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

Chen Ping smiled and said, "Dean Zhao, this noodle dish is quite good. I'm tired of eating in the city cafeteria every day, so this is a good change of pace."

"You really don't mind?"

"You really don't mind."

Zhao Guosheng breathed a sigh of relief, slurped a couple of mouthfuls of noodles, and then looked up again: "Dr. Chen, to be honest, I was really nervous before you came."

In previous years, several people came to provide counterpart support, but they couldn't stay and left after a maximum of two weeks.

One was even more outrageous: he reported for duty in the morning and disappeared by the afternoon, not answering his phone. It turned out he'd gone straight back to the city and told his superiors that the conditions there were too poor to work in.

"I'm not leaving," Chen Ping reassured Zhao Guosheng.

Zhao Guosheng glanced at him, but didn't reply, and lowered his head to eat his noodles.

After taking a couple of bites, he spoke again: "Your acupuncture technique this morning was truly amazing. I've been a hospital director for twenty years and I've never seen anything like it. Wang Jianguo has been a doctor for twenty years and he's never seen anything like it either. Where did you learn it?"

"It's a family heirloom," Chen Ping said.

"Really a family heirloom?" Zhao Guosheng was a little skeptical. "Where are you from?"

"My hometown isn't in Tianhai City, it's a small place, you wouldn't even know it if I told you."

Chen Ping picked up a piece of noodles with his chopsticks. "I left that place when I was six years old. Later, I went to school and worked, and I never went back."

"Where are your parents?"

"They've disappeared." Chen Ping's voice was calm. "They left when I was six years old and never came back."

Zhao Guosheng paused with his chopsticks, looked up at Chen Ping, seemed about to say something, but then swallowed his words.

After a while, he said, "It must be tough for you all by yourself."

"I'm used to it," Chen Ping smiled.

After finishing his noodles, Zhao Guosheng drank the last drop of soup from his bowl, wiped his mouth, and placed the sixteen yuan under the bowl.

"Let's go, we can take a nap when we get back, and we don't have much to do this afternoon."

The two left the noodle shop and walked on the streets of Siping Township.

The midday sun was so intense it made you dizzy. There weren't many people on the street, and even the dogs were lying under the eaves with their tongues hanging out.

Several children were wading barefoot in the ditch by the roadside, splashing water everywhere.

Back at the health center, the courtyard was quiet.

The old hen has disappeared, and there are fallen leaves all over the ground under the locust tree.

"I'm going to my office to take a nap. You should rest too." Zhao Guosheng yawned, picked up the jar, and left.

Chen Ping returned to the consultation room, sat on the chair for a while, then stood up, walked to the door, and looked at the mountain opposite.

The trees on the mountain were so green they looked almost black, layer upon layer, like ink had been splashed on them.

A few clouds drifted slowly eastward over the mountaintop.

He sat back down, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

The things in his mind were still there, and he tried to turn the pages, as if turning the pages of an invisible book.

Acupoints, meridians, prescriptions, acupuncture techniques... I turned the pages one by one, remembering a little more with each page I turned.

He's not in a hurry.

Now that he has this thing, let's take it slow.

Nothing much happened in the afternoon.

Around 2 PM, someone came in with diarrhea, and Liu Wei prescribed two berberine tablets.

Around 3 a.m., someone came in with a toothache. Wang Jianguo took a look and said it was a cavity that needed to be extracted, but the health center didn't have any anesthetic, so he told the person to go to the dental clinic in the township.

After four o'clock, no one entered the courtyard.

Chen Ping sat in the clinic all afternoon, flipping through that invisible book again and again.

As the sun was setting, he walked out of the clinic and stood in the courtyard.

The setting sun turned the western mountains a fiery red, and the distant mountains stretched out in layers, as if someone had used a brush dipped in thick ink to paint them stroke by stroke.

The locust tree leaves in the yard rustled in the evening breeze, and a few sparrows flew up from the branches, chirping as they flew towards the mountains.

Wang Jianguo locked the consultation room door, said goodbye to Chen Ping, and rode away on his bicycle.

Liu Wei also left. His home was in the next village, a half-hour walk away.

Li Fang locked the pharmacy, changed her clothes, picked up her bag, and left.

The courtyard fell silent.

Cui Ying came out of the accounting office, locked the door, and walked to Chen Ping's side: "Aren't you going back?"

"I'll be right back," Chen Ping nodded.

The two walked towards the backyard, one after the other.

The poplar leaves in the backyard rustled in the wind, casting long shadows on the ground.

"How's your first day at work?" Cui Ying asked.

"It's good, it's just that there are fewer patients," Chen Ping said.

"If it stays like this, you'll gradually get used to it," Cui Ying said, pushing open the dormitory door.

"Um."

"What are we having for dinner? How about we go to Uncle Liu's place? He's open in the evenings too, he has wontons and steamed buns."

"Okay." Chen Ping nodded.

"I'll be waiting for you at the door at seven o'clock."

"it is good."

Cui Ying went inside and closed the door.

Chen Ping also pushed open his own door and went inside.

The wooden box lay quietly on the table, the setting sun shining through the window, casting a dim light on the brass lock.

Chen Ping sat down by the bed, picked up the wooden box, and placed it on his lap.

He didn't try to open it again.

Some things will come when they're meant to.

At 5:55, when Chen Ping pushed open the door, Cui Ying was already waiting at the door.

She changed into a white short-sleeved shirt, and her hair was down, draped over her shoulders. It looked quite different from when she wore a ponytail during the day, and she looked much softer.

"Let's go." Cui Ying smiled.

The two people walked through the backyard of the health center towards the front yard.

The courtyard darkened, the shadows of the locust trees blended into the night, and only a faint gray-white remained on the horizon.

The old hen has gone back to her roost, and the yard is so quiet you can hear your own footsteps.

Once outside the health center, the streets were much quieter than during the day.

Most of the shops along the road were closed, their roller shutters pulled down, leaving them dark and empty.

Only a few shops were still open, with dim yellow lights shining from their windows.

Zhang, the hairdresser, was sitting at the entrance enjoying the cool air, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan. Seeing them approach, she greeted them with a smile, "Little Cui, taking your boyfriend out for dinner?"

"Sister Zhang, you're talking nonsense again!" Cui Ying blushed and quickened her pace.

Chen Ping followed behind, smiled, and said nothing.

Uncle Liu no longer sets up his stall in the alley at night; he moves it to the side of the street under a large sycamore tree.

Two more tables were set up next to the cart, and an incandescent light bulb hung on a tree branch, buzzing and swirling around it.

The stall had a few more items than in the morning: wontons, steamed buns, braised eggs, and a small bowl of cucumber salad.

"They're here!" Uncle Liu's voice was as loud as ever when he saw them. "Little Cui, you brought your boyfriend? Come in, come in!"

Cui Ying was too lazy to explain anymore, so she simply found a table and sat down.

Chen Ping sat opposite her.

"What would you like to eat?" Uncle Liu asked as he walked over, wiping his hands on his apron.

"Two bowls of wontons, a basket of steamed buns," Cui Ying said, "and a plate of cucumber salad."

"Okay!"

The wontons were served first, in a large bowl, with dried shrimp, seaweed, and chopped green onions floating on top, steaming hot.

The steamed buns came out next, eight in a steamer basket, plump and white, with neatly pinched pleats.

The cucumber salad is sweet and sour, with plenty of minced garlic, making it crisp and refreshing.

Chen Ping took a bite of the bun; the meat filling was firm and the soup was plentiful, much better than those chain bun shops in the city.

"These steamed buns are delicious." Chen Ping nodded repeatedly.

"Of course! The meat is from a pig slaughtered this morning, and the vegetables are freshly picked from the field. How could it not be delicious?" Uncle Liu said proudly from the side.