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

As the two were talking, the cell phone on the table suddenly lit up and started buzzing.

Chen Ping looked down and saw a name pop up on the screen... Su Meng.

He frowned slightly, didn't answer, and hung up immediately.

The phone went silent, and the screen went dark.

Cui Ying watched without saying a word, her fingers, which were holding the pillow, stopped drawing circles.

"Whose call was it?" she asked cautiously.

"Ex-wife." Chen Ping turned his phone over and placed it face down on the table.

Cui Ying paused for a moment, her lips moved as if she was about to say something, when her phone rang again.

This time it wasn't a buzzing vibration, it was a ringtone, a very old song, he didn't know when it was set, he himself had forgotten.

The screen still displayed those two words... Su Meng.

Chen Ping stared at his phone for two seconds, then reached out to hang up.

"Take it," Cui Ying said softly.

Chen Ping's hand froze in mid-air.

"If anything happens, I won't say anything," Cui Ying said.

Chen Ping glanced at her, hesitated for a moment, picked up his phone, and swiped to answer the call.

"Feed".

There was a moment or two of silence before Su Meng's voice came through: "Chen Ping."

The voice was soft, with a hint of probing, as if confirming whether he would answer.

"Mm," Chen Ping replied.

"Are you... doing alright over there?"

"fine."

There was a few more seconds of silence.

Cui Ying sat on the edge of the bed, hugging a pillow, her eyes fixed on the pothos on the table, pretending to count the leaves.

"Conditions are quite harsh in Siping Township. Are you... used to it?"

Su Meng's voice was a little tense, as if she was searching for the right tone, neither too close nor too distant.

"I'm used to it. It's quite nice here. The air is good, and the people are simple," Chen Ping replied indifferently.

"That's good." Su Meng paused for a moment, "I heard that the conditions at the health center there are very poor, and there's a shortage of medical supplies. If you need anything, I can..."

"I don't lack anything," Chen Ping interrupted her. "I don't lack anything."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Cui Ying turned one of the pothos leaves over to look at it, then turned it back over, her ears perked up, not missing a single word.

"Chen Ping."

Su Meng lowered her voice, "If you really can't stand it here, I can help you think of a way. I can transfer you to a better health center, or... to another hospital in the city."

"No need," Chen Ping said calmly. "I'm fine here, I don't need any adjustments."

"But over there..."

"Su Meng," Chen Ping called out to her.

The title was no longer Meng'er, but Su Meng.

There was a noticeable pause on the other end of the phone.

"We're divorced. You live your life, I live mine, and we have nothing to do with each other. You don't need to help me with anything, and I don't need it either," Chen Ping said, trying to remain calm.

However, as he said this, Chen Ping's heart was pounding, and the muscles around his eyes were trembling.

Cui Ying secretly observed all these subtle movements and expressions.

A long silence.

"Then... then take good care of yourself."

Su Meng's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, "It's cold in Siping Township in winter, remember to wear more clothes. Do you still have your suitcase?"

"exist."

"That's good. Take care."

"Um."

The phone hangs up.

Chen Ping put his phone on the table and let out a long sigh of relief.

Even though they were divorced, Chen Ping was still nervous when he received Su Meng's call.

He was just trying to pretend he didn't care.

"You...aren't you going to ask her why she called?" Cui Ying asked cautiously.

"There's nothing to ask." Chen Ping leaned back in his chair. "A divorce is a divorce. Asking too much will only make everyone uncomfortable."

"But she still cares about you."

"What's the use of showing concern?" Chen Ping smiled wryly. "Some things can't be solved just by showing concern."

Cui Ying didn't reply, lowered her head, and started drawing circles on the pillow with her fingers again.

She drew two circles, then looked up at him and smiled: "You're really stubborn. I can tell you still have feelings for her."

Chen Ping was slightly taken aback, then gave a wry smile: "It's not that I'm stubborn, it's just that some things, once they're broken off, are broken off. Dragging them out isn't good for anyone."

"But after living together for so many years, it's impossible for anyone to just let go all at once."

Cui Ying nodded; she understood what Chen Ping meant and could comprehend it.

…………

A residential community in Tianhai City.

Su Meng sat on the sofa in the living room, her phone still clutched in her hand, the screen already dark.

She didn't turn on the lights; the living room was pitch black except for a sliver of light from the streetlamp outside the window, casting a dim yellow square on the floor.

The curtains weren't drawn, and a few lights were on in the windows of the building across the street, appearing distant as if shrouded in mist.

The phone was so hot from her grip that her palms were sweaty.

She turned her phone over and looked at it. The screen showed the call log, and the first entry was by Chen Ping, lasting forty-seven seconds.

Forty-seven seconds.

She was with him for thirteen years, and in the end, their phone call lasted only forty-seven seconds.

Su Meng put her phone on the coffee table, leaned back on the sofa, and looked up at the ceiling.

The ceiling was white and spotless.

She remembered that when they were decorating the house, Chen Ping said he wanted it painted beige, saying that warm colors are more comfortable to live in.

She disagreed, saying that white would make the room look brighter. In the end, they painted it white, and Chen Ping didn't say anything, just smiled.

They had just gotten married then, and everything was perfect.

Now this house belongs to her. The walls are white, the lights are on, but she sits here alone and feels empty.

She picked up her phone again, scrolled through her contacts, and found Chen Ping's name.

He hovered his finger above the screen for a few seconds, then locked the screen and tossed his phone onto the sofa.

The phone bounced, slid into the sofa cushions, and got stuck.

She didn't pick it up.

The streetlights outside the window were on, illuminating the empty parking spaces below.

In the past, when Chen Ping came home late from overtime, she could always see his car lights through the window as he turned into their parking space from a distance.

She would turn on the living room lights and stand by the window waiting for him to come up.

There's a red sports car parked in that spot now.

Xiao Lei's.

Su Meng closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

Xiao Lei came to see her again this afternoon, saying he wanted to take her out to eat, but she didn't go.

He said the matter of that batch of medical equipment had been taken care of and told her not to worry about it.

She asked how he dealt with it, and he smiled and said, "Don't worry about it, it's all over now."

She didn't ask any more questions.

It's not that I don't want to ask, it's that I'm afraid to ask.

She had been thinking about what Chen Ping had said for the past few days.

"This batch of cardiac stents is not pure enough; it could be fatal if implanted." He never lies.

After thirteen years of relationship, she knew him better than anyone else.

He's stubborn, inflexible, and won't lie or back down.

Those photos, that recording...

Su Meng opened her eyes and stared at the window of the building across the street.

She did consider investigating.

But she was afraid.

I'm afraid it will turn out to be true, or it will turn out to be false; I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it.

She picked up her phone and glanced at the name again.

Chen Ping.

Chen Ping's voice still seemed to echo in my ears: "We're divorced."

He said it so calmly, as if he were just saying the weather was nice today.

Su Meng pressed her phone against her forehead; the cool metal casing sent a shiver down her spine.

She remembered their last meeting at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau, where he handed her the divorce certificate and said, "The house and savings are all yours; I don't want anything else."

Then he turned and left, his back straight, without ever looking back.

She called out to him from behind, telling him to take care.

He waved his hand without turning around.

Su Meng put down her phone, stood up, and walked to the window.

Xiao Lei's red sports car was parked under the streetlights, its roof covered in a layer of dust, indicating it hadn't been driven for several days.

She drew back the curtains and opened the window, letting in the night breeze, carrying the distinctive smell of exhaust fumes and dust from the city.

Did he sleep tonight?

In that dilapidated clinic, amidst the peeling paint on the walls and the drafty windows.

Su Meng closed the window, drew the curtains, and walked back to the sofa to sit down.

There was a file folder on the coffee table; she had brought it back from the office that day.

She stared at it for a while, then reached out, took it, untied the rope, and pulled out the contents.

It is a test report.

The second random inspection report of the batch of cardiac stents from Xiao's Medical.

She didn't turn on the light, but read the first line of text by the light of the streetlamp outside the window. Then she closed the file, put it back in the folder, retied the rope, placed it at the bottom of the coffee table, and weighed it down with a magazine.

Then she leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes.

The living room was so quiet that you could hear your own heartbeat.

She suddenly remembered another sentence Chen Ping had said: "Those in positions of power should fulfill their responsibilities. Since you have become the deputy director of the Health Bureau, you must strictly control the situation, otherwise it will be too late to regret it."

At the time, she didn't take it seriously, thinking he was lecturing her.

Looking back now, he was probably just reminding her.

Su Meng opened her eyes, stared blankly at the magazine on the coffee table, which was covered by a file folder, for a long time.

The wind picked up outside the window, making it creak and groan.

She picked up her phone, opened the text message, and typed: "Life in Siping Township is tough. Do you have enough money?"

After looking at it for a while, I deleted it word by word.

Then I locked the screen and put the phone on the coffee table.

The phone lay there quietly, its screen never lighting up again.