sunday and not Monday? Only work can save me now.”
Never before had Lin Ye looked forward to Monday so eagerly. He needed something to occupy himself, to keep his mind from wandering.
No wonder Zhang Wen was his good brother—just as Lin Ye was mired in these worries, Zhang Wen’s call came through.
“Hey, Old Lin, where you at? The mission to pick up girls has failed before it even began. Come out for a couple of drinks!”
“Four hundred meters south of Xin’an Hospital.”
“Roger that! Stand by, good son! Your old man’s coming!”
“You’re asking for trouble…”
*Beep… beep… beep…*
The screech of tires against pavement rang out. Lin Ye stood up from the roadside curb just in time to see Zhang Wen’s mischievous grin through the slowly lowered passenger window.
“Get in! My dear eldest son.”
Lin Ye twitched at the corner of his mouth but opened the car door and got in.
---
“Judging by that grin, you must have already scored with the girl you met this morning! I knew it—the moment Boss Wen makes a move, no girl can resist.”
Lin Ye’s tone was sharp, mercilessly roasting Zhang Wen’s misfortune.
Zhang Wen’s smile vanished, replaced by a sour expression.
But as everyone knows, a smile rarely disappears—it just shifts.
Lin Ye looked at Zhang Wen’s sullen face and felt his own mood lift slightly. Indeed, happiness is often built upon another’s misery.
Yet… as he laughed at Zhang Wen, could his own condition really be any better? It was just a matter of degrees—they were both equally lost.
The two men exchanged a knowing glance and sighed deeply.
That noon, they had drunk quite a bit. After downing two bottles of strong forty-degree baijiu and still feeling unsatisfied, each went on to drink a case of beer.
Despite the alcohol, their conversation remained relatively calm—at least on the surface—as they kept to the edge of control. But as the number of empty beer bottles piled up on the floor, their emotions began to spiral.
Zhang Wen suddenly lunged at a large tree by the shop entrance, claiming he was an old bull climbing the tree. The shop owner, who had just stepped out for a smoke, was so startled by Zhang Wen’s antics that he dropped his cigarette and rushed over to pull him down.
The owner couldn’t let customers get hurt right outside his shop. If Zhang Wen fell and demanded compensation, the owner would be ruined.
Lin Ye fared somewhat better. He pulled a little rabbit hairpin from his pocket, clutching it tightly in his hand as he leaned on the table, murmuring, “She’s being discharged tomorrow. I’ll visit her on my way to work.”
After about half an hour, Lin Ye sobered up a bit. As he settled the bill, he remarked that Zhang Wen was pretending to be drunk just to avoid paying.
Who could stand hearing that? Zhang Wen jumped up from the sofa in a flash. The owner, his nerves frazzled, pleaded with them, waived part of their meal cost, and even had his son drive the two gentlemen back to their neighborhood.