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

Siping Township Health Center.

The night wind blew in from the other side of the mountain valley, making the poplar leaves in the yard rustle.

Chen Ping sat on the steps, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. The cigarette between his fingers was half-burned, and a long pile of ash hadn't been flicked off. It was blown away by the wind and scattered all over the ground.

He stared at the stars in the sky for a long time. The stars were sparse, but each one was very bright, just like Siping Township, which was clean and free of impurities.

Cui Ying sat next to him, less than a foot away, with a thin jacket draped over her knees and her hands tucked into her sleeves.

She didn't look at him, but looked up at the sky. After a couple of glances, her neck started to ache, so she lowered her head and looked down at the cigarette in Chen Ping's hand. The smoke was dissipating quickly in the night wind and disappeared before she could even smell it.

"Are you thinking about your ex-wife?"

She turned her head to look at Chen Ping, her tone not exactly probing, but just a normal inquiry.

Chen Ping's fingers paused slightly, and the ash from his cigarette fell onto the steps.

He didn't reply immediately, but brought the cigarette to his lips and took another drag, the smoke slowly dissipating from his nostrils.

Cui Ying sat down next to her and fanned herself a few times with her hand; she didn't want to inhale secondhand smoke.

After several seconds, Chen Ping slowly spoke: "It's not that I miss her, it's just that my mind is a bit confused. She resigned, I don't know if it's been approved, and I don't know what her future holds."

"If you're worried, give them a call and ask."

As Cui Ying spoke, her eyes were fixed on Chen Ping, her words carrying a probing tone.

Chen Ping shook his head, stubbed out his cigarette, and placed it on the broken bricks at the edge of the steps. "I'm not going to call anymore. Asking won't help. It's her decision."

"Now that we're divorced, I can't interfere in their lives."

After hearing this, Cui Ying didn't say anything, but a smile appeared on her lips.

The two sat for a while longer, neither of them speaking again.

A gust of wind blew in from the other side of the mountain, and a few poplar leaves fell, swirling and sticking to the edge of the flower bed.

A few lazy barks came from afar, and they stopped after barking twice.

Cui Ying's phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket.

She took it out, glanced at the screen, paused for a moment, then flipped the phone over and placed it face down on her knee without answering.

The vibration stopped, and the screen went dark.

Chen Ping turned his head and glanced at her. "Whose call was that? Why didn't you answer?"

"They keep calling me lately, and they don't say anything when I answer. It's really annoying."

Cui Ying stuffed her phone back into her pocket, speaking casually as if she didn't care at all.

Before I could finish speaking, my phone vibrated again.

This time the vibration lasted even longer, buzzing incessantly under the fabric.

Cui Ying took out her phone, glanced at it, and then closed it. Her movements were a few seconds faster than before, and she clearly used more force when pressing the screen.

Chen Ping looked at her, opened his mouth as if to say something, but Cui Ying had already stood up, shook the coat off her knees and put it on: "I'm sleepy, I'm going back to sleep first, you should go inside early too, it's chilly outside."

Without waiting for Chen Ping's response, she turned and walked quickly toward the dormitory entrance.

Upon reaching the door, Cui Ying paused briefly before pushing it open and entering. The door closed softly, but the click of the latch engaging the keyhole was exceptionally clear in the quiet night.

Chen Ping sat on the steps without moving, looking at her closed door. He took out another cigarette, lit it, took two puffs, and turned his head to exhale a puff of smoke.

At this moment, perhaps only smoking can calm him down.

During the day, there are too many patients, so there's simply no time to smoke.

Taking another drag of his cigarette, Chen Ping turned to look at Cui Ying's dormitory.

The lights in Cui Ying's dormitory were already on, and the curtains were drawn.

Chen Ping could tell that Cui Ying was hiding something from him. The way she subconsciously flipped through her phone when she answered the call and the slight frown when she hung up were not the reactions one would expect from a "harassing call".

But since the other person didn't want to talk about it, and he was just a colleague, he didn't feel comfortable pressing them for details.

After finishing his cigarette, Chen Ping stood up, dusted off the ash on his pants, folded the blanket and tucked it under his arm, then pushed open the door to his dormitory.

Chen Ping was lying in bed when he heard Cui Ying's footsteps coming from next door, followed by a creaking sound from the bed, as if someone had sat down.

Then her phone rang again. This time she didn't hang up. The sound came through the wall, muffled and not very clear, but her tone was obviously impatient.

"I told you not to call again. We haven't been in touch for years, think about it yourself. You live your life, I live mine, let's not bother each other, okay?"

Chen Ping couldn't hear what was said on the other end of the phone, but he could vaguely catch a few indistinct syllables. It was a man's voice, not loud, and with a hint of flattery.

"It's your business if you can't forget, I've moved on. You studied abroad for a few years, and now you've graduated and come back, that's your path, it has nothing to do with me. Don't come looking for me, I won't see you."

After another silence, a few more words were spoken on the other end of the phone. Suddenly, Cui Ying's voice rose a half-octave, her tone urgent: "I told you it's impossible! What's past is past, don't bring it up again. You're back too late now, and I already have someone in my heart, do you understand? Don't call me again."

The person on the other end of the phone said a few more words, this time louder than before. Chen Ping could vaguely hear a few words through the wall, something like "I've been doing this all these years" and "I came back for you," but they were fragmented and incomplete.

Chen Ping didn't want to listen, but his curiosity made him press his ear against the wall, hoping to hear more.

Cui Ying was silent for a few seconds, her voice lowered, but her tone was firm: "Give up on that idea. We really can't be together anymore. You live your life and don't bother me anymore."

Then the call ended.

There was a few seconds of silence next door, then Cui Ying sighed, and the bed creaked again, as if she had lay down.

Chen Ping lay back down on the bed, his brows furrowed slightly.

The lights were off, but the moonlight from outside shone through the gaps in the curtains, casting a shadow on Chen Ping.

Hearing the complete silence from next door, he turned over to face the wall, his mind replaying the words he had just overheard.

Who is that man?

What is his relationship with Cui Ying?

Why make a phone call in the middle of the night?

Why did Cui Ying secretly answer the phone again?

Chen Ping's mind was in a mess at this moment, so he turned over and stared at the ceiling.

First came Su Meng's matter, then Cui Ying's call, and then that man's indistinct voice; all mixed together like a tangled mess.

He closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep, but the more he closed them, the more awake he became. All he could hear were those few fragmented words from next door echoing in his ears, over and over again, and he couldn't shut them out.

After an unknown amount of time, the moonlight outside the window shifted, moving from the gap in the curtains to the corner of the wall, and the light and shadow also moved from Chen Ping to the wall.

Chen Ping turned over, pulled the blanket up to his chin, and his eyelids finally began to feel heavy. He drifted off to sleep in a daze.