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

"Who says I don't want a boyfriend?"

As Cui Ying spoke, she grabbed Chen Ping's arm, pressed herself against him, and buried her face in his shoulder. "Mom, he's my boyfriend."

Chen Ping was stunned.

He stood there, his arm held by Cui Ying, and he could feel her fingers gripping his sleeve tightly.

Cui Ying pressed her face against his shoulder, her tears soaking her shirt.

Everyone in the courtyard was stunned.

Cui Ying's mother was also stunned, her mouth agape for a long time.

She watched Cui Ying cling to Chen Ping's arm, then looked at Chen Ping, her gaze shifting from surprise to scrutiny, and from scrutiny to criticism.

"Boy friend?"

Cui Ying's mother's voice turned shrill, "Yingying, what nonsense are you talking about? When did you get a boyfriend? You..."

At this moment, Cui Ying's father walked over and stood in front of Chen Ping. He was half a head shorter than Chen Ping, but his presence was not weak.

He stared at Chen Ping for a long time, his gaze as if he were looking at a commodity waiting to be sold.

Look at their face, their figure, their clothes, and their temperament.

Chen Ping was wearing the light gray shirt that Cui Ying had bought for him, which was spotless, and a pair of ordinary sneakers. He didn't own a single valuable item.

"Your name is Chen Ping?" Cui Ying's father's voice was deep and authoritative.

"Yes."

"What do you do?"

"doctor."

Where do you work?

"Right here, Siping Township Health Center."

Cui Ying's father's lips twitched. He glanced at the dilapidated gate of the health center, then at Chen Ping, his expression saying, "That's it?"

He didn't say anything, turned around and walked to the side. After a few steps, he stopped, looked back at Chen Ping, and said, "Come here, I want to say a few words to you."

Cui Ying tightened her grip on Chen Ping's sleeve.

Chen Ping looked down at her. She looked up, her eyes full of tears, but there was something in her eyes—not a request, but trust.

Chen Ping gently patted the back of her hand, pulled his sleeve out of her hand, and followed Cui Ying's father to the locust tree in the corner of the yard.

Cui Ying's father stood with his back very straight, as if he was used to standing.

He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, lit it, and took a puff.

The smoke was blown away by the wind and drifted onto Chen Ping's face.

"When did you and Yingying start dating?" His voice wasn't loud, but it sounded like an interrogation.

"Not long after," Chen Ping said.

Cui Ying's father took another drag of his cigarette and glanced at Chen Ping: "Where are you from?"

"My hometown isn't in Tianhai City, it's just a small place."

"What do you do at home?"

"My parents are gone," Chen Ping said calmly.

Cui Ying's father's cigarette stopped in mid-air. He glanced at her, a hint of surprise in his eyes, but it was quickly masked by something else.

How much do you earn in a month?

Chen Ping thought for a moment and honestly replied, "We haven't received any salaries yet. The health center isn't doing well, so it's hard to say."

Cui Ying's father's lips twitched. He stubbed out his cigarette, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it.

He turned around and looked at Chen Ping, his expression complex, a mixture of disappointment, disdain, and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Young man, I'm telling you the truth."

His voice lowered. "Yingying has never suffered hardship since she was little; her mother raised her like a princess. Although our family isn't extremely wealthy, we're considered well-known in Tianhai City. You're just a doctor at a township hospital; how can you support her?"

Chen Ping looked at Cui Ying's father but didn't say anything.

Thinking he was feeling guilty, Cui Ying's father raised his voice slightly: "I'm not looking down on you, I'm just being realistic. Yingying's mother isn't in good health, and she's our only daughter. We don't want her to suffer. If you really care about her, stay away from her."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and left.

Just then, he coughed twice.

First came two soft coughs, followed by a series of uncontrollable coughs that bent him over, his face turning bright red. He braced himself against the locust tree with one hand and covered his mouth with the other.

Chen Ping frowned slightly.

It wasn't the cough itself that bothered him, but the sound.

That kind of cough wasn't a cold cough, nor was it a sore throat cough. It came up from deep inside the lungs, with a dull echo, as if something was stuck in the airway, unable to be coughed up or swallowed.

"Uncle, wait a moment." Chen Ping walked over.

Cui Ying's father waved his hand, his cough gradually subsided, he took a few breaths, and straightened up: "It's nothing, it's an old problem, my throat isn't very good, it's just like that from smoking."

"It's not a problem with your throat." Chen Ping frowned. "How long have you had this cough?"

Cui Ying's father was taken aback for a moment: "Two or three months, nothing serious."

"What about the phlegm? Is there any blood in it?"

Cui Ying's father's expression changed slightly, but he quickly recovered: "No, it's just a dry cough. Don't worry about it. I have a physical exam every year, and there's nothing wrong with me."

Chen Ping didn't say anything, he just looked at him.

The thoughts in his mind were churning, like an open book that had automatically turned to a certain page.

He could see Cui Ying's father's lungs, specifically the upper lobe of his right lung. There was a small shadow, but its borders were unclear, and it had spiculations around it.

"Uncle, please put your hand out." Chen Ping's voice was very serious.

"What are you doing?"

Let me take your pulse.

Cui Ying's father laughed, but it was a forced laugh: "What could a doctor from a township hospital like you possibly come up with?"

"Stretch it out." Chen Ping's tone left no room for refusal.

Cui Ying's father hesitated for a moment before reaching out his hand.

Chen Ping placed three fingers on his pulse and closed his eyes.

In that instant, the image in my mind became clearer.

Nodule in the upper lobe of the right lung, with irregular borders, spiculated margins, and surrounding vascular clusters.

It's not a good thing.

He released his grip and opened his eyes.

"Uncle, why don't you go to the county hospital for a CT scan?"

Cui Ying's father was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Why are you taking a CT scan? I'm perfectly fine, I just coughed a couple of times. You young people make a big fuss about taking X-rays all the time."

"It's not an overreaction."

Chen Ping said with a serious expression, "Your cough doesn't seem like a normal cough. You have an X-ray during your annual physical exam, right? If the nodules aren't clear on an X-ray, you need a CT scan."

Cui Ying's father's expression changed. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

At that moment, Cui Ying ran over.

She was standing at the door of the clinic watching Chen Ping talk to her father, and the more she watched, the more worried she became, so she couldn't help but run over.

She stood next to Chen Ping, tugged at his sleeve, and whispered, "What's wrong?"

Chen Ping glanced at her, then at Cui Ying's father, and said in a low voice, "Your father might have a problem with his lungs."

Cui Ying's face turned pale instantly: "What's the problem?"

"There is a nodule in the upper lobe of the right lung with unclear borders. A CT scan is needed to confirm it," Chen Ping said.