Chapter 375 – How About Offering Yourself in Return?

After tidying everything up, Jiang Hong returned to the room and saw his wife already fast asleep on the bed. A fond smile tugged at his handsome lips. He quietly walked over, gently pulled the blanket over her, and gazed at her peaceful sleeping face. Unable to resist, he lowered his head and kissed her tempting red lips, then whispered softly in her ear, “Good night, my wife.”

When Li Yiyi woke up the next morning, she felt completely refreshed, as if the good night’s sleep had cleared her mind and body.

If it weren’t for the noise outside, she felt like she could’ve slept a bit longer.

Hearing the cheerful laughter of both elders and children coming from outside, Li Yiyi smiled and got up in a good mood. She changed into fresh clothes and stepped out of the room.

As she walked into the yard and saw Father Jiang and the two children busy working in the garden, she finally understood why the house felt so lively today.

“Dad, are you planning to grow vegetables here?” she asked with a smile as she walked over to Father Jiang, who was already tilling the soil.

Hearing his daughter-in-law’s voice, Father Jiang paused in his work, looked up at her, and replied, “That’s right. This land is so good, and yet you’ve just left it empty? What a waste. If we grow vegetables here, it’ll save quite a bit of money too.”

Li Yiyi chuckled and touched her nose sheepishly. When she first moved here, she’d also thought about planting some greens and flowers she liked. But later, life got too busy, and she completely forgot about that plan.

“Good thing you’re here now, Dad. Otherwise, this land would probably stay barren forever,” she said with a grin.

Hearing her words, Father Jiang’s smile grew even brighter.

What elders fear most is being seen as useless by their family. Now, hearing his daughter-in-law praise him like this, Father Jiang felt like his presence here really meant something.

“Grandpa, what are you going to plant here?” Just then, Jiang Yueyue tugged at his sleeve and curiously pointed at the soil he had just loosened.

Father Jiang squatted down with a kind smile. “Whatever our Yueyue wants to eat, Grandpa will plant it.”

“Let’s grow peanuts! Peanuts are delicious, especially boiled ones with a bit of salt—they taste so good,” Yueyue quickly raised her hand and suggested excitedly.

Father Jiang nodded immediately. “Alright, let’s do that. We’ll grow peanuts.”

“Grandpa, I want to grow strawberries. They’re sweet and sour and super tasty!” Jiang Zhanpeng also tugged on Father Jiang’s other sleeve and made his request.

Looking from one grandchild to the other, Father Jiang smiled cheerfully and agreed, “Alright, we’ll grow both. Grandpa will plant them all for you.”

Standing just outside the garden, Li Yiyi watched the three of them laughing and chatting, and a soft smile spread across her face.

Suddenly, she thought—if every morning could be this lively, that wouldn’t be so bad at all.

After breakfast, those who had work went off to work, and those who had school headed off to school too.

As for the three elders who stayed behind, they reassured the younger ones that they’d be fine on their own and knew how to pass the time.

Seeing that Father Jiang and Mother Jiang were adapting so well to life here, the young couple felt at ease and headed off to report to their respective jobs.

Early in the morning, Li Yiyi rode her bicycle to the hospital to check in.

As soon as she entered, her colleagues greeted her warmly.

“Dr. Li, you’re finally back!”

“Dr. Li, we haven’t seen you in so long—you’re finally back at work!”

From the moment she stepped into the hospital lobby, Li Yiyi heard all kinds of such enthusiastic remarks.

By the time she made it to the Traditional Chinese Medicine department, Ji Jun and He Wenyin rushed over to her, looking excited.

“Dr. Li, you’re finally back! We missed you so much!” He Wenyin exclaimed and threw her arms around her.

Ji Jun, a bit shy, stood in front of her with a flushed face and said, “Dr. Li, welcome back.”

Standing off to the side, Zhang Xinsheng watched his sister being so warmly welcomed by her coworkers, a mischievous grin tugging at his lips as if he were enjoying the show.

Li Yiyi smiled at the two and said, “I hope you’ve both kept up with your studies while I was gone?”

“Of course! Don’t worry, Dr. Li. The three of us have been diligently studying the materials you left us. Just a week ago, we even took the exam organized by the TCM Administration,” He Wenyin said eagerly.

“Oh, really? Have the results come out yet?” Li Yiyi asked happily, genuinely glad for them.

Then she turned to Zhang Xinsheng and scolded him, “You brat! This is such a big deal, and you didn’t even mention it to me last night. Keeping secrets, huh?”

Zhang Xinsheng chuckled awkwardly at his sister’s scolding. “Sis, it wasn’t me. They made me promise not to say anything first. They wanted to surprise you together so it’d be more meaningful.”

When Ji Jun and He Wenyin saw her looking over, both immediately flashed charming, sheepish smiles.

“That’s right. We asked Dr. Zhang not to tell you ahead of time. We wanted to give you a surprise,” He Wenyin explained with a grin.

“Fine, fine. Since you guys only meant well, I’ll let it slide this time. Here—these are gifts I brought back for you. Open them and see if you like them.” She handed over the bags she had been carrying.

“Thank you, Dr. Li! You’re the best. You even brought us gifts after going back home—I honestly don’t even know how to repay you,” He Wenyin said, deeply touched as she accepted one of the bags.

“How about offering yourself in return?” Li Yiyi replied, her lips curling into a sly smile.

Startled, He Wenyin froze for a moment, unsure how to respond.

Seeing her reaction, Li Yiyi laughed and said, “I was just joking. Don’t worry, I’m a perfectly normal woman—not interested in girls.”

Wenyin’s face turned red, and she stammered, “Well… it’s not like it’s impossible. I’d be willing to offer myself to Dr. Li.”

Li Yiyi blinked in surprise. The next second, He Wenyin burst into exaggerated laughter.

“Well, Dr. Li, how does it feel? Were you scared too? Now we’re even—surprise for surprise!”

Li Yiyi could only shake her head with a helpless laugh.

After handing out the gifts to the two of them, Li Yiyi gave the last bag to Zhang Xinsheng and instructed, “Go share the stuff in this bag with the rest of the department. You three can’t be the only ones getting something.”