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

Fang Hai's hand froze in mid-air, he paused for a moment, and then smiled.

He smiled broadly and generously, as if he were tolerating a naive young girl: "Accountant Cui, you've misunderstood. I just..."

"I don't care who you are, don't touch me." Cui Ying's voice trembled, but every word was clear.

Fang Hai's smile vanished.

He looked at Cui Ying, and his expression changed slightly. It wasn't anger, but rather the embarrassment of being slapped in public.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

Just then, a figure appeared at the backyard gate.

Chen Ping stood there, the moonlight shining on him, his dark blue T-shirt almost black in the night.

He was holding a cup, as if he had come out to pour water.

He glanced at Fang Hai, then at Cui Ying, but said nothing.

The moment Cui Ying saw Chen Ping, she felt as if she had been pulled by some force, and she quickly ran over and hid behind him.

Her hands gripped Chen Ping's clothes tightly, and her whole body was trembling.

Fang Hai's expression turned completely cold as he watched this scene.

He glanced at Chen Ping, then at Cui Ying hiding behind Chen Ping, his lips twitched slightly, but he said nothing and turned back to his dormitory.

The door slammed shut with a loud bang, especially clear in the quiet night.

Chen Ping stood still, without moving.

He could feel Cui Ying's hand trembling, the sensation traveling through the hem of her clothes to his waist, quivering.

"It's alright now," Chen Ping said softly.

Cui Ying didn't speak, but she didn't loosen her grip.

The two stood there for a while, then Chen Ping turned around and looked at her.

The moonlight shone on Cui Ying's face, making it appear bright white. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her lips were trembling.

"Did he touch you?" Chen Ping asked.

Cui Ying nodded, then shook her head: "He patted my shoulder, which startled me, so I yelled."

Chen Ping glanced in the direction of Fang Hai's dormitory. The lights were on, and the curtains were drawn tightly.

He turned his gaze back to Cui Ying: "Go inside, and lock the door tonight."

Cui Ying nodded, loosened her grip on his sleeve, took two steps, then stopped and turned back: "Chen Ping."

"Um?"

"You...you should go to sleep early too."

"Um."

Cui Ying pushed open the door and entered the room. The door closed with a loud click from the latch.

Chen Ping stood in the yard, poured out the water in his cup, and turned to go back to his house.

He didn't turn on the light, but sat down on the edge of the bed. The moonlight from the window shone in and onto the wooden box on the table.

I heard soft footsteps from next door, followed by a creaking sound from the bed.

"Chen Ping," Cui Ying called out, echoing the wall panel.

"Um?"

Do you think he might...?

"No," Chen Ping interrupted her. "With me here, he wouldn't dare."

There was silence for a few seconds.

"Good night," Cui Ying said.

"Good night."

Chen Ping lay down, staring at the ceiling, not asleep.

He could hear the breathing next door, sometimes shallow, sometimes deep; he wasn't asleep either.

The moonlight drew a crooked square on the ceiling, and a cool breeze slipped in through the cracks in the window.

He didn't know how much time had passed when he heard noises coming from the courtyard.

It was very light, like the sound of a cat stepping on fallen leaves.

But Chen Ping wasn't listening with his ears; he was perceiving in another way.

The thoughts in his mind surged, as if someone had drawn a dot in his consciousness, and then that dot was moving.

He quietly sat up in bed, stepped barefoot onto the floor, walked to the door, and opened it a crack without turning on the light.

The moonlight shone in the courtyard, on the poplar tree, and on the door of Fang Hai's dormitory. The door was open, but no one was there.

Chen Ping's gaze swept across the courtyard and landed on Cui Ying's window.

A figure was crouching outside the window in a lewd posture, his face almost pressed against the glass.

The moonlight shone on him, and his silver-rimmed glasses reflected the light like two cold coins.

Fang Hai.

Chen Ping's blood rushed to his head.

It wasn't fear, it wasn't tension, it was a kind of anger that welled up from the very marrow of my bones.

He opened the door, stepped barefoot onto the cement floor, and made no sound.

He walked up behind Fang Hai and, by the moonlight, saw the posture clearly: Fang Hai was leaning against the windowsill with one hand, doing something with the other, his face pressed against the glass, looking inside.

Chen Ping took a deep breath and then shouted.

"Catch the pervert!"

The sound wasn't loud, but in the quiet night, it was like a pebble thrown into a pond, creating ripples that spread outwards in circles.

Fang Hai sprang up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He turned around, but before he could even see who it was, a fist was already on his face.

The first punch landed on the bridge of his nose.

Fang Hai yelled, and his silver-rimmed glasses flew off, landing in the moonlight, flashing briefly before shattering.

Blood spurted from her nose, splattering onto Cui Ying's window, appearing dark and indistinct in the moonlight.

The second punch landed squarely on his stomach.

Fang Hai curled up like a shrimp, clutching his stomach, his mouth full of sour liquid. He wanted to shout but couldn't, and could only make "hoarse" sounds.

Chen Ping failed to land his third punch.

He grabbed Fang Hai by the collar, dragged him out from under the window, and threw him to the ground.

Fang Hai was curled up on the ground, like a crushed worm, his face covered in blood. Only one lens of his silver-rimmed glasses was still hanging on his ear; the other lens was nowhere to be found.

"Stop hitting him! Stop hitting him!"

Fang Hai's voice was shrill and hoarse, like a duck being choked, "I'm Fang Hai! I'm Fang Hai from the Municipal Health Bureau!"

Chen Ping's hand froze in mid-air, his expression shifting from anger to surprise, and then from surprise to "sudden realization."

He released his grip, squatted down, and looked at Fang Hai, full of confusion, saying, "Section Chief Fang? What are you doing here?"

Fang Hai covered his nose, blood seeping from between his fingers and dripping onto the ground, drop by drop.

One of his eyes was swollen, his lip was cut, and his face was covered in bruises; he looked even worse than Huang Mao had last night.

"You...you hit me..." Fang Hai's voice trembled, it was hard to tell whether it was from pain or anger.

"Section Chief Fang, I'm so sorry."

Chen Ping's voice was very sincere, so sincere that it seemed genuine. "I heard a noise just now and thought there was a thief. As you know, things haven't been peaceful at the health center lately. A couple of days ago, some thugs came to cause trouble."

I was in a hurry and attacked without seeing who it was. Why are you wandering around outside so late at night?

Fang Hai opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

What could he say?

He said he was drunk and went to the wrong room?

He said he got lost while going to the restroom?

No matter what you say, it doesn't make sense.

Would a normal person look through the window if they went into the wrong room?

"I...I drank too much..." Fang Hai explained, "I went to the restroom...and went the wrong way..."

"Oh, we've gone the wrong way."

Chen Ping nodded, his expression serious, as if he were listening to a very reasonable explanation. "Section Chief Fang, you've gone a bit too far. The restroom is over there; you've come all the way to this side."

Fang Hai's face turned bright red, but fortunately, since his face was already covered in blood, it didn't look any redder.

He got up from the ground, covered his nose, and staggered back to his dormitory.

After taking two steps, my foot slipped and I almost fell. I grabbed the wall, regained my balance, and continued walking.

His back was hunched, making him look ten years older.

The door closed.

The lights are off.