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

Chen Ping glanced at Teacher Lin and said, "Give me your hand."

Teacher Lin mechanically extended her hand.

Chen Ping held onto Teacher Lin's pulse, but released it after only three seconds.

"Teacher Lin was also poisoned, but since she is an adult, she has a strong immune system, so she won't have any symptoms, and the toxins will be excreted on their own."

Chen Ping explained.

"But where did this poison come from?" Principal Zhao asked.

"We'll need to conduct an on-site investigation to find out," Chen Ping said.

"It's getting late, everyone should go back and rest." Zhang Jianmin looked at the sky and saw that it was almost dawn, so he told everyone to go back and rest.

Principal Zhao is gone, and Teacher Lin is gone too.

"Dr. Chen, I'll take you to Xiaoxishan tomorrow to find the source of the poisoning, otherwise it will be troublesome if this happens again."

After Principal Zhao and the others left, Zhang Jianmin spoke to Chen Ping.

"Okay!" Chen Ping nodded.

Zhang Jianmin and several government officials also left to rest.

"Dean, you should go and rest too. I'll stay here and keep watch."

Chen Ping said to Zhao Guosheng.

Zhao Guosheng yawned, tears streaming down his face, and nodded: "I'm going to my office to take a nap. Call me if you need anything."

"Hmm!" Chen Ping nodded.

Zhao Guosheng went to his office, while Chen Ping made another round of inspections. The children were all sound asleep.

Some parents were asleep, while others were playing on their phones, but they were also trying to stay awake.

Chen Ping saw Liu Wei asleep on the examination table, pen still in his hand, the words on the notebook crooked and illegible, the last few words already illegible.

Wang Tao leaned against the door of the consultation room, his head tilted to the side, his mouth open, and his snoring was not loud but very even.

Li Fang sat on the floor of the pharmacy, leaning against the medicine shelf, and fell asleep.

Wang Jianguo leaned back in the chair in the consultation room, his reading glasses hanging on his chest, his head nodding slightly.

Chen Ping gently closed the door to the consultation room and walked to the backyard.

Cui Ying was still sitting on the steps, and Zhou Xiaohe was asleep with her head on her shoulder, covered with a coat that belonged to Cui Ying.

When Cui Ying saw Chen Ping come out, she turned her head to look at him and her lips twitched slightly.

"Go get some sleep, your eyes are all bloodshot," Cui Ying said with concern.

Chen Ping shook his head, sat down next to Cui Ying, leaned against the wall, and looked at the moon in the sky.

The moonlight shone in the courtyard, on the crooked locust tree, on the rose bushes in the flower bed that hadn't yet bloomed, and on the potted green ivy plants by the door.

The wind blew by, and the locust tree leaves rustled, just like before.

"Chen Ping..." Cui Ying called out.

"Um!"

"Do you really want to stay at the Siping Township Health Center for the rest of your life?"

"have no idea."

Cui Ying stopped talking and gently hugged Zhou Xiaohe beside her.

"You two go to your rooms and sleep. It'll be too damp here by morning."

After Chen Ping finished speaking, he stepped forward and gently picked up Zhou Xiaohe.

Zhou Xiaohe murmured a couple of words, but didn't wake up.

Cui Ying stood up, stretched her body, and then opened the dormitory door.

Chen Ping gently placed Zhou Xiaohe on the bed, careful not to wake her.

Cui Ying smiled slightly as she watched Chen Ping's quiet and gentle movements, "When you have your own daughter, you'll definitely be a good father."

Chen Ping didn't answer, but smiled and said, "You should go to sleep early, it'll be dawn soon."

"Why don't you make do with sleeping here for a while?" Cui Ying asked.

The children were assigned to Chen Ping's dormitory, so Chen Ping had nowhere to sleep.

"No, it's just the two of you, a man and a woman alone, you..."

"I'm not afraid, so what are you afraid of? At worst, we just won't take our clothes off. Xiao He is here too, it's not just the two of us."

Before Chen Ping could finish speaking, Cui Ying interrupted.

"No, there are so many children, it's not good to leave them unattended. You should go to sleep."

Chen Ping left Cui Ying's dormitory, went to the front yard, and inspected it again.

Chen Ping was worried about having so many children without nurses at the hospital.

After making his rounds, Chen Ping returned to his clinic, where he lay down on the table and fell into a deep sleep.

Chen Ping was awakened early in the morning by a commotion.

He had been asleep on the examination table for who knows how long; his arm was numb, and a red mark was pressed against his face.

The noise outside grew louder and louder. There were several people talking at once, not just one, but a cacophony of voices, both men and women. It was hard to make out what they were saying, but their tone was off; it wasn't a discussion, it was an argument.

He stood up, stretched his stiff neck, and walked out of the consultation room.

The sun has already risen, shining brightly in the yard.

More than half of the children in the yard were gone; the few remaining were still packing their things, while their parents urged them on.

Wang Tao and Liu Wei blocked the entrance to the courtyard, their arms outstretched like two doors.

Zhao Guosheng stood between them, holding a jar in his hand, his expression a mixture of anxiety and helplessness, his lips moving incessantly.

"Fellow villagers, listen to me. It's not that I don't want you to leave, it's about the medical expenses..."

Zhao Guosheng's voice was terribly hoarse; he had been shouting all night and hadn't recovered yet.

A woman in red had the loudest voice. She stood at the front of the crowd, holding the hand of a boy who was rubbing his eyes, still half asleep.

Her voice was shrill enough to shatter glass, "Dean Zhao, the child got poisoned because the school took him on a field trip. If you want money, go ask the school. We're already being lenient by not asking them for compensation! And you're asking us for medical expenses?"

Several people behind him chimed in, "That's right, we should ask the school for it."

"Our child has suffered so much, and we haven't even settled accounts with the school yet."

"Dean Zhao, this is just being unreasonable."

They took turns saying things, effectively shutting down Zhao Guosheng's words.

Chen Ping walked over and stood next to Zhao Guosheng.

When Wang Tao saw him, it was like seeing a savior, and he called out "Dr. Chen".

The crowd fell silent for a moment, all looking at Chen Ping.

They knew Chen Ping; he was the one who treated the children last night, seeing each one without missing a single one.

"What's wrong?"

Chen Ping looked at Zhao Guosheng.

Zhao Guosheng placed the jar on the edge of the flower bed, spread his hands, and his face wrinkled up.

"Dr. Chen, these villagers want to take their children away without paying for the medical treatment. Our health center doesn't make much profit to begin with. We used so much medicine and stocked up on so much supplies last night. If they don't even charge for the most basic medical care, how can the health center stay afloat?"

"I meant for them to pay the medical expenses first, and then take the receipts to the school for reimbursement. But they refused and insisted that I ask the school directly."

Chen Ping understood.

He turned around and looked at the parents. His voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the quiet courtyard could hear him.

"Dear brothers and sisters, you all saw the children's condition last night. Dean Zhao adjusted the medication overnight, Pharmacist Li prepared countless bottles of medicine, and Dr. Wang and Dr. Liu stayed up all night without closing their eyes."

"The health center isn't a big hospital; it has a weak foundation. After last night's batch of medicine was used up, the pharmacy shelves were mostly empty. We need to restock soon, but we don't have the money. It's not that Director Zhao is heartless; the health center simply can't hold on any longer."

Chen Ping could only reason with these people.