After deliberating for a while, he decides to pick up the duck intestine which is curled up in his plate. It
has a greyish colour, and there is a red oily coat covering it. He furrows his bushy brows before
mustering enough courage to gobble it up.
He chews it slightly and discovers that it is not as leathery as he has thought. His teeth are able to
sever it into pieces, and it is very crunchy too. There isn’t any unpleasant taste too.
It is really not too bad.
Adair watches him chewing the food intently with his pair of watery eyes. He excitedly asks, “How was
it? Was it nice?”
Ryan nods in his direction, “It is not bad.”
“Then you should eat more!”
Adair immediately recommends other food for Ryan to try. Except for the brain part, he finds most of
the food here edible. Adair can’t stop sending food into Ryan’s plate as his sense of achievement
slowly balloons.
Usually, it should be the elders who pick up food and encourage the children to eat more, but the
complete opposite holds true here. It is rather an interesting change of scenery.
“That’s right, Ryan. Why didn’t I see Eunice lately?” While chewing his food, Adair rolls his eyes slightly
as he asks him nonchalantly.
At the mention of Eunice, Ryan’s hand holding the chopstick freezes in mid-air for one second before
continuing to move again. He replies faintly, “She is busy.”
“She is busy?” Adair gapes at him suspiciously, as if he can’t fully believe in his words. “Eunice has
promised me the last time we met that she will accompany me always in the future. Is she lying to me?”
“When did she promise you that?”
“When we had a meal last time.” Adair answers before pulling down his face. A saddened expression
takes over his features, “I thought that Eunice really likes me, but it turns out that she’s just teasing
me.”
Ryan understands Adair very well. At the sight of his gloomy expression, he tries to console Adair, “It’s
not that she doesn’t like you. She just doesn’t have too much time nowadays.”
“So she is not free nowadays?”
Ryan is surprised at Adair’s response. He jerks up his eyebrows and casts Adair a glance, “Do you like
her that much?”
“That’s right. Eunice is really nice. She is very gentle when taking care of me and her voice is gentle
too, and…” When he reaches this point, he suddenly pauses.
Ryan continues to probe, “And?”
Adair secretly clenches his fists as if he has come to an important decision. He has to spout a lie now,
for the sake of Ryan’s future happiness. “I’m sorry, Ryan!” He secretly apologizes to him.
He then slowly begins again, “And, Eunice seems to like you as well, Ryan. She is very nice to you!”
This is not what Ryan expects. Putting aside other possibilities, if it is solely based on the fact that she
is apprehensive of him, he is sure that there is not any emotion of fondness involved in the way she
carries herself around him.
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“I didn’t. This is what Eunice has told me!” Adair never lies to others, but he has made an exception for
these two adults.
Ryan can’t help but knit his eyebrows, “She has said that?”
Adair begins to feel terrified by Ryan’s expression, but he still forces himself to nod, “That’s right.”
There is a strange sensation in his heart, but he is very firm with his answer, “That’s not possible.”
“Why do you say that? Don’t you think that Eunice is nice?”
Ryan sinks into a reverie upon hearing that. Images of the days they have spent together come rushing
back at him, and he notices that she always maintained a good distance from him. They aren’t
particularly close yet they are not total strangers either. She always tries her best to fulfil everything he
asked, and he used to regard her efforts as her way to repay back his kindness for settling the medical
bill. Could it be that…
Ryan’s frown deepens as he dismisses his thoughts. He answers quietly, “You’re still too young. You
will understand more when you grow up.”
“Ryan, you should just admit it. Eunice is feeling shy because she is a woman, but you’re a man. Are
you shy too?” Adair makes a face at Ryan as he teases him. In the whole J City, he is the only one who
dares to be so disrespectful in front of Ryan.
Adair keeps his topic centred on Eunice, which baffles Ryan, “If you really like her, I can help you to ask
her out. I am no interested in her.”
“Ryan, you don’t have good eyes. Eunice is very kind and pretty too. You will regret if she ends up with
someone else!” Adair sees that Ryan’s face is getting more and more convoluted, so he decides that
it’s time to stop teasing him, “But you should ask Eunice out. Although you don’t like her, I like her a
lot!”
…
In the blink of an eye, it is time for Lorraine to receive her medical report. Eunice has cleared her
working schedule and rushed to the hospital early in the morning. After entering the doctor’s office, she
immediately sits down in front of the doctor. The newly printed report is lying there on the table. She
asks the doctor nervously, “Dr. Zack, what is the outcome of my mother’s medical check-up?”
Lorraine has been staying in the hospital for a long time, so the doctors and nurses are very familiar
with this patient. Eunice is also a frequent visitor here, and the doctors sympathize with her situation
and wish that Lorraine can recover fully as soon as possible.
At that moment, Dr. Zack passes the report to her and his face flashes an earnest smile,
“Congratulations, Eunice. Your mother’s medical report is almost perfect. The numbers are looking
good. You just need to get these medicines from the pharmacy later on before applying for discharge
from the hospital!”
This is the news she has been waiting for too long. Eunice is so happy that she is on the verge of tears.
Her gaze falls on the medical report, and although she can’t understand the technical terms that litter
the words in the report, she fully knows about the significance of this report. She feels excited at this
thought.
“Thank you, doctor. Thank you!” She can’t stop thanking Dr. Zack. It was a sincere sign of gratitude.
Dr. Zack simply waves his hand, “This is our duty. Go ahead and bring this good news to your mother!”
Eunice nods excitedly while leaving the office. She almost breaks into a run as she dashes into her
mother’s ward. She rushes to her side and finally sheds tears of joy as she lays eyes on Lorraine who
is still lying in bed, “Mum…”
She starts to choke the moment she calls out her name, and she struggles for a while before regaining
her voice, “The doctor said that your medical report is really good. You can finally leave the hospital.”
Upon hearing that, Lorraine raises her hand to wipe away tears around her eyes. She has waited for
too long for this day to arrive. Now, her wishes finally come true.
Eunice goes forward and hugs her. Her father passed away a long time ago, and she only has her
mother as her pillar of support. They have to make sure her brother’s school fees are paid so they can’t
really fall sick while bearing the weight of reality. In the past year, Eunice has been gritting her teeth as
she endured the hardship.
Every time she worked in the bar while putting aside her dignity, all she could think of is Lorraine’s
condition. Every time she worked for a job that sapped all of her inner strength and left her without any
time to care for herself, all she could think of was to accumulate enough funds for the next medical bill
payment.
She has long lost the luxury to choose for herself, and sometimes she doesn’t even have the time to
immerse in dilemmas. She has to grit her teeth to take step after step, as if the moment she stagger or
hesitate, her whole being would crash.
Now, things have finally come to a conclusion. She doesn’t need to shoulder all those depressing
responsibilities that threaten to bring her down anymore. Lorraine doesn’t need to suffer from the pain
anymore. Her discharge from the hospital not only signifies her departure from this place for good, it
also means that they can finally start anew.
After one whole year, life finally gives them some breathing room.
Finally, they can glimpse a hint of hope.
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