Grandma also knew that Xia Lizhi was coming back. Xia Lizhi had not even arrived yet, but the news itself was already enough to calm her somewhat.
After Grandma fell asleep, Lu Sili and Su Yuan were finally allowed into the ward and rested on the empty bed beside hers.
Lu Sili had already been exhausted lately, and after such violent emotional swings today, he soon fell asleep against the quilt.
Su Yuan looked at the sleeping grandmother and grandson and thought about how Grandma was always complaining that her daughter cared only about her career and never came home, that they barely saw her a few times a year. Lu Sili, meanwhile, simply never talked about his mother at all. There was an enormous distance between them.
But when something truly happened, it was obvious that both of them relied on her deeply.
Uncle Zou went home to pick up the things they would need, and Fiona went home too, leaving Su Yuan to keep watch over the ward.
He had only met Xia Lizhi once and had exchanged fewer than ten sentences with her, so everything he knew about her came from Lu Sili and Grandma’s descriptions.
A female Alpha, a highly accomplished navy admiral, and someone who paid very little attention to family life.
Su Yuan thought back to meeting Xia Lizhi and Lu Sili’s father at Jinlou. The male chauvinism Lu Sili’s father had displayed might have been one of the reasons for their divorce.
Then why had they decided to marry in the first place? Had their parents pushed them into it? But Lu Sili had clearly grown up in a happy family environment as a child, which meant his parents must once have had feelings for each other.
Su Yuan worked in a hospital and had seen all kinds of scenes inside hospital rooms, but this was the first time he had stayed in one as a patient’s family member.
He felt nervous about what attitude Xia Lizhi would take once she returned.
It was a fact that he and Lu Sili had deceived both families.
Su Yuan had no intention of changing his position. He would continue supporting Lu Sili’s decision.
But if the identity of “Lu Sili’s husband” were stripped away from him, what standing would Su Yuan have to say anything at all?
His thoughts kept him awake all night. When Grandma woke in the middle of the night, he tried talking to her, but she ignored him.
Early the next morning, Su Yuan had to return to work, while Lu Sili stayed behind to care for Grandma. Grandma was still angry and refused to see either of them, but Lu Sili could not feel at ease unless he stayed nearby, so he could only leave company matters to Wei Yuan and Fiona.
Lu Sili thought that after he waited outside the door all morning, Grandma might soften. But even by the time his mother arrived at the hospital, Grandma still refused to see him.
When he saw his mother walking toward him from the far end of the corridor in a black shirt, Lu Sili stood up and noticed that as she walked, she was lowering the sleeves she had originally rolled up.
“Where’s Grandma?” Xia Lizhi asked softly.
Xia Lizhi was about 180 centimeters tall. In military boots, she stood about as tall as Lu Sili, but years of training had made her posture even straighter. Even when she spoke softly, her authority was unmistakable.
Lu Sili did not know what he had been hoping for, but whatever it was, the hope broke in that moment. He answered, “She just ate. She’s asleep.”
Xia Lizhi looked into the ward through the small glass window at her elderly mother, then turned to look at her haggard son. She pressed her lips together, trying to steady her emotions.
“All right. I’ll wait.”
Lu Sili shifted aside a little and gestured for Xia Lizhi to sit on the chair too.
Mother and son sat together on the bench in the hospital corridor. They were physically close, yet neither had much to say.
Lu Sili lowered his eyes to hide his unease.
He had no idea what the mother beside him was thinking. Now that she knew about the fake marriage and his plan to have his gland removed, what would she say?
Looking down, he noticed dirt on Xia Lizhi’s shoes. He thought that after hearing the news, she had probably rushed to arrange her work and traveled through the night. She might not even have had time to eat.
He was about to turn and ask when his arm accidentally brushed Xia Lizhi’s left arm. The texture felt different, and he looked down.
Xia Lizhi explained, “Just a small injury. It’s bandaged. Don’t tell Grandma.”
Lu Sili said “Oh,” badly wanting to see what kind of injury his mother had, but Uncle Zou opened the door and came out.
“Lizhi,” Uncle Zou called.
Xia Lizhi stood. “She’s awake?”
Uncle Zou said yes.
Lu Sili followed Uncle Zou and his mother inside. He had thought Grandma might be less angry now that his mother was back, but the moment he followed them in, Grandma cursed him out of the room.
Lu Sili backed out, stood at the door, and sighed. With nowhere to vent the frustration filling his chest, he punched at the air.
“Practicing your boxing?”
Lu Sili jumped. He turned and saw that Su Yuan had arrived.
Su Yuan had just finished surgery and come over from the surgical building. He was still wearing his white coat, and the surgical cap had flattened his hair, ruining his usual fresh, put-together appearance.
Lu Sili could not help laughing.
With his mother back to calm Grandma down and his husband beside him, Lu Sili finally relaxed a little.
“Have you eaten?” Lu Sili asked.
Su Yuan nodded. “Mm. Our department ordered food together. I ate before coming over.”
He did not know yet that Xia Lizhi had returned. When he leaned toward the door to look inside, he happened to see Xia Lizhi standing at the foot of the bed as straight as though she were at attention while Grandma lectured her, and he hurriedly called Lu Sili over to look too.
“Mom’s getting scolded,” Lu Sili said.
Su Yuan said, “I can see that. I just didn’t expect Auntie to get scolded too.”
Lu Sili could not help laughing. “She gets scolded all the time.”
“Huh?” Su Yuan looked surprised.
Lu Sili blinked. “Outside, she’s an admiral. At home, she’s a daughter who never comes home and a mother who doesn’t take care of her kid. How could she not get scolded?”
The two of them crowded around the little glass window to watch what was happening inside. The hospital door was unexpectedly soundproof, so they could not hear what the two women were saying. They only saw Grandma go on and on while Xia Lizhi’s expression barely changed, until finally Grandma grabbed the banana beside her and threw it at Xia Lizhi.
Lu Sili tensed, ready to rush inside, but Xia Lizhi simply picked up the banana and put it back. Grandma, both angry and helpless, chased her out of the ward too.
Lu Sili and Su Yuan stepped back two paces, and Xia Lizhi soon pushed the door open and came out.
“Mom, are you okay?” Lu Sili asked.
Xia Lizhi saw that Su Yuan had arrived too and nodded to him in greeting before saying, “I’m fine. Both of you go take care of your own work. I’ll stay here.”
Everything had happened so suddenly the day before that Lu Sili had indeed left a lot of work without a proper handoff, and Su Yuan’s surgeries had been scheduled long in advance.
“Go. It would be good to go home and rest a little too,” Xia Lizhi said.
The two of them were still uncertain and kept looking back as they left. On the way downstairs, Su Yuan took Lu Sili’s hand. “Grandma’s health is all right.”
Lu Sili nodded. “But she still won’t talk to me.”
Su Yuan said, “She won’t talk to me either.”
The married couple looked at each other, truly without a single solution between them.
After each of them dealt with his work, Lu Sili knew he needed to show some sincerity now. At Fiona and Wei Yuan’s urging, he handed his work over to the two of them and went home first to deal with his family situation.
Grandma remained adamant and demanded that Lu Sili promise not to have his gland removed. Lu Sili could not make that promise. Neither side would give an inch, and even after Grandma went home, she still refused to speak to them.
The two of them moved back into Grandma’s house. Lu Sili worked only half days and spent the rest of his time at home keeping her company.
Only during the three days of his heat would they return to their own home. After he had relaxed, they would go back to Grandma’s house and resume being scolded.
Su Yuan became the only person in the household still going to work. Xia Lizhi had never mentioned the fake marriage, and Su Yuan waited nervously for a long time. It was not until they were sure Grandma was physically all right, two nights before Xia Lizhi was due to return to the base, that the subject finally came up.
It was the heaviest family dinner they had eaten since Lu Sili and Su Yuan got married.
“Mom, I have to go back the day after tomorrow,” Xia Lizhi said.
Grandma put down her chopsticks. “You’re not going to deal with this? Then what did you come back for? Are you going to wait until your son dies on the operating table and come back for his funeral?”
Lu Sili and Su Yuan did not even dare pick up any dishes. They just ate plain rice.
Xia Lizhi explained, “The project isn’t finished yet. Once it is, I’ll come home.”
Grandma said, “Then has Lu Sili agreed? I told you to persuade him. How did that go?!”
“Mom, I don’t want to interfere with his decision,” Xia Lizhi said.
It was the first time Lu Sili and Su Yuan had learned Xia Lizhi’s position. Both of them looked at her as she gently set down her chopsticks too.
Ever since childhood, Xia Lizhi had never been much like the girls around her. Her physical abilities were better than most people’s and stood out even among Alphas, but she had little talent for family life. She had once longed for love too, but had long since left that idea behind.
Especially after the divorce, she gradually found the direction she wanted her life to take, and that direction ran directly against her mother’s expectations.
But she had no intention of living according to anyone else’s expectations.
“Lu Sili is already thirty. He has his own life. I believe he made this decision after thinking it through carefully. Neither you nor I can choose for him.”
Xia Lizhi took a deep breath as she spoke. “We haven’t experienced his pain either.”
Grandma could not believe those words had come from Lu Sili’s mother. “Do you know how dangerous that surgery is? Have you thought about what happens if something goes wrong because of it?”
Xia Lizhi said, “A person should bear the consequences of his own choices.”
“Xia Lizhi!” Grandma threw down her chopsticks in fury. “Do you even have this son in your heart? Do the two of you still look anything like mother and son?”
Lu Sili, the center of the entire argument, had already put down his chopsticks and stopped eating. Su Yuan quietly rested a hand on his knee to comfort him.
He said nothing, but every word from Grandma and his mother was cutting open his old wounds.
Xia Lizhi showed emotion for only a moment before saying, “I chose my career, and I was prepared to bear the consequence of not having a close relationship with my son. Mom, Lili was wrong to lie, but we can’t force Lili to make the choice we want.”
Grandma said, “You’ve really lost your mind. Why do you think Lu Sili is so determined to throw himself into work? Because you and Lu Ting are both Alphas and he’s the only Omega. You both threw yourselves into your careers. He didn’t want to blame you, so all he could do was try to understand you, then copy you and become a workaholic himself.”
After saying that, Grandma got up from the table and went back to her room with Uncle Zou.
The bedroom door slammed shut, leaving the atmosphere heavy.
Grandma’s anger still seemed to linger in the dining room. Lu Sili kept his eyes lowered and said nothing while Su Yuan poured Xia Lizhi a glass of water.
“Thank you.” Xia Lizhi accepted the glass, then looked up at Su Yuan. “And thank you. I can tell you treat Lu Sili very well.”
Su Yuan looked ashamed. “I’m sorry, Auntie. We deceived you.”
Xia Lizhi gave a rare smile to show that she did not mind, then looked at Lu Sili. “Lili.”
Lu Sili did not look up. He only reached for his chopsticks again and moved the rice around in his bowl.
“If you’ve decided you want this surgery and you’ve prepared yourself for it, Mom supports you.” Xia Lizhi wanted to move closer to Lu Sili, but the resistance in her son’s body was obvious, so she stayed where she was and continued. “I don’t know whether this is right or wrong, but there was never absolute right or wrong in this world to begin with. Back then, I seized a rare work opportunity and boarded that warship. For my career, it was right. For my family, it was wrong. Everything has two sides. And I won’t make excuses for failing you while you were growing up.”
Lu Sili blinked rapidly, trying to ease the sting in his nose.
Xia Lizhi said, “At the time, your father’s and my marriage was already on the verge of collapse. When we were both faced with equally important career opportunities, he wanted me to give up mine, but I wanted him to give up his. We couldn’t reach an agreement, so we divorced.”
Perhaps because she had not talked about these things in so long, Xia Lizhi stumbled over her words. Thinking about her younger self, she finally said quietly, “Love is brief as dew.”
Xia Lizhi was not always completely sure of herself either. After thinking for a moment, she nervously shifted her chair a little closer to Lu Sili.
“Mom walked out of a failed marriage and toward a much broader life. I’m sorry I left you trapped back there.”
Lu Sili could no longer remember the last time he had cried in front of his mother. He only felt horribly embarrassed and wanted to hide. Su Yuan happened to be standing beside him, so he turned and hugged him.
In truth, Lu Sili understood that he had been the one keeping himself trapped there.
Being physically affectionate with her son in front of a mother-in-law with whom he had such a distant relationship, Su Yuan did not dare move an inch. He almost wanted to raise both hands in surrender. Xia Lizhi, however, found it rather adorable.
She could tell that her son liked and trusted this man very much.
“Crying?” Xia Lizhi asked with a small smile, lowering her voice.
Lu Sili buried his face against Su Yuan’s waist and shouted in a muffled voice, “I’m not!”
Xia Lizhi said, “Then don’t cry anymore.”
Lu Sili’s face stayed buried against Su Yuan’s waist. He was almost crying snot by now and could only think about how ugly he must look and how impossible it would be to recover his dignity.
“Apologize to me.”
The smile on Xia Lizhi’s face turned a little bitter. She said gently, “I’m sorry.”
After a moment of silence, Lu Sili gave a muffled “Mm,” secretly wiping all his tears onto Su Yuan’s clothes while wondering what expression he was supposed to wear when he finally faced his mother again.
“Su Yuan.” Xia Lizhi suddenly looked up at him.
“Mm?” Su Yuan answered at once. He wanted to be polite and presentable, but he could not bear to push Lu Sili away either, leaving him caught awkwardly between the two.
Xia Lizhi said, “You’re a doctor. Can you help me change my dressing?”
Only then did Lu Sili lift his head. “What kind of injury is it? How did you hurt your arm?”
His nose and eyes were both red from crying, tears all over his face and even something glistening beneath his nose. He looked miserable and adorable at the same time.
Neither Xia Lizhi nor Su Yuan could keep from laughing.
The arm injury was real. Xia Lizhi had been changing the dressing herself during the days since she came back.
Xia Lizhi took off her shirt so Su Yuan could change the dressing more easily.
Changing a dressing was simple for Su Yuan, but he froze for a moment when he saw the scars covering Xia Lizhi’s exposed arms.
Even Lu Sili had not known. As far as he remembered, his mother’s arms had never had scars, which meant these injuries had all happened within the last ten years.
There were three obvious long scars on her two arms alone.
“Shrapnel grazed me, but don’t worry. It was only an accident during an exercise.” After explaining, Xia Lizhi looked at Lu Sili. Faced with the concern in her son’s eyes, all she knew how to do was avoid it.
Lu Sili muttered, “Fine.”
Xia Lizhi changed the subject. “Were you two really in a fake marriage?”
Lu Sili said, “…Mm.”
Xia Lizhi looked up at Su Yuan and Lu Sili. Even while he changed her dressing, they were standing pressed close together, and the affection between them did not look fake at all. Puzzled, she asked, “Then what are you two now?”
“We’re…” Lu Sili had no idea how to summarize everything that had happened over the past few months.
Su Yuan secured the last piece of tape, then pulled off his gloves and said, “Call it marriage first, love later.”