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

At this moment, in the dormitory of Siping Township Health Center, Cui Ying and Chen Ping sat quietly together, neither of them speaking.

The crickets outside the window were chirping happily, and the moon rose higher. Moonlight filtered through the floral curtains, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

"Dr. Chen," Cui Ying suddenly called out to him.

"Um?"

"You seem tough, but you're actually quite soft-hearted," she said softly.

Chen Ping paused for a moment, then laughed: "You're the first person to say that about me."

"Really?" Cui Ying laughed. "What did your ex-wife say about you?"

"She said I was stubborn," Chen Ping said, "single-minded and inflexible."

Cui Ying thought for a moment: "He's a bit stubborn, but it's not a bad thing. At least you know what you should and shouldn't do."

Chen Ping smiled but didn't reply.

"Alright, it's getting late, go back to sleep. You have to go to work tomorrow."

"Okay." Chen Ping stood up, walked to the door, glanced back at her, and said, "You should go to sleep early too. Lock the door."

"Understood." Cui Ying nodded.

Chen Ping opened the door and went out.

The moonlight shone in the courtyard, making the poplar leaves gleam silver.

He went next door, took out his key, and opened the door.

"Dr. Chen," Cui Ying's voice came softly from behind.

He turned around.

Cui Ying stood at the doorway, one hand on the doorframe, the moonlight shining on half of her face, making it appear bright white.

"Thank you. Thank you for today, and for... what you told me."

"It's nothing," Chen Ping smiled. "Goodnight."

"Good night."

The door closed.

Chen Ping also pushed open the door and entered the room.

He didn't turn on the light and sat by the bed for a while. Moonlight shone in from the window, illuminating the wooden box on the table, the brass lock glowing dimly.

I heard soft footsteps from next door, followed by a creaking sound from the bed, and then silence.

Chen Ping lay down, stared at the ceiling, and fell asleep without realizing it.

He had a dream, a dream about his wedding with Su Meng!

The next morning, Chen Ping was woken up by the rooster crowing again.

It's the same rooster, in the same spot, still crowing loudly, one crow after another.

He lay there for a while, recalling the dream he had last night.

In her dream, Su Meng wore a white wedding dress and smiled beautifully.

That was six years ago. At their wedding, she took his hand, and Su Wenzong stood beside her, patting her on the shoulder and saying that they would be family from now on.

Looking back now, the words "family" seem as light as the wind.

Chen Ping sat up, rubbed his face, and went to the bathroom to wash it.

The water was still so cold that it made him shiver.

After getting dressed and opening the door, Cui Ying was already waiting at the door.

She was still wearing that white short-sleeved shirt, and her hair was tied up, unlike yesterday when it was down, making her look neat and tidy.

He was holding a folder in his hand, and it looked like he had been up for quite a while.

"Good morning," Chen Ping greeted.

"Good morning." Cui Ying smiled, turned around and walked forward. "Let's go eat."

The two people walked across the courtyard towards the front yard.

The sun had just risen and was shining on the top of the locust tree, making the dewdrops on the leaves sparkle.

The old hen was already pawing for food in the yard, clucking and not hiding from people.

Outside the health center, the streets were busier than yesterday morning.

The old man selling vegetables had already set up his stall, the greens neatly arranged and looking fresh.

There were two people in line in front of the tofu stall. An older woman carrying a basket was haggling with the owner.

Uncle Liu's stall was set up at the entrance of the alley as usual, and he had already fried two batches of dough sticks, which were stacked golden in the tin bucket.

The soy milk pot was bubbling away, steaming hot, and the aroma wafted far and wide.

"They're here!" Uncle Liu's voice was as loud as ever when he saw them. "Little Cui, you brought your boyfriend today? Come in, come in!"

Cui Ying had given up on explaining and simply found a table to sit down.

Chen Ping sat opposite her.

"Two bowls of soy milk and two fried dough sticks," Chen Ping said.

"Okay!"

The soy milk was served, and so were the fried dough sticks.

"It's on me today," Chen Ping said.

Cui Ying glanced at him, but didn't argue: "Okay."

Chen Ping took out ten yuan from his pocket and handed it to Uncle Liu.

Uncle Liu took it, found two coins, and muttered, "Young man, come early tomorrow, I'll save you some freshly made sugar-coated fried dough."

"Okay, thank you, Uncle Liu."

As the two were eating breakfast, Cui Ying picked up a piece of pickled vegetable with her chopsticks and suddenly asked, "Did you sleep well last night?"

"It was alright, just a dream."

"What kind of dream?"

Chen Ping paused for a moment: "It's nothing, just a mess."

Cui Ying didn't ask any more questions.

She could tell that the dream was related to his ex-wife, but she didn't point it out.

After breakfast, the two of them walked back.

There were more people on the street than yesterday. Several children with schoolbags ran out of the alley and ran towards the other end of the street, laughing and joking.

Zhang, the hairdresser, had already opened the shop and was sweeping the floor in front of it. Seeing them, she smiled and called out, "Good morning, Xiao Cui!"

Good morning, Sister Zhang!

Back at the health center, Zhao Guosheng was already in the front yard, carrying an enamel mug.

Wang Jianguo was organizing medical records in the consultation room, Liu Wei was wiping the table, Wang Tao was sweeping the floor, and Li Fang was counting medicines in the pharmacy.

Everything is the same as yesterday.

At 8:30, it's time to officially start work.

Chen Ping sat in the consultation room and looked at the yellowed medical record book on the table.

The note lists patients from the past few months, including their names, ages, symptoms, and medications. It is written carefully, stroke by stroke, and is Wang Jianguo's handwriting.

There were still not many patients all morning.

An elderly woman came in at nine o'clock, complaining of a headache. Wang Jianguo took her blood pressure, which was 140 systolic and 90 diastolic. He prescribed two antihypertensive pills and charged her five yuan.

At 9:40, a young man came in, saying he had a sore throat. Li Fang gave him a box of amoxicillin and charged him 12 yuan.

At 10:30, a woman carrying a child came and said the child had a fever. Wang Tao took the child's temperature, which was 38.2 degrees Celsius. Liu Wei prescribed antipyretics and told the child to drink plenty of water.

After 11 o'clock, the courtyard became quiet again.

Chen Ping couldn't sit still in the consultation room, so he came out for a walk.

Passing by Wang Jianguo's clinic, I saw him reading the newspaper again. Today's newspaper was new; it had just been delivered yesterday.

As we passed the pharmacy, Li Fang lay on the table, seemingly asleep or looking at her phone.

Passing by the accounting office, the door was open, and Cui Ying was typing furiously on the computer, her brow still furrowed, probably because the two hundred yuan hadn't been matched up yet.

Chen Ping returned to the consultation room and had just sat down when he heard a sound coming from outside the courtyard.

It wasn't the roar of motorcycles or the sputtering of tricycles, but the sound of gongs and drums.

Dong dong qiang, dong dong qiang, getting closer and louder.

"What's going on?" Wang Tao poked his head out of the consultation room.

Liu Wei also came out, Li Fang leaned half her body out of the pharmacy window, and even Wang Jianguo took off his reading glasses to look outside.

A group of people rushed into the courtyard, led by the man who had driven the tricycle yesterday.

He was holding a banner in his hand, red with yellow characters that read "Miraculous Healing Skills, Exquisite Medical Expertise".

Behind them were seven or eight people, some carrying gongs, some carrying cymbals, and two carrying drums, which were banging loudly.