Belonging

Chapter 8

It’s been a week since Wen Ke Xing allowed to visit his mother. Everyday, Wen Ke Xing and Zhou Zi Shu would come to the hospital after lunch time. It was the time when his father already left the hospital to open their family’s restaurant. His mother has been stable and the hope for her to awake sometime soon has increased.

“Ma, how long you’ll sleep like this? I missed you so much. I have a lot to talk to you. I really wanted to tell you about my restaurant. I used most of your recipes in the menu. That’s because I’ve been missing you and meals you always prepared for us. So... please wake up soon.”

Wen Ke Xing stayed besides his mother for the next ten minutes. He emerged from the ICU room and sat besides Zhou Zi Shu who was busy looking at his tablet. He knew Zhou Zi Shu was a bit busy for the past few days.

“A-Xu.”

“Hm?”

“I know you’ve been busy lately. If you need to go back, I can understand.”

Zhou Zi Shu looked up from his tablet. “It’s alright, Lao Wen. There’s nothing urgent.”

“You’ve been here for more than a week. I think it won’t be good for you to leave the office for too long.”

Zhou Zi Shu gave him a pouty look. “You don’t want my companion anymore?”

“A-Xu, I didn’t mean like that. I mean...” His words abruptly stopped when he heard Zhou Zi Shu chuckled lightly. He looked at him in disbelief.

“I know what you mean, Lao Wen. Why are you so serious? It’s fine. I still manage my work.”

“A-Xu, I’m serious. You’ve been a great help by staying by my side all this time. But, you also need to maintain your business.”

“Talking about business, what about your restaurant? You leave it to A-Xiang. Will it be alright?”

“Hm. I offered her to temporarily close it if she couldn’t handle it by herself. But she is as stubborn as I am. She said she will manage it until I return. Cao Wei Ning also help her whenever he was free. And so far, they did pretty well.”

Zhou Zi Shu nodded his head.

“A-Xu, I don’t want to hold you here.”

Zhou Zi Shu smiled at him. “You sure you’ll be alright if I leave?”

“Of course. As long as I don’t meet my father, right?”

“Right. I don’t want you to fight with your father.”

“I won’t.”

“Alright. I’ll leave the day after tomorrow.”

Wen Ke Xing stood up. “Let’s go back to the apartment. What would you like to eat for dinner?”

“Can I ask anything?”

“Sure.”

“I’m craving for a steak.”

Wen Ke Xing laughed at his puppy eyes. “OK. Steak for dinner. Let’s go.”

Wen Ke Xing was preparing their dinner in the kitchen. He was put the mashed potatoes and vegetables on the plates when Zhou Zi Shu who just finished showering showed up at the kitchen.

“Do you need help?”

Wen Ke Xing looked up and shook his head. “I’m done.”

“I’ll get the drink then.”

Zhou Zi Shu took a bottle of red wine and two glasses. He opened it and poured it into their glasses while Wen Ke Xing served the freshly grilled steak. Zhou Zi Shu smiled widely at the plate in front of him.