Sent to the countryside, I turned the health center into a top-tier hospital.

Cui Ying pulled Chen Ping up to the second floor. At the end of the corridor, a door opened, leading to a south-facing bedroom.

The room was very large, more than twice the size of the dormitory Chen Ping was assigned at the health center.

The floor-to-ceiling windows had their off-white curtains half-drawn, allowing the afternoon sunlight to filter through and cast a warm yellow glow on the floor.

The bed is made of solid wood. There is a small lamp on the bedside table. The wardrobe next to it has one door open and is empty except for a few clothes hangers. It was obviously just tidied up.

The sheets and duvet covers were new, light gray, neatly folded, and had a fresh scent of laundry detergent.

The floor was polished to a shine, the windows were cleaned, and a potted green ivy sat on the windowsill with glossy green leaves.

Chen Ping stood at the door, looking at the clean and tidy room, feeling a lump in his throat.

He didn't know whether Cui Ying had cleaned the room or whether her mother had asked the nanny to do it.

Regardless of the reason, the room, inside and out, conveyed the same message: someone had put thought into preparing it specifically for him.

"How was it? Not bad, right?" Cui Ying leaned against the door frame, tilting her head to look at him.

Chen Ping nodded: "That's good."

"That's right."

Cui Ying smiled, walked in, and drew back the curtains. Sunlight flooded in, brightening the entire room. "This room has the best lighting. I specifically chose it. My room is right next door. If you need anything, just call out and I'll hear you."

As she spoke, she walked to the wardrobe, opened the empty door, looked inside, and then closed it again.

"I'll buy you clothes later, you don't need to worry about it."

She turned around and looked at Chen Ping, "As for cooking, you don't need to do it anymore. We have a housekeeper, so you don't need to lift a finger."

Just as Chen Ping was about to speak, Cui Ying interrupted him.

"I know what you're going to say, but you don't need to."

Her tone was harsh, exactly the same as when she said in the car, "Don't leave without saying goodbye again." "That's just how my mom is. What she says and what she thinks are two different things. The more you go along with her, the more she thinks you're easy to bully."

Just do what you need to do and don't worry about what she thinks. And don't worry about my dad either; he listens to me.

Chen Ping looked at her, smiled, and said nothing.

"What are you laughing at?" Cui Ying frowned.

"I wasn't laughing at anything."

Do you think I don't keep my word?

"no."

"That's fine then."

Cui Ying clapped her hands. "You can rest for a while, or take a shower. The towel is in the bathroom, it's new. I'm going downstairs to check on my mom, she must have something to say to me."

She walked to the door, then stopped and looked back at Chen Ping.

"Chen Ping."

"Um?"

"Don't go."

After saying that, she turned and left without waiting for Chen Ping's reply. Her slippers slapped against the corridor floor, the sound fading into the distance.

Chen Ping stood for a while, put the canvas bag on the bedside table, and sat down on the edge of the bed.

The mattress was very soft, much softer than the hard bed in his dorm room.

He stared at the potted green ivy on the windowsill for a long time.

My phone suddenly vibrated.

He took it out of his pocket, and a message popped up on the screen; it was from Su Meng.

"I've put all your clothes and shoes in the closet; I haven't thrown them away. Come back and get them when you have time. It's getting cold soon, time to change things up. I've also kept a few thick coats for you."

Chen Ping stared at the words on the screen, reading them one by one.

He could imagine how Su Meng looked when she sent that message.

She must have been sitting on the sofa while she typed, with the TV on but not watching, her phone in her hand, typing and deleting repeatedly before finally sending it.

She's not the type to speak up first, never has been.

So when he got divorced and left, Su Meng didn't try to stop him.

Chen Ping could understand Su Meng; she was no longer the naive young girl she was in college, but now she was the deputy director of the Health Bureau.

If you weren't ruthless, you wouldn't have gotten to this position.

Chen Ping typed three words, then deleted them, and finally replied with only one word.

"Um."

He put his phone back in his pocket, leaned against the headboard, and closed his eyes.

Sunlight streamed through my eyelids, casting a warm red glow.

After a while, he opened his eyes and glanced out the window.

The sky was beginning to darken, and the shadows of the trees downstairs stretched long, diagonally across the lawn.

He got up and went downstairs.

The kitchen is on the first floor and is open-plan. The stove is made of black marble, and a whole row of pots and pans are hung up, including three different sizes of non-stick pans.

The nanny was picking vegetables by the sink when she saw Chen Ping come in and paused for a moment.

"I'll do it," Chen Ping said.

The nanny glanced at him, then looked towards the living room.

Cui Ying's mother was sitting on the sofa watching TV, not looking this way.

"No, no, how can we let the guests do it?" the nanny quickly waved her hand.

"It's alright, you can rest." Chen Ping took the vegetables from her hand and turned on the tap to rinse them.

The nanny stood by for a while, and seeing that his vegetable-picking technique was indeed skillful, she hesitantly walked out.

Chen Ping stood alone in front of the stove, chopping vegetables and meat, and preparing scallions, ginger, and garlic.

He glanced at the contents of the refrigerator and had a general idea of ​​what was inside.

Two sea bass, a box of pork ribs, some seasonal vegetables, and a piece of firm tofu.

enough.

Turn on the heat, heat the pan, and pour in the oil.

His hands were steady, his knife skills were swift, and he controlled the heat perfectly.

The fish skin didn't break at all when I was frying it, and I flipped it at the perfect moment.

A few slices of ginger were added when blanching the ribs, and the blood foam was skimmed off cleanly. When braising them, the sugar was caramelized until it was translucent, coating each piece of ribs and giving them a bright red color.

The nanny stood at the kitchen doorway, completely absorbed in watching.

Forty minutes later, six dishes were laid out on the table.

Steamed sea bass, braised pork ribs, garlic broccoli, Mapo tofu, cucumber salad, and tomato egg drop soup.

Every dish was steaming hot, and the aroma filled the room.

Cui Ying's mother stood up from the sofa, walked to the dining table, and looked at the dishes on the table. Her expression changed.

She picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of pork rib, put it in her mouth, chewed it twice, and then stopped.

Then she picked up another piece.

"You...did you do all of this?" She looked up at Chen Ping.

"Um."

Cui Ying's mother put down her chopsticks, glanced at the dishes on the table again, and her gaze lingered on the sea bass.

The fish was cut three times, each cut evenly, and steamed for just the right time. The fish meat turned slightly open from the cuts, and it was so tender that it shone.

"I never expected you to have this skill," she said, her tone much more sincere than before.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Cui Ying's father changed into slippers and came in, carrying a briefcase. He immediately spotted Chen Ping standing by the dining table.

He paused for a moment, his brow furrowing slightly, but quickly relaxed.

"Dad!" Cui Ying ran downstairs to the dining table. "Chen Ping made this. Try it."