Director Chen watched Fang Yuan leave and let out a sigh.
Earlier that day, Doctor Zhang had come to him requesting access to Fang Yuan’s personnel file. She did not have the authority to view it, and she refused to explain why she wanted it, so he naturally declined.
Later, Doctor Zhang returned with an authorization slip signed by the Party Secretary, and only then did Director Chen hand the file over to her.
After reading it, Doctor Zhang smiled with satisfaction and expressed the hope that the organization would step in and have a talk with Fang Yuan about her personal matters.
From Doctor Zhang’s words, Director Chen understood that she wanted to introduce Fang Yuan to her own nephew and hoped the hospital leadership would help facilitate the match.
He was not very willing to get involved. Although Doctor Zhang’s nephew came from a county leadership family, he knew nothing about the young man’s character or conduct. On the other hand, he thought highly of Doctor Fang. He was afraid that if the hospital leadership became involved, Doctor Fang would have little room to refuse, so he did not agree to it.
However, he did not reject Doctor Zhang outright. He merely said that he would think it over first and find out Doctor Fang’s own thoughts before making any decision.
When he stopped Fang Yuan to test the waters, seeing that she appeared completely unaware of the matter, Director Chen found himself unable to ask after all.
Meanwhile, Fang Yuan had no idea that Doctor Zhang had gone to see Director Chen. At first, she was still wondering about the matter that Director Chen had hesitated to bring up, but she soon forgot all about it.
What concerned her most now was the hospital’s selection of an outbound medical team. The news had already spread throughout the hospital. When she returned to Outpatient Consultation Room One, several doctors were gathered together discussing it. Everyone looked rather tense, each afraid they would be selected.
It was said that the hospital leadership had already screened an initial group of candidates and drawn up a preliminary list. They were only waiting for the hospital leadership meeting to make the final decision. Everyone worried that their name might be on the list and tried every possible way to gather information.
Fang Yuan no longer felt the same anxiety she had initially experienced about joining the rural medical team. She felt that if she really was selected, she would adjust her mindset and simply treat it as an opportunity to gain experience.
After the sun set, the temperature dropped even further. Fang Yuan shifted her shoulder bag behind her, tucked both hands into her coat pockets, and walked out of the hospital into the biting cold breeze.
She greeted a colleague who was also leaving work. The smile had not yet faded from her face when she saw Xue Wenqing walking toward her, pushing his bicycle.
Her expression instantly turned cold. Without acknowledging him, she turned sideways and walked past him.
“Xiao Fang, wait a moment.” Xue Wenqing turned his bicycle around and hurried after her.
Fang Yuan frowned deeply. She thought this man was far too presumptuous. It was as though they were already well acquainted. He was actually calling her Xiao Fang.
She ignored him and quickened her pace.
Xue Wenqing hastily caught up. Walking beside her, he looked at her slightly puffed cheeks in profile, her straight nose, and her thick eyelashes that fluttered like the wings of a black butterfly. His heart immediately began to itch.
“Xiao Fang, we met yesterday. My name is Xue Wenqing. My mother is Zhang Huiyun. Are you heading home now? Let me give you a ride.”
Fang Yuan stopped, turned around, and said seriously, “Your mother is my patient. Other than that, we don’t know each other. I don’t need you to give me a ride. You should go home.”
Even her voice was so soft and pleasant. Xue Wenqing felt that Xiao Fang was exactly the kind of girl he had always dreamed of. Although she was rather cold toward him now, that only showed she was reserved and self respecting. He believed he would definitely win her over and make her devoted to him in return.
“We’ve already met twice. My situation should have been explained to you by my second aunt. If there’s anything else you’d like to know, you can always ask me. I believe we’ll become friends,” Xue Wenqing said confidently.
“I don’t want to know anything about you. Please leave,” Fang Yuan said calmly, looking at him with an unmistakable expression of dismissal.
Xue Wenqing suddenly found the situation rather dull. He wondered what his second aunt had been doing. Had she actually explained everything to Xiao Fang or not? Why was she acting as though she wanted nothing to do with him?
“Xiao Fang, is there some kind of misunderstanding?” Xue Wenqing reached out, intending to place a hand on Fang Yuan’s shoulder.
Fang Yuan immediately stepped back in alarm, staring at him in disbelief. She had not expected him to suddenly reach toward her.
“What are you doing?”
A voice suddenly exploded from the distance, and a figure charged straight toward Xue Wenqing.
With a loud bang, Xue Wenqing’s bicycle was kicked over onto the ground.
“You little hooligan, are you looking for death?” Xue Wenqing hurriedly picked up his bicycle, his heart aching, and shouted furiously at the newcomer.
“Da Mao.” Fang Yuan quickly pulled her brother, who looked ready to fight, in front of her.
“You’re the one looking for death. How dare you lay your hands on my sister? Looking like a toad and still dreaming of eating swan meat? Bah!” Da Mao, held back by Fang Yuan, pointed at Xue Wenqing and mocked him with sharp words.
“Xiao Fang, you know him? I’d suggest you tell his parents to discipline him properly. Otherwise, this little brat is going to end up in a labor reform camp sooner or later,” Xue Wenqing said through gritted teeth, veins bulging on his forehead in humiliation and anger.
Fang Yuan pulled the agitated Da Mao behind her, strode forward, and delivered a powerful kick to the bicycle. The force sent Xue Wenqing stumbling backward two steps, and with a loud clatter, the bicycle fell to the ground once again.
“That’s my younger brother. My parents have raised him very well. If I hear you say something like that again, next time I’ll kick you instead.”
“Y, you… Your whole family is nothing but a bunch of barbarians.” Xue Wenqing trembled with rage.
“Da Mao, let’s go.” Fang Yuan took Da Mao by the arm and turned to leave.[1]T/N: Nice one Da Mao!! ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2961211_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2961211_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
Beside the Yuyang River at dusk, a cool breeze drifted through the air as the siblings walked quietly side by side.
Da Mao was still immersed in the spectacle of his sister kicking the bicycle and scolding the man. He had not yet recovered from the shock. At home, his sister was usually a delicate little darling. Apart from being a bit fierce toward him, she always spoke gently outside and never argued with anyone. He had never imagined she had such a fiery side. It seemed he really did not know his sister well enough.
“You rushed over and started fighting without even knowing what was going on. You mustn’t do that again. Being impulsive and reckless will only cause you to suffer,” Fang Yuan broke the silence and began lecturing him.
“I saw him trying to take advantage of you, and you’re still criticizing me? You don’t appreciate good intentions at all!” Da Mao protested excitedly.
Fang Yuan lightly smacked him on the head.
“But didn’t I avoid him? In reality, he hadn’t actually done anything. If you’d really started fighting today, you definitely wouldn’t have beaten a grown man. Then you would have ended up taking a beating for nothing.”
“I wouldn’t be able to beat him? I’ve been in more fights than he’s had meals. One look at him and you can tell he’s a coward. He only dares to talk, not fight,” Da Mao said indignantly.
“Listen to you sounding so proud of yourself. Do you get into fights often? Who have you been fighting?” Fang Yuan continued questioning him.
Da Mao shook his head dramatically and hurried ahead without answering.
Looking at him with his schoolbag hanging in front of his chest and his carefree swagger, Fang Yuan sighed and caught up with him.
“How have your studies been lately? Last time your exam results were all failing grades. Will you even get into junior high school? If you have to repeat another year, you’ll end up being Xiao Mao’s classmate.”
Da Mao quickly ran off, covering his ears.
“This evening I’ll help you review your textbooks. Stay home after dinner and don’t go running around outside…”
That evening during dinner, neither sibling mentioned what had happened on the road to Fang Xiaoqin.
Looking at the small dining table with its two vegetable dishes and one soup, without the slightest trace of meat, all three siblings pouted.
“Mom, don’t we still have meat coupons for this month? Why aren’t we buying any meat? I haven’t eaten meat in ages,” Da Mao complained first.
“It’s almost the end of the month. In a few days we’ll be able to collect next quarter’s non staple food supplies with our ration book, and my work unit will also distribute some. We don’t need to be so frugal,” Fang Yuan protested as well.
“Mom, I want meat,” Xiao Mao chimed in.
Fang Xiaoqin ignored her three meat begging children. She had a reason for saving the meat coupons. Nowadays, many families with children of marriageable age were saving all kinds of ration coupons so they could use them when hosting a wedding banquet.
If they did not save them now, they might not be able to gather enough coupons when the time came, and they would not even be able to hold a proper wedding feast.
Seeing Da Mao about to pick up his chopsticks, Fang Xiaoqin stopped him.
“Recite a passage from the Chairman’s quotations first.”
Da Mao let out a miserable wail.
Fang Xiaoqin knocked him lightly on the head. “With that attitude of yours, you need to study even harder. If you can’t recite the quotations properly, you’re likely to get yourself into trouble when you’re out.”
Fang Yuan and the others could only recite together, “The Great Leader taught us…”
…
After finishing her ward rounds, Fang Yuan saw Doctor Zhang standing in the corridor with a stern expression, obviously waiting for her. Pretending not to notice, Fang Yuan smiled politely, then walked past her.
Doctor Zhang was furious. She hurried after her and said, “Doctor Fang, I need to speak with you.”
She had originally thought that if Fang Yuan admitted her mistake with a good attitude, she would give her another chance. But seeing her behave like this, she clearly did not appreciate the kindness being shown.
“Doctor Zhang, if it’s official business, then we can discuss it in the office. But if it’s personal, then I’m afraid I don’t have time to listen.”
Doctor Zhang’s face turned ashen. “Your attitude is completely inappropriate. A senior is speaking to you, and you’re distinguishing between official and personal matters? We’re all children of the revolution. There is no distinction between public and private.”
“Then please go ahead. What is it?” Fang Yuan maintained her smile.
After what had happened yesterday, she had already guessed that either Doctor Zhang or Zhang Huiyun would come looking for her. Being introduced to a prospective partner was a common enough matter, but the family’s attitude and Xue Wenqing’s behavior the day before had left her feeling extremely disgusted.
“Come to my office.” Doctor Zhang turned and walked away first. After taking several steps, she realized Fang Yuan had not followed and turned back with a gloomy expression.
With a helpless sigh, Fang Yuan followed after her. She did not want the matter to become a public spectacle in the corridor, which would not benefit her either.
The two entered Doctor Zhang’s office.
“You’re just a girl from an ordinary worker’s family. I introduced you to the son of a cadre family because I thought you were dignified and well mannered. I never expected you and your family to be so uncivilized and so lacking in upbringing,” Doctor Zhang snorted coldly.
Suppressing her anger, Fang Yuan said, “Thank you for thinking so highly of me. Since that’s the case, please don’t bring this matter up again in the future.”
Doctor Zhang was momentarily speechless. The previous night, she had been summoned to her elder sister’s house and thoroughly scolded before learning what had happened to Wenqing.
She herself was full of anger. She had originally intended to give Fang Yuan a good dressing down and then drop the matchmaking altogether.
However, Wenqing absolutely refused to give up and still wanted to pursue Fang Yuan. Her elder sister’s opinion was that they should first teach Fang Yuan a lesson and temper her attitude before discussing anything further.
“So your attitude means you don’t think highly of Wenqing?” Doctor Zhang asked suspiciously.
That was the only explanation she could think of for Fang Yuan’s firm attitude. Yet even as she asked the question, she found it hard to believe.
With her nephew’s family background and job, he was one in a hundred. He had always been the one choosing others. How could any young woman reject him so completely?
Originally, Fang Yuan had intended to belittle herself a little in order to calm Doctor Zhang’s anger. Yet for some reason, the words came out on their own.
“That’s right. I don’t think highly of Xue Wenqing.” She too had grown up as the cherished child of her family. Although she usually appeared gentle and easygoing, once her temper flared, she could be remarkably stubborn.
“Hahaha! You… What makes you think you’re worthy?” Doctor Zhang pointed at Fang Yuan, laughing out of sheer anger.
“The Chairman once said that among the people there is no distinction of rank or status. So please don’t keep talking about cadre families in the future. Xue Wenqing is not superior to any other child of the proletariat. If you keep saying things like that, you’ll easily end up making political mistakes. I don’t like him simply because I don’t like him as a person.”
After saying that, Fang Yuan pushed open the door and walked out. Two seconds later, she turned back and added, “Also, I myself am a cadre. It’s not someone else’s place to judge whether I’m good enough.”[2]T/N: Period!!! <(˘ ˘ ˘)> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2961211_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2961211_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
Doctors were also classified as cadres.
Doctor Zhang remained standing where she was, stunned for a moment before letting out a series of cold laughs.
References[+]