When Mother Chen thought about the doctor’s salary she had learned about that morning, she gave Xu You an even bigger smile.
“Xiao Xu, it’s already past noon. Why are you still busy? I saw everyone else has already gotten off work.”
Xu You still had four patients waiting.
“Auntie, there are grain coupons in the drawer of my office. Take them and go to the cafeteria first. I probably won’t have time to eat with you at noon.”
“You’re busy. Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
Xu You nodded casually and went to see her next patient.
The next patient was an elementary school student who had gotten into a fight at school and lost…
By the time Xu You finished, it was already one o’clock.
Xu You quickly told the nurses to go eat.
“We don’t know when things will get busy again. Hurry and get something in your stomach.”
The nurses were exhausted too.
“I don’t know what’s going on today. So many people suddenly came to the hospital.”
“I’ve already mentioned it to the director. In a few days, we’ll have a few more people transferred to the emergency department.”
Xu You returned to her office, drank half a cup of warm water, and wanted to eat some egg cakes to tide herself over.
She glanced around.
The egg cakes and the leftover stir-fried chicken from yesterday were gone.
They had clearly still been sitting on the desk that morning.
Xu You frowned and pulled open the drawer.
The grain coupons and meat coupons inside were gone too.
She was accustomed to keeping two or three days’ worth of money and ration coupons in her drawer. Even if Mother Chen had three stomachs, there was no way she could have eaten everything in one meal.
Xu You immediately called someone from the security department.
“I’m not sure whether someone took the egg cakes and stir-fried chicken from my desk while things were chaotic. There were also three days’ worth of money and ration coupons in my drawer. My boyfriend, Xu Qingsong’s mother, could have taken at most one day’s worth. There should still be enough for two days.”
Half an hour later, the security officers brought Mother Chen back.
After hearing what had happened, Chen Qingsong came over as well.
Mother Chen hurriedly explained, “It’s all a misunderstanding. Why did something this small have to involve the security department?
“I was only trying to help. Xiao Xu told me to take the grain coupons from her drawer. I saw that the egg cakes and stir-fried chicken on her desk had already developed a smell, and I was afraid she would eat them and get sick, which would affect her work.
“So I decided to take them away. At noon, I only used one bowl of rice, and I used the remaining coupons to get food for you.”
As she spoke, Mother Chen pushed the lunchbox toward Xu You and returned the remaining money and ration coupons to her.
Xu You didn’t take them.
She opened the lunchbox.
Inside was only one steamed bun and some stir-fried cabbage.
Xu You closed the lunchbox. She didn’t take the money or coupons either. When she looked at Mother Chen again, there was a smile on her face, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“You were very thoughtful, Auntie. The egg cakes and stir-fried chicken were sent to me by your son, so they more or less make up for these coupons. I’ll consider the extra a treat from me to you.”
Chen Qingsong froze.
He was just about to deny it when he saw his mother reluctantly stuffing all the coupons back into her pocket.
“Mom!”
Mother Chen ignored him.
“Xiao Xu already said these coupons are being returned to you. I’m your mother. What’s wrong with me keeping them for you?”
Chen Qingsong’s temple twitched.
“Mom, I didn’t send the egg cakes or the stir-fried chicken. You shouldn’t take this money!”
Xu You looked at Chen Qingsong in surprise.
From what she knew of him, although Chen Qingsong was ambitious, he was still a relatively upright person.
Mother Chen snapped, “Stop lying to me! If you didn’t send them, then who did? Don’t tell me Xiao Xu has another admirer behind your back?”
“Mom!” Chen Qingsong’s voice hardened. “You’re already this old and still can’t control your mouth. I’ll buy you a train ticket and send you home later.”
Mother Chen could only reluctantly shut up. She slapped the coupons onto the table.
“Fine, fine, fine. I won’t interfere in you young people’s affairs. I won’t stay here and make myself unwelcome.”
After Mother Chen left, the security officers asked Xu You what she wanted to do and then left as well.
Chen Qingsong apologized.
“Comrade Xu, I’m sorry on behalf of my mother.”
Xu You didn’t know whether Chen Qingsong would blame her, but she had no regrets.
She knew very well that Mother Chen had been testing her boundaries. If she swallowed this insult today, she would never be able to keep her belongings safe in the future.
Her work was busy, and she didn’t have time to argue every time something happened. It was better to resolve the matter once and for all.
“As long as everything has been cleared up. I was just afraid the wrong person would benefit.”
Chen Qingsong breathed a sigh of relief.
They were both intelligent people. The fact that they were willing to understand the situation without saying everything out loud meant Xu You had no intention of changing their relationship.
“Then you keep working. I’ll take my mother to the family compound and help her get familiar with the area.”
On the way, Mother Chen was still furious.
“I’m her future mother-in-law, yet she didn’t show me the slightest respect. She even had people arrest me!”
“Your girlfriend is far too formidable. Once she marries into the Chen family, I’m afraid she’ll end up running the whole household.”
Chen Qingsong’s tone was calm.
“Isn’t that a good thing? Our family is missing a woman capable of taking charge.”
Mother Chen was speechless for a long moment.
“You’re trying so hard to please her, but who knows whether she even cares about you? Be careful that she isn’t dating several men at once. Those egg cakes and that stir-fried chicken must have cost several yuan altogether.”
Chen Qingsong remembered the surprised look in Xu You’s eyes.
Most likely, someone had sent the food using his name.
“My girlfriend is so outstanding. It’s perfectly normal for other men to be attracted to her.”
He wouldn’t pay attention to such low-class tricks.
The person had even used his name and didn’t dare use his own real name. Wasn’t that because he was afraid Xu You would reject him?
A rat hiding in a ditch would never dare stand in the sunlight.
He believed Xu You was smart enough to choose him.
After all, he was the youngest battalion commander in their military district, with an unlimited future ahead of him.
“I think you’ve been bewitched by some fox spirit. Every sentence you say is defending an outsider.”
Chen Qingsong’s expression turned serious.
“Mom, this is a military district. Don’t try those tricks of mistreating your daughter-in-law here. If someone reports you, I’m only a battalion commander. I won’t be able to save you.”
“A battalion commander isn’t a very high-ranking leader?”
“A battalion commander only barely meets the requirements for bringing a family member with them. In the family compound, everyone else’s rank is higher than mine.”
Mother Chen was still unwilling to accept it.
“But you’re still a battalion commander. Aren’t you stronger than your girlfriend? She’s even a widow. If you hadn’t been bewitched by her, would someone with her status be able to marry a battalion commander?”
Chen Qingsong rubbed his forehead.
“Mom, there are fewer than thirty female doctors at the military district hospital, and you can count the unmarried ones on one hand.
“At Xu You’s age, she can already work independently. She may even be promoted to department head soon. There’s only one person like that in the entire hospital.
“Once she becomes head of the emergency department, her administrative rank will be the same as mine. She’ll also be a cadre at the battalion level.”
Mother Chen was stunned for a long while.
“How can a young girl who hasn’t even grown all her hair be so capable?”
“She was specifically recruited by the director of the military district hospital. I heard that at her previous hospital, she was already a department head.”
Mother Chen was puzzled.
“If she was already a department head, why would she be willing to come here and work as an ordinary doctor? Is there something suspicious going on?”
Chen Qingsong raised his voice.
“Mom, if there were something wrong with her, the hospital leadership wouldn’t have recruited her. This is a military district hospital.”
“All right, all right. Why are you getting so angry? I won’t cause trouble for your girlfriend anymore, okay?”
After settling his mother in, Chen Qingsong returned to the base.
He handled some official business and then led the soldiers under his command through two hours of training.
The base-wide military competition was coming up soon. He would participate in both the individual and team events. If he could take first place, he would represent their military district in the all-army competition.
If that happened, he might even be able to move up another position.
Whenever he thought of his immediate superior, Shen Xu, Chen Qingsong felt a little helpless.
He only hoped Shen Xu wouldn’t participate in the competition this year.
Every time they held selections within the regiment, he lost to Shen Xu.
And yet Shen Xu was even one year younger than him.
Chen Qingsong washed his face before heading to the cafeteria.
After eating, Chen Qingsong took two empty lunchboxes and filled one with a meat dish and the other with a vegetable dish.
He casually asked the soldier serving food, “Who came by for an extra meal last night? I could smell stir-fried chicken even while I was training.”