Chapter 117: Visiting the Patient
Huai Yu really did plan to visit Zhou Qian.
But when visiting a patient—especially one who was almost turned into roast duck by you—it’s customary to bring something, right?
She rummaged through her house for a while but couldn’t find anything suitable.
She was truly broke. In the past, her home was bare, and even after the only demolition compensation she ever got brought some furniture, as for daily necessities…
Rice, flour, cooking oil, pork cracklings?
Or maybe some of Keta Rō’s plant balls?
There were plenty of wild herbs on the wasteland with medicinal properties, but most were just cooling or heat-relieving. Keta Rō gnawed on different plants every day, and now he’d piled up a whole basin of mixed greens.
But there was only one empty pickling jar, so the extra herbs had to be left out in the open, and she wasn’t sure if that would make them lose their medicinal effect.
There was also a new batch.
It was a basin of pink-white plant balls, which Huai Yu had coaxed from the Rose Corridor yesterday by shaking, blowing, and tricking.
She didn’t know if they had any medicinal value or any special use. But Keta Rō never turned down anything—just one big basket of petals was enough to keep it busy for a whole day.
The final product was this pot of pink-white plant balls. Huai Yu tried them out at night—
Of course, she would never eat or drink them herself. She just soaked her hands and feet in them, but nothing seemed to change—after all, she’d been caring for her skin for a while, and it had gone from deathly pale to just pale. It couldn’t get any whiter.
Considering the rose’s natural properties… it didn’t seem to have any outstanding traits.
So she categorized it as decorative.
And now, since everything was tied to Keta Rō’s safety, even if it worked, Huai Yu didn’t dare to casually bring it to Zhou Qian—after all, the hospital was full of people and eyes!
So…
What should she bring?
Huai Yu thought about it and decided that, as a frail, pitiful little orphan struggling alone on the wasteland’s edge, she’d just bring something homely!
So—
“What’s this?”
Zhou Qian stared blankly as she pulled out a stainless-steel lunchbox and a bamboo-leaf-wrapped item from her basket. His usual worries evaporated.
Before Huai Yu came, he had been worried she’d get flustered and accidentally spill something to the authorities. Or worse, that she’d brazenly bring that mysterious medicine…
But after two or three days of tossing and turning, the little girl finally showed up, and the stuff she brought was surprisingly down-to-earth.
“This is your patient meal!” Huai Yu peered at his face. She’d been looking at it for days now—and since she was the one who’d hurt him, she wasn’t scared.
Still, she felt a bit guilty, “Why don’t the doctors put medicine on that scar?”
Zhou Qian tried to sneer—a cold sneer—but the scar was too tight, so he only managed to tug at the corner of his lips, “Thanks to you, the doctor said the scar fused with trace toxins, so regular medicine is useless.”
Might as well not waste it.
Huai Yu puffed out her cheeks—though she felt guilty for slicing Zhou Qian up like that, she figured he wouldn’t have survived without her dragging him back from death, so now she was a bit more justified, “A real man shouldn’t care about mere appearances!”
“Oh?” Zhou Qian’s voice was steady. “The boss wants to set you up with someone. Great guy, really good personality… just kinda ugly.”
“No no no!” Huai Yu rejected instantly, shaking her head wildly. “I’m too shallow for that!”
“See!” Zhou Qian raised his arm and pointed at her. “You just like good-looking ones, huh? I’m not married yet either—my future wife probably likes good-looking guys too! Now look what happened, I’m a bachelor for life!”
Huai Yu: …
She shrank her head back.
A moment later, she mustered her courage and said, “Even so… you don’t want to repay a life-saving favor with marriage, do you?”
Her voice was weak, but her gaze was direct. Zhou Qian was so mad, his already twisted face contorted even more, and his scar pulled tight, making him bare his teeth in pain. His voice came out like he was squeezing words through his teeth—
“You! Little! Brat!”
“Do you even know how old you are?”
“I’m looking for a wife, not raising a daughter!”
“Oh.” Huai Yu instantly flashed a bright smile, her voice sweet as honey: “Brother Zhou Qian, I specially made you a patient meal, have a bite!”
Zhou Qian: …
He felt all kinds of complicated emotions.
In just these few days, he’d endured pain most people couldn’t even imagine.
Whether it was the torture of nerve toxins, the brink-of-death crisis, the joy of surviving, or the harsh reality of losing limbs and being disfigured…
Any one of those would take an ordinary person ages to process.
But—
He rubbed his forehead, thinking back over the past few days—
He’d prepared to die, even thought about his will and grave.
Accepted death calmly—then found out he’d survived.
Went to the hospital for treatment—woke up and realized he was missing limbs.
Didn’t even have time to dwell on his own pain before worrying that Huai Yu might blow her cover, silently wondering about her powers and background…
He lost sleep worrying she’d get exposed and draw dangerous attention…
Then he discovered his disfigurement.
But hey, he was alive, he’d already lost limbs—his ruined face was nothing by comparison.
And so, when Huai Yu arrived, he hadn’t even had the chance to feel all those messy emotions like sadness, self-loathing, or “I’m a useless cripple.”
Thinking about it now…
He zoned out for a moment, realizing there was no point thinking too much, and just stretched out his hand, “What’d you bring?”
Huai Yu beamed proudly—this patient meal had taken a lot of effort!
She lifted the lunchbox from the bedside table, drew the curtain over the hospital room door, and then sneakily opened the lunchbox like she was offering treasure, “Look! Pea shoot congee!”
Zhou Qian: …
He had to admit, the congee looked pretty good. The slightly yellow grains had burst open, making it thick and sticky. The tender pea shoots had gotten a little wilted and yellowish after the long trip, but still looked fresh and green overall.
The lunchbox had been wrapped to keep warm, and even though it was early May, it was still faintly warm to the touch.
“How is it? Smells good? I added a bit of lard and a little salt.” Huai Yu was full of anticipation.
The water had been specially purified, the rice grains too, and even the pea shoots had been rushed to grow just for this.
She’d worked up a sweat cooking breakfast, then rushed across town, taking two buses to get to Flower City Hospital…
All to make sure the congee stayed warm!
Luckily, she’d wrapped it with an old quilt, so it still had a bit of warmth, and the mild aroma of rice porridge lingered. Zhou Qian stared at it and could clearly smell the freshness.
“This mutation level…”
Huai Yu didn’t know. She’d purified it as best she could—not completely clean, but probably very low-level—just enough to nourish Zhou Qian a bit.
She gently coaxed him, “Don’t worry about that, hurry up and eat, or it’ll get cold.”
Zhou Qian glanced up at her—after all this time, she still hadn’t changed. Always speaking sweetly whenever something came up.
But he didn’t say anything more, picked up the spoon, and started eating.
One spoonful in, and he went silent.
But this time, he didn’t comment. He just returned to his usual quiet, steady self, eating one spoonful after another, fast.
Seeing this, Huai Yu quickly pulled out another bamboo-leaf-wrapped item: “Slow down, I brought a pancake too—lard cracklings with diced bamboo shoots and pickled bracken!”
As the bamboo leaves were lifted, a rich aroma wafted out, much stronger than the rice porridge, a whole new flavor.
Zhou Qian instinctively put down the porridge bowl.
He was about to reach out when Huai Yu hesitated a bit: “I added some dried chili when I pickled the bracken, but the pancake only has a little for flavor… can you handle spicy?”
Zhou Qian sighed, “At this point, my whole body’s a mess, but my stomach’s still pretty good.”
“Oh.” Huai Yu was relieved and handed him the pancake quickly, “Eat this while it’s hot—lard pancakes don’t taste good cold.”
No need for her to remind him—Zhou Qian already took a big bite. He planned to savor it, but as soon as it hit his mouth, his eyes lit up!
And then, in just a few more bites, he’d wolfed down most of it.
Huai Yu watched nervously, secretly relieved: …Good thing his appetite wasn’t this big back when he’d first woken up, or her daily points wouldn’t even cover meals, let alone save anything.
Zhou Qian ate quickly, finishing everything in no time.
Huai Yu handed him a towel to wipe his hands. She didn’t dare ask if he was full—she’d thought patients would be weak and eat less, but clearly, he hadn’t had enough.
Better not ask. Even if she did, she couldn’t magically make another bowl appear. Time to just top up with the hospital’s meals.
But looking at the towel, she remembered something and muttered: “You ruined two of my towels soaking in that medicine…”
Zhou Qian froze but didn’t mention the towels. Instead, his expression turned serious—
“You…”
He wanted to warn her about something, but looking at Huai Yu’s innocent, delicate face, she really did seem naive and clueless…
Forget it.
No need to say more.
This little girl had hidden herself so well on her own, and she lived right in the Rose Corridor—she must know what she was doing. He even remembered the ice sculpture Lin Xuefeng left behind—
Had Lin Xuefeng already figured out some of her special qualities?
He should be cautious, but Lin Xuefeng had already…
He looked at Huai Yu’s fluffy hair and couldn’t help but smile—at certain moments, they all chose to protect her.
After thinking a bit, he reached out and ruffled her hair: “Don’t worry, I’ve got a big compensation coming. Once I’m better, I’ll take you to the market. Whatever you need—towels, basins, buckets—we’ll buy it all.”
Huai Yu thought about it and smiled happily too.
But she still had one more thing to ask, “Why are you so good to me? Even thinking about leaving me your stuff…”
“Oh, that…”
Zhou Qian leaned back on the hospital bed, a rare light smile on his face: “I don’t have anyone else who needs my care.”
“My comrades are all life-and-death brothers, but they can take care of themselves.”
“Being in the army so long, I don’t have friends outside anymore.”
“As for my family…”
“You should know—the boss is a gossip, he must’ve mentioned it, right? I’m not exactly a model soldier.”
“Six years ago, I broke the rules and almost got someone killed. Six years later…”
He stared at his hands, his expression oddly relaxed, “I know no one blames me, but if I don’t fight for it, my heart will never be at peace.”
He looked at Huai Yu, his gaze filled with quiet tenderness, “My sister loved gardening. Her biggest wish was to buy a house with a garden and plant all her favorite flowers.”
“But Flower City’s housing prices were too high, and she never managed it.”
“She grew tons of flowers at home too and loved collecting rare species. Just before the disaster, she’d received a delivery of a spider orchid I’d ordered from abroad.”
“It wasn’t expensive, just a bit over 100 yuan, but because she always bought so many flowers, I told her it cost 700 or 800…”
