She got up, found a shirt of Jin Lan's in the closet, put it on, and walked out. She had to admit, Jin Lan was a considerate man. She had fallen asleep later, and he had still held her, bathed her, and even applied some ointment.
So now, apart from feeling a little weak in the legs, she felt no discomfort.
"Awake? I've made lunch. Eat before you go back." Jin Lan was carrying a plate of food out.
Jiang Yan looked at the man wearing an apron, with three dishes and one soup already laid out on the table, and found it hard to believe. "You can cook?"
Jin Lan smiled. "I live alone. If I don't learn to cook, am I supposed to eat that gutter oil every day?"
Jiang Yan then remembered he was a doctor and probably paid more attention to his health.
She walked over to look. There was a steamed fish, two stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and shredded pork with green peppers. The soup was tomato and egg drop soup. They were all very home-style dishes, still steaming, which made her even hungrier.
Jiang Yan had come to repay a favor and didn't feel right doing nothing. She walked into the kitchen and said, "Is there anything I can do?"
"Get the bowls and chopsticks, and serve the rice." Jin Lan gestured to her.
Jiang Yan immediately went to the disinfection cabinet, took out the tableware, served two bowls of rice, and brought them out to set them down.
Jin Lan finished stir-frying the last dish, which was scrambled eggs with tomatoes, the most ordinary home-style dish.
"There's not much in the house, so I just put together a few things," Jin Lan said, gesturing for her to try.
Jiang Yan picked up some food and put it in her mouth. Her eyes lit up with a smile. "It's delicious! I haven't eaten such good food in a long time!"
Ever since her family had run into trouble, she hadn't had a single satisfying meal. Her mother was sick and couldn't cook. Even if her mother hadn't been sick, Jiang Yan wouldn't have been able to cook. The meals at home were always made by the housekeeper. As for her, she was hopeless in the kitchen, a total disaster!
Now she was out of money too, and even ordering takeout meant she had to choose the cheaper, more cost-effective options, so the taste was predictably awful.
"If it's delicious, eat more. If you want to eat, you can come to my place anytime," Jin Lan said, looking at her thin, pale face. He couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. She had truly suffered a lot lately.
Jiang Yan nodded carelessly, "Okay!"
After saying that, she realized she had agreed too quickly and felt a little embarrassed, lowering her head.
Jin Lan picked a piece of fish into his own bowl, started picking out the bones, and then gave it to Jiang Yan.
As they were eating, the door was suddenly opened. Jiang Yan, holding her chopsticks in her mouth, looked at the open door and asked, "Is it the hourly help?"
"Chu Yu!" Jin Lan had already guessed who it was. The hourly help came between four and six in the afternoon and only three times a week. She wasn't supposed to come today.
The only person who knew the password to his house was Chu Yu. Even his sister didn't know.
Hearing the name, Jiang Yan's face turned ashen. She could barely hold her chopsticks and, almost instinctively, looked for a place to hide, so she directly crawled under the dining table.
Fortunately, the table had a tablecloth that perfectly covered her body. Jiang Yan cowered under the table, trembling.
Chu Yu walked in, smiling. "Uncle, you're home? I thought you were at the hospital."
Jin Lan's expression changed. He got up and walked over, preventing Chu Yu from entering the dining area. "I worked the night shift yesterday, so I'm resting today. Why are you here?"
"Uncle, aren't you welcoming me? You... do you have a guest at home?" Chu Yu's gaze fell on the two sets of bowls and chopsticks on the dining table.