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

Hearing her daughter's words, Zhou Xiaohe's mother also had tears in her eyes and went over to hug her daughter.

Zhou Xiaohe's father stepped forward and grasped Chen Ping's hand: "Dr. Chen, don't worry, we will definitely change when we get back. We won't pressure our child anymore. As long as she studies hard, it doesn't matter whether her grades are good or bad."

Chen Ping nodded and gave a few more instructions, such as paying attention to the child's emotional changes and calling him anytime if anything happens.

The car started, and Zhou Xiaohe leaned against the window, her face pressed against the glass, waving at them.

The black sedan slowly drove out of the health center gate, turned onto the mountain road, and was obscured by the shadows of the trees.

The corridor fell silent. Cui Ying stood at the door, gazing in the direction the car had disappeared, tears still streaming down her face.

Wang Tao stood silently to the side, which was unusual for him. Li Fang leaned against the pharmacy door and secretly rubbed the corner of her eye with the back of her hand.

Sun Xiaoyan stood in the corner of the nurses' station, her usually cold face unusually somber for a long time.

Everyone was saddened by Zhou Xiaohe's departure, but they knew that Zhou Xiaohe was bound to leave sooner or later.

Cui Ying was somewhat absent-minded throughout the morning.

When Chen Ping was taking the patient's pulse in the clinic, he was somewhat absent-minded, as he was worried about Cui Ying.

After all, since Zhou Xiaohe arrived, she has been living and eating with Cui Ying, and their relationship is much deeper than that of others.

After prescribing medication for a patient, Chen Ping got up and left the consultation room, intending to stretch his body and also to look out the window at Cui Ying in the accounting office.

Seeing Chen Ping, Li Fang leaned out of the pharmacy window and said, "Dr. Chen, if you have time, go to the accounting office more often and talk to Cui Ying. She's been sharing a room with Xiao He lately, and they've been chatting and laughing every night, like sisters. Suddenly they're separated, and the room feels so empty. She must be feeling terrible."

Chen Ping nodded.

When he wasn't too busy in the morning, he would go to the accounting office to sit for a while.

The two of them didn't have anything particularly to say; they just chatted casually.

They talked about how Zhou Xiaohe huddled in the corner of the bed when she first arrived, how Cui Ying braided her hair crookedly and Li Fang laughed at her for days, and how Zhou Xiaohe squatted in the yard all afternoon feeding ants with bread crumbs.

As Cui Ying spoke, her eyes reddened again, and Chen Ping quickly handed her a tissue.

Cui Ying took the tissue, wiped her eyes, smiled, and said, "I'm fine. You can go ahead and do what you need to do."

"I'm not busy right now. Wang Tao can see ordinary patients too," Chen Ping said.

"By the way, how's Su Meng's situation? Didn't you call Secretary Li?" Cui Ying asked.

Chen Ping paused for a moment, then shook his head. "He's the Party Secretary of the city, he must be very busy. I'm too embarrassed to call and urge him or ask him anything."

"Let's wait a bit longer. If Su Meng is released, she should let me know. If I keep asking Secretary Li, I'm afraid I'll annoy him."

"That's right!" Cui Ying nodded. "Don't worry too much. Since Secretary Li has agreed, this matter can definitely be handled."

Just as Cui Ying finished speaking, Chen Ping's phone suddenly rang.

Chen Ping took out his phone and saw that the name on it was Su Meng. His heart tightened immediately, and his expression became somewhat excited.

After answering the phone, Chen Ping got up and left the accounting office to take the call.

Seeing Chen Ping's reaction, Cui Ying looked somewhat dejected. She slowly turned her head and tapped her fingers on the keyboard, not even knowing what she was typing.

"Feed? Were you released?"

As Chen Ping stepped out of the accounting office, he asked impatiently.

"Yes, I was just released today, so I called to let you know so you wouldn't worry."

Su Meng's familiar voice came from the other end of the phone.

Su Meng's voice was a bit lighter than before. Although she was still a little tired, the suffocating feeling of being pressed down and unable to breathe was gone.

"It's good that you're out. You weren't punished, were you?" Chen Ping asked.

"No, I've been reinstated. They found out I was framed, and Qi Guofu's crime was compounded," Su Meng said.

"That's good. Now that you've been reinstated, you need to be more careful in the future. The officialdom is like a battlefield, or even more brutal. These seasoned veterans in the officialdom may seem harmless and call you brother, but they might turn around and stab you in the back."

"And then there's Xu Wenshan. He's the bureau chief now. You're definitely not going to have a good time working under him, so don't be too careless."

Chen Ping gave Su Meng some instructions.

During this period, Chen Ping dealt with government departments quite a bit and got a sense of what it was like to be an official.

Those are all seasoned foxes; without a bit more skill, they probably wouldn't be able to survive in officialdom.

Observing people's expressions and flattering them are the most basic skills.

Moreover, these people speak in a very superficial way, requiring careful comprehension, which gives Chen Ping a headache whenever he thinks about it.

He can study medical cases and medical skills, but if you ask him to study how to be an official, his head will probably explode in a day.

Su Meng was silent for a moment on the other end of the phone before saying, "I've resigned. I've already submitted my resignation application, and it's going through the process."

"I don't want to stay in that position any longer. When I took the exam for the Health Bureau, I just wanted to prove my ability and reform and optimize the medical system."

"But after working here for the past few years, I've realized that I'm not cut out to be an official, and I don't have the ability. There's someone manipulating everything behind the scenes. If it weren't for Xiao Lei's manipulation, I wouldn't have become the deputy director at all."

"I understand now. Even if I become the deputy director, I can't do anything at all, let alone contribute to medical reform. In the eyes of the people, a deputy director is just an official, but once he's in the bureau, he has no real power."

Listening to Su Meng's insightful words, Chen Ping didn't know how to comfort her.

Back then, he advised Su Meng not to become an official, but to just be a doctor in the hospital and do scientific research.

But Su Meng wouldn't listen, saying she lacked ambition and insisted on proving her abilities.

Now, more than five years have passed.

Su Meng's positive, enthusiastic heart had long since had its rough edges smoothed out.

"So what do you plan to do after you resign?" Chen Ping asked.

"I haven't decided yet. I want to take the doctoral entrance exam and then study abroad, going back to my old path." Su Meng's voice was filled with confusion.

She probably hasn't figured out where she's headed for the future yet.

"What if you fail the doctoral entrance exam? After all, you haven't been involved in the medical field for several years," Chen Ping continued to ask.

Su Meng fell silent, perhaps because she hadn't figured out what to do if she failed her doctoral entrance exam.

After about ten seconds, Su Meng slowly spoke, "If I fail the doctoral entrance exam, can I come to the Siping Township Health Center to find you? Surely the Siping Township Health Center won't reject a medical school graduate like me?"

Chen Ping was stunned and didn't know how to answer.

After a long pause, he finally managed to stammer out, "I... my word doesn't count. I'm not the dean; only the dean's word counts."

"Look how scared you are! I was just kidding. I hope you'll be happy in the future..."

After saying that, Su Meng hung up the phone without waiting for Chen Ping's reply.

Hearing the busy tone on the other end of the phone, Chen Ping's mind went blank, and he was completely stunned.

Su Meng and Cui Ying, two figures seemed to be locked in a battle of wits in his mind.