Chapter 63: Huo Xiaohan Will Recognize Me

Xiaohan, that student Su Wan I mentioned to you yesterday—Director Miao just called to say she got the job, and she was even assigned to translate the most difficult literary work." Xie Bailing said cheerfully while peeling an apple for Huo Xiaohan.

"This girl really surprised me. Her foreign language proficiency is even better than I imagined. It's just a pity she comes from a rural background and hasn't had access to better educational resources."

Speaking of this, Xie Bailing couldn't help but think of one of her former students. The girl was exceptionally talented, having tested her way out of the mountains, only to be forced by her family to return home and get married right after starting her freshman year. Her university education was used merely as a bargaining chip to fetch a high bride price. Shortly after the wedding, she became pregnant and was never able to leave the mountains again.

And such cases were not isolated; high school was where this situation was most prevalent, which truly broke her heart.

The preference for boys over girls in rural areas was already severe, and many families whose sons could not afford a bride would use their elder or younger sisters to trade marriages with other families.

Right now, she was terrified that Su Wan would meet the same fate—that her family would see how much money she made from translation and refuse to let her continue her studies.

Then they would seize the opportunity to marry her off as quickly as possible and "sell" her for a high price.

The glaring sunlight streamed through the window onto Huo Xiaohan's resolute and stern face. The contours of his brow bones were smooth and sharp, and his eyes were as deep as distant mountain mists, accentuating his three-dimensional, handsome features even more. His thin lips were tightly pressed together.

He wasn't listening to a word Xie Bailing was saying.

"The next time I see student Su Wan, if I think it's appropriate, the two of you should meet," Xie Bailing said, noticing that her son had remained silent all this time, his face cold and indifferent as if lost in thought.

"Mom thinks student Su Wan is truly pretty, gentle, and sensible. Even though she's from the countryside, her foreign language skills are so exceptional. If she marries into our family and is properly cultivated, we might just be able to nurture a future diplomat out of her."

"Mom, I won't meet her. I have my own plans." Huo Xiaohan hadn't taken in a single word Xie Bailing had said for quite a while. His voice was extremely faint: "If you like her so much, you can introduce her to Meng Xinhao."

"You..." Xie Bailing was about to be driven crazy by this impenetrable son of hers. Why was he always so ice-cold regarding matters between men and women? Even if she described the other person as a heavenly fairy, he showed not the slightest bit of interest.

Yet, suddenly recalling the first sentence her son had uttered, she asked with a trace of surprise: "What plans do you have? Is there someone you've already taken a fancy to?"

Huo Xiaohan's thin lips pressed into a tight, straight line. His gaze was profound and heavy as he said word by word: "This is my own affair."

Afterward, he closed his eyes, intending to rest.

This younger son of hers had been willful since childhood—cold-natured and keeping everything bottled up inside, unwilling to share his thoughts with the family.

With a temper like that, whoever married him in the future would surely end up quarreling with him every single day. "Fine, if you're not willing, I'll introduce her to Xinhao instead."

Xie Bailing placed the peeled apple on the table and boiled a fresh kettle of hot water. After finishing these tasks, she returned to the school to busy herself with her own work.

A moment later, a guard walked in: "Reporting, Regiment Commander, Secretary Jiang just went out for a meeting and won't be back for a few days."

Huo Xiaohan opened his eyes: "Understood."

After discussing the translation pay and working hours with Director Miao, Su Wan walked out of the office.

Before leaving, she also asked for Professor Xie's phone number. She owed this job entirely to Professor Xie's recommendation letter, so she wanted to express her heartfelt gratitude.

As soon as she stepped out of the office, she ran straight into Fang Yu's venomous, vicious, and jealousy-distorted face. A pair of black-and-white eyeballs glared at her fiercely like fish eyes.

It was as if Fang Yu could not accept the disparity that she, a country bumpkin, possessed superior foreign language skills.

Ignoring Fang Yu's expression, Su Wan walked right past her.

She still needed to go back to the Song family's place to pack her luggage, move back into the Huo residence, and then brew fish soup for Huo Xiaohan.

She had also thought it through: Huo Xiaohan was such a sharp and clever person that if he had any suspicions about her, he would have harbored them long ago.

When she mentioned in the morning that a pebble had gotten into her shoe, he had genuinely believed her. Therefore, she didn't need to worry about being exposed through her interactions with him.

People tend to fall into a pattern of inertia in their thinking; in his mind, she was simply a scheming, scandal-ridden bad woman.

Whereas "Tingting" was a sacred, beautiful nurse who saved lives and healed the wounded, basking in universal glory.

As long as she didn't appear before him under the identity of "Tingting" and leave any suspicious flaws, Huo Xiaohan would never connect the two of them together.

Thus, she only needed to interact with Huo Xiaohan normally, while simultaneously seizing the opportunity to promptly probe any changes in his attitude toward "Tingting."

Principal Song and Secretary Yang had already settled her wages yesterday, and today she had come back to retrieve her back-basket.

Before leaving, Secretary Yang was full of reluctance, telling her to visit the Song family more often whenever she had free time, and handing her Song Wenbo's wedding invitation, making sure to urge her to attend the banquet.

Su Wan accepted it, shared a brief embrace with Secretary Yang, and then took the bus back to the Huo residence.

Nurse Wu was overjoyed to help her pack the luggage inside the back-basket.

Su Wan's room had been converted from the second-floor study. The entire left wall was lined with wooden bookshelves piled high with various books, ranging from elementary school to university textbooks, alongside numerous books and newspapers concerning military and scientific subjects.

There were also two desks, which presumably used to be used by the Huo family's eldest son and Huo Xiaohan back when they were students.

Now, the Huo family's eldest son remained in a state of "disappearance," and Huo Xiaohan lived at his unit.

This study was basically no longer in use.

It would be perfect for Su Wan to translate manuscripts and study right at the desk as soon as she returned from delivering meals to Huo Xiaohan.

Translators not only enjoyed high pay but also flexible hours without the need for office attendance; they only needed to submit their completed Chinese translations to the publishing house at a fixed time each week.

Peeking through the crack of the door, Su Xiaohui stared with a malignant, curse-like gaze at Su Wan, who was tidying up inside the study.

She looked at the white cloth dress Su Wan was wearing—the most popular summer fashion for city folks—as well as the other pretty ready-made dresses and blouses pulled out from the back-basket.

Although these were secondhand clothes given to Su Wan by others, they were precisely what Su Xiaohui dreamed of most.

She was so consumed by jealousy and darkness that she wished she could take a pair of scissors and shred every single garment to pieces.

Yet she could not; she had to maintain her persona of being well-behaved and sensible. She had overheard Uncle Huo and Aunt Huo discussing taking her to the hospital for a checkup.

Moreover, Auntie Xie had returned yesterday with Huo Xinyi, but because they had heard about her self-harming episode, they chose to stay with Huo Xinyi at the school instead.

She must not make even the slightest mistake that would cause Uncle Huo and the others to detest her.

"Jie, Nurse Wu, have some water. I'll help you clean up together." Su Xiaohui pushed open the door and obediently poured two cups of plain boiled water.

Wiping the sweat from their brows, Su Wan and Nurse Wu turned to look at Su Xiaohui, their eyes revealing a subtle nuance.

This strange, subtle look pierced deep into Su Xiaohui's heart like a thorn. Ever since yesterday's incident, everyone looked at her with this exact expression.

It was as if they no longer regarded her as a normal human being.

They acted polite on the surface, but in reality, they were simply terrified that she might suffer another trigger and go mad.

"No need, Xiaohui, we're almost done packing anyway." Just as Nurse Wu finished speaking, Old Mrs. Huo called her downstairs.

Putting down the water cup, Su Xiaohui noticed what looked like a box at the very bottom of the back-basket. Just as she bent down to grab it, Su Wan shoved her away: "Get out."

"Sister, I just saw you working so hard and wanted to help you pack," Su Xiaohui said with a pitiful air.

"Don't push me to slap you." Su Wan couldn't be bothered to keep up the act with her anymore. She had wanted to say these words for a long time, but previously, the Huo family members all stood on Su Xiaohui's side, coupled with the girl's exceptional talent for playing the pitiful victim.

Things were different now, however—Su Xiaohui herself had admitted to having mental health issues.

"Sister...?" Su Xiaohui's face turned slightly pale, adopting a pathetic look, though deep down she genuinely hoped Su Wan would strike her.

She couldn't help thinking how wonderful it would have been if Nurse Wu hadn't left just a moment ago.

"Once I slap you, I'll go downstairs and tell Grandma Huo that your condition acted up again. Who do you think Grandma Huo will believe—you or me?" Su Wan said, her lips curving into a cold, mocking smile as she looked at her.

Su Xiaohui clenched her fists in disbelief. Su Wan was actually using the very tactics she used to employ against her right back against her!

This incident had only happened yesterday; if Grandma Huo found out, she would undoubtedly believe Su Wan.

Above all, she realized that she was no longer a match for Su Wan.

Ever since waking up from falling into the water, this hussy Su Wan had grown abnormally shrewd, and she hadn't managed to extract a single advantage from her hands since.

Instead, her own standing within the Huo family was slipping lower and lower.

She could only wait for Fang Yu to make a move from her end.

Once Su Xiaohui left, Su Wan checked the door lock—everything was secure.

After finishing packing, she locked the door, pulled out the key, and went downstairs to brew the fish soup for Huo Xiaohan.

Because a member of her family had been in a car accident previously, they had specially hired a nutritionist.

She had eaten those meals as well, so she knew which ingredients were beneficial for healing wounds.

Therefore, every day she went to the vegetable market alongside Nurse Wu specifically to purchase ingredients for Huo Xiaohan's soups.

Today, aside from the ingredients for Huo Xiaohan's soup, she had also used her own money, borrowing several milk and sugar coupons from Uncle Huo, to buy milk, eggs, and white sugar at the supply and marketing cooperative.

She was going to make some pudding to thank Professor Xie.

In this era, people had never tasted pudding, and eating a cool, refreshing pudding in the summer was exceptionally comforting.

After making the sweet, tender pudding infused with peaches in the kitchen, she packed it into an aluminum lunch box.

Together with the translated Chinese manuscript, she slid it into her green canvas satchel.

First, she headed to the publishing house to hand over the translated Chinese manuscript for Director Miao to review.

Director Miao adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose, looking at Su Wan's translation with growing delight. This required not only excellent foreign language proficiency but also a certain accumulation of Chinese vocabulary; lacking either one, it would be impossible to translate such a high-quality manuscript.

"Su Wan, from now on, this 200,000-word literary work will be assigned to you for translation." Director Miao made this decision as soon as he finished reviewing the 10,000-word trial manuscript.

"Director Miao, wasn't this 200,000-word literary work already assigned to me for translation?" asked a female comrade wearing glasses, showing a five-to-six-month pregnant belly. "I've already translated 30,000 words of it."

"Comrade Gao Hui, after reviewing the manuscripts translated by both of you, I feel that Comrade Su Wan's translation fits the core of this literary work much more perfectly. Therefore, I have decided to let Comrade Su Wan complete this 200,000-word literary work."

Glancing at Comrade Gao Hui's pregnant belly, Director Miao said with a caring tone: "Staying up late every day to translate this manuscript is not good for you or the baby in your belly. This 100,000-word literary work is relatively less difficult, and translating it will be much easier for you."

"But Director Miao..." Hearing this, Gao Hui's expression turned extremely unsightly and dissatisfied.

She spent every day staying up late checking English dictionaries, sitting at her desk from morning till night, yet could only churn out a little over 2,000 words a day. She had spent a full half-month on those 30,000 words.

Having poured so much effort and hard work into it, Director Miao was now going to completely negate her prior efforts just by glancing at this new translator's manuscript. Most importantly, the other literary work was only 100,000 words, and the per-thousand-word remuneration dropped from 15 to 12.

How could she, a dignified student from a foreign languages school, possibly lose to a high school junior?

"Don't worry, Gao Hui, you won't need to return the remuneration for the 30,000 words you've already translated." Director Miao had made this call precisely because he wasn't entirely satisfied with the work Gao Hui had produced.

That was why he had given Su Wan a 10,000-word trial, never expecting the resulting translation to be unexpectedly brilliant.

"Director Miao, then I'll be heading back first. Once I finish translating these 50,000 words of the English manuscript, I'll bring them over to you." Glancing at the wall clock in the office, Su Wan slipped the 50,000-word English manuscript into her satchel and bid farewell to Director Miao.

Upon stepping outside, she happened to spot Fang Yu arriving to submit her manuscript, accompanied by a scholarly young man.

Perhaps because this scholarly young man was present, Fang Yu reined in her expression somewhat, though the deep hostility she held toward Su Wan remained palpable.

Su Wan had no time to entertain her and hurried toward the bus stop across the street.

Professor Xie had invited her to meet at the military district hospital over the phone and had even urged her to dress up nicely.

She had no idea why Professor Xie wanted to meet at a military hospital; perhaps she was worried that someone coming from the countryside might not know the way.

Telling her to dress up nicely must mean she wanted to introduce her to someone from the school.

With these thoughts in mind, Su Wan smoothed down her hair against the bus window just before getting off.

"Su Wan, if you hadn't worn this French floral dress, I wouldn't even have recognized you." Under the hospital veranda, Xie Bailing watched the graceful, slender young woman approaching, her eyes sparkling with delight.

With dark hair, red lips, crescent-shaped brows, and delicate, dewy skin that looked as though it had been soaked in milk, paired with a pair of sweet dimples on her cheeks, the entire girl looked soft, pure, and classic, like a classical beauty stepping straight out of an ancient painting.

If Su Wan hadn't walked right up to her and sweetly called her Professor Xie, she wouldn't have recognized her at all.

She truly was pretty enough to make it impossible to look away.

"Professor Xie, this is the pudding I made for you and your granddaughter. Have a taste and see if you like it. If you do, let me know, and I'll make more for you." Su Wan took the aluminum lunch box out of her green satchel, her sweet voice brimming with respect.

Xie Bailing opened the aluminum lunch box and took a look. A wave of sweet, milky fragrance wafted directly into her nostrils, looking soft, bouncy, and extremely tempting. She exclaimed in admiration: "My, this pudding smells wonderful! It must taste delicious. Perfect—I'll let my hospitalized son have a taste."

"Professor Xie, is your son sick and hospitalized?" Su Wan asked, somewhat surprised.

"He's a military officer. He just had surgery a few days ago to remove a bullet from his shoulder, and yesterday was the first day he could walk on his own," Xie Bailing introduced with a beaming smile, growing more and more satisfied the longer she looked at Su Wan.

If Xiaohan didn't show any reaction later when he saw her, she'd have to make an andrology doctor give her son a thorough checkup to see if something was wrong with his body.

Su Wan paused. How could this description sound identical to Huo Xiaohan's? So she asked: "Is your son..."

"He's a regiment commander named Huo Xiaohan. He's already 26 and still hasn't married a wife," Xie Bailing said gently, taking Su Wan's hand. "Accompany me to the ward to visit him first, and later I'll treat you to a meal at the state-run restaurant."

Su Wan instantly withdrew her arm, her soft, clear almond eyes filled with shock. This Professor Xie turned out to be Huo Xiaohan's mother!

Furthermore, dressed like this to see Huo Xiaohan, she would undoubtedly be recognized by him.