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

Only Chen Ping, Cui Ying's father, and the secretary remained in the private room.

Cui Ying's father zipped up his briefcase, put it aside, picked up his teacup from the table, took a sip, and put it down.

He looked at Chen Ping for several seconds, then reached out and patted Chen Ping hard on the shoulder.

"Chen Ping, if it weren't for you today, this contract wouldn't have been signed. If something like this happens again, follow my advice and learn how to do business."

Cui Ying's father's words were quite clear; he considered Chen Ping as family.

He only has one daughter, Cui Ying. When Cui Ying marries Chen Ping, this huge company will eventually be handed over to Chen Ping.

Therefore, it's normal for Chen Ping to learn how to do business now.

Chen Ping smiled but didn't say anything, because he didn't know how to answer.

He and Cui Ying are not even officially dating yet; they're not even boyfriend and girlfriend.

Although he understood Cui Ying's feelings and knew how much she loved him, Chen Ping didn't dare to reveal too much to her now.

He didn't know if he could give Cui Ying happiness, and he was even more unsure if he could give Cui Ying a future.

In fact, deep down in Chen Ping's heart, Su Meng still holds a certain place.

Although the two are divorced, they were together for more than ten years. It's impossible for Chen Ping to completely forget Su Meng right after the divorce.

Chen Ping isn't the kind of person to be heartless and ruthless. It will take time for him to truly forget Su Meng!

"Let's go, if we get back late, that mother and daughter will probably start nagging again."

Cui Ying's father patted Chen Ping on the shoulder and then walked out of the tea room.

Chen Ping followed Cui Ying's father out of the tea room.

When they returned to the hospital ward, Cui Ying's father pushed open the door and walked with much lighter steps than when he left.

A smile stretched from the corners of his mouth to the corners of his eyes. As soon as he entered the room, he threw his briefcase onto the bed, kicked off his shoes, leaned back on the hospital bed, and let out a long sigh.

Cui Ying was sitting on the folding bed looking at her phone when she looked up at him. She felt a little strange because her father rarely smiled like that.

"Dad, did you find some money?" Cui Ying asked.

"More exciting than finding money."

Cui Ying's father pulled the contract out of his bag, patted it in his hand, making a clattering sound, and said, "That old Zhou from Shanghai, he held onto the price for two weeks, but Chen Ping managed to negotiate it down to me in twenty minutes. The contract is signed, at my price."

Cui Ying glanced at Chen Ping, smiled faintly, said nothing, and lowered her head to continue looking at her phone, but her fingers remained motionless on the screen.

Cui Ying's mother came out of the bathroom, holding a freshly washed towel, drying her hands, and asked, "Did you sign it?"

Cui Ying's father nodded and handed her the contract.

She took it, flipped through it, couldn't understand it, and gave it back to him.

"Chen Ping did the work."

Cui Ying's father put the contract away and looked at Chen Ping. "You didn't see it. Old Zhou's face had been twitching for so long. Even the experts in the provincial capital couldn't do anything about it. But after a few needles from Chen Ping, the twitching stopped on the spot. Old Zhou was convinced and signed the contract faster than anyone else."

Cui Ying's mother glanced at Chen Ping, her eyes showing approval.

Cui Ying sat on the edge of the bed, scrolled through her phone, but couldn't focus on anything.

Chen Ping stood by the window and opened it a crack. The night breeze blew in, cool and refreshing, carrying the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms from the garden downstairs.

"Uncle, get some rest today. You'll have another IV drip tomorrow for observation. If everything is fine, you can be discharged the day after tomorrow."

Chen Ping closed the window, turned around, and said, "Auntie and Cui Ying, go back to sleep. I'll stay here and keep watch."

Cui Ying's mother glanced at Cui Ying's father.

Cui Ying's father nodded and said, "You all go back, I can manage on my own."

Cui Ying's mother didn't respond to him. She started packing her things, emptying the leftover food from the insulated bag into the trash can, folding the bag neatly, and stuffing it into her bag.

Cui Ying stood up, picked up her coat, glanced at Chen Ping, seemed to want to say something, opened her mouth slightly, then closed it again.

"Thank you for your hard work tonight," said Cui Ying's mother.

"It's alright, Auntie."

Cui Ying and her mother left.

Cui Ying's father leaned against the headboard with his eyes closed, and within minutes he started snoring. The snoring wasn't loud, but it was very even.

Chen Ping turned off the lights, leaving only the small nightlight by the bedside. He lay down on the folding bed, pulled the blanket up to his chest, and slowly closed his eyes.

The next morning, Director Qian brought the resident doctors to make rounds.

He walked to Cui Ying's father's bedside, asked about his diet and sleep, looked at his temperature chart and doctor's orders, and said, "He's recovering well. He can have another IV drip today and be discharged tomorrow."

The resident doctor made a few notes in his notebook, and the group turned to leave.

Chen Ping followed him out and called out to Director Qian in the corridor.

Director Qian stopped, let the resident doctor go first, turned around and looked at Chen Ping, waiting for him to speak.

"Director Qian, you know about that liver cancer patient and the drug trial?" Chen Ping asked.

Director Qian's expression changed slightly. He switched the medical record folder in his hand, glanced at the end of the corridor, and lowered his voice.

"Yes, the family signed the papers yesterday afternoon."

He paused, looking at Chen Ping, "Chen Ping, I know what you want to say. But you saw the situation in that family. They've been in arrears on hospital bills for several days, and their medication has been stopped long ago. The patient was in such a condition that he could pass away at any moment. When we asked them to leave the hospital, that woman cried and made a scene, refusing to leave."

"But they don't have the money to pay, so they're just stuck in the hospital. If the patient dies in the hospital, that would be a huge problem."

Chen Ping didn't speak, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

Director Qian continued, "That woman signed a drug trial contract, the medication is free, and she is also given living expenses. This is the best solution I can think of for this family, and the family agrees, after all, waiting to die is also a death sentence."

"If I let his family stay in the hospital any longer, and let that woman keep crying, I'm afraid I'll lose my job."

"But that man's illness can be cured, he doesn't have to wait to die..." Chen Ping said.

"Of course I know, but who will pay for it? Should the hospital treat him for free? Hospitals aren't charities."

Director Qian's words were unpleasant, but they were the truth.

Without money, even if an illness is curable, no one will treat you; you can only wait to die.

"I understand," Chen Ping said.

Director Qian glanced at him, patted him on the shoulder, and turned to leave.

The leather shoes clicked and clacked on the floor tiles, echoing in the corridor.

Chen Ping stood there for a while before returning to the ward.

Cui Ying's father had already sat up, leaning against the headboard, holding the chess set Chen Ping had bought yesterday, and laid out the pieces one by one, red and black pieces in their respective places.

Chen Ping sat down by the bed and played a game with him.

Cui Ying's father won and was in a good mood, so he set up another game.

Chen Ping won this round, but Cui Ying's father was not satisfied and set up another round.

In the middle of the third game, Cui Ying's father's rook was captured by Chen Ping's knight. After thinking for a long time, he pushed the pieces away and said he was done playing.

Chen Ping smiled and put the chess pieces back into the box.