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

Chen Ping seemed somewhat surprised after hearing Zhou Jie's words.

He never expected that Zhou Jie, a young woman in her early twenties, would have such thoughts and principles; it was truly rare in this complex society.

Cui Ying reached out and patted her shoulder, her tone softening, "Don't be angry. This is how society is now, young people think cohabitation is normal. Xiao Yan isn't a child anymore, she knows what she's doing."

Zhou Jie sighed, stood up, carried the chair back to her dormitory door, and then turned back to look at Chen Ping. "Dr. Chen, when you see Xiao Yan tomorrow morning, please talk to her for me. She listens to you. She still remembers the time you criticized us for buying cigarettes."

After saying that, Zhou Jie pushed open the door and went inside.

Zhou Xiaohe was pulled up from her knees by Cui Ying. Still half-asleep, she rubbed her eyes and was half-pushed and half-pulled back to her dormitory by Cui Ying.

Cui Ying covered her with a blanket, turned off the light, gently closed the door, and walked back into the yard.

Chen Ping was still sitting in the chair, head down, seemingly lost in thought.

Cui Ying glanced at Chen Ping, and seeing that he didn't say anything, she turned around and went back to her dormitory to sleep.

Cui Ying's hand was already on the doorknob, and she stepped one foot across the threshold when Chen Ping's voice suddenly came from behind her.

Have you ever had a boyfriend before?

Cui Ying paused for a moment, turned around, leaned against the door frame, and looked at Chen Ping.

Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the poplar leaves, illuminating her face. Her eyes shone brightly, and the corners of her mouth slowly turned up.

There was no embarrassment or displeasure at being offended in that smile; instead, there was a sense of understanding, like, "You finally asked."

"That's not what you wanted to ask, is it?"

She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, her tone unhurried, with a hint of subtle teasing, "You're asking whether I've slept with men or not, right?"

Chen Ping's expression froze; she had clearly hit the nail on the head. He lowered his head, touched his nose, and said in a somewhat hesitant voice, "That's not what I meant..."

"What does 'not that' mean?"

Cui Ying's voice was tinged with laughter, but her eyes were serious.

She stepped out the door, stood in the moonlight, crossed her arms, and looked at Chen Ping openly. "Is this because you saw how close Xiao Yan and Xu Feng were today, and it touched you a little, that's why you wanted to ask me?"

Chen Ping's thoughts were seen through, so he remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

"My values ​​and traditions do not allow me to give myself to a man before marriage."

She spoke in a very calm tone, neither as a declaration nor as a boast, but as if stating a fact.

The air between the two was silent for a few seconds, with only the rustling of poplar leaves overhead.

After saying that, she turned and went back to her dormitory. She held onto the door frame with one hand, and stopped just before the door closed. She peeked half her face out from the crack in the door and said in a voice so soft it was as if she were talking to herself, "However, there is one man who is different."

The door closed.

The light shining through the crack in the door flickered on briefly, then went out again.

Chen Ping stood blankly in the courtyard, staring at the closed door for several seconds, then suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly.

He turned around, pushed open the door to his dormitory, didn't turn on the light, sat down on the bed, and took off his coat, draping it over the back of the chair.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the potted green ivy, its vines drooping down and swaying gently in the night breeze.

He lay down, put his hands behind his head, and stared at the ceiling.

As a divorced man, why should I care whether a girl has slept with someone before marriage?

But I just can't get rid of that thorn in my heart.

He could accept a divorced woman, but the thought of someone who had lived with her so-called boyfriend for several years before they were even married made him feel uneasy.

With this kind of thinking, he is perhaps destined to be out of touch with the times.

Meanwhile, Cui Ying lay in bed, also unable to sleep, a smile on her face.

Cui Ying wasn't offended at all by Chen Ping's question today; on the contrary, she was quite pleased.

The fact that Chen Ping said these things proves that she already has a place in Chen Ping's heart.

She had already become Chen Ping's choice for wife, which was why he wanted to understand her in such detail...

Early the next morning.

The canteen was steaming hot. Aunt Li had cooked a big pot of millet porridge, steamed buns, and stir-fried a plate of pickled green beans with minced meat.

Everyone sat down around the large round table, and before they even picked up their chopsticks, the conversation turned to what happened last night.

With half a steamed bun stuffed in his mouth, Wang Tao asked Chen Ping indistinctly how the matter was finally resolved.

Chen Ping briefly recounted the process of signing the agreement, transferring money, and releasing the person at the police station.

Upon hearing the figure of "100,000 yuan," Wang Tao nearly dropped the steamed bun in his hand into his porridge bowl, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"One hundred thousand? He only needed a few stitches in his head, and he got one hundred thousand in compensation?"

He stuffed the steamed bun into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, then suddenly slapped his thigh, his face full of regret. "I should have let that kid beat me up too! Ten thousand yuan! That's enough for me to work for several years! Dr. Chen, next time you have something like this, could you please let me know in advance so I can go up and take a beating first!"

Li Fang slapped him on the back of the head, the force not strong but the sound crisp. "Can't you be a little more dignified? You haven't even received your full intern salary yet, and you're talking about 100,000? Is your head even worth 100,000?"

Wang Tao rubbed the back of his head, but he still wouldn't back down, pushing the bowl towards Li Fang. "My head isn't worth 100,000, but I can definitely take a beating more than Xu Feng. Besides, it's 100,000! Who wouldn't be tempted!"

Liu Wei, adjusting his glasses, unusually chimed in with a joke, "Now that you mention it, it seems like getting hurt wasn't so bad. Why don't you go out on the street and see if any rich kid causes trouble, and you get a few hits too?"

Everyone laughed.

Wang Tao laughed too, so hard that he spat crumbs of steamed bun all over the table. Li Fang tapped his hand with chopsticks before he calmed down a bit.

Cui Ying sat next to Chen Ping, sipping her porridge with a smile on her lips, and didn't say much.

Her gaze occasionally swept across Chen Ping's profile, but Chen Ping was focused on peeling a tea egg and didn't notice.

Zhao Guosheng sat in the main seat, glanced around at the people at the table, and his gaze lingered on the empty seat where Sun Xiaoyan usually sat. "Why didn't Xiaoyan come to eat?"

The laughter in the cafeteria suddenly stopped.

Chen Ping put the tea egg into the bowl and said, "I stayed out with Xu Feng last night."

Zhao Guosheng paused in mid-air with his chopsticks, then picked up a mouthful of pickled cowpeas, chewed it twice, and asked no more questions.

No one else said anything, and even Wang Tao wisely kept quiet and lowered his head to eat.

Just as everyone was about to leave after finishing their meal, a person entered through the courtyard gate.

Sun Xiaoyan is back. Her hair is neatly tied up, her face has a faint rosy glow, and her eyes are brighter than usual.

She walked to the cafeteria entrance, peeked inside, and said in a soft voice that was much gentler than her usual cold tone, "Good morning, Dean Zhao, good morning, Dr. Chen, good morning everyone."