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

After leaving the detention center, Chen Ping took a taxi straight to the long-distance bus station and bought a ticket back to Siping Township.

The bus swayed along the winding mountain road for two or three hours. The mountain scenery outside the window gradually changed from the gray city buildings to layers of dark blue-green. The familiar fresh scent of grass and trees seeped in through the cracks in the windows, carrying the unique crispness and freshness of the early autumn mountains.

He leaned back in his seat, watching the crooked pine tree on the distant ridgeline get closer and closer, and the tension that had been building up in his heart for days finally eased.

Chen Ping got off the long-distance bus and walked along the street of Siping Township toward the health center.

The sunset glow on the horizon was a vibrant red, casting a warm glow on the newly painted white wall of the health center.

When he pushed open the iron gate, Ma Zhihao was sitting in the duty room eating instant noodles. When he saw Chen Ping return, he quickly stood up and shouted, "Dr. Chen is back."

"Hmm!" Chen Ping nodded. "It's almost lunchtime, why are you still eating instant noodles?"

"Hehe, I can't keep my mouth shut, so I ate it as a snack." Ma Zhihao chuckled.

"Dr. Chen is back?" Liu Mazi walked over, carrying a rubber baton and wearing a security guard uniform. "Don't pay any attention to this guy. He's always talking. These past few days you've been gone, and several people in the hospital have missed you terribly."

As he spoke, Liu Mazi put his arm around Chen Ping's shoulder and walked into the courtyard, then shouted at the top of his lungs, "Come out and greet him, Dr. Chen is back!"

Hearing the commotion, everyone in the courtyard rushed over.

Wang Tao was the first to rush over, his face more excited than during the New Year. "Dr. Chen, you're finally back! We saw your report on the live stream, it's amazing!"

"These past few days, a bunch of patients have come, all of them having watched the live stream and specifically asking to see you. When we told them Dr. Chen had gone to the city to give a report, they turned around and left, saying they'd wait until Dr. Chen returned to see them, as they didn't trust anyone else to handle it!"

Liu Wei nodded vigorously beside him and added, "Several others drove here from the next county. One old man said that after reading your report, he felt that you were the reincarnation of Hua Tuo and insisted that you take a look at his chronic leg pain."

Li Fang came out of the pharmacy with a big smile and said, "Dr. Chen, I can find your interview now. I'm in it. I've already sent it to my relatives."

Zhao Guosheng strolled out of the office carrying a jar, waving to Chen Ping from afar with a smile as bright as a chrysanthemum. "Dr. Chen, you've worked hard these past few days. County Chief Fang called me; you really gave our Siping Township Chief a big boost this time."

"Let's talk over a meal in the cafeteria first. Sister Li made braised pork tonight. She knew you were coming back today, so she specially made it to welcome you back."

Chen Ping felt a little embarrassed by the praise from everyone, nodded, and then looked towards the accounting office.

Seeing this, Li Fang patted Chen Ping and said, "Dr. Chen, what are you looking at? Are you missing Cui Ying?"

"No, I was just looking around..." Chen Ping blushed again, embarrassed that his thoughts had been guessed.

"Dr. Chen, Sister Cui Ying went to the dormitory. It seems she went to help Xiao He with her homework. You'll see her when you get to the cafeteria," Wang Tao said with a smile.

The crowd surrounded Chen Ping as he walked toward the cafeteria.

The large round table was already full of dishes. Aunt Li's braised pork was glistening with oil, the potato chunks were soaked with meat juice and could be easily broken with chopsticks, there was also stir-fried eggs with green peppers, cold black fungus salad, and a big bowl of winter melon and pork rib soup.

Liu Mazi, along with Ma Zhihao and Zhang Pangzi, also sat down at the table. The three security guards changed into clean clothes and sat properly at the far end.

Liu Mazi even made Ma Zhihao button up the top button of his security guard uniform, so that he would always pay attention to his image and not embarrass the health center.

Cui Ying walked in with Zhou Xiaohe at this moment. When she saw Chen Ping, Cui Ying was clearly taken aback for a moment, then smiled and asked, "When did you get back?"

"Just arrived..." Chen Ping said.

"Cui Ying, Dr. Chen just got back and was about to rush to the accounting office. I told him you weren't there, and he stopped. He's been so anxious to see you these past few days."

Li Fang said jokingly.

"Sister Fang, what nonsense are you talking about?" Cui Ying blushed and then sat down next to Chen Ping.

This seat was reserved for Cui Ying by everyone, but no one sat down.

"Alright, everyone's here, let's eat..." Zhao Guosheng said.

Chen Ping picked up his chopsticks, about to eat, when he realized someone was missing—Sun Xiaoyan was not there.

She doesn't talk much during meals, but she always shows up on time. Today, her seat was empty.

"Where's Xiaoyan?" Chen Ping suddenly asked.

Everyone glanced at Chen Ping, then lowered their heads to eat, and no one answered.

Chen Ping noticed that something seemed off about everyone's expressions.

He looked at Cui Ying, who whispered, "Xiao Yan broke up with her boyfriend and has been crying in her dorm all day."

"Heartbroken?" Chen Ping was completely dumbfounded.

Sun Xiaoyan and Xu Feng were lovers who had weathered many storms together, and they had even slept together not long ago.

Logically speaking, they should be deeply in love right now, so how did they end up heartbroken?

"What exactly happened?" Chen Ping pressed Cui Ying for an answer.

Cui Ying looked at Zhou Jie and said, "Ask Zhou Jie, I don't know the specific reason either."

"Zhou Jie, what exactly happened? Wasn't Xiao Yan and Xu Feng's relationship very stable? Weren't they staying together every day just a few days ago?"

Chen Ping asked, puzzled.

"Dr. Chen, please stop talking. It's because we live together that things have turned out this way."

"Xiao Yan went to his place every day after work these past few days. They had only been living together for a few days when Xu Feng broke up with Xiao Yan."

"He said he used to regard Xiaoyan as a goddess, but after living together, he found that Xiaoyan snored at night and that once you saw her naked, she was just like that. There was no mystery, so his feelings for her faded."

When Zhou Jie said the word "snoring," her voice trembled, and she was extremely angry.

"Break up just because of snoring?" Chen Ping found it hard to believe. Breaking up just because of snoring seemed too hasty.

"What snoring! It's just that he's got money, he's tired of what he's doing, and he wants something new! That's how men are. When they're broke, they treat you like royalty, but once they have money, they turn their backs on you immediately."

"Xiao Yan's boyfriend met another waitress and they got together, so he made up an excuse to break up with Xiao Yan. He only has 100,000 yuan, and he doesn't want his girlfriend anymore. If he had a million yuan, he wouldn't even want his parents anymore."

Li Fang's face turned red with anger, and she said through gritted teeth.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ping understood: Xu Feng had found a new love and no longer wanted Sun Xiaoyan.

Moreover, he slept with Sun Xiaoyan, which removed the mystery, so the initial feelings faded.

Chen Ping doesn't want couples in love to live together because living together can magnify each other's flaws.

Without the constraints of marriage, things weren't going well, and I noticed some flaws, so we broke up.

A breakup might not mean much to a man, but it can be very damaging to a woman.

Someone like Sun Xiaoyan, who has already slept with others, what kind of boyfriend will she look for in the future?

Even if she finds a boyfriend, would she dare to tell him that she used to live with her ex-boyfriend?

Most girls wouldn't dare say it, since they know it's embarrassing and their boyfriends would mind.

So she kept it all a secret, letting her current boyfriend suffer in silence.