Chapter 131: Mom

That was the most agonizing period of Ming Han’s life; every passing minute felt like torture. Gazing through the glass of the intensive care unit, his greatest fear was that the computer monitor displaying the electrocardiogram would suddenly flatline.

"Mom! You have to pull through!"

Su Ruhai said to Ming Han, "Xiao Han, you should go home and rest. I’ll call you if anything happens."

How could Ming Han possibly sleep at a time like this? He shook his head. "Grandpa, please keep an eye on things for me. I’ll see my classmates off and be right back."

Ming Han felt deeply grateful to his friends; they had been quietly by his side since the accident occurred.

"I’m sorry I can't share the joy of academic success with you all," Ming Han said.

Everyone had done well on their exams. Even Da Xu had scored fifteen points above his projected estimate.

"Ming Han, your mom will be fine. We’re all waiting for the grand feast she promised to celebrate us getting into high school."

"Yeah!" Ming Han nodded vigorously.

His unreliable mother was always making grand promises to others, constantly saying things like, "Yuhang, once you succeed in your exams, Auntie will teach you my secret family recipes—even Xiao Han hasn't tasted them yet!" or "Chen Li, if Xiao Han isn't helping you enough with math and physics, just tell me, and I’ll give him a good talking-to."

Mom, you’ve made so many promises to so many people—please, wake up and fulfill them, won't you?

Yuhang did very well on his exams, so he’s already nagging me about your secret family recipes. I don't want to tutor Chen Li in math and science anymore; why don't you wake up and give me a beating instead?

After seeing everyone off, Ming Han returned alone. Looking through the car window, Chen Li watched his lonely figure and felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow. She longed to take out her phone and send him a long message, telling him not to be sad or heartbroken, that she would always be there. But suddenly, she realized that even if she were always there, some people were simply irreplaceable.

That night, Ming Han did not sleep at all.

The next day, many people came to the hospital one after another. They were all friends of Su Yan. Ming Han thought to himself: knowing Mom, she could probably start a gossip session with a stranger just by buying tofu at the market! They offered fruit baskets, shared their blessings, and left with heavy sighs.

Mom, please wake up! Without you, the gossip scene in the neighborhood and at the market has been in a slump. All those aunties are waiting for you to come back and take charge! And your regular customers—they miss your sweet and sour pork ribs, your kung pao chicken, your smoked duck necks... For the sake of the people's standard of living, Mom, you have no reason to keep sleeping.

Ming Han called out to her in his heart countless times; he felt certain that Su Yan must be able to hear him. He often imagined, when he was so exhausted that he fell asleep on the hospital hallway bench, Su Yan would walk over and wake him up: "You decadent boy, you have such a bright youth ahead of you, why aren't you out there having fun?"

Yes, that was exactly Su Yan’s style. I always thought you were such an eccentric mom—unconventional, out-of-the-box, acting like a big kid. Now I realize that this is exactly the kind of mom I love.

When other kids were being pressured by their mothers to do homework or attend advanced math classes, you were playing *Metal Slug* with me, having the time of our lives. When I was in elementary school and other kids were too afraid to tell their moms they failed a test, you, hearing I’d been punished by the teacher, stormed into the school to criticize their rigid and inhumane education system. You boasted proudly, "I know how outstanding my son is. I can't even bear to hit him, so how dare you bully him?" At that moment, all my classmates clapped frantically, cheering, "Auntie, are you looking for an adopted son?"

And while everyone else was warning their sons not to date early and to study hard to build the nation, you proudly told me how famous you were in middle school, how the school heartthrobs and rebels were all falling at your feet... Then, squinting at me, you’d add, "Don't embarrass your mother at school. If no girl likes you, I’ll be too ashamed to call you my son."

Hey, Mom, I guess I really did inherit all your fine genes.

Su Yan had given birth at eighteen—and as an unwed mother at that! In elementary school, many forms required a family register. Once, when Ming Han’s register was snatched away, the other kids flipped through it and mocked him, "Ming Han, you have a mother but no father." Upon hearing this, Su Yan rushed to the school and told those children, "My son has a mother, and he is loved; he will grow up healthier and more vibrant than anyone else."

Because of that incident, Su Yan quit her low-paying job, dedicated herself to studying recipes, and opened her own restaurant. She was striving to give Ming Han the best life possible. In Ming Han's eyes, she had succeeded.

Her son was 181cm tall, handsome, and cheerful—this was all her doing. So Mom, please wake up and watch us live even happier lives.

Three days later, the doctor brought Ming Han some news: the patient’s vital signs had stabilized, and she was no longer in critical condition. Su Ruhai’s hands trembled as he repeated, "Good, good, good..."

Ming Han let out a long sigh. Mom, did you hear my call?

"But we still don't know when she will wake up."

Ming Han’s grandmother was terrified upon hearing this. "Doctor, is my daughter going to be in a vegetative state?"

The doctor shook his head. "Unlikely. All her test results are gradually returning to normal. We suggest moving her back to a regular ward and waiting for her to wake up."

His grandmother wept with joy. "Heaven hasn't forsaken us good people! When I get back, I’m going to burn incense and pray."

Ming Han asked, "Grandma, aren't you a Christian?"

The old woman laughed. "Right, right, then—Amen, thank you, Jesus!"

Seeing the family finally emerge from such tension, the doctor was also pleased. He said to Ming Han, "I really wouldn't have expected a teenager to be so calm under these circumstances. And your love for your mother has deeply touched me. With a son like you, I believe your mother will definitely find the resolve to wake up."

Ming Han rubbed the back of his head. "Doctor, I’m not really that great."

This was the first time in days that Ming Han had looked at his mother up close. Su Yan’s face was pale, yet she was truly beautiful. Ming Han now believed her claims that she had been the talk of the town in her school days.

"Mom, you’re such a generous person—why would you do something so silly?"

From the police report, Ming Han had learned the full story of the accident. "The victim was driving when her hat was blown off by the wind; she ran into the middle of the road to retrieve it and was struck."

Mom, that hat only cost fifty yuan. If you had just complimented that freckled auntie a few more times on her looks, she probably would have given you a pair of gloves for free. The item was cheap, yet it almost cost you your life.

But because it was a gift I had picked out with such care, it had become more valuable than anything else in the world.