Guessing who the caller was, Xu Chenxin narrowed his eyes and stepped over to answer.
After a brief crackle of static, the person on the other end got straight to the point. “Well? Have you seen her yet?”
Hearing this, Xu Chenxin furrowed his brow, his expression turning more serious. His hand gripping the phone unconsciously tightened, veins bulging slightly as if about to break through the skin. When he spoke, his voice carried a hint of heaviness.
“Not yet, but soon.”
“Make it quick.”
With those four simple words, the call was promptly ended.
Xu Chenxin lowered his gaze, his expression inscrutable. After an indeterminate amount of time, he finally moved toward the window to draw the curtains. But catching something in his peripheral vision, his movements gradually stilled.
A few hibiscus trees were planted in the hospital’s small garden, now in full bloom. Large pinkish-white flowers swayed in the breeze, petals scattering across the green lawn, adding a poetic touch that drew the eyes of many passersby.
Yet at this moment, everyone’s attention was fixed elsewhere, even hurried footsteps slowing down.
Beneath the flowering branches stood a girl in a pale pink dress. The side of her face turned toward the light was whiter than snow, shadows cast by her long, thick lashes beneath her eyes, making her features appear even more deep-set and three-dimensional—truly a face that rivaled the hibiscus in beauty, with bright eyes and gleaming teeth.
Perhaps hearing some sound, she turned to look back, revealing her full face, which was even more breathtakingly beautiful. Her upturned peach-blossom eyes shimmered like ripples on water, curving into crescents when she smiled, as if capable of ensnaring anyone’s soul.
Xu Chenxin watched quietly, his fingertips resting on the windowsill unconsciously rubbing together. Just as he noticed an older woman joining her and was about to look away, the girl seemed to sense something, turning her gaze precisely toward his direction.
The curtains swayed, concealing everything.
Chu Youhuan saw nothing and withdrew her gaze, linking arms with Zhao Chunrong as they walked out of the hospital. Sweetly, she said, “Thank goodness you brought me a change of clothes, Mother. Otherwise, by tomorrow, I’d have started to smell.”
Zhao Chunrong chuckled at her suddenly honeyed words, playfully chiding her for being smooth-tongued. But everyone enjoys flattery, and she was no exception, unable to hide her pride. “You’d better remember that. Your father is too careless to think of such things.”
“Exactly. Without you, our family would fall apart.”
Zhao Chunrong beamed, neither confirming nor denying the remark. Remembering something, she added, “Your aunt hasn’t had much appetite since giving birth. It’s not easy coming into town, so let’s buy some sweet-and-sour jujubes to help her appetite.”
Her younger brother and his wife, still hale and hearty, had welcomed another child late last year.
The Zhao family had many sons in this generation, with Huanhuan being the only granddaughter. They had hoped this time for a fair, delicate girl, but when the baby arrived, it turned out to be another boy.
Though their wish went unfulfilled, a new addition to the family was still a joyous occasion. Everyone had been smiling lately, and Zhao Chunrong, who maintained close ties with her natal family despite being married out, had visited frequently. Just yesterday, she had brought many gifts for her little nephew’s full-month celebration. Who could have guessed that amid the festivities, Chu Youhuan would suddenly fall ill?
“When we go back tomorrow, I’ll visit Aunt and my little cousin,” Chu Youhuan said, her face showing genuine concern.
“It’s nothing urgent, no need to rush. I’ll take you along when I have time tomorrow.”
As the mother and daughter chatted, they walked toward the Gongxiao She at the entrance of Guihua Street in the southern part of the city. The county town wasn’t particularly large, but it wasn’t small either. Every street looked similar, and since they weren’t familiar with the roads, they had to ask for directions frequently.
Chu Youhuan obediently followed Zhao Chunrong. While her mother was asking for directions, she glanced at the signboard of the Gongxiao She diagonally across the street. Though puzzled, she didn’t ask why they were going to a farther one instead of the closer one.
After winding through several streets and walking under the blazing sun for over ten minutes, they finally arrived, inevitably breaking into a sweat.
“Wipe your face.”
Zhao Chunrong handed Chu Youhuan a handkerchief to wipe away the sweat, then straightened her braids and clothes. Seeing her daughter as pretty and lively as ever, she felt slightly reassured, though her gaze lingered a few seconds longer on those peach-blossom eyes.
She wondered if it was just her imagination, but the girl’s eyes seemed brighter and more spirited than before, like a dusty pearl finally shining with its rightful brilliance.
Moreover, the girl’s hunched posture was gone, and that timid, petty air had completely vanished, replaced by an indescribable aura.
Zhao Chunrong thought it over but couldn’t pinpoint the reason, ultimately attributing it to the cumulative effect of her years of nagging and guidance.
“Alright, don’t speak carelessly once we’re inside. Just follow me,” Zhao Chunrong instructed. Seeing her daughter nod obediently, she took her hand and led her inside.
This Gongxiao She was located at the intersection of several streets, occupying a sizable single-story building freshly painted on the outside. Amid the rows of dull, gray buildings, it stood out as particularly grand and eye-catching. Once inside, the sight was almost overwhelming.
Right at the entrance, several glass display cases were lined up, showcasing candies, soap, flashlights, enamel mugs, and other items. Behind them stood a full Pai of wooden shelves with an even wider variety of goods—pots, pans, bowls, vegetables, fruits, tea, rice, oil, salt…
Most eye-catching were the neatly hung fabrics on the right-hand side, a dazzling array of colors more vibrant than a rainbow.
Chu Youhuan, not being from this era, found everything novel and quietly took in the entire interior.
Beside her, Zhao Chunrong also scanned the surroundings, but not to look for items—she was searching for someone. Seeing only female staff behind the glass counters, she sighed softly in disappointment before leading Chu Youhuan to buy a pack of dried sour plums.
Thinking it wasn’t easy to come into town, she also picked up some miscellaneous daily necessities. Remembering how her daughter had suffered to earn that money and those items, she bought her new hair ties and a bottle of Xuehuagao, with the scent chosen by Chu Youhuan herself—jasmine.
However, the jasmine scent was out of stock at the front counter. A saleswoman opened a side door and went to the back to fetch it.
Chu Youhuan hadn’t expected this trip to yield such a pleasant surprise—a rare skincare product for this era. Unable to contain her delight, she beamed and showered Zhao Chunrong with flattery, even making a short-haired saleswoman nearby chuckle. The saleswoman praised Zhao Chunrong for her good fortune, having such a beautiful and sweet-tongued daughter.
Zhao Chunrong was about to modestly deflect the compliment when the side door opened again, and a slender male staff member stepped out.
“Sister Chen, the Xuehuagao.”
Liu Bin had been keeping accounts in the inner office when a colleague called him over to run an errand. He had planned to drop off the item and leave immediately, but a glimpse of something in his peripheral vision stopped him in his tracks. His deep brown eyes were captivated by that soft shade of pink.
The person addressed as Sister Chen was the short-haired saleswoman who had just praised Chu Youhuan. Hearing Liu Bin, she immediately stepped forward to take the Xuehuagao from his hands. She glanced behind him but saw no one else, silently cursing the lazybones, yet she smiled and said, “Thank you, Xiao Liu.”
Her voice snapped Liu Bin back to reality. Afraid of revealing his unusual behavior, he quickly lowered his head and hurried back inside. However, he couldn’t bring himself to close the door completely, hiding in a corner to steal glances outside. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before the strikingly beautiful mother and daughter paid and left.
Liu Bin hadn’t seen enough and felt a pang of emptiness. He couldn’t help but wonder why he had never seen her around here before.
Meanwhile, the object of his thoughts remained completely unaware, engrossed in playing with her newly acquired Xuehuagao.
This carefree display amused Zhao Chunrong, but her mind drifted to the young man she had just seen. While his looks were ordinary, he was fairly tall, and most importantly, his family background was good—marrying into such a household would mean a life free from worries about food and clothing…
Judging by the way he had looked at Huanhuan earlier, he seemed interested.
Well, with her daughter’s looks and figure, what man wouldn’t be captivated? Only Hu Huiqing was blind enough not to see it!
But there was no need to rush into this. They had to take their time, choose carefully, to avoid making mistakes and regretting them later.
Having found the answer she sought, Zhao Chunrong felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She led Chu Youhuan back at a leisurely pace.
Upon returning to the hospital, Chu Youhuan worried that the ointment she had applied in the morning might have been washed away by sweat, affecting her recovery. She hurried to the washroom, reapplied a thick layer of ointment in front of the mirror, and took the opportunity to try out the newly purchased Xuehuagao.
At the same time, she pondered how to avoid Zhao Chunrong and find a chance to visit the newspaper office.
As for why she had to avoid Zhao Chunrong, it was a matter of necessity. After all, the original host had inherited her father’s traits—a wooden head when it came to studying and learning. She had barely scraped through middle school and hadn’t picked up a book since.
She was the polar opposite of her brother, Chu Deming.
If she suddenly expressed interest in going to the newspaper office to find work or write articles, it would be like handing them the seeds of suspicion herself.
Chu Youhuan sighed softly. Instead of returning to the ward immediately, she turned and headed to the pharmacy. First, she inquired about the price of the ointment Xu Chenxin had given her, intending to repay him once she knew the cost. To her surprise, however, the county pharmacy didn’t carry that particular ointment.
Hearing this, Chu Youhuan was taken aback. But she wasn’t ignorant—just from the packaging and its effectiveness, she could tell the ointment wasn’t cheap. Yet, she currently had no money at all. The idea of buying the ointment from Xu Chenxin seemed like a pipe dream.
Out of selfishness, though, she didn’t want to return the ointment before her wound fully healed.
Since Dr. Xu hadn’t pressed her about it yet, she decided, for the first time, to play dumb and pretend not to know. Once her wound healed and she had saved some money, she would find an opportunity to return both the ointment and the payment.
Having made up her mind, Chu Youhuan asked about another matter. “Comrade, I also wanted to ask if you know where our county’s newspaper office is located?”
The nurse on duty was a round-faced girl who looked to be in her early twenties. Seeing that Chu Youhuan was good-looking, spoke softly, and was polite and courteous, she didn’t find her bothersome and was quite enthusiastic in answering her questions.
Upon hearing that it would take about forty minutes to walk there, Chu Youhuan immediately dismissed the idea of going to the newspaper office now.
In this era, transportation was inconvenient, with buses only available in a few major cities. Even if she had the money, there were no vehicles to take.
Given her physical condition, walking there and back would take at least two hours.
It seemed she would have to find another opportunity to visit the newspaper office, but when that “next time” would be, she had no idea. Returning to the countryside was like being locked in a cage, and for an unmarried young woman like her, going into the city alone was even more difficult.
At the thought of this, she couldn’t help but feel restless and anxious. She didn’t want to stay in the countryside forever, dutifully working in the fields to earn Gongfen, then following her parents’ arrangements to marry and have children…
Even if she could avoid all that, waiting for the Gaokao to resume and returning to the city would still be over a year away.
A year might not sound long, but for her, it would undoubtedly be a long and torturous wait.
No, she couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. If she couldn’t get into the newspaper office, she had to find a backup plan for herself.
Preoccupied with these thoughts, she nearly tripped and fell while climbing the stairs. Fortunately, a kind-hearted person nearby caught her in time, or else her knees would have been scraped. She forced herself to gather her spirits and sincerely thanked them, “Thank you.”
Looking up, she met a pair of familiar, deep-set eyes.
The stairwell was unlit, with only a small window letting in a faint light, casting the other person’s figure in shifting shadows.
Just like when they had met before, he was still wearing a clean and neat white coat. However, for some unknown reason, the front of his coat was soaked, the fabric clinging tightly to his body and faintly outlining the contours of his chest muscles. Not only that, but his dark hair was also dripping with water, droplets sliding down his tall, straight nose and landing directly on her face.
Chu Youhuan was momentarily stunned, but before she could say anything, her attention was drawn to the pain in her lower back.
Something was digging into her waist, causing discomfort.
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Extra chapter added at 4:00 PM [dog head holding a rose] Babies, send nutrient solutions and leave comments for a chance to receive random red packets! Red packets continue to be distributed [fighting spirit]