Though Grandma's condition was serious, it wasn't immediately life-threatening. With someone constantly by her side, it would have been reasonable for Qu Hua to return on his wedding night and go back to accompany her the next evening. Yet he stubbornly refused to come home on his wedding night. Qu Hua's mother explained to Mu Jing that Qu Hua had been raised by his grandmother and shared a deep bond with her. He stayed by her side constantly, fearing her condition might take a turn for the worse.
Mu Jing appeared remarkably understanding. She showed no resentment over spending her wedding night alone and instead proactively inquired about Grandma's condition.
From her mother-in-law, she learned that Grandma had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Aside from surgical removal, there were no better treatment options, and Qu Hua had been spending these days persuading Grandma to undergo the operation. What her mother-in-law didn't tell Mu Jing was that without surgery, Grandma's illness had no chance of recovery. However, Grandma viewed surgery as a barbaric Western practice, believing that civilized Easterners should only trust traditional Chinese medicine. She would rather endure the pain than attempt surgery, convinced that once the knife cut into her, she would die. Moreover, she refused to close her eyes until she saw her grandson married.
Although her mother-in-law didn't say it, Mu Jing had already guessed most of it. Since Qu Hua was so filial that he even stayed at the hospital on his wedding night, he would inevitably continue doing so in the future. As a considerate wife, Mu Jing felt compelled to accommodate him. She returned to their room, took some fresh clothes for Qu Hua from the wardrobe, and folded them meticulously. She was skilled at folding clothes, not only minimizing their volume but also ensuring they remained wrinkle-free. The neatly folded clothes were packed into a bag, enough to last Qu Hua a week without needing to return home. She brought the bag along with a pouch of wedding candies to the university, wearing a rare smile. Everyone assumed she was happy about her marriage. Though Mu Jing wasn't particularly sociable, every colleague in her department received her wedding candies, and they all learned that Mu Jing had become a daughter-in-law of the Qu family.
As soon as her morning classes ended, Mu Jing cycled to a pastry shop, selected the most expensive pastries, had them wrapped, and brought them to the hospital along with the fresh clothes. Since Qu Hua's wedding had been held in the hospital cafeteria, many staff from the neurosurgery department had attended. As soon as Mu Jing arrived, someone recognized her as Qu Hua's wife. Qu Hua was famously single throughout neurosurgery and the entire central hospital. Combined with his family background, matchmaking offers came almost daily, and there were no shortage of female colleagues who admired him. Yet Qu Hua responded to others' advances with a coldness as sharp as his surgical knife. A proud and beautiful doctor from the cardiothoracic surgery department once knitted a long scarf, hoping to warm Qu Hua's icy heart. Qu Hua replied that he wasn't used to wearing scarves. He said this while sitting in his office, munching on a steamed bun without even looking up. He had just finished a major surgery, his inner clothes and hair still damp, eating leftover food a colleague had brought him. The female doctor insisted he would get used to it with time. Without raising his head, Qu Hua pulled a bill from his drawer as payment for the scarf, never glancing at her, and continued eating his cold steamed bun and leftover cabbage.
Qu Hua kept money and food coupons in his office drawer, never locking it. If anyone was short on funds or coupons, he would let them open the drawer and take what they needed, expecting them to return it later. Despite his aloof and socially indifferent nature, his generosity made him quite well-liked within the department.The female doctor's face instantly changed color, asking Qu Hua what he meant by this. Qu Hua took out another banknote and told her he had no woolen yarn ration coupons, so he could only give her money to exchange for them herself. The female doctor snatched the scarf she had knitted from Qu Hua's hand, shot him a resentful look, turned around and never looked back. Qu Hua wasn't upset about not getting the scarf - the scarf was far less beautiful than the person who knitted it. Over the years, colleagues in the department had been speculating about which family this eligible bachelor would end up with, never expecting he'd be taken by an outsider. However, those who had seen Mu Jing, even Qu Hua's former admirers, had to admit that in terms of appearance and temperament alone, the two were truly well-matched.
When Mu Jing arrived, Qu Hua had just finished an operation and was heading to the cafeteria for lunch, ending half an hour earlier than he had anticipated. Those who had worked with Qu Hua for a long time knew that you couldn't tell his mood from his face - you had to look at his surgical sutures. Today, Doctor Qu was happier than usual.
This was Mu Jing's first time seeing Qu Hua at work. From quite a distance away, Qu Hua nodded to her. When Qu Hua saw Mu Jing, his first question was: "Have you eaten?" Without waiting for an answer, he said: "Let's eat together in the cafeteria."
The cafeteria had reserved meals for the operating room staff. Today's food was quite good, featuring celery with beef. The colleagues who had just operated with Qu Hua were all tactful enough to sit at another table, leaving only Qu Hua and Mu Jing together.
Qu Hua specifically got steamed buns for Mu Jing, remembering that northerners prefer wheat-based foods. Qu Hua was left-handed, and their hands occasionally touched when picking up food. Mu Jing found it strange herself that they had gotten married without even holding hands.
Mu Jing showed little interest in the wheat foods before her. She ate a few bites of celery with half a steamed bun, then brought out what she had prepared. "These are pastries I bought for grandmother. I have class later, so I won't visit the ward for now. Could you give these to grandmother for me?" She then took out another bag. "These are clean clothes I found from your wardrobe. You're so busy during the day and need to stay overnight at the hospital - I thought you might not have time to go back for them, so I brought them for you."
Qu Hua had been eating with his head down, but when he heard Mu Jing's words, he paused his chopsticks. "Are you expecting me to stay at the hospital all week?"
"Your mother said you're very filial and have a close relationship with grandmother. I thought..."
With Mu Jing framing it this way, if Qu Hua didn't stay at the hospital to accompany his grandmother, he would appear unfilial...
"How thoughtful of you to plan so thoroughly for me."
"Well, you eat then. I'm leaving."
Qu Hua grabbed Mu Jing's hand. "Wait a moment. Let me check if everything's complete in the bag. If anything's missing, I'll have to trouble you to bring it for me another time. That wouldn't be too much trouble, would it?"
"Not at all."
Mu Jing left the cafeteria with Qu Hua and followed him back to the break room. With only the two of them in the break room, Mu Jing watched as Qu Hua checked through the clothes.
Qu Hua opened the bag to look at the clothes Mu Jing had brought him. Surprisingly, the clothes were folded so neatly that he almost didn't want to unfold them. After giving them a general look, he said to Mu Jing: "You forgot to bring the most important thing."
"What?"
"Underwear."Qu Hua wasn't deliberately making things difficult for Mu Jing. After performing a major surgery, the first clothing to become soaked with sweat was always the innermost layer. While the outer garments could go unchanged, the inner ones needed replacing at least once a day. Since Mu Jing didn't want him to go home to fetch them, he could only ask her to bring them over.
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