Chapter 20: Let Me Meet Your Expectations_1
When he arrived at Forest Hospital, Song Lan parked his bicycle on the ground floor and locked it with an electronic lock. He then took the elevator to the 7th floor guided by his memory.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, the heavily armed members of the Special Operations Group greeted him. He glanced down the corridor and saw that, aside from the nurses, the only people standing guard outside the patient's room were the armed Law Enforcers.
After showing his work ID and stating that he was there to deliver something to Director Lu, his co-worker let him in.
It made sense that the most idle department would handle the legwork.
In the patient's room, where his unconscious female colleague was now situated, Lu Xiang held the fort. After having spent the entire night, she was now dozing off in a chair by the patient's bed.
She was a light sleeper, staying alert as Song Lan pushed open the room's door.
Lu Xiang displayed an astonishing degree of judgement. The moment she cracked open her eyes just a bit, she recognized it was Song Lan coming in.
The subsequent moment, she closed her half-opened eyes, continuing to pretend to be asleep.
She guessed that this was what the book referred to as a "visit"?
It was a show of concern for her lover who worked all night.
Her heartbeat quickened, and with Song Lan's every approaching footstep, it beat even faster.
Lu Xiang had never experienced anything like this before. While her eyes were closed, she could sense Song Lan standing in front of her. All her senses went into overdrive as though a kitten was clawing at something in her heart.
According to the book "A Love Tip Every Day", Song Lan would now gently tidy up her hair, and while she pretended to be asleep, he would lean down, and their faces would slowly...
Cough!
Lu Xiang's right hand, resting on her thigh, pinched herself discreetly in an attempt to calm herself down.
That was the consequence of staying up all night reading "A Love Tip Every Day".
...
Standing in front of Lu Xiang, Song Lan found himself deep in thought.
Even he could tell that Lu Xiang was pretending to be asleep.
He admitted that Lu Xiang's pretense was perfectly executed, from the way she swiftly closed her eyes within less than a second of him entering the room, to the unnoticed pinching of her thigh. However...
Director Lu, your blushing is too apparent.
Moreover, her lips underwent a subtle adjustment in front of him, parting slightly to reveal her teeth.
Her delicate face was slightly lifted, exhibiting an expectant look.
What on earth was going on here?
As the beeping sound of life support equipment filled the silent hospital room, Song Lan felt an overwhelming sense of duty. He had to figure out quickly exactly what Lu Xiang was expecting from him.
Even though he had limited experience in relationships, he believed that meeting a girlfriend's expectations was every boyfriend's responsibility.
His brain began working at full throttle.
Firstly, it was definite that Lu Xiang was a workaholic. With her kind of personality, she must've spent the entire night at Forest Hospital without sleeping or even sparing a thought for food.
Since he moved in with her, it had been quite some time that she did away with the nutrient injections.
If he could remember correctly, because of an early meeting yesterday, Lu Xiang left for work early and, likely, without breakfast.
Suddenly, like a jolt of lightning a revelation struck Song Lan.
After comprehensively considering the clues, he finally came to a logical conclusion.
There was only one truth!
Lu Xiang... she must be famished!
The moment he entered the room, having starved the whole day, Lu Xiang must have smelled the aroma of stewed beef. But then she probably noticed that the stewed beef was inside a gift bag. Since it was a hospital, and there were members of the Special Tasks Group outside the door, she felt too embarrassed to open the bag and start eating the beef.
The slightly parted lips had proven his deduction right.
Her pinching of the thigh must have been the result of a struggle between her logic and desire.
Song Lan had seen through it all. He realized that, possibly in the area of deduction, he had an astonishing talent.
While Lu Xiang waited, he untied the string on the gift bag, wiped his hands cleanly with the hospital room's sanitizing wipes, and carefully held up a chunk of beef towards Lu Xiang's mouth.
In this era of culinary decline, he was rather confident in his cooking abilities. After stewing the beef yesterday, the smell wafting throughout the house was so good that he couldn't resist tasting a few pieces himself.
"Oomph."
Huh?
Why did the sound of eating beef feel a bit strange?
But Lu Xiang didn't give him the opportunity to ponder longer. She abruptly opened her eyes, the red glow on her face had faded, and her gaze became as cold and sharp as it always was.
Furthermore...
For some unknown reason, Lu Xiang's gaze seemed sharper today than it usually was.
"Slurp."
She put in some effort, and the beef was in her mouth. After chewing a few times, she swallowed it down.
"Morning."
Lu Xiang greeted him and then looked at the band-aid on Song Lan's thumb, "What happened to your hand?"
"Got a small cut when I was cooking the beef yesterday."
"Consult a doctor."
"No need, it's just a minor cut."
...
This was strange.
Why did the atmosphere in the hospital room seem somewhat cold?
Song Lan was filled with confusion. He had thought that he had fulfilled Lu Xiang's expectations through his marvelous powers of deduction, so why had their conversation turned sour?
Could it be...
Was stewed beef too strong tasting for breakfast?
He believed he had pinpointed the problem. Next time when he visits in the morning, he should consider bringing some light and refreshing food.
"How is she doing now?"
Song Lan glanced at the colleague on the sickbed and casually asked. This was the reason he had come.
For the Foster Family, they could only breathe a sigh of relief when all the survivors of the Chai Ke case were confirmed dead. Only then would they feel comfortable issuing new orders to Mr. Killer.
If he remembered correctly, this woman had been hit at the back of her neck by a criminal and had been unconscious for a long time, but should have woken up now.
"The doctor says that her vital signs are normal, but she wouldn't wake up."
"Seems like you'll have to work overtime for a few more days."
"Mhm."
Song Lan handed the bag of beef stew to Lu Xiang and walked over to check on the patient's condition.
When they were in that room, all four of them had been blindfolded, so they had no idea what each other looked like. Only now did he realize that the brave girl was likely from the crime analysis department.
He had thought of a plan to "kill" his colleague when they were back at the office.
Theoretically, if she died before the killer arrived, then the killer wouldn't have any reason to risk committing murder under the Law Enforcers' nose.
At the same time, by feigning death, they could inform the Fosters, who were far away in the core area, that Mr. Killer had completed his task and could contact him again.
But the biggest problem right now was, how was he going to inspire Lu Xiang to come up with the same idea?