Ross's Triumphant Spring Breeze

New Year's Day.

morning.

520 Apartment.

Good morning!

Good morning!

Caroline, who was staying overnight, and Monica, who was up early, bumped into each other outside the bathroom and exchanged awkward but polite smiles.

"Someone is so happy today!"

Looking at Caroline's rosy complexion, and thinking about the dark circles under her eyes caused by the commotion in the early morning, Monica couldn't help but tease her.

"I'm sorry, did I disturb you?"

Caroline, now well-versed in psychology, immediately guessed the reason and apologized.

"It doesn't matter."

Monica waved her hand.

She was filled with regret. If she had known this would happen, she would have stayed with her ex-boyfriend after the New Year's party last night, and that would have saved her from this pain.

But then I thought, keeping my ex-boyfriend around doesn't seem to make any difference...

Hi~

Just then, Ross pushed the door open and came in.

"Wow! This 'hi' is the 'hi' of 'happy'!"

Monica asked in surprise, "What happened?"

Ever since Ross discovered his wife was a lesbian and cheated on him, for months his greetings of "hi" had sounded like something that would make him want to commit suicide. He was nothing like he was today, so happy, even excited.

"It's nothing~"

Ross swaggered over, saying this with an air of smugness that was almost blinding, as if he would answer any further questions.

"OK".

Monica knew her brother too well, so she raised her hand and gave up asking.

She wouldn't tolerate his arrogant attitude.

"It's Carol."

Ross couldn't hold back any longer and said smugly, "Obviously, that Susan is just a novelty. How can she compare to me? I'm her husband!"

"What?!"

Monica exclaimed in surprise, "You and Carol are back together?"

"Last night—no, in the early hours of the morning—some people were very happy~"

Ross snapped his fingers, shook his head, and couldn't control the smile on his face.

"Uh, you heard that too? I'm sorry, I'll be more careful next time."

Adam, after hearing Caroline's reminder, smiled sheepishly as he came out of the bedroom and heard this.

Ross's lips twitched, and he glared at Adam with displeasure, blaming Adam for stealing his thunder.

He wasn't talking about you and Caroline.

Monica quickly explained, "It's him and Carol, they got back together!"

"What?!"

Adam was stunned, and asked incredulously, "Really?"

Could it be that the butterfly effect caused Carol to straighten out again?

"Of course it's true!"

Ross shook his head again, trembling, "It's like we're back in the honeymoon phase, that feeling, those expressions, that sensation~"

"Have you talked about it?"

Adam pressed for an answer.

What should we talk about?

Ross was taken aback, puzzled. "Is there any need to discuss this further? A thousand words wouldn't be as convincing as this! Besides..."

At this point, he shook his head for the nth time. "We didn't have time to chat at all. Carol is still fast asleep. I came here as soon as I could to tell you the good news."

Truly, Driver Luo is riding high on success!

"I see."

Adam's expression turned somewhat strange, and he kindly advised, "I think you'd better have a serious talk with her to find out if it's just a momentary impulse, or if you're really planning to get back together?"

In response, he suddenly had a bold idea...

night.

Adam and Caroline dined alone.

"I'm planning to find a new apartment."

Adam laughed and said, "It's more convenient to live alone."

"We really should find a separate apartment."

Caroline chuckled strangely, "You'll need to buy a sturdier bed and thick mattress pads, or someone will complain about you sooner or later."

"Hehe."

Adam smiled and nodded, then changed the subject. "What have you been busy with lately?"

"I?"

Caroline paused, her smile fading. "I'm still taking care of patients, but I don't think I can continue like this. I might find another job."

"You're too engrossed."

Adam sighed, "It's good to change jobs. Otherwise, if you continue working like this, treating all the patients as your own family and watching them pass away one by one, you absolutely won't be able to handle it psychologically."

"I didn't want it to be like this either."

Caroline's tone was tinged with anger. "But look at them! Do you remember Mr. Tucker?"

He was the patient I cared for the longest. He often looked out the window with a heartbreakingly lonely gaze. In the end, he left this indifferent world while I was reading to him.

After his death, the nurses sorted through his belongings and notified his family to come and claim them.

But no one came!

His family doesn't want to talk to him at all!

The box containing family photos, which belonged to Mr. Tucker, could only be thrown into the trash can behind the hospital.

There are already too many boxes like this piled up inside!

Adam remained silent.

Nursing homes are very popular in the United States.

Many families never had the traditional East Country concept of raising children to provide for them in old age.

It's more about valuing freedom!

Enjoy your time with your loved one without having to spend too much energy taking care of your children. When you get old, you don't plan to let your children take care of you; you'll earn your own money to live in a nursing home.

Both sides are very free.

Nursing homes are great too. So many people of the same age live together, can play together, and have dedicated caregivers for everything from eating and drinking to toileting and even hospitalization.

Your children support you because of the strong family bond built up over decades of living together, while nursing homes take care of you because of money.

Under normal circumstances, money is more professional and reliable than family ties.

So it looks really good!

But all this beauty is built on a sandcastle on the beach, which melts away with the first wave.

Not to mention that almost no caregivers can reach Caroline's level, and even if they could, it wouldn't make up for the longing for family affection in old age.

However, because they hadn't put much effort into cultivating family relationships in the past, and even had many conflicts, the family ties had become terribly weak, and the nursing home truly became a nursing home.

Family members rarely, if ever, visit.

Later, a saying became increasingly popular: a father is not a dad; affection is more important than blood ties.

In the original timeline, the friendship between Chandler and Joey was so touching because when Chandler bought a house, his first thought wasn't whether the house looked good or not, but that he would always leave Joey a loft for her to live in.

In his view, Joey, who runs every day, will definitely end up as a lonely old man.

Mr. Tucker was incredibly lucky to meet Caroline; most people just treated them as numbers, and once they died, they were gone...

What kind of job are you planning to look for next?

Adam suppressed his emotions and changed the subject.

Upon hearing this, Caroline lowered her eyes, swirled the red wine in her glass, and calmly said, "There's some progress, but I haven't made up my mind yet. Let's see..."

"Don't rush. Take this time to relax. Maybe you'll have a different perspective later."

Adam laughed.

"Relax?"

Caroline looked up and smiled, "You could help me with that, but only if you find a new apartment and buy new furniture as soon as possible."