Chapter Twenty: Sacrificing for Love

  Xia Meng returned home to find no one there. She pushed open her parents' bedroom door and was shocked to discover a folding bed still set up in the room. Rushing to the guest room, she found signs that her father had been living there, but hadn't had time to clean up yet - they were already separated! It was only because Xia Meng had come back for summer vacation that they had temporarily moved back into one room just to put on a show for her. Xia Meng sat blankly in the living room, unsure of what to do next. She didn't want her parents to get divorced!

  Xia Meng called her father: "Dad, come home before 8 o'clock tonight." Before the father could speak, she hung up the phone and called her mother again: "Mom, come home at 8 o'clock tonight!"

  Xia Meng swept the house, then went to the supermarket to buy kitchen supplies. After that, she went to the vegetable market to buy ingredients for her parents' favorite dishes. Just as she was about to start cooking based on her imagination, her phone rang. Xia Meng opened it and saw that it was a call from Li Han.

  "Where are you?" Xia Meng asked.

  "I'm in America, at home, what's wrong with you? Your voice doesn't sound right?"

  Xia Meng suddenly wanted to find someone to cry with at this moment, but the person she wanted to cry with was not Li Han. "Nothing, just getting ready to stir-fry!"

  "What dish should I stir-fry?"

  "Vinegar-soaked potato shreds, sugar and vinegar spare ribs, twice-cooked pork!"

  "What can you do?"

  Summer dreams fell silent.

  "Log in OICQ, turn on the video, I'll teach you how to do it!"

  Xia Meng suddenly remembered that Li Han had sent her some dishes before the sports meeting, which were truly delicious! She quickly opened the video and learned from him on the spot.

  "First, wash the potatoes and green peppers clean, and prepare the scallions, ginger, and garlic. Peel the potatoes, cut them into shreds, and soak them in clear water. Rinse until the water becomes clear. Next, cut the green peppers into shreds as well! Cut the garlic into slices, and the scallions and ginger into shreds."

  Li Han sat in front of the computer, acting as Xia Meng's stir-fry instructor. "Put oil in the pot, okay, can't add more, put Sichuan peppercorns, fry until fragrant, scoop out! Stir-fry onions, ginger, garlic and dried chili peppers. Add potato shreds and green pepper, stir-fry. Alright, add vinegar, sugar, salt and chicken essence. Good, dish it up!"

  Under Li Han's guidance, Xia Meng made three dishes. Although the taste was not as good as Li Han's, they looked very appetizing.

  "Not bad at all! Much better than I expected!" Li Han praised.

  "I'll get ready first!" Xia Meng shut down her computer and arranged the dishes on the dining table.

  At 8 o'clock in the evening, the doorbell rang, and both parents returned home on time. Seeing the dishes on the dinner table, both parents were stunned. In fact, Xia Meng's father and mother were not good at cooking either, and they had been eating out for years, so the kitchen was almost just a decoration, but their daughter had cooked three dishes that they liked.

  Vinegar braised potato shreds and twice-cooked pork are Xia Meng's father's favorite dishes, while sweet and sour ribs are Xia Meng's mother's favorite.

  Xia Meng took out the wine glasses and poured three cups of red wine. "Dad, Mom, I'd like to toast you first, thank you for raising me." Xia Meng took a big sip, her throat burning.

  Wang Lian looked at her daughter, wanting to say something but stopping herself, and silently took a big gulp. Xia Xiuke tilted his head back and took a big gulp: "My daughter knows how to treat us with red wine, we can't not drink it!"

  Xia Meng also smiled, "I've been busy studying, and you guys have been busy working. The scene of the three of us gathering together feels like it's from a past life."

  Wang Lian's eyes were filled with tears, but she didn't say a word.

  "Dad, I'll be home every evening to make dinner and wait for you guys to come back. Can you promise me to come back early?" Xia Meng looked at her father with pleading eyes.

  Xia Xiuke looked at Xia Meng and then at Lin Lian, sighed and said: "We want our daughter to guarantee that she will be back home for dinner by 8 pm every night!"

  Xia Meng smiled comfortably, she didn't know the reason why her parents were going to divorce and didn't want to know. She loved her parents and didn't wish them to divorce. This summer, she had grown up, and for the sake of her beloved, she must learn to give.

  The next day, Xia Meng got up early and went to the vegetable market to pick out the freshest vegetables. After returning home, she opened her computer, logged into OICQ, and waited quietly for Li Han's icon to light up. Suddenly remembering that the US and China have a time difference, what should she do? She decided to send him a text message instead.

  Unexpectedly, the text message got a response, and Li Han's gray avatar lit up. "Cooking again? What's wrong with you? Has something happened at your house?" Li Han asked anxiously. Xia Meng rarely took the initiative to contact him, and she was so anxious to learn cooking from him at home, there must be some hidden reason.

  Xia Meng didn't know whether to mention the family affair to Li Han. After a moment's thought, she said in a low voice: "My dad and mom are going to separate, but I don't want them to get divorced."

  Li Han looked at Xia Meng on the other end of the computer, her head down and shoulders shrugged. She must be very sad, he had never seen this expression before. Now she was just pretending to be strong and optimistic in front of her parents. She tried so hard, just wanting to regain her parents' affection, but he couldn't bear to see his loved one so helpless. He had to think of a way to help her, to make sacrifices for the one he loved, always ready!

  "I'll send you a few simple dishes later, and I'll write down the detailed steps, send them to your OICQ, just follow the steps I sent you."

  Li Han booked a return ticket overnight. After finishing breakfast, his parents informed Li Han that they would meet in the living room upstairs to discuss something with him.

  Li Han entered the living room, his parents sat stiffly at the table, their faces stern, creating a very tense atmosphere.

  "Li Han, we have already contacted an American school for you! When are you ready to come over?"

  "Dad, Mom, can we talk about this later? I've already booked my return ticket and I'm leaving this afternoon!"

  Li Shengjie and Ma Qian stared at each other, the lines they had thought were good were all messed up by Li Han's single sentence "Leave tonight".

  "Hey, son, can't we... discuss this again?" Ma Qi was a bit incoherent. This son had been too headstrong since he was young. When they had finalized their plans to go abroad and went back to pick him up, the kid had said: "I'll decide my own affairs, you two don't have the right to decide where I go! I love my country, I won't go anywhere!" He had literally made his parents so angry that they were internally injured.

  "Alright, let's talk about this next time I come back! You two are a loving couple, and you don't have me around to bother you, so you should be grateful. If it's really not working out, then just have another kid, either a brother or sister is fine with me! And by the way, don't bother coming to see me off at the airport this afternoon, just go ahead and take care of things!"

  "No, you little stinker! How dare you speak to your mother like that!" Ma Zi was getting a bit flustered and wanted to chase after Li He.

  "Never mind!" Li Shengjie hugged Ma Qian, "Let him be, don't expect to rely on this young man's shoulders for now! From start to finish, the one who is most loyal and reliable to you is only me, this old man!" Li Shengjie hugged Ma Qian, patting her back, comforting the disappointed woman in his arms. "Li Han submits his research results on time every half year, which has already made us feel relieved! As parents, our son's happiness is the most important thing, and the small sacrifice of separation is also something that parents should bear!"

  Three days later, Xia Meng's mobile phone rang: "Girl, what is your specific home address?" Li Han shouted over the phone.

  "Where are you? Aren't you in America? What's the point of asking." Xia Meng was studying the recipe Li Han had written for her.

  The relationship between her parents has slowly eased under Xia Meng's mediation. Every evening, the three of them would have dinner together, discussing new things that happened around them, and Xia Meng's cheerful laughter infected her parents. Her mother Lin Lian's worried face gradually crept up with a smile, and her father Xia Xiuke's tightly furrowed eyebrows slowly relaxed. Xia Meng seemed to have returned to her childhood days in City A, when her grandmother would cook dinner and everyone would gather around the table, chatting and laughing together.

  "I'm now near your residential area, but which floor is your house on?" Li Han had once heard Xia Meng mention that she lived in a residential area in B City, so he followed Xia Meng's description and came here by feeling.

  Xia Meng came to the balcony, pushed open the window and saw Li Han holding a phone downstairs, looking up at the upstairs.