Chapter 30: Chapter 29: Mrs. Bai, Mr. Liu, Old Liu
Supermarket at the entrance of the hospital.
Gu Yu had already gotten lost between two rows filled with adult diapers.
There were too many brands, he really didn't know which one to choose!
"Young man, what are you looking for?"
Fortunately, the store clerk noticed his confusion and hurried over.
"Adult diapers, um, for a 22-year-old male friend! He just had surgery and can't get out of bed!"
Gu Yu quickly sought help.
After hearing Gu Yu's request, the clerk took down a pack of adult diapers from a brand called Fuyong Kang and gestured towards Gu Yu.
"How old is your friend? It would help me choose the right size."
"Huh? Twenty-two?"
Gu Yu was stunned for a moment, hadn't he just mentioned he was twenty-two?
Why ask again?
To his surprise, the clerk's eyes widened, and a look of astonishment appeared on her face, "Really, he's twenty-two?"
Gu Yu's expression turned slightly displeased, he had said it twice already! Why repeat it a third time?
He nodded impatiently, "Yes!"
The clerk then put away her look of surprise, silently placed the adult diapers marked with size M back on the shelf, and picked up a pack labeled XL from the bottom.
"This size should be enough! Buy this one!"
The clerk stuffed the XL adult diapers into Gu Yu's arms.
"Won't the XL size be too large? Could it possibly leak on the sides?"
Gu Yu frowned, looking at the package's annotation for a suitable waist size of 118cm-136cm.
Although the boss was quite sturdy, his waist surely couldn't reach 118cm, could it?
"Oh! Trust me! Didn't you say your friend was as long as twenty-two? You can't go wrong with this size!"
Seeing Gu Yu hesitating, the clerk pursed her lips.
Gu Yu subconsciously nodded, but he soon realized something was off.
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Wait! Why use 'long' to describe age?
Wait! He seemed to understand something!
How big of an adult!
Turns out it wasn't about age!
Gu Yu looked at the adult diapers in his arms with a speechless expression, and in the clerk's bewildered gaze, he silently put the XL back on the bottom shelf and took a pack of M from the top shelf.
This was the appropriate size for the boss!
As for not choosing size S, it was purely to save face for the boss.
"Young man, that's too small!"
The clerk was very dissatisfied that her standard choice was questioned, still wanting to replace the M size in Gu Yu's hands with the XL.
Gu Yu blocked her with his hand.
"No! This one is fine! Let's check out!"
The clerk could not persuade Gu Yu, nor could she influence his choice, so she had to take him to the cashier to pay.
While checking out, she kept kindly reminding Gu Yu, "This one is too small! It's going to be tight! You should consider your friend!"
After paying, Gu Yu didn't even want to buy beverages; he quickly ran away.
Consider my ass!
The boss ran around the dorm naked during the summer, how could he not know his size?
The air conditioning in the emergency department was too cold, so Gu Yu chose to go around through the outpatient department.
On the way, he unexpectedly bumped into two people!
"Mrs. Bai? Mr. Liu? What are you doing here!?"
Gu Yu quickly ran towards the two plainly dressed elderly people, shouting as he ran.
The two elderly people turned around upon hearing the voice, and indeed it was Mrs. Bai and Mr. Liu!
Surprised smiles appeared on their faces.
"Oh! Yu! What are you doing here too?"
"My roommate got injured, I'm taking care of him here."
Gu Yu pointed towards the inpatient department behind the outpatient department, and lifted the adult diapers he was holding for the elders to see.
"What a coincidence! Your uncle Liu and I also came to visit a friend! Do you remember Old Liu, the one who had a stroke we spoke of the other day?"
"We closed the noodle shop early today and brought some noodles over for him to try!"
Mrs. Bai squeezed Gu Yu's arm and shoulder, laughing heartily.
Meeting Yue's boyfriend here was really unexpected!
Mrs. Bai picked up the two stainless steel insulated lunch boxes she was carrying, and Mr. Liu hurriedly opened the lids to show Gu Yu.
One side contained steaming braised noodle soup, while the other held drained cooked noodles and side dishes.
Soup and noodles separated! Very considerate!
The noodles wouldn't clump together, and when eating, one simply needed to add the noodles to the soup!
Not only convenient but also ensured deliciousness!
"I want to eat!"
Gu Yu chuckled; he hadn't eaten dinner that night and was indeed tempted!
The noodle-making skills of Mrs. Bai and Mr. Liu were absolutely authentic!
Last time, he was halfway through eating when Liu Ermao disrupted him, which was really regrettable.
"Want to eat? Then come to eat at the shop with Yue more often. You still own half of the shop!"
Mrs. Bai couldn't stop smiling, and Mr. Liu chimed in, "As long as your uncle is still standing, this noodle restaurant will always be open! Make sure you visit often!"
"Exactly! We both want to drink to yours and Yue's wedding soon!"
Mrs. Bai became even happier the more she spoke.
Gu Yu felt somewhat embarrassed; he and Lin Xinyue had only been dating for three days!
Talking about drinking wedding toasts now, wasn't it a bit too soon?
He quickly changed the subject.
"Aunt, uncle, let's go inside! The soup will get cold if we wait too long!"
Saying this, Gu Yu took the initiative to take one of the insulated boxes, helping Mrs. Bai lighten her load a bit.
The three walking together resembled a family of grandparents and grandson, chatting and walking, looking harmoniously joyful.
They passed through the outpatient department and took several corridors before Gu Yu finally found the N134 ward Mrs. Bai had mentioned.
It was a standard four-person ward.
The ward housed four patients, all from the neurology department. Along with their family members, the environment even seemed somewhat crowded and messy.
Gu Yu followed Mrs. Bai and Mr. Liu inside.
The people in the room just glanced at the three of them before turning away to mind their own business.
The faces of everyone, both patients and their families, looked troubled, the hardship apparent at first glance.
Gu Yu's gaze landed on an old man lying alone on a bed.
He had lost most of his hair, his eyes were sunken, his face patchy pale and ashy, and his lips were dry and puckered. He stared blankly at a patient across from him being fed by a family member, showing no sign of vitality.
However, upon seeing Mr. Liu and Mrs. Bai, he seemed to revive like dry wood meeting sweet rain, suddenly bursting with new life!
His eyes sparkled, his cheeks even flushed with color, and his lips quivered as he exclaimed:
"Ah! Liu, Mrs. Bai, you've come to see me again! You really shouldn't have bothered!"
Initially his face lit up with joy, then his expression quickly turned to one of sorrow, and he faltered, "I should just die! I really shouldn't trouble you to come all this way!"
"It's no trouble at all, Old Liu! What are you talking about? If we didn't come to see you, no one else would! Look, today we brought you braised noodles to change it up a bit!"
Mrs. Bai and Mr. Liu sat next to Old Liu's bed. Mr. Liu opened the insulated box lid, and the fragrance of the braised dish immediately overpowered the medicinal smell in the room.
The patients in the next bed couldn't help but crane their necks to see what delicious food it was.
Mrs. Bai skillfully poured the noodles into the hot braised soup, stirred them briefly to heat them up, then picked up a few strands with chopsticks and placed them into the spoon that Mr. Liu held out, feeding them to Old Liu.
Watching the steaming noodles, Old Liu's throat moved up and down, not opening his mouth, seemingly deep in thought.
"Eat, eat! The more you eat, the quicker you'll recover!"
Mrs. Bai glared at him, and he finally opened his weak mouth with effort.
Mr. Liu slowly fed the noodles into his mouth.
Gu Yu, standing to the side, watched the three seniors, who together probably totaled over two centuries in age, supporting each other and felt a lump in his throat.
He wasn't very old yet!
But he just couldn't bear this tear-jerking scene.
"Delicious... delicious! It's still the same taste from twenty years ago!"
Old Liu chewed on the noodles, his eyes brimming with tears, and he even insisted on giving Mr. Liu a thumbs up.
Mr. Liu grinned broadly, continuously feeding him.
Suddenly, Gu Yu remembered a passage he had seen on Dou Ying:
"Noodles in this world, one less bowl with each bowl eaten; faces in this world, one less visit with each visit."
He wondered how many more bowls of noodles Old Liu would be able to enjoy from Mr. Liu's hands.
He wondered how many more times these old buddies of several decades would meet in the future!
It was then that he understood.
Apparently, it wasn't just the small noodle restaurant of thirty or forty square meters that Mr. Liu was looking after, but the people who came to eat there!