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

Chen Ping stood at the door without knocking. After listening for a few seconds, just as he was about to leave, the door opened from the inside.

Cui Ying stood at the door, wearing a light pink loungewear set, her hair loose, and a smile still lingering on her face.

She saw Chen Ping standing at the door, paused for a moment, then stepped aside and said, "Come in. I know you didn't eat enough at the restaurant."

Chen Ping wanted to say he was full, but his stomach growled, giving him no chance to lie.

While with those leaders, Chen Ping was so busy pouring and toasting that he couldn't eat properly, let alone get enough to eat.

Cui Ying smiled and pulled Chen Ping in, pressing him to sit down at the table.

Several plates were laid out on the table: braised pork, stir-fried bok choy, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes. They were all takeout from the restaurant that night, heated in the microwave, and still steaming hot.

There was also a bowl of millet porridge next to it, thick and with a layer of rice oil floating on top.

Zhou Xiaohe sat across the table, holding a bowl of porridge in her hand, her cheeks bulging and rice grains still stuck to the corners of her mouth.

She saw Chen Ping, smiled, and her eyes crinkled.

"Uncle Chen, Sister Cui Ying said you didn't eat enough and drank too much alcohol, so she specially made this for you to avoid upsetting your stomach."

Zhou Xiaohe pushed the bowl of porridge towards Chen Ping.

Cui Ying glared at Zhou Xiaohe, "You talk too much. Wasn't this made for you?"

Zhou Xiaohe smiled and did not refute, but Cui Ying's guilty look made it clear that she was lying!

This millet porridge was specially cooked for Chen Ping.

Cui Ying handed Chen Ping a pair of chopsticks, saying, "Eat up, or you'll get hungry in the middle of the night and there won't be anything to eat."

Chen Ping nodded, took the chopsticks, and began to eat.

The three of them sat around the table. Chen Ping drank a bowl of porridge, feeling warm and relaxed in his stomach.

Chen Ping sat in the chair, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Shall I tell you a joke?"

Zhou Xiaohe looked up, her eyes lighting up. "Okay!"

Cui Ying stared intently at Chen Ping, wanting to know what joke he was going to tell.

Chen Ping slowly stood up, thought for a few seconds, and slowly said, "A patient went to the hospital for a checkup. The doctor asked him, 'Where do you feel unwell?' The patient said, 'It hurts when I touch this spot, and it hurts when I touch that spot. My whole body aches.'"

"The doctor examined him, but couldn't find anything. Do you know why?"

"I know, that patient is definitely faking it," Zhou Xiaohe said.

Chen Ping shook his head.

Cui Ying said, "That doctor must be a quack, that's why he couldn't find anything."

Chen Ping shook his head again.

Cui Ying and Zhou Xiaohe were both taken aback.

"Uncle Chen, what is the reason for that?" Zhou Xiaohe asked curiously.

"Because the patient wasn't actually sick, but his finger was broken, so it hurt him to touch anything."

Zhou Xiaohe was stunned for a moment, then realized what she meant and burst into laughter, leaning on the table with her shoulders shaking.

Cui Ying also laughed, laughing so hard that tears almost streamed down her face.

Chen Ping watched the two of them laugh and laughed along with them.

After Zhou Xiaohe finished laughing, she looked up, her eyes red from laughing.

She looked at Chen Ping, then at Cui Ying, her lips curled up, her eyes bright, and suddenly said something.

"Uncle Chen, Sister Cui Ying, I wish you were my mom and dad."

The room fell silent.

The light from the table lamp shone on Cui Ying's face, which changed from white to red, and then from red to a deeper shade, turning red all the way to her ears and neck.

Zhou Xiaohe didn't think there was anything wrong with what she said and continued, "You two must be very happy together, and your children will definitely be very happy too."

"Your children won't have parents forcing them to study, fathers who get drunk and beat them, or mothers who say 'I'm doing this for your own good' every day. Your children must be incredibly happy."

"Cough cough..." Cui Ying coughed twice with a flushed face, then got up and went to the bathroom.

Chen Ping was also a little embarrassed and quickly said, "I'm full, you two should go to bed early."

After saying that, he turned and left.

He didn't walk fast, but his strides were longer than usual. He reached the door in two steps, opened it, and went out.

The door wasn't closed properly, and a gust of wind blew in through the crack, causing the curtains to flutter slightly.

Cui Ying came out of the bathroom, saw that the dormitory door was not closed properly, went up and closed it properly, then locked the door.

Zhou Xiaohe stood up and asked softly, "Sister Cui Ying, did I say something wrong?"

Cui Ying turned around, touched her head, and ran her fingers through her hair very gently.

"No, you're right. Go brush your teeth, it's time for bed." Cui Ying looked at Zhou Xiaohe with eyes full of doting affection.

Although Cui Ying is not much older than Zhou Xiaohe, she already considers herself the matriarch.

Zhou Xiaohe nodded and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

The sound of the tap running, gushing and splashing, broke the silence in the yard.

"Sister Cui Ying." Zhou Xiaohe's voice came from the bathroom door, her mouth full of toothbrush, her voice muffled.

"Um?"

"Is Uncle Chen angry?"

"no."

"Then why did he leave?"

Cui Ying did not answer.

Zhou Xiaohe didn't ask any more questions.

The toothbrush stirred in the water glass, the water was poured out, and the light went out.

Zhou Xiaohe climbed into bed, burrowed under the covers, and curled up like a kitten.

Cui Ying reached out and pulled the blanket up to cover her shoulders.

"Good night."

Goodnight, Sister Cui Ying.

The lights went out, and the room became dark.

Chen Ping lay in his dormitory, recalling the conversation between the couple in the hospital room.

By now, the two of them should have finished, right?

Lost in thought, Chen Ping fell asleep!

the next morning.

Chen Ping was still dreaming. His dream was a jumbled mess: students were lining up to take medicine, Cui Ying was laughing, and Zhou Xiaohe was calling him "Dad."

The knocking pulled him out of the room. It wasn't a gentle knock; it was urgent, a loud, pounding sound, like a drumbeat.

He opened his eyes. It was still dark, and the shadows on the window were hazy. His phone was on the side of his pillow. He pressed a button and saw it was 5:40.

He got up, put on his slippers, and went to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, the woman from the ward stood in the doorway, her hair disheveled, one button of her coat fastened haphazardly, her expression a mixture of anxiety and embarrassment, her eyes red-rimmed.

When she saw Chen Ping, she said anxiously, "Dr. Chen, please come and see him quickly! My husband... he can't get up. He cries out in pain whenever he moves. His back hurts. I don't know what's wrong..."

The woman's voice was urgent and soft, as if she was afraid of being overheard.

Chen Ping didn't ask any more questions. He turned around, picked up the needle case from the table, and followed the woman to the ward.

One of the motion-activated lights in the corridor was broken, leaving a section dark. The woman walked quickly, her shoes scraping against the floor with a soft, rustling sound.

When they arrived at the ward door, Chen Ping went in first, followed by the woman. She closed the door, but not completely, leaving a crack.

The man lay face down on the bed, his face buried in the pillow, the blanket pulled to one side, his hospital gown crumpled and twisted like a pretzel.

He heard footsteps, turned his head, his face was covered in sweat, his complexion was pale, and his lips were trembling.

He tried to move, and with a strain of his waist, he hissed and froze, as if someone had acupunctured him.

Chen Ping walked over, placed the needle case on the bedside table, and put his hand on the man's lower back.

The pressure was applied from the lumbar spine down to the sacrum. When the pressure reached the area next to the fourth lumbar vertebra, the man's waist suddenly straightened, and he let out a soft "ah" sound, which was not loud but muffled, as if it were squeezed out from his throat.

"Does it hurt here?" Chen Ping asked.

The man gritted his teeth, nodded, and sweat streamed down his forehead and nose.

Chen Ping pressed a few more times, pushing his fingers on the muscle. The skin wasn't red or swollen, and there was no feeling of the bone being dislocated. It was just a muscle strain, acute lumbar muscle strain, nothing serious.

He released his grip, took out two needles from his needle case, and pricked the man's lower back twice. After twisting his fingers a few times, the man's brows slowly relaxed, and his breathing became even.

About ten minutes later, Chen Ping removed the needle, pressed the injection site with a cotton swab, and patted the man's shoulder.

"Get up and give it a try."