Perhaps due to the cold, he could hear the sound of her teeth chattering. Through the window, he saw that, when she returned, she was carrying a white plastic bag in her hand.
After she entered the house, she dropped the bag on the coffee table in the living. It landed with a plop as she ran into kitchen.
The water was already full-on boiling. He heard her switch off the fire, and following that was the swish of water being poured. Then, there was the sound of something rolling and something being cracked…
The cacophony of incoherent noises continued for a long time until he heard her footsteps coming from downstairs, which seemed to stop before his bedroom door.
He then heard a knock and her saying, "Mr. Su…"
Su Zhinian turned around and watched the door quietly through the glass window of the balcony before replying softly, "Yes?"
"Er…" Song Qingchun wanted to say, 'Can I enter?' After a short moment of hesitation, she changed it to: "I've put something by the door, do come and fetch it."
Song Qingchun then bent down to put the small plate and plastic bag on the floor. After she straightened up, she looked at the closed door and added, "I've cooked and peeled two eggs. Roll them around the bruising and it will look better tomorrow morning…
"Also… I noticed there was blood on my arm, so I suppose your hand was injured? Based on the amount of blood, I presume the injury is quite serious. It is the middle of winter, and it is easy to get frostbite. I just returned from the nearby pharmacy with some ointment. Remember to apply it…"
Listening to Song Qingchun's words, Su Zhinian's hands gripping the balcony railing tightened.
The commotion she made downstairs and the short trip out of the house was to cook eggs and buy medicine for me?
He realized how many years he had spent in solitude without anyone there to really care about him. He realized it had been about ten years… After he left the sanatorium, he had stayed at the school housing. Whenever he was injured or sick, he did not like to inform his mother.
It had not been easy for his mother to raise him alone; she had always been busy with work and life. She did not have the luxury of time to notice the injuries or illness that he had suffered.
Therefore, from then on, be it injury or sickness, he had chosen to suffer through them quietly and alone. If it was too serious, he would visit the hospital on his own.
Actually, this had gone on for so many years that he had gotten used to it. Even he had stopped hoping that others would notice his ill conditions and care for him…
So, he was really surprised that she would do that for him…
Just like seventeen years ago, when he was abandoned by the whole world and he was close to abandoning himself, she placed her trust in him unconditionally, claiming, That big brother says you're a bad man, so you must be a bad man.
"Mr. Su, you have to apply the eggs while they are still warm; they will lose their effectiveness when they're cold. This is how my mother treated Song Cheng whenever he came home from a fight. It must be useful because the bruises would disappear the next day…" After a short moment of silence, Song Qingchun's reminder continued, "Mr. Su, remember to use them."
After that, Su Zhinian heard the sound of her footsteps leaving.
He, who originally stood out in the balcony like a statue, suddenly dashed through the bedroom as he headed toward the door…