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

Chen Ping ate two steamed buns and drank a few sips of wonton soup, feeling completely refreshed.

The mountain night breeze was cool and refreshing, and it felt just right on my skin.

"Dr. Chen," Cui Ying said, picking up a piece of cucumber with her chopsticks, "where are you from?"

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you, it's just a small place."

"What about your parents? Are they also in your hometown?"

Chen Ping paused for a moment with his chopsticks: "She disappeared when I was six years old."

Cui Ying paused for a moment, her chopsticks hanging in mid-air.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..." Cui Ying said somewhat awkwardly.

"It's nothing," Chen Ping smiled. "More than twenty years have passed."

"So you grew up alone?"

"Pretty much. I stayed with relatives in rotation for a few years, but after I got into university, I was on my own."

Cui Ying looked at him for a while, then lowered her head and stirred the wontons in her bowl. "You've had a tough time."

"It's alright." Chen Ping smiled. "And you? What does your family do?"

Cui Ying paused for a moment, her lips twitched as if she wanted to say something but then swallowed it back.

"A businessman."

"What kind of business?"

"I'll do anything," she mumbled, taking a bite of a wonton, clearly not wanting to continue the conversation.

Chen Ping didn't ask any more questions.

After the two finished eating, Uncle Liu came over to collect the bowls and calculated the bill: "Two bowls of wontons cost ten yuan, a basket of steamed buns cost eight yuan, and cucumber salad cost three yuan, totaling twenty-one yuan. Twenty yuan will do."

Cui Ying took out a twenty-yuan note and handed it over.

Uncle Liu took it and winked at Chen Ping: "Young man, come early tomorrow, I'll save you some freshly fried dough sticks."

"Okay, thank you, Uncle Liu."

It was completely dark.

There are no streetlights in Siping Township, and the houses on both sides of the street are all dark, with only a few windows letting out a little light.

The moon hadn't risen yet, but the stars overhead were incredibly bright, densely packed, more than ten times brighter than in the city.

The two walked back along the street.

Cui Ying walked half a step ahead, her hair swaying back and forth on her shoulders.

"What you just said," she suddenly began, "about your parents' disappearance, haven't you thought about looking for them?"

"I thought about it when I was a child, but I don't think about it anymore now that I'm older."

"It's not that I don't want to, it's that I dare not think about it. I'm afraid that if I think too much, I'll lose even that little bit of hope," Chen Ping explained.

Cui Ying didn't reply, but slowed her pace a little and walked alongside Chen Ping.

"And you? You're a graduate of a prestigious university, why did you come to this remote mountain village to work as an accountant?" Chen Ping asked.

Cui Ying remained silent for a long time.

The wind blew in from the other side of the mountain, carrying the scent of grass, trees, and earth.

"Don't laugh when I tell you," she finally said.

"Don't laugh."

My family has arranged a marriage for me.

Cui Ying lowered her voice, "The other party's family is also in business and quite wealthy. My parents thought it was a good match, so they arranged it. But I didn't even know what the person looked like, and they made the decision for me."

"You don't want to?"

"Of course I don't want to." Her tone hardened for a moment, then softened again. "But you know, some things aren't a matter of willingness. I've made a scene, argued, even gone on a hunger strike, but it didn't work. My mother says, 'It doesn't matter who a woman marries; life will be the same after a while.'"

"Do you believe it?" Chen Ping asked.

"I don't believe you." Cui Ying shook her head. "That's why I ran away. When they weren't looking, I bought a ticket and rode to the last stop, which is here."

"It's that simple?"

"It's that simple." She gave a wry smile. "Am I a coward?"

"I'm not a coward. You're braver than me. I was kicked out, but you made it out on your own." Chen Ping also gave a wry smile.

Cui Ying turned to look at him, then suddenly laughed: "Are we having a competition of who's more miserable?"

Chen Ping smiled and said, "I guess so."

As the two walked, when they were still half a street away from the health center, the roar of a motorcycle suddenly came from behind them, a loud rumble that was particularly jarring in the quiet night.

Chen Ping subconsciously moved closer to the roadside and pulled Cui Ying aside.

But the motorcycle didn't leave.

Several bright lights suddenly shone on the two people, making it impossible for them to open their eyes.

Chen Ping raised his hand to block the light and squinted to see three motorcycles, each with two people, parked on the side of the road, their headlights shining directly on them.

"Yo..."

A young man with dyed blond hair got off the motorcycle at the front, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He tilted his head and sized up Cui Ying. "Isn't this the junior accountant from the health center? Who are you strolling around with so late at night?"

The people in the other two cars also got out.

A bald man with a fake gold chain around his neck.

One had long hair and was as thin as a bamboo pole.

There was also a fat man wearing a floral shirt, with only the bottom two buttons fastened, revealing a section of his white belly.

The last one was wearing a helmet and hadn't taken it off; he was leaning back on the seat without moving.

There were five people, all of whom were young, around their early twenties.

Cui Ying took a step back, her voice a little tense: "What do you want to do?"

"What for?" The blond-haired guy grinned and took a step forward. "Nothing much, just thought it wasn't safe for you to be alone so late at night, so I wanted to take you home. This crappy place doesn't even have a streetlight, it's so dangerous."

"No need, I'll go back myself." Cui Ying's voice rose, carrying a clear sense of vigilance.

"Don't be so polite." The bald man also leaned forward, his eyes darting back and forth over Cui Ying. "The people of Siping Township are the most hospitable. You're from the city, girl, you have no idea how chaotic it is in the mountains at night."

"I said I don't need it." Cui Ying took another step back, almost bumping into Chen Ping.

Chen Ping reached out to help her, then took a step forward and stood in front of her.

"Get out of the way." His voice wasn't loud, but it was deep.

The blond-haired man finally looked at him properly, sizing him up and down before scoffing, "Oh, who's this? The chivalrous protector?"

"The doctor from the health center," Chen Ping replied.

"doctor?"

The blond-haired man flicked his cigarette butt onto the ground and stomped on it. "Why isn't the doctor staying at the clinic? What are you doing wandering around at night? Get lost and stop getting in the way."

"You're the ones who should get out." Chen Ping's tone was flat, but his eyes had turned cold.

"Damn, you think you're so great, huh?"

The bald man cursed, rolled up his sleeves, and said, "Do you know who I am? Who on this street doesn't know Brother Guang?"

"I don't know him," Chen Ping said.

"Damn it..." The bald man took a step forward, but was stopped by the blond-haired man.

The blond-haired man squinted at Chen Ping, then at Cui Ying, and suddenly laughed: "Alright, you're a doctor, right? Let me tell you, we've got our eye on this girl. If you know what's good for you, get lost now and don't make trouble for yourself."

"What if I don't know what's good for me?" Chen Ping retorted.

The yellow-haired man's smile vanished, and his eyes turned sinister.

"Then don't blame us for being impolite."

After Huang Mao finished speaking, he took a step back and winked at the people behind him.

The bald man was the first to rush forward, his fist aimed at Chen Ping's face.