Chapter 97: Hospital Gossip

Chapter 97 A Home-Cooked Surprise

Su He told her parents that while staying in the countryside, she had nothing to do, so she spent time learning to cook, and now her cooking was quite delicious.

Su Shiming looked at her with disbelief. His daughter, who’d never lifted a finger before, could actually cook well?

"Come on, Dad, I’m serious. How about I cook tonight?" Su He asked.

"I’ll help you out, sweetie," Wen Qing chimed in while keeping an eye on the two kids.

And that was that.

Su He went for a market run with her mother while the kids stayed home with Su Shiming.

When they arrived at the nearby market, Su He observed what the market was like back then.

Back then, markets weren’t as orderly as they would later become. There were no strict divisions between vegetable stalls and fruit stalls, nor were there vendors specializing in just one type of product.

Many stalls were a jumble of meat, veggies, and fruit. And more often than not, vendors laid out their goods on mats.

Su He thought to herself: if she were to sell durians here in the future, what kind of stall should she set up?

"Nannan, do you think this is enough?" Wen Qing asked.

Su He glanced at the groceries—they’d gotten chicken, duck, fish, and meat—plenty for the meal—and nodded. "That’s enough, Mom. We’ve got greens growing out back."

Su He insisted on paying, explaining that Fu Tinghua had given her a large sum of money after returning from military service, so she had money to spare now.

Since nobody had fridges back then, Su He bought a variety of ingredients but in small quantities to avoid waste.

Back at her parents’ home, Su He and Wen Qing got to work prepping dinner.

Su Shiming was too curious about how his daughter would handle cooking, so he kept hovering around the kitchen doorway.

Seeing that Su He actually handled the kitchen like a pro, he was both amazed by her transformation and wondered what she’d been through.

"What are you doing?" Wen Qing finally pulled him out of the kitchen after his umpteenth visit and asked in exasperation.

"You keep hovering, making it hard for her to cook in peace."

Su Shiming felt a little embarrassed. Hell yeah, he was excited—it was the first time he’d get to taste his daughter’s cooking.

"Like you’re not dying to try it too," he retorted.

Wen Qing couldn’t help but laugh at his words.

But thinking about it, it was true. They had always been the ones taking care of Su He, so seeing her cook for them now warmed their hearts.

After finishing a minor surgery in the afternoon, Fu Tinghua was clocking out early.

His colleague Chen Jinrong, seeing him in such a hurry for the first time, teased, "Got somewhere to be? What’s the fire?"

It was meant as a casual remark, but Fu Tinghua answered seriously, "Yep. Big plans."

"Oh? Do tell, what’s so urgent?" Chen Jinrong asked, still half-joking.

"Dinner at the in-laws’, then grabbing my better half."

They were walking down the corridor outside the office when Dr. Fu's words were immediately overheard by a passing nurse.

What?

What had she just heard?

The aloof heartthrob of their hospital, Dr. Fu—no, now the Vice President—was actually going to his in-laws’ place to pick up his wife?

The legendary one who was overweight and notoriously messy?

No way! Wasn’t it said that she had moved out of Dr. Fu’s staff housing in shame after being caught stealing?

The nurse who overheard the gossip immediately rushed to the nurses’ station to spread the news.

It was the end of the shift, and everyone was so engrossed in the gossip that they put off going to dinner.

"Did Dr. Fu remarry?"

"No one’s heard anything about that. And if he did, wouldn’t Dr. Qin be the obvious choice?"

Dr. Qin was the daughter of the director of People’s Hospital, named Qin Meixuan. After graduation, she went straight to People’s Hospital as an OB-GYN.

She had entered the hospital a year later than Dr. Fu, but many knew that the director had originally wanted to set them up with each other.

Who knew that before Qin Meixuan even graduated and started working at the hospital, Dr. Fu had suddenly announced his marriage?

Later, after Qin Meixuan joined the hospital, she stayed close with Dr. Fu.

To this day, Qin Meixuan still hadn’t dated anyone.

Everyone said Dr. Qin was waiting for Dr. Fu to divorce, as they all believed his marriage wouldn’t last long.

"Cut the nonsense. There’s nothing between Dr. Qin and Dr. Fu."

"How can you say that? I heard the director introduced many good men to Dr. Qin, but she wasn’t interested in any of them."

"Well, after meeting someone as outstanding as Dr. Fu, other guys don’t measure up."

"Hey, hey, weren’t we talking about Dr. Fu and his wife? How’d we get off track?"

The discussion quickly shifted to whether there was anything romantic between Dr. Fu and Qin Meixuan.

As for Dr. Fu’s wife, who had been the original topic, she was completely forgotten.

Honestly, everyone believed that a man as exceptional as Dr. Fu could only be matched with someone as lovely and kind as Dr. Xie.

Dr. Fu—truly a rose stuck in dung.

Why couldn’t they be the ones with him?

Clueless that his one comment had turned him into the hospital’s gossip subject, Dr. Fu hopped on a rickshaw, racing to his in-laws’ place.

Back in that familiar alley, Fu Tinghua’s nerves kicked in.

Professor—

Was she still angry at him?

The courtyard gate stood open, and tendrils of smoke already curled up from the kitchen, carrying the rich aroma of cooking. Fu Tinghua guessed that Su He must be cooking this afternoon.

Just then, Su Shiming walked out from the living room.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw his star pupil—Fu Tinghua.

"Teacher," Fu Tinghua greeted respectfully.

"You made it," Su Shiming smiled at Fu Tinghua, then walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

"Teacher, I'm ashamed for not visiting you for so long," Fu Tinghua said apologetically.

"Ah, don't worry about that. I'm just happy you're here now."

In Su Shiming's heart, he had always felt guilty toward Fu Tinghua, so how could he blame him for not visiting?

"You shouldn't have brought anything, since you’re already here," Su Shiming said with a smile, eyeing the large bag in Fu Tinghua’s hand.

"I rushed over here this time, so I didn’t prepare anything special."

"No need to stand on ceremony with me!" Su Shiming wanted to say, "You’re my son-in-law now, no need for such courtesy."

But remembering that Fu Tinghua had been forced to marry his daughter, Su Shiming thought better of it.

To his surprise, Fu Tinghua took the cue and said, "You’re right. Now that you’re my father-in-law, I shouldn’t stand on ceremony."

Su Shiming: "..."

At that moment, Su He happened to come out of the kitchen and saw her father and Fu Tinghua locked in a silent standoff.

"Hey, Dad, Ting Hua, dinner’s ready. What are you two just standing there for?"