Chapter 97 Are you worthy?

Jin He was just joking. If he were really asked to go to the scene, he would have to consider his physical condition. After all, his heart couldn't handle any stimulation right now, and fainting on the spot would be no joke.

So he really stayed in the ward obediently. After waking up, he changed into the clothes An Yi had brought him and even picked up a book to read. As night fell, Jin He went to the sofa and turned on the TV. At this time, the caregiver brought his meal over.

"You can't eat while watching TV, it's bad for your digestion."

Jin He thought about it for a while and finally compromised. He brought dinner to the window and was about to eat when someone knocked on the ward door.

"Please come in."

Jin He looked up and saw the person, and her smile disappeared. It was a woman holding a child in her arms. Her face, which she remembered as smooth and fair, was now covered with wrinkles, and her jet-black hair had turned gray. Only the child in her arms was chubby and fair, like a New Year's picture doll.

She is his mother.

"Xiaohe, Mom heard you're very sick." Yang Xiaoli held the child in one arm and carried a carton of milk in the other. "Look at you, you're so sick, and you didn't even tell me when I saw you the other day."

Jin He didn't look at her much, and casually fiddled with the cold chrysanthemum salad on the plate. He said, "My complexion the other day wasn't much better than that of a dead person, was it?"

Yang Xiaoli chuckled twice, turned around and closed the door: "Mom bought you milk. I remember you liked to drink it when you were little. Where did Mom put it?"

"Just put it on the ground."

Jin He sneered inwardly. He did like drinking milk for a while, back when he was in junior high school. Teenage boys are growing and eating a lot, but he was never quite full at every meal. He would get hungry again soon after finishing a meal. He was also a little envious of Yang Jia Hui, who would have a bottle of fresh milk stuffed into his schoolbag by his aunt every morning.

He went to the milk station to inquire and found out that a month's supply of milk would cost 100 yuan. He had originally thought that milk was a very expensive thing, which was why he was so curious about it. It turned out that it was only 100 yuan. Yang Jiahui's shoes cost several hundred yuan.

So on the day Yang Xiaoli returned home, he tried to discuss with his mother whether she could order some milk for him and Xiao Miao in the morning. She didn't need to order a lot, just one serving would be enough for him and Xiao Miao to share.

At that time, Yang Xiaoli was a woman in her thirties who spent a lot of time and effort dressing herself up beautifully every day. That day, she wore a bright red dress, ten-centimeter high heels, and her hair was permed into big waves. She held a cigarette between her fingers and exhaled a cloud of white smoke as she opened her red lips.

Hearing this, she didn't even turn her head, but glanced at Jin He from head to toe, and sneered: "You want what your cousin has too? You're such a grown man, why are you being so greedy?"

She didn't glare fiercely at Jin He, nor did she hit or scold him, but that indifferent look in her eyes made Jin He feel even more uncomfortable than if she had hit or scolded him.

She flicked her cigarette ash, the light ash drifting in the wind and settling on Jin He's faded school uniform. "Everyone has their own fate. Don't be envious of what Yang Jia Hui has. Be grateful for having food to eat. You're dreaming of drinking milk? Do you deserve it?"

When they got back to the room, Xiao Miao looked at him with those bright, sparkling eyes and asked, "Brother! Did Mom agree? Can we drink milk now?"

“Mom said…” Jin He looked at Xiao Miao’s excited expression. At that time, Xiao Miao was only in the fourth grade of elementary school and was not getting enough nutrition, which made her shorter than other girls. “Mom said that fresh milk is not good, so she will buy us bagged milk. You go to sleep first, and I will take you to buy it tomorrow.”

However, Jin He only had two yuan in his pocket at the time, and the coins were already worn down from handling them so much.

Jin He was probably not even fifteen years old at the time, but now he is twenty-five and still remembers the embarrassment and awkwardness he felt back then. He was really sad at the time. He really didn't understand why even his mother would say such things to belittle him. Did his mother feel happy to see him sad and upset?

He once thought that Yang Xiaoli might just not know how to be a mother; that she actually loved her child, but just didn't know how to express it. It wasn't until he met her downstairs at the hospital that Jin He realized:

She actually loves her child and knows how to love her child.

But she never really cared about him or Xiao Miao.

Jin He looked at the box of pure milk on the ground and slowly withdrew her gaze.

Yang Xiaoli sat on the sofa, her eyes scanning the ward, and said, "This VIP ward is really different. It must cost a lot of money to stay here for one night."

Jin He, holding the yam in his bowl, saw the child run up to him with a big smile: "Brother, brother..."

“Oh, he likes you,” Yang Xiaoli said. “This child is close to you.”

"Brother, meat, thank you brother!" The child stared at the bowl of yam and pork rib stew on the table, his mouth practically watering. "Meat, meat..."

He reached out his chubby little hand and grabbed Jin He's clothes: "Will you give Xiaoxi some meat...?"

Jin He smiled gently, and Yang Xiaoli's face instantly turned red and green.

"You child..." Jin He's evil intentions rose in his heart. Today he had to play the bad guy. "You're quite greedy, aren't you?"

"Ah, little child, you're growing."

Seeing that the child was about to climb up and reach out to pull him, Jin He reached out and pushed the soup bowl inward: "Don't want to, little one? This is your older brother's."

Besides, An Yi said he would come back for dinner tonight. If this child eats, what will An Yi eat?

When the child saw that his request was not met, tears welled up in his eyes instantly. Jin He sat in the chair, slowly fished a piece of pork rib out of the soup and took a bite.

"Waaah!!!" The child suddenly let out a sharp cry: "Mommy! Xiaoxi wants to eat meat! Xiaoxi wants to eat meat!!"

His voice was so loud that Jin He couldn't help but rub his chest. Anyone who didn't know better would think he had done something to the child, why was he sitting on the ground throwing a tantrum?

"Mommy!! Mommy!! Ah!!!"

Seeing her child making a fuss in Jin He's hospital room, Yang Xiaoli quickly went over, picked him up, and tried to soothe him, saying awkwardly, "You silly child, didn't you just finish eating?"

Jin He held chopsticks in one hand and rested her chin on the other, watching them with an air of schadenfreude.

"Alright, alright, stop crying. It's just a few ribs. Mom will stew them for you when we get home. I'll make them braised with salt and pepper or sweet and sour. You can make whatever you want."

"It's different," Jin He shook her head, saying cheekily, "This is free-range black pork from the mountains, air-freighted in. From slaughter to serving, it's less than two hours. You can't get such delicious spare ribs once you leave here!"

"Ah!!!" the child started screaming again.

"You!" Yang Xiaoli held the child and wiped away his tears, then looked at Jin He, "Xiao He, let your little brother have a turn."

"On what grounds?"

"You're such a grown-up, why are you still arguing with a child?" Yang Xiaoli reached out to grab it, but Jin He quickly covered the casserole with the lid.

It's not that Jin He really needs a couple more bites of meat.

Why should I always do things your way?

"I'm sorry, Xiaohe has a heart condition and can't handle loud noises. If your child continues to cry, I may have to ask you to leave," the caregiver said from the side. "Please cooperate."

An Yi had hired either a caregiver or a bodyguard. The man standing there was as burly as a wall. Yang Xiaoli, holding the child, looked ashen-faced and turned to look at Jin He, her eyes urging him to get out of the situation quickly.

As a result, Jin He looked down at the spare ribs in her bowl with a gloomy expression, and didn't even look at him.

Yang Xiaoli had no choice but to put the child on the sofa, take out her phone, open an online shopping app, and let him choose a toy himself. Only then did the child calm down.

After calming her troubled youngest son down, Yang Xiaoli pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Jin He, craning her neck to look at the bland soup in his bowl: "Ugh, I thought it was something special. It's so bland, it doesn't look appetizing."

"Xiaoxi is only curious because it's new to him. And you, why are you getting angry with a child? Aren't you his brother..."

"What exactly happened?"

Jin He finally lost her patience and, too lazy to argue with her, asked directly, "You didn't come to see me for no reason. I'm tired too. Just tell me what you want."

"Ah..." Yang Xiaoli crossed her hands and clasped them together anxiously. "Xiaoxi, isn't she about to start kindergarten?"

Jin He suddenly felt thirsty, picked up a glass and reached for water, and the caregiver behind him quickly came over and poured him a glass of warm water and placed it beside him.

“Your Uncle Sun’s child attends a bilingual kindergarten, and I heard the environment is very good. I don’t know much about these things… Didn’t you send Xiaomiao to a private high school before? I thought you might have some experience.”

"Oh, a bilingual kindergarten." Jin He took a sip of water and said knowingly, "The admission requirements are very simple. As long as you have money, you can get in. The tuition is 248,000 yuan a year."

"Tuition fees are so expensive... You know your Uncle Sun's financial situation isn't great. Anyway, you've already paid for your sister's university education, look at your brother..."

Jin He held the water glass, not even raising his head, but his eyes scanned her from head to toe.

"What, are you jealous because other kids are going to bilingual kindergartens? You're such a grown-up, how can you have no self-awareness? Who do you think you are, wanting your son to go to a bilingual kindergarten? Do you even deserve it?"