Wen Zhiyu didn’t intend to get the marriage certificate.
She also felt that Wen Daqiang and Chen Xiaomei only cared about the bride price. As long as the Shen family played along and didn’t ask for the money, the matter would be over. She would get her mother’s ashes and belongings, and that would be the end of it.
After that, she would leave. It wouldn’t be easy for Wen Daqiang and Chen Xiaomei to find her again.
If they really insisted on seeing a marriage certificate, she would just find someone to forge one. That wasn’t a big deal.
“Not necessary,” Wen Zhiyu refused directly. Shen Lifeng looked a bit disappointed.
“You still have something to do?” Wen Zhiyu asked him.
Shen Lifeng shook his head. “I’m being discharged. I wanted to ask if you want to come back to the military base with me. That way, if anything happens, I can take care of you.”
Wen Zhiyu refused. “No need. I’ll stay at the hospital. I’ll leave in about a month.”
Originally, she planned to leave after resolving the engagement. With the extra month ahead, she had already been delayed here for nearly two months.
The timeline was too stretched; Wen Zhiyu was trying to shorten it as much as possible.
Shen Lifeng kept spacing out on his way back.
His body had recovered well. He still couldn’t go to the battlefield, but he could handle basic work.
Besides, he hadn’t shown up for almost two months—it was time to reappear, otherwise some of the dirty things happening behind the scenes would start to surface.
Shen Lifeng ended up busy for three or four days without finding time to see Wen Zhiyu. Instead, Shen’s mother often came to the hospital with various homemade soups.
Wen Zhiyu had now clearly understood how difficult life was here.
For example, hospitalized soldiers, even while recovering, only got eggs once a week, and meat was almost never seen.
Not seeing meat was one thing—vegetables were also scarce.
Every day they lived on noodles, all of them looking pale and thin.
One day, Wen Zhiyu even saw a military family member chewing on a hard bun so tough it could crack teeth.
So Shen’s mother bringing such generous pots of soup every day was truly rare.
“Zhizhi.”
Wen Zhiyu had just finished work at noon when Shen’s mother’s loud voice rang out.
“Auntie brought you meat soup.”
When she opened the lunchbox, there were several large pieces of meat, some with fat attached. Shen’s mother was quite skilled—the soup looked oily but wasn’t greasy at all, and the lean meat was tender.
Wen Zhiyu didn’t refuse.
She had saved Shen Lifeng, and she felt it was a fair exchange. But to Shen’s mother, it wasn’t the same.
A life-saving favor couldn’t be treated as a simple transaction.
While Wen Zhiyu was eating, Shen’s mother kept talking about caring things. Then suddenly she said:
“Zhizhi, Auntie regrets most in her life that she never had a daughter. How about you become my goddaughter? From now on, I’ll treat you like my own daughter!”
She had thought this through carefully.
Being a daughter-in-law would also be fine, but her son didn’t like Zhizhi, so she had to take another approach.
Wen Zhiyu thought it wasn’t a bad idea.
This way, Shen Lifeng’s messy thoughts would probably give up.
She was just about to speak when Doctor Song rushed in from outside.
“Doctor Wen, the director asked me to call you—emergency case!”
She was gasping for breath, clearly very anxious.
“Zhizhi, go ahead. Auntie will wait here.”
Wen Zhiyu left with Doctor Song toward the emergency room.
As soon as she entered, she saw a woman in a military green uniform pacing back and forth outside the emergency room.
Wen Zhiyu frowned—it looked somewhat familiar.
When she got closer, she saw a familiar face.
“Doctor Wen is here!”
Doctor Song shouted loudly, still out of breath.
The woman immediately turned around. Her anxious expression froze the moment she saw Wen Zhiyu, then she quickly ran over.
“Zhizhi, so you’re the Doctor Wen they were talking about! It’s great that you’re here—my brother will definitely be fine!”
After the surgery, two hours later, Wen Zhiyu came out of the operating room with the assisting medical staff, and saw that Ruan Yue had somehow found a big bone and was sitting on a chair at the entrance happily gnawing on it.
Seeing them come out, she stood up, shook her hands in disgust—but the oil obviously couldn’t be shaken off.
Wen Zhiyu resignedly took out a small handkerchief, pink cotton-linen with tiny floral patterns.
“Zhizhi, I’ll wash it and return it to you.”
After wiping her hands and mouth, Ruan Yue casually stuffed the handkerchief into her pocket and smiled at Wen Zhiyu.
A nearby Doctor Song asked, “Doctor Wen, you know each other?”
Wen Zhiyu nodded.
Ruan Yue threw the bone into the trash and said, “Of course we know each other. Zhizhi is our family’s lifesaver—she’s operated on my grandpa, grandma, dad, mom, me, and now my brother too.”
The patient inside was Ruan Yue’s brother. They were here on a special mission, and he had been seriously injured. Without Wen Zhiyu, things would have gone very badly.
Wen Zhiyu sighed.
That had been in a Beijing hospital before—she hadn’t expected this family to be so unlucky, and later she even became friends with Ruan Yue.
Doctor Song nodded, understanding now why it made sense.
Wen Zhiyu’s medical skills were indeed exceptional.
When Wen Zhiyu returned to her office, Shen’s mother had already left, but the meat soup was still there, and she had even asked a nurse to heat it up for her.
Wen Zhiyu had a good relationship with people at the hospital; she often helped when she could, so she was well liked.
Of course, the main reason was her excellence.
Nearby, Ruan Yue—who wasn’t even visiting her injured brother—was drooling while watching Wen Zhiyu.
Wen Zhiyu handed her the soup.
Ruan Yue’s eyes lit up. She poured the soup over rice and ate quickly, happily.
“It’s been killing me—we haven’t had a proper meal since coming here for the mission!”
After finishing almost everything, she looked up and awkwardly scratched her head, realizing Wen Zhiyu hadn’t eaten.
“It’s fine, I’m not hungry,” Wen Zhiyu said.
She had brought plenty of food stored in her space, so she could cook extra in her dorm and wasn’t as deprived as Ruan Yue.
“Alright, then when we get back to Beijing, I’ll treat you to a meal.”
In the afternoon, Ruan Yue’s brother Ruan Qingyang woke up.
Wen Zhiyu checked on him, and the rest was up to time—she wasn’t needed anymore.
Ruan Yue kept following behind Wen Zhiyu.
Shen’s mother returned home and waited for Shen Lifeng.
When Shen Lifeng came back, he saw his mother looking serious.
“Ah Feng, come here. Mom has something to tell you.”
Shen Lifeng sat down across from her, and Shen’s mother said, “Remember I told you I wanted to recognize Zhizhi as my goddaughter?”
Shen Lifeng’s back stiffened.