Evelyn pulled her gaze back. She walked out of the lobby. The driver had already pulled the car around and was waiting.
When she got home, she went straight to the main house to see her mother-in-law.
Right now, Eleanor was losing her temper at Chloe. A bowl lay shattered on the floor. Chloe stood to the side, tears in her eyes. She looked deeply wronged but didn’t dare to cry.
Evelyn watched for a long moment.
She figured her mother-in-law didn’t want to drink the bitter medicine. Chloe had tried to persuade her, and that had set Eleanor off.
Since her illness, Eleanor’s temper had grown much worse than before. She often lost her cool for no reason.
The doctor had explained it. The medication had side effects. Irritability was one of them.
That was why the company and emotional support of family mattered so much.
“Chloe, go take a rest. I’ll handle this,” Evelyn said to her.
“Ma’am, she hasn’t taken her medicine yet,” Chloe whispered.
“It’s fine. I’ve got it,” Evelyn replied with a smile.
“Thank you, Mrs. Sterling. I’ll step out then.” Chloe finished speaking, walked out of the old lady’s room, and closed the door behind her.
Evelyn bent down to pick up the broken pieces on the floor.
“Don’t touch that. You’ll cut yourself. Let Chloe come back and clean it up,” Eleanor said, her face dark.
“It’s okay. I’ll just toss them in the trash. They’re in the way here. Mom, I’m planning to learn how to make osmanthus cake this weekend. Can you do it?” Evelyn asked as she gathered the shards.
“No,” Eleanor replied flatly.
She wasn’t in the mood to care about any cake.
“Then learn with me. I heard it’s not too hard,” Evelyn continued, unfazed by her mother-in-law’s anger.
“Just tell Chloe or Lily to make whatever you want to eat. Why do you have to do it yourself when you have work?”
“I don’t have to work on weekends. And I can make it when I feel like eating it. I heard sticky rice cake is also really good. I want to learn that too.”
“You want to learn everything. Do you have the energy for all that?”
“No, but I can take it slow. It doesn’t matter,” Evelyn replied patiently. She pulled up a chair and sat down beside her mother-in-law’s bed. “Mom, you can learn with me. Then we can have a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law competition to see who does it better.”
“Hmph. I don’t want to,” Eleanor turned her head away.
“I know. You’re afraid you’ll lose to me,” Evelyn said with a teasing smile.
“Who said that? With how clumsy you are, it’d be a miracle if you made anything edible.”
“Talking is cheap. Maybe I’ll actually make something delicious,” Evelyn shot back triumphantly.
That was how Evelyn got her mother-in-law talking about learning to make cakes on the weekend. It distracted Eleanor’s attention.
Then she asked the nurse to prepare the medicine again. She fed it to her mother-in-law herself.
After Eleanor finished eating, Evelyn kept chatting about the weekend plans.
“You’ve talked so much, and the weekend is still days away,” Eleanor grumbled, her mood souring again.
“Time flies. See, we have to ask the kitchen to prepare the ingredients. Then we have to learn the steps ourselves. Before you know it, it’ll be Saturday,” Evelyn counted on her fingers.
Just then, Evelyn’s stomach growled.
“You haven’t eaten yet?” Eleanor asked, looking at her.
“I forgot. I came straight from work without eating,” Evelyn answered with a smile.
“What do you want to eat? Tell Chloe to make it for you.”
“I want Yangchun noodles,” Evelyn replied directly.
“Tell Chloe yourself.”
“Mom, you tell her for me. If you do, she’ll cook it better.”
“What difference does it make?” Eleanor grumbled, but she still rang the bell. Chloe came in, and Eleanor told her to cook some Yangchun noodles for Evelyn.
Evelyn added, “Chloe, make extra. I’ll eat with Mom.”
“Yes, Mrs. Sterling,” Chloe said with a smile and went to cook.
“You child. If you want to eat, just say so. You don’t have to eat with me,” Eleanor replied.
“I think Yangchun noodles are delicious. Mom, don’t you think the broth is so good you have to drink every last drop?” Evelyn licked her lips, looking dreamy.
“You’re such a foodie,” Eleanor said with a smile.
She said it, but there was clearly more warmth on her face.
After they finished the noodles, Evelyn pushed the old lady over to the window. They looked at the starry sky outside.
Then Evelyn told her mother-in-law stories about the constellations.
Eleanor listened, completely absorbed. Finally, she asked, “Evelyn, how do you know so much?”
“Gray told me,” Evelyn answered.
How did she know so much? It was all from the places Gray had taken her and the things he had said to her after they got together. She had written it all down, bit by bit. Now she brought it out to offer her mother-in-law like a treasure.
“Oh,” Eleanor replied. Then she asked, “Is Gray back yet?”
“I don’t think so. If he were back, he’d come see you first. He’s been very busy these days,” Evelyn said.
“That poor child,” Eleanor sighed.
“It’s okay, Mom. As long as you’re healthy, Gray has nothing to worry about. He can focus on his work,” Evelyn said with a smile.
Eleanor nodded and said nothing more.
Later, Gray returned to Sterling Mansion after work. He went straight to the main house to see his mother. Then he walked back to Sterling Manor with Evelyn.
“Chloe said Mom was in a bad mood today. Was it hard on you?”
“Not really. Mom’s moody because of the medicine. She’s like a child. You just have to coax her.”
Gray looked at Evelyn and smiled.
“I didn’t know you were so good at this.”
“It’s just putting yourself in her shoes. Mom can’t go anywhere right now. Staying in her room all day and taking such awful medicine—it’s normal for her to be in a bad mood. If it were me, I’d be bored out of my mind,” Evelyn sighed.
“In a few days, when Mom is better, you can take her out for a walk,” Gray nodded.
“I told her the same thing. I asked her to hold on for a few more days. I said I’d take her to learn how to make osmanthus cake.”
“Do what?” Gray thought he had misheard.
“Osmanthus cake. It’s the perfect season for it. Don’t you think it’s romantic? Sitting under the osmanthus tree, eating osmanthus cake, drinking tea, and smelling the fragrance?” Evelyn asked with a smile.
“So this is how you usually sweet-talk Mom. No wonder she listens to you so much.”
“I’m not sweet-talking her. Everything I said was true,” Evelyn muttered.
Gray touched Evelyn’s head and laughed.
“You’re going to be a gentle and wonderful mother someday.”
“Really?” Evelyn looked up at him, her eyes full of hope.
“Of course. You’ll be a fool for your kids.”
Evelyn broke out in a sweat. How was that a compliment? Gray’s words had completely changed the meaning.