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

The afternoon shift was the same as usual, with just as many patients.

But the atmosphere was different; everyone was filled with the excitement of "the holiday is coming soon."

Wang Tao ran back and forth, his steps as light as if he were walking on cotton.

When Liu Wei was writing down the prescription, his pen flew across the paper, the words practically flying through the air.

Li Fang was humming a song in the pharmacy, but the tune was way off track, without her even realizing it.

Wearing his reading glasses, Wang Jianguo slowly examined patients, but the corners of his mouth remained turned up, never letting it down. Paid leave was a rare treat for this veteran doctor who had been practicing medicine for over twenty years.

Chen Ping sat in the consultation room, seeing each patient one by one.

Back pain, leg pain, cough, high blood pressure—it's not much different from usual.

His hands were very steady, and he didn't shake at all when he was giving injections, but he was thinking about something: where to go on vacation?

He no longer has a home, and even if he returns to Tianhai City, he can only stay in a hotel.

Cui Ying asked him to go to her house, and he neither agreed nor refused.

But he still felt uneasy, since he and Cui Ying were just ordinary colleagues, and it wasn't appropriate for him to stay at her house.

Around 3 p.m., Zhao Guosheng came out of his office with a red paper and posted a notice at the entrance of the health center.

"Due to renovation work at the health center, we will be temporarily closed from today. We will announce the reopening date later. We ask for the understanding of our fellow villagers." He finished posting the notice, took two steps back to look at it, then smoothed out a raised corner and nodded in satisfaction.

Several villagers passing by gathered around to look, and one of them asked, "Dean Zhao, is it closed? Where can we go for treatment then?"

"Go to the township health center next door, or go directly to the county hospital."

Zhao Guosheng smiled ingratiatingly, "It will open in ten days or half a month. Come back then. Once the building is finished and the conditions are better, it will be more convenient to see a doctor."

The villagers left, muttering to themselves.

As it was almost time to leave work, Zhao Guosheng walked into Chen Ping's consultation room.

Chen Ping was packing his things, wiping each silver needle clean and putting them into his needle case.

Zhao Guosheng stood at the door and coughed. Chen Ping looked up and saw the hesitant expression on his face.

"Dean Zhao, is something the matter?"

Zhao Guosheng walked over, took out a wad of cash from his pocket, brand new red bills, tied with a rubber band.

He placed the money on the table and pushed it in front of Chen Ping: "Dr. Chen, this is three thousand yuan, an advance on your salary. You don't have any money on you, but you still need to eat and drink during your vacation."

Chen Ping looked at the stack of money, then at Zhao Guosheng.

Zhao Guosheng's face turned slightly red. He avoided looking at Chen Ping, wondering if three thousand was too little and if Chen Ping would find it unacceptable.

However, the renovation of the health center would cost a lot of money, so Zhao Guosheng couldn't give Chen Ping too much in advance.

"Dean Zhao, it's not payday yet..."

"I said it's an advance," Zhao Guosheng interrupted him. "It'll be deducted from your salary later. Take it, and stop talking nonsense."

Chen Ping smiled, picked up the money, and put it in his pocket.

His pockets were bulging, and he patted them, feeling relieved.

"Thank you, Dean Zhao."

"No need to thank me." Zhao Guosheng waved his hand, turned and left. But when he reached the door, he stopped and asked, "Dr. Chen, if you have nowhere to go during the holidays, you're welcome to come to my house anytime."

"Understood." Chen Ping nodded.

Zhao Guosheng is gone.

Chen Ping sat in the chair, reached into his pocket, and touched the wad of cash. It was thick, brand new, and still smelled of ink.

He smiled, took out the money, counted it, and found it to be exactly three thousand, not a single bill more or less.

He folded the money, stuffed it into his inner pocket, patted it, stood up, and locked the door to the clinic.

In the cafeteria, Aunt Li had already prepared the last meal.

Braised pork belly, scrambled eggs, stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, tomato and egg drop soup, and a big bowl of rice.

There weren't many dishes, but every single one was prepared with care.

The braised pork belly is stewed until tender, fatty but not greasy, and lean but not dry.

The scrambled eggs were golden brown and sprinkled with chopped green onions; the aroma wafted right into my nose.

The cabbage has a sour taste, which is appetizing.

Several people sat around the table, but before they even touched their chopsticks, Wang Tao spoke first.

"When I went home for the holidays, my mom said she would stew pig's trotters for me. I haven't eaten my mom's cooking in a long time, and I miss it terribly."

"All you ever think about is eating," Li Fang rolled her eyes at him. "You should hurry up and go on blind dates to find a wife."

"I'm not looking for one. It's so nice to be free and independent." After saying that, Wang Tao glanced at Li Fang and said, "But if I could find a woman like Sister Fang, then I would get married."

"Then I'll get a divorce and live with you?" Li Fang said with a smile.

Wang Tao suddenly seemed to choke on something, his face turned red and he remained silent.

Everyone laughed when they saw this.

"Li Fang, what are you planning to do during your vacation?" Zhao Guosheng asked.

"What else can I do but take care of the kids? I'm planning to take them to the city for a trip. I promised them half a year ago, but I haven't had the time until now."

Li Fang said.

Liu Wei picked up a piece of braised pork, put it in his mouth, chewed it, swallowed it, and said slowly, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay at home. My mom said she's going to turn over that plot of land in the yard and plant some cabbage. By autumn, our clinic will have cabbage to eat."

"Come on, your yard is so small, you can't even grow enough cabbages for your own family, and you're bringing the health center here?" Li Fang bluntly retorted.

"Dr. Wang, what are your plans for the holiday?" Cui Ying asked, looking at Wang Jianguo, who had been silent.

Wang Jianguo pushed up his reading glasses: "I'm going to my daughter's house. She lives in the provincial capital and has been inviting me to stay for a few days. Now that I have some free time, I'm going to see my grandson."

"Dr. Chen, where are you going?" Wang Tao asked Chen Ping.

Chen Ping opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Cui Ying spoke first.

"He came back to Tianhai City with me."

Cui Ying's tone was very calm, as if she were talking about something that had already been decided.

There was a moment of silence on the table.

Everyone looked at Chen Ping with a meaningful gaze.

Chen Ping glanced at Cui Ying.

Cui Ying didn't look at him, her head was down, and she stirred the food in her bowl with her chopsticks.

But her ears turned red, a bright red that stretched from her neck all the way to the base of her ears.

She made the decision on her own without consulting Chen Ping.

At this moment, she was afraid that Chen Ping would refute her, which would be too embarrassing.

Fortunately, Chen Ping smiled, neither refuting nor agreeing, but in everyone's eyes, that smile was an admission.

Wang Tao was the first to react, chuckling twice, "Dr. Chen, are you meeting the parents?"

"Don't talk nonsense." Chen Ping glared at Wang Tao.

Wang Tao stopped talking, but laughed even louder.

Li Fang put down her chopsticks, looked at Cui Ying, and sighed: "Little Cui, you've practically brought Dr. Chen home with you."

Cui Ying's face turned even redder, and she lowered her head even further, but the corners of her mouth turned up high.

She picked up the bowl, buried her face in it, and said somewhat awkwardly, "Sister Li Fang, what are you saying?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm saying," Li Fang smiled.

Everyone laughed.

Chen Ping smiled, picked up his bowl, and continued eating.

After laughing, Zhao Guosheng coughed and steered the conversation back on track: "Alright, alright, stop fooling around. Let's get down to business. The health center needs renovation. Does anyone have any suggestions? Suggest them now, and if they're reasonable, I'll have the construction team do it."

Wang Tao was the first to raise his hand: "Dean, could we replace the table in the consultation room with a bigger one? The current one is too small; there's no place to put the medical records."

"Okay, I've got it." Zhao Guosheng nodded.

Li Fang said, "The pharmacy doesn't have enough shelves. Could you print a few more rows?"

"OK."

Liu Wei: "The lights in the injection room are too dim. We need to replace them with brighter ones."

"OK."

Wang Jianguo said slowly, "The chairs in the examination room are too hard. The elderly person is uncomfortable sitting on them. Let's change to a softer one."

Zhao Guosheng glanced at him and laughed: "Old Wang, you're just uncomfortable sitting here, aren't you?"

Wang Jianguo didn't refute, he just smiled.

Cui Ying looked up, her face still flushed, but she said earnestly, "Dean, could all the dormitories be equipped with toilets? The current dry toilets are so smelly, they're awful, especially in the summer, with mosquitoes and flies everywhere."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then Wang Tao burst out laughing.

"Sister Cui Ying, you're acting like a spoiled princess again. We country folk have dry toilets in every household, and we've been using them for hundreds of years. We've never seen anyone die from the stench."

"Exactly," Liu Wei chuckled, "Sister Cui Ying, your demands are too high. Where would the dean get that much money?"

Li Fang then said with a mischievous smile, "Little Cui, if you think the outhouse smells bad, you can go to Dr. Chen's dormitory to use the toilet. There's a bathroom in his room, it's convenient."