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

Chen Ping sat in the car, sunlight streaming in through the window.

He took a deep breath, opened the car door, and got out.

I walked to the door, reached out and pressed the doorbell. As soon as my finger touched the button, the door opened from the inside.

Cui Ying stood at the door, wearing a beige thin sweater, jeans, sneakers, and her hair tied in a low ponytail.

She was carrying a small crossbody bag, with the strap draped over her shoulder.

Upon seeing Chen Ping, Cui Ying didn't ask about last night's events, what time he went to sleep, or how Su Meng was doing.

Her gaze lingered on his face for a moment, then shifted away, as if to confirm that he was still there and hadn't been lost. Once she was sure, she stopped looking at him.

"You're back just in time, no need to take a taxi."

After saying that, he walked past Chen Ping, opened the passenger door of the Porsche, and got in.

The movements were swift and decisive, and the sound of the seatbelt being fastened clicked out crisply in the quiet courtyard.

Chen Ping stood at the door, paused for a moment, and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Fang called me from the mall and asked me to buy her some cosmetics. She's going back tomorrow, and if I don't buy them today, I won't have time."

Cui Ying placed her bag on her lap, fastened her seatbelt, turned her head to look at him and smiled, "What are you standing there for? Get in the car."

Chen Ping got into the car, started the engine, reversed, and drove out of the residential area.

On the way, he glanced at Cui Ying, who was looking down at her phone. The screen showed a message from Li Fang, a string of cosmetic names followed by "Please, please" and several exclamation marks.

Cui Ying read them aloud to Chen Ping one by one: what brand of foundation, what shade of lipstick, what function of face cream. After she finished reading, she put her phone away.

Chen Ping muttered, "Women are such a hassle."

Cui Ying didn't reply, but just smiled slightly.

Although Li Fang lives in the countryside, rural women also love beauty.

A love of beauty is a woman's nature, and it doesn't discriminate between rural and urban people.

However, there are very few cosmetic stores in Siping Township. If you want to buy big-name cosmetics, you have to go to the city.

Just then, Chen Ping and Cui Ying were going back tomorrow, so Li Fang sent a message to Cui Ying, asking her to bring her something from the city.

Once at the mall, Cui Ying quickly started shopping.

She seemed very familiar with cosmetics; she entered the store, bought everything, and paid in one go, coming out with two bags in less than twenty minutes.

She put the bag on the back seat, clapped her hands, and sat back in the front passenger seat.

Chen Ping started the car and asked her if she was going back. Cui Ying shook her head and said, "Aren't you still thinking about that girl? Go and see her."

Chen Ping glanced at her and suddenly smiled.

Chen Ping was indeed thinking about the girl and really wanted to see her, but he didn't expect that Cui Ying was like a mind reader, able to see right through his thoughts.

Chen Ping drove his Porsche towards the south of the city.

Cuipingyuan residential area is still the same. The garbage piled up next to the trash can has been replaced with new garbage. A stray cat was squatting at the entrance of the building licking its paws. When it saw people coming, it disappeared into the holly bushes.

Chen Ping parked the car downstairs and turned off the engine.

Cui Ying unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.

When I got to the second floor, the door to room 203 was closed.

Chen Ping knocked three times, and footsteps came from inside the door, unhurried, with slippers pattering on the floor.

The door opened, and a girl stood in the doorway, dressed in pajamas, her hair tied in a bun, her face clean and fresh.

Her eyes were no longer swollen, the redness had subsided, and her lips had regained some color.

She saw Chen Ping, paused for a moment, and then smiled.

The smile wasn't big; the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, but his eyes lit up, like a light that had been turned on.

"uncle."

She called out, her voice louder than yesterday's, no longer squeezed out of her throat, but at the volume of a normal person speaking.

Cui Ying stood behind Chen Ping and smiled at her.

The girl stepped aside and pushed the door open a little wider.

The living room has been tidied up. The medicine box and cups on the coffee table are neatly arranged, the sofa cushions are back in their place, and the suitcase on the floor is gone.

The sound of stir-frying came from the kitchen, the range hood hummed, and the aroma of scallions being sautéed wafted out.

The girl's father peeked out from the kitchen doorway, holding a spatula and wearing a blue and white checkered apron.

He saw Chen Ping, paused for a moment, then quickly switched the spatula to his left hand, wiped his right hand on his apron a couple of times, and then stretched it out.

"Dr. Chen, you're here? Please come in and have a seat."

His voice was much clearer than yesterday, and his expression was no longer tense and stiff; it had relaxed.

The girl's mother came out from the inner room with a half-folded piece of clothing in her hand. When she saw Chen Ping and Cui Ying, she quickly put the clothing on the sofa, pulled them to sit down, and went to pour water.

The water cup is new, a glass cup, transparent, filled with boiled water, and water vapor has condensed into a fine layer of water droplets on the cup wall.

She finished her work, stood by the coffee table, rubbed her hands together, unsure of what to do next.

Chen Ping didn't sit down; he stood and looked at the girl.

The girl stood next to the sofa, her hands hanging at her sides. Her nails were trimmed short, not from biting, but from cutting them neatly.

She met his gaze without looking away or lowering her head.

"Little sister, what's your name?" Chen Ping asked.

The girl glanced at her mother, and the woman nodded.

The girl turned back to look at Chen Ping and said "Zhou Xiaohe" in a soft but clear voice.

The "禾" in "禾苗" (grain seedling).

"Xiao He, your uncle is going back to Siping Township tomorrow."

Chen Ping squatted down to her eye level. "Uncle wants to take you with him to the health center to continue your treatment. Acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, and psychological counseling—I guarantee you'll recover completely in a month. Do you believe me?"

Zhou Xiaohe looked at him but did not answer immediately.

Her eyes moved, not turning, but looking into his eyes for several seconds, and then she nodded.

The nod was very light, but very firm.

The woman stood to the side, her hands hanging down, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes.

The man came out of the kitchen, placed the spatula on the stove, turned off the range hood, and the kitchen became quiet.

The two looked at each other, but neither of them spoke.

After a few seconds of silence, the man spoke first. His voice wasn't loud, but every word carried the caution characteristic of a father.

"Dr. Chen, your health center is in Siping Township, right?"

Chen Ping nodded. "It's the Siping Township Health Center, but it's just been renovated and the conditions are much better than before."

Xiaohe doesn't need to stay in a ward; she can stay in the dormitory with Cui Ying. I'll give her acupuncture every day, and we'll brew the Chinese medicine ourselves. I've also prepared the dietary therapy prescriptions, which the cafeteria will use to prepare the meals.

The man rubbed his hands together and glanced at the woman.

The woman's lips twitched, but she didn't make a sound; instead, her fingers gripped the hem of her clothes even tighter.

The man took off his apron, draped it over the back of the chair, walked over, sat down on the sofa, rested his hands on his knees, lowered his head, and thought for about ten seconds.

"Dr. Chen, it's not that we don't believe you."

The man's voice was muffled, "Xiaohe is only fourteen years old, we...we're worried. She's never left us since she was little, and suddenly sending her to such a far place, we're not sure what to do."