After her dramatic cousin stopped acting up, the aloof doctor got anxious.

"It's nothing, it just seems like there are bugs."

Shen Ruo touched the spot where she had been patted, pressed it, and it hurt a little.

Shen Ruo withdrew her hand, not paying much attention.

It's perfectly normal to get crawled on by insects in a rural orchard; it's probably a caterpillar or something. She was stung by a caterpillar when she was little, and that's exactly what it felt like. It would be fine in a couple of days.

But she was genuinely afraid of these kinds of creatures.

Caterpillars, centipedes, spiders, all sorts of creatures with many legs or no legs—the sight of them makes her scalp tingle.

In the real world, in the old neighborhood where she lives, the stairwells are full of all kinds of insects in the summer, and she has to mentally prepare herself every time she goes upstairs.

Thinking of this, Shen Ruo immediately lost the desire to pick the fruit.

Looking at Zhou Lan, whose basket was almost full of picks, he couldn't help but say, "Zhou Lan, that's enough! Can you even eat all of that?"

Zhou Lan was eating a peach. "If I can't finish it, I'll take it back to my boyfriend."

"When did you get a boyfriend?"

Xiao Zhang, the colleague next to him, looked shocked.

"It starts today."

Zhou Lan finished speaking without changing her expression, and then took another bite of the peach.

Xiao Chen was laughing so hard he couldn't stand up straight. Pointing at Zhou Lan, he said, "You'd throw away all your integrity for a few peaches."

Wei Jing and Zhou Lan were together, but their colleagues at the hospital didn't know.

Zhou Lan nodded, "No, the peaches are more important."

Shen Ruo smiled, shook her head, and walked out of the peach garden.

She sat down on a stone bench by the roadside, touched it with her finger, and felt a burning sensation on her skin.

I got stung by a caterpillar.

Shen Ruo made up her mind and stopped worrying about it.

Laughter echoed from the peach orchard. Zhou Lan and Xiao Chen were arguing about whose peach was bigger, while Xiao Zhang acted as the referee. A colleague was filming a video, saying he was going to post it on WeChat Moments.

As Shen Ruo listened to these sounds, the corners of her mouth unconsciously curved upwards.

She rarely experiences this kind of liveliness, this kind of warmth, this feeling of a group of people laughing carefree together in the real world.

She likes this world now.

About half an hour later, Xiao Chen's father came out of the yard, stood at the door and called to them, "Girls, dinner is ready, come in."

"Here it comes, here it comes."

Zhou Lan was the first to respond, and Shen Ruo stood up, picked up her basket, and followed her into the house.

The octagonal table was piled high with bowls and plates, so many that it was impossible to count them all at a glance.

Braised pork belly, sweet and sour fish, spicy chicken, water spinach with garlic, stir-fried lotus root, stir-fried minced pork with pickled cowpeas, braised pork ribs, corn and pork rib soup, cucumber salad, preserved egg and tofu, and a large bowl of freshly served crayfish.

Standing in front of the table, Xiao Zhang swallowed hard. "My goodness, Aunt Chen, you made way too much food!"

Mrs. Chen smiled so much that her eyes narrowed into slits. "Oh dear, it's a rural place, there's nothing fancy here. Everything is grown and raised by our own family. I'm just glad you don't mind."

This is what you call not having anything good?

Looking at the table full of dishes, Shen Ruo felt that Chen's mother's understanding of the words "good things" might be different from that of normal people.

In her eyes, this level of farm-style cuisine is not something you can just eat whenever you want.

"Aunt Chen, this dish looks and smells delicious!"

Shen Ruo sincerely praised her.

Mrs. Chen was embarrassed by the praise and kept piling food onto their plates, saying, "Eat more, eat more. You kids work so hard at the hospital, and you're all so thin."

Shen Ruo: "..."

She decided not to argue and focused on eating her food.

The braised pork melts in your mouth, rich but not greasy, with a perfect balance of sweet and salty.

Sweet and sour fish is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The fish skin is fried until crispy, and the fish meat is tender and juicy. Dipped in sweet and sour sauce, it is so delicious that you can't stop eating it.

The crayfish was seasoned with thirteen spices. The crayfish meat was firm and chewy, and it was soaked in broth. With one bite, the layers of spices exploded in your mouth. Shen Ruo felt that the crayfish she had eaten before were all fake.

"Aunt Chen, how did you stir-fry this lotus root? It's so crispy!"

Zhou Lan asked questions as she ate.

"Fresh lotus root shoots, thinly sliced, stir-fried quickly over high heat, with a little white vinegar added, will give them a crisp texture."

Mrs. Chen sat beside them, watching them eat happily, barely touching her own chopsticks, just watching with a smile.

Shen Ruo hadn't experienced the feeling of being watched over by an elder with loving eyes while eating for a long time.

She ate with great care. These dishes were precious, not because the ingredients were expensive, but because the person who cooked them put their heart into them.

While eating, Shen Ruo felt a sharp pain in her neck again.

She subconsciously reached out and touched it, feeling that it hurt a little more than before.

It's probably an allergic reaction. When she was little, she would get stung by a caterpillar and her swelling would go down in a couple of days.

With so many people at the table, all chatting and laughing happily, she didn't want to spoil their fun over such a small matter.

After the meal, Mr. and Mrs. Chen brought out some fruit.

Sliced ​​cantaloupe, washed grapes, and a plate of peaches freshly picked from the tree.

"Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Chen, you're too kind. Our stomachs are about to burst."

Xiao Chen touched her stomach and leaned back in her chair with a pained expression.

"Eat slowly if you're full. These peaches were just picked from the tree and won't keep for long."

Mrs. Chen pushed the fruit plate towards the center.

Shen Ruo took a piece of peach, took a bite, and her eyes narrowed from the sweetness.

Freshly picked peaches are a completely different species from those sold in fruit shops.

She quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe her mouth and then touched her neck.

The area of ​​pain felt larger, spreading from the back of my neck to below my ear.

Shen Ruo frowned, but quickly regained her composure.

She didn't want everyone to worry, especially since it was Xiao Chen's birthday. If she suddenly said she had an allergic reaction to insect bites, Xiao Chen would definitely blame herself and think it was caused by the insects in her orchard.

My phone shows it's past nine o'clock.

Shen Ruo glanced at the time and felt it was about time. Everyone had to go to work tomorrow, and going back too late would mean not getting enough rest.

Xiao Chen stood up. "Okay, that's all for today. Thank you everyone for coming to celebrate my birthday. I'm very happy."

Zhou Lan also stood up, stretched, and said, "It's good that you're happy. I'll come again next time. I haven't picked enough fruit yet."

"You've picked a whole basketful and you're still not done?"

Xiao Zhang laughed at her.

"One basket isn't enough. I'll take it to the department tomorrow and distribute it, one for each person. Once it's all gone, it'll be gone."

The group walked out chatting and laughing.

Mr. and Mrs. Chen saw him to the door and tried to persuade him to stay, saying it was too late and the room was all ready. But Xiao Chen stopped them, saying, "Mom, I have to go to work tomorrow, don't stay."

When Shen Ruo reached the door, she took her phone out of her pocket.

There was a message from Qi Wenshen on WeChat, sent at 9 o'clock.

【arrive.】

Shen Ruo made the call directly.

The phone rang once and was answered.

"Cousin, we're getting ready to leave."

"Yes, outside."