Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Plan Falls Through

Su Daya and her husband had finally settled down in the Provincial City, and the couple was grateful for everything their sister and brother-in-law had done, sending vegetables to their home every few days.

There she was again today—Su, with a basket on her back.

“Daya, you’re here.”

“Auntie,” the triplets greeted obediently.

“Aunt and uncle, did my younger sister go to drop Xiao Yu off at school?”

“That’s right, she just left.”

Mrs. Lu nodded and gave a reproachful glance at the basket filled with cabbage, potatoes, green peppers, leeks … a variety of vegetables.

“You child, we haven’t even finished what you brought last time.”

As she spoke, Mrs. Lu stuffed ten yuan into Su Daya’s pocket, “Auntie, why are you doing this, take it back, I don’t want it.”

“Listen to your aunt, take it. It’s not much money, and you two work hard to earn it, I can’t take it for nothing.”

“Auntie, it’s not necessary, it didn’t cost much.”

…

After a back and forth of refusing and insisting, Su Daya, unable to withstand Mrs. Lu’s persistence, finally accepted the money and hurried back to her business, not feeling secure leaving her husband alone at the stall.

The hot summer days were about to pass, and Susu and Lu Xiaoting planned to take the kids to the Capital during the National Day holiday.

They intended to look at houses and also take the kids to see the much-desired Capital.

Visiting the Capital naturally included touring various historical palaces and, of course, watching the flag-raising ceremony.

However, that afternoon, a sudden cry of pain shattered the tranquillity of the Lu Family.

“What happened? What’s going on?”

Susu, who was inside helping the triplets with their homework, heard a cry of “ouch” and hurried out in her slippers.

“Mother!”

She saw Mrs. Lu holding one leg, tears uncontrollably streaming down her face.

“Mother, is it your leg that hurts?” Susu was somewhat panicked but forced herself to stay calm and didn’t dare to move her mother-in-law’s leg impulsively.

“What happened here?”

Father Lu, who had just returned from the market with two chickens, saw the situation in the yard and hurried over.

“Dad, be careful and help mother onto the tricycle, she might have fractured her leg. I’ll go push the cart.”

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, along with another person, rode the tricycle to the Police Station to leave the triplets with their father.

Hospital

Susu, holding the receipt she had just paid, gave it to the doctor and finally breathed a sigh of relief; luckily she had brought all the change from home, or else it wouldn’t have been enough.

After being examined by the doctor, Mrs. Lu’s broken leg was cast in plaster.

Susu and her father-in-law supported Mrs. Lu, one on each side, as they entered the hospital room. She needed to stay in the hospital for observation for the time being.

Mrs. Lu touched her tightly wrapped leg and sighed, “My good-for-nothing leg, just fell like that, how could it break? And after all that fuss, the three kids are still at the Police Station.”

Susu frowned, “Mother, don’t overthink it, the priority is to heal your leg. Besides, nobody wants to get hurt on purpose, stop worrying about that.”

“Sister-in-law, how is mother doing?”

The hospital room door was pushed open, and Lu Xiaomei ran in, her face full of anxiety.

“Xiaomei, why are you here, aren’t you supposed to be at work now?”

Seeing everyone in the room looking at her, Lu Xiaomei said breathlessly, “My older brother called me; how is mother?”

“Mother’s leg is broken, it’s in a cast, and she needs good care…” Susu repeated the doctor’s diagnosis, then suddenly remembered.

“Xiaomei, how did you get here so quickly?”

Lu Xiaomei’s expression faltered for a moment, only mentioning that a colleague from her unit happened to bring her along.

Susu raised her eyebrows, it seemed this “colleague from the unit” was suspicious.

“Alright, Xiaomei, you stay here and look after mom and dad. I’ll go buy some fruits and food.”

Lu Xiaomei, teased by her sister-in-law’s half-smiling gaze, felt her ears turning hot and nodded shyly.

In the afternoon, Father Lu went back home to look after the kids and let his son go to the hospital.

When the third son received the news, he rushed over in a frenzy, “Sister-in-law, how’s mom doing?”

“Third brother has arrived…” Susu simply repeated what the doctor had said.

For convenience, Susu promptly bought a wheelchair for grandma.

By the time the couple and the elderly mother arrived home, it had already grown dark. The third brother came along, and Lu Xiaomei hurried back after finishing her day at work.

As soon as they arrived home, the children gathered around, and upon seeing the bandages on grandma’s leg, their lips puckered, and tears started falling in large drops.

“Mommy, grandma’s leg hurts.”

“Wuwuwu… Grandma, I’ll blow on it, and it won’t hurt anymore.”

“Mommy, is grandma’s leg injury serious?” Xiao Yu’s eyebrows knotted in worry.

“Oh my dear, grandma’s leg is fine, it’ll get better soon. Please stop crying, your tears break grandma’s heart.”

Mrs. Lu quickly reached out to wipe the tears from her dear grandchildren’s eyes.

“Grandma is lying! Look at how her leg is wrapped up.”

“That’s right, it must hurt a lot.”

“Grandma, Lele will blow on it for you.”

The younger ones surrounded grandma, offering their warm concerns while Mrs. Lu sat back on the bed, her heart warming from their love.

“Sister-in-law, I’ve made bone soup, should we have it with noodles later?”

“Sure, thanks Xiaomei.”

…

“Sss~”

“What’s wrong, dear? Does your leg hurt?”

“It’s okay, just accidentally bumped it.”

Later, after hearing Mrs. Lu had accidentally broken her leg at home, Su Chenghe, Xiao Sun, and Su Nian brought food and came to visit.

Su Chenghe spoke, “Auntie, you need to be more careful in the future, falls are really dangerous at your age.”

“Yeah, auntie, you really need to be careful with everything you do.” Su Xianyue said as she brought out the stewed, tender pork knuckle soup.

“Auntie, I’ve simmered this for a long time, it should be good for you. They always say, ‘What you lack, you should replenish with what resembles it.'”

Mrs. Lu couldn’t help but laugh and scold, “You silly girl.”

Su Nian, smiling, sliced the freshly washed apples into chunks, “Auntie, have some apple to cleanse the palate and change things up a bit.”

The entire family looked at the pile of net bags and oiled paper packets on the cupboard in the hall, reluctantly accepting them as they were all from everyone’s genuine kindness.

Now that Mrs. Lu had broken her leg, the family’s plan for six to travel to the Provincial City naturally fell through.

They definitely couldn’t just leave the injured Mrs. Lu to Father Lu and Lu Xiaomei to take care of; they wouldn’t feel at ease.

“Susu, weren’t you going to the Capital? Why haven’t you packed your things yet?”

“Mom, we’re not going anymore, you’ve injured your leg, how can we leave worry-free?”

Mrs. Lu waved her hand with a cheerful grin, “It’s okay, the house still has your dad and Xiaomei, just go on as planned. Aren’t you going to look at houses? The prices in our province are rising year by year; if we delay further, who knows how much more they’ll go up.”

Susu was still hesitant, partly because it was indeed the case, and partly because they were still worried.

Finally, after the old couple’s persuasion, the spouses discussed and decided to go, just without the children.

The married couple, traveling light, left the house with their four children watching eagerly.