Chapter 1177: Chapter 1177: Extra Story of the Eel 14

After finishing breakfast, Su Man carried a lunchbox and headed to the hospital.

Just as she had expected, her mother clearly didn’t sleep well all night. As soon as she saw Su Man, she started nagging about going home to catch up on sleep, leaving Su Man alone to stay at the hospital and accompany her father.

The hospital was pretty boring. There were caretakers bustling around, so Su Man didn’t have to do anything.

With nothing to do, she pulled out her phone to play with, scrolled through Weibo, and then checked her Moments.

She noticed that Li Li had posted something new on his Moments:

[The ground you stand on today often determines the starting point of tomorrow.]

The accompanying photo was from the scene of an awards ceremony.

Many of the seats were empty—it looked like he had arrived early. The post was sent at 9 o’clock, and the ceremony must have started by now…

Earlier, Li Li had gone to great lengths to get her a ticket to the event, reminding her again and again. He said his parents were terrible at taking pictures, so when he went on stage, she absolutely had to take a bunch of good shots—make him look handsome!

Now she wouldn’t be able to take them.

Su Man sighed inwardly.

Then, thinking about Li Li’s attitude this morning, she fumed: Who cares! No one taking photos for him? Serves him right!

She put away her phone and stopped looking at Moments.

…

By 10 a.m., people began arriving to visit her father.

His current position at work was a relatively idle one, but thanks to the solid network of relationships within their family—grandfathers, uncles, and elder relatives—many visitors came, including quite a few elders.

And so, Su Man ended up acting like a little servant girl, pouring tea and serving water wave after wave, while patiently answering the elders’ questions. She was busy until noon, when the last visitor finally left.

A nurse specifically stopped by to remind her to ensure the patient rested more. Turning the hospital room into a reception hall wasn’t appropriate.

Su Man was frustrated and thought to herself that this wasn’t something she could control.

Her father lay lazily on the hospital bed and said, “You should go back and have your mother come over in your place.”

Su Man glanced at him helplessly. “Mom must be sleeping now.”

“Let her come over after she’s woken up,” her father replied matter-of-factly. “Staying here isn’t really accomplishing much, isn’t there some kind of event you were supposed to attend today? Go now.”

Su Man furrowed her brow and pursed her lips in silence.

Although she was still annoyed, she didn’t feel quite as mad anymore… After all, having been around Li Li for so many years, their relationship was always full of quarrels and squabbles—it didn’t seem worth cutting ties over his morning temper.

If she could go, she still wanted to.

But she wasn’t sure about leaving her father.

Su Man hesitated, glancing at him. “Will you be okay on your own?”

Her father replied, “Does it make any difference if you’re here or not?”

Su Man widened her eyes. “How is there no difference? I poured tea for you!”

Her father turned his face away with an air of weariness. “Now that the visitors are gone, there isn’t even anyone to chat with—it’s boring…”

Su Man: “…”

Fine…

Admittedly, she had been on her phone the whole time. But honestly… what could she possibly talk about with her parents? They had no common topics, okay!

Su Man felt stifled, like she was being rejected outright.

“Then, I’ll really leave now,” she said.

Her father waved his hand slowly. “Go on, go on.”

Su Man thought it over and admitted to herself that staying here wasn’t very useful anyway. She looked at the time—it wouldn’t be too long before her mom came to deliver food to the hospital.

Alright, she decided to leave.

Su Man grabbed her bag and left the hospital, planning to drive over to the research institute where Li Li was. As she started the car, she figured she’d call Li Li to let him know.

But the phone kept ringing without anyone answering.

Maybe it was a special occasion, so his phone was on silent and he couldn’t hear it?

Her thoughts were unsettled, and she unconsciously pressed harder on the gas pedal.

By the time Su Man arrived at the research institute, the event had already ended. She stood at the institute’s entrance and called Li Li again—

This time, Li Li finally answered.

As soon as the call connected, loud music blared in the background, and Li Li practically shouted, “What’s up? I’m out having dinner!”

Su Man curled her lips in annoyance and asked, “Where are you eating? I just got to the research institute, but the event’s already over.”

“You’re only just getting here?! My goodness, why didn’t you come earlier? That ended a lifetime ago!” Li Li sounded exasperated. “The seniors from the research team are treating us to dinner—we’re having a party now!”

Su Man felt even more annoyed. “How was I supposed to know it was already over? I called you earlier, but you didn’t answer!”

“We’re partying here! I couldn’t hear it! Besides, isn’t your dad in the hospital? I thought you weren’t coming today!”

Faintly, Su Man could hear other people calling out Li Li’s name, both men and women.

Li Li hurriedly said, “Hey! I’ve got to go now; they’re calling for me!”

He abruptly ended the call.

Su Man stared at the screen of her phone, now blank from the disconnected call, unable to say a word.

A ball of frustration burned inside her, but she couldn’t release it. Thinking things over, she felt like this awkward situation was entirely her own making.

It was always like this…

Every time, it felt like she was just making herself look more pathetic.