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

Chen Ping withdrew his gaze, paused for a moment, and then followed Zhou Jie and Sun Xiaoyan.

The three people left the health center and walked east along the street.

The main street in Siping Township is not long; it only takes about ten minutes to walk from one end to the other.

The street is lined with old shops selling groceries, repairing bicycles, and selling seeds. Elderly people squat in front of the shops, basking in the sun, while children run around.

The supermarket is in the middle of the street, and it's the largest storefront on the street. Several boxes of drinks and two baskets of loose apples are displayed at the entrance.

Once inside the supermarket, Zhou Jie and Sun Xiaoyan wandered between the shelves, picking out some daily necessities such as toothpaste, soap, and clothes hangers, as well as two packs of biscuits and a bag of milk powder.

Chen Ping leaned against the doorway and waited, taking out his phone and scrolling through it.

After a while, Zhou Jie and Sun Xiaoyan came out carrying plastic bags.

Zhou Jie took out a pack of cigarettes, Hongtashan, hard pack, from her bag and stuffed it into Chen Ping's hand, "Dr. Chen, this is for you."

Chen Ping was taken aback, glanced down at the cigarette in his hand, and frowned. "What are you doing?"

Zhou Jie smiled, revealing two dimples on her face. "We're new here and don't know anything. We'll be troubling you a lot in the future. This is just a small token of our appreciation, please don't mind."

Sun Xiaoyan stood to the side, still with that indifferent expression, but her lips moved slightly, and she added, "We bought it together. It wasn't expensive; it's just a token of our affection."

Chen Ping's face darkened.

He shoved the cigarette into Zhou Jie's hand, his voice low but his tone harsh, "Take it back."

Zhou Jie froze for a moment, her smile freezing on her face. "Dr. Chen..."

"Let me make this clear to you."

Chen Ping looked at the two of them without a smile on his face. "You're here at the health center to work, not to build relationships. I'm a doctor, and you're nurses. We're colleagues, and nobody needs to curry favor with anyone else."

"Doing your jobs well is the greatest respect you can show me. Don't do that again, understand?"

Zhou Jie blushed as he scolded her. She lowered her head, her fingers twisting the handle of the plastic bag, and whispered, "I heard you..."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't react much, but she glanced at Chen Ping with something indescribable in her eyes.

Chen Ping took out his phone from his pocket, opened WeChat, and transferred the money for the cigarettes to Zhou Jie.

"I've transferred the money to you, keep it. Next time you buy something as a gift, think about how much your salary is first," Chen Ping said.

Zhou Jie took out her phone to check the transfer amount, looked up as if to say something, but was silenced by a glare from Chen Ping.

On the way back, Zhou Jie kept her head down, her eyes a little red, but she didn't cry.

Sun Xiaoyan walked beside her without saying a word.

Chen Ping walked at the front, his pace neither fast nor slow, but he felt a little guilty.

However, he knew that this kind of thing had to be stopped from the very beginning, otherwise it would never end.

The two girls are still very young; they shouldn't be learning these unhealthy practices so early in their lives.

Even if the two don't offer him cigarettes, Chen Ping will still genuinely treat them well and won't deliberately make things difficult for them.

He's not that kind of person; if he were, he wouldn't be in such a poor place as the Siping Township Health Center.

Back at the health center, Zhou Jie and Sun Xiaoyan carried their things back to their dormitory.

Chen Ping went to the consultation room, sat down, and drank half a glass of water before the anger in his heart slowly subsided.

Not long after I started work in the afternoon, Cui Ying pushed open the door and came in.

She changed into a pair of sneakers, wore a thin down jacket, and tied her hair in a ponytail, looking much more neat than usual.

Zhou Xiaohe followed behind her, also changing into sneakers, her little face beaming with barely suppressed excitement.

"Chen Ping, I took Xiao He hiking. I asked the dean for half a day off."

Chen Ping glanced at them. "Hiking? It's already afternoon, what are you going to hike?"

"It's that small one behind, not very tall, it only takes about two hours to get down. Xiaohe has been here for so many days and hasn't even left the health center yet, so I'm taking her out for some fresh air."

Cui Ying held Zhou Xiaohe's hand, and Zhou Xiaohe nodded vigorously beside her.

Chen Ping thought for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, be careful. The mountain roads are slippery, so don't go to any remote areas. Come back early; you must be home before dark."

"understood."

After Cui Ying finished speaking, she pulled Zhou Xiaohe and walked out.

Chen Ping sat in the consultation room, watching their figures disappear at the hospital gate, and suddenly felt a little empty inside.

He shook his head, opened the medical record book, and prepared to see the patient.

There were more patients in the afternoon than in the morning.

There were seven or eight people lined up outside the clinic. Wang Tao called out numbers at the door, registering each person as soon as his number was called.

Zhou Jie and Sun Xiaoyan also changed into white coats and stood next to Wang Tao, one holding a thermometer and the other a blood pressure monitor, taking the temperature and blood pressure of the patients waiting for their appointments.

Wang Tao was exceptionally warm towards Zhou Jie, asking her every now and then, "Are you thirsty? Let me pour you a glass of water," and saying, "I'll register this patient for you. You can go and rest." His attentiveness was so noticeable that even the patients nearby could see it.

An old man was sitting on a bench waiting. He nudged the old woman next to him with his elbow and whispered something. The two of them laughed together.

Zhou Jie felt embarrassed by him, blushed, and lowered her head to organize her medical records.

Sun Xiaoyan stood to the side, expressionless, taking the blood pressure of a middle-aged woman, not even glancing at Wang Tao.

Chen Ping watched this scene from the consultation room, his lips twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything and continued to see the next patient.

My phone rang around 4 o'clock.

Chen Ping took it out and saw that it was a call from Zhang Jianmin.

He put down his pen and answered the call.

"Secretary Zhang?"

"Dr. Chen, I have good news for you."

Zhang Jianmin's voice was tinged with laughter, "The township has given preliminary approval to the medical center project at a meeting. However, the formal approval process will still take some time, as changes in land use and planning permits all need to be processed according to procedure."

Chen Ping was overjoyed and sat up straight. "Thank you, Secretary Zhang. How long will it take?"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, and Zhang Jianmin lowered his voice, "It could take one or two months if things go quickly, or three to five months if things go slowly. But there's an alternative: if you're in a hurry, we can start construction now."

"As long as no one reports it, the higher-ups won't come to investigate. Just complete the approval process and then file a new record. This is quite common in our village; several house builders have done it this way."

Chen Ping thought for a moment, "Okay, I'll find a construction team to dig the foundation first."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Ping closed the medical record book in his hand, stood up, and walked out.

Wang Tao was squatting in the corridor taking a little boy's temperature when he saw Chen Ping hurrying out. He asked, "Dr. Chen, where are you going?" Chen Ping waved his hand without answering and walked straight towards Zhao Guosheng's office.

Zhao Guosheng was sitting behind his desk flipping through an old newspaper when he saw Chen Ping come in and put the newspaper down.

"Dean Zhao, the township has given preliminary approval for the clinic, but the formal procedures will have to wait a while. Secretary Zhang said we can start construction as long as no one reports it, then everything will be fine."

"I want to finalize the construction team as soon as possible so we can start digging the foundation. You're familiar with Siping Township, could you help me find a construction team?"

Chen Ping sat down in the chair and recounted the events.