The Lukes.
It’s cold and clear.
When she returned yesterday, Lu Xing’s mother fell head over heels on the bed, not eating or drinking, no matter how hard Lu Xing knelt in front of the bed and begged.
Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law kept shedding tears and almost moved her baby.
The whole Lu family was in a deadly mood.
At this moment, Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law was red-eyed, carrying a bowl of porridge with Lu Xing and kneeling by the bedside, “Mother, please eat a little bit, my daughter-in-law is begging you.”
When she first entered the house, her mother-in-law’s health was very good, but it was only later that she became a little worse. She and Lu Xing both thought her mother-in-law was ill and said they should ask a doctor to come and have a look at her, but her mother-in-law said nothing, and only yesterday did she realise that her mother-in-law had given her and Lu Xing all the food in the house, and that she had starved herself into this state.
Lu Xing had been kneeling all night and hadn’t eaten a drop of rice, his lips were dry and cracked, but he still knelt straight, when he opened his mouth, his throat felt like a knife cut, hoarse and painful, “Mother, a thousand mistakes are my son’s fault, if you want to punish me, punish my son, please eat some rice.”
Lu Xingniang was lying face inward, her eyes almost dry with tears, her son had done such a thing, it was her mother who had not done a good job of teaching him, and she deserved to be punished.
“Is there anyone there?”
There was a question from the restaurant.
Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law habitually put the bowl down, but halfway through she remembered that her mother-in-law was still lying down, so even if she went over there, she wouldn’t be able to make cold noodles for the customers, so she put the bowl away, turned back, and raised her voice, “We’re not doing business today, so the customers should go elsewhere.”
When there was no movement from the restaurant, Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law turned around and continued to plead, “Mother, at least have some, my daughter-in-law is begging you.”
There were footsteps, Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law turned around at the sound of the voice and saw that it was Song Wan Yue and Gu Yi, she froze, “You, you ……”
Then she turned back with ecstasy, “Mother, the Song family is here.”
Lu Xing Niang jerked her head back, seeing that it was Song Wan Yue and Gu Yi, she sat up in a tentative manner, “Is it ……”
The words were not finished when a wave of vertigo came over her and she fell back onto the bed.
“Mother ……”
Lu Xing’s quick eyes and hands went to help her, but he had also been kneeling all night, and when he got up suddenly, his eyes were black.
Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law was slow to react, holding the bowl with one hand and helping Lu Xing with the other, “Are you all right, husband?”
Lu Xing fell to the ground and took a long time before he slowly waved his hand.
Lu Xing’s mother gasped and looked hopefully at Song Wangyue and Gu Yi, “Is it Dean he ……”
“We don’t know.”
The hopefulness in Lu Xingniang’s eyes receded and she closed her eyes, opening them again in an instant, “Then you are here to ……”
Song Wangyue raised the snacks in her hand, “Thinking that you would definitely be sad and not eat, I specially brought you snacks.”
Lu Xingniang instantly tears like rain, “Many, many thanks to you, I, I have no face to eat your family’s dim sum.”
“It is he who has no face and not you.”
Song Wangyue walked to the bed, opened the handkerchief wrapped in dim sum and placed it next to Lu Xingniang, “You have done your duty as a mother by bringing him up with great pains. He is the one who did not have a good heart and did something disgraceful, it has nothing to do with you.”
Lu Xing’s hands were clenched at her side.
“You should not punish yourself for his mistakes. If your body collapses and you have no one to discipline him in the future, he may do other disgraceful things. You might as well get well and keep an eye on him at all times so that he will not dare to make mistakes again.”
“Besides, she still has a child in her belly here, she’s due to give birth in a few months, right? Can you bear to wait for the child to be born and leave her to take care of it alone?”
Lu Xing’s mother’s tears flowed even faster as she reached out her hand to hit Lu Xing, “You indisputable thing, why are you so confused!”
She used all her strength, but Lu Xing did not dodge or evade, allowing her to hit her body.
Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law was in tears, not daring to persuade her.
“How could I have raised such a son as you!”
As she beat him, Lu Xing’s mother howled and cried.
Lu Xing regained his knees and kowtowed heavily to the ground, head by head.
“My son was wrong, I won’t dare to do it again, Mother forgive me.”
“My son was wrong, I will never dare to do it again, Mother forgive me.”
……
One by one, he knocked so hard that his forehead soon broke.
Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law covered her mouth to stop herself from crying out.
Gu Yi stood outside the house, watching everything that was happening in the house with little expression.
When Lu Xing’s mother’s cries gradually subsided, Lu Xing’s kowtowing sounded extra loud.
His forehead had been broken and blood was staining the ground.
“Mother, just forgive Xiang Gong, he knows he’s wrong.”
Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law knelt down in distress and pleaded for Lu Xing.
Lu Xing’s mother slowly sat up and stared at the blood on the ground, saying clearly word by word, “Listen carefully, if you do anything against your conscience again in the future, you will knock yourself to death in front of me, and I will also be struck by heaven and will not be allowed to die!”
Thud!
Lu Xing knocked his head heavily on the ground, “Son, I remember, I will never dare to do it again.”
……
When Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law helped Lu Xing out, Song Wan Yue brought the bowl of rice over and handed it to Lu Xing’s mother, “I came over to eat noodles last time and found out the problem with your noodle making, today I was going to talk to you about it, but your body ……”
Lu Xingniang was going to say that she couldn’t eat, hearing the words the hand that went to push the bowl changed to catch it, “What’s the problem, Miss Song please say.”
The restaurant used to be not quite as hot, but in addition to feeding their family there was a small surplus, although not much, but not like now. The original patrons slowly became fewer, and then no one came over to eat, and she didn’t know how much fire she was in because of this.
“It would be better to wait for another day until you have recovered.”
“I’m fine, I’m really fine.”
Lest Song Wangyue didn’t believe her, Lu Xingniang lowered her head and drank a large mouthful of porridge, “I just heard about what Lu Xing did and got angry for a moment, my body is really fine, I’m strong, look, I can eat and drink.”
“The most important thing about cold noodles is the brine, whether it’s a vegetable brine or a meat brine, it has to be different so as to attract more customers.”
“I know that, I’m not going to lie, the art of making brine is still handed down from my family, my mother’s family used to run a restaurant, it’s been in business for decades and it’s always been quite good.”
Song Wangyue took a piece of dim sum to her, and Lu Xingniang hesitantly took it.
“You finish the congee and this piece of dim sum, and I’ll tell you more.”
The dim sum in her hand was soft and fragrant in a way she had never smelt before, and even though she had never eaten it, Lu Xingniang knew it was expensive, “I’ll just have the congee.”
“I want to teach you how to make brine later, I don’t want you to lose your strength in the middle of the lesson.”
“I won’t, I won’t, I promise I can hold on.”