Chapter 40: The Afterglow of the Setting Sun

Qin Lang and Lin You’s life returned to its previous state, and no one mentioned their earlier unhappiness again.

Before long, it was Lin You’s birthday.

In the morning, as Lin You was leaving, Qin Lang approached and hugged her, whispering in her ear, “I’ll pick you up after work this afternoon and take you somewhere.”

Lin You turned around and asked, “Where to?”

With a mysterious smile, Qin Lang didn’t answer her question directly. Instead, he gently let her go, lovingly stroked her hair, straightened her clothes, and, while she wasn’t paying attention, secretly kissed her. Ignoring her surprised expression, he laughed and said, “You’ll find out this afternoon. Let’s go.”

He took her hand and walked out.

Sitting in the sanitation team, Lin You was still pondering Qin Lang’s words from this morning, wondering what they meant. Was today a special day?

Deep in thought, she didn’t notice Xiao Nan and Xiao Bei quietly entering.

Seeing her like this, Xiao Nan approached and exclaimed loudly, “Hi!” which startled Lin You.

Lin You snapped out of her thoughts, stood up, and reached out to tickle Xiao Nan.

Xiao Nan had no choice but to surrender and sat down in front of her, quietly asking, “Doctor Lin, are you back together with the squad leader?”

Xiao Bei chimed in, “Are you all lovey dovey now?”

Hearing them say this, Lin You shyly lowered her head.

Xiao Nan and Xiao Bei exchanged knowing glances and giggled at her reaction.

Xiao Bei, noticing that the clinic was empty, tempted Lin You, “There’s some new gossip in the team. Do you want to know?”

Lin You hurriedly raised her head, curiosity piqued, “What happened? Who got together with whom?”

“Guess?”

Lin You frowned, thinking that there were so many people in the team she didn’t know very well. She shook her head, indicating she couldn’t guess.

Xiao Nan walked over to give her a hint “It’s someone you know, someone from our sanitation team.”

Lin You was very curious, there hadn’t been any recent developments in the sanitation team.

Just then, they heard the nurse leader’s voice from the doorway: “Everyone come out for a moment; we need to hold a meeting.”

Although it didn’t concern Lin You, she decided to go and see what was going on since everyone else was going.

“The military district has issued a new message. To improve the skill levels of grassroots sanitation teams, there will be a nursing skills competition at the end of the year. Everyone is encouraged to sign up. We’ll have preliminary selections within the team.”

Everyone shared their opinions, but Lin You thought this was a nursing matter and not related to her, so she turned and went back to the clinic.

The nurse leader came in and asked her, “Doctor Lin, you’ve been in the sanitation team for a while now. Who do you think should represent us in the competition?”

Lin You didn’t expect to be asked such a question but politely replied, “I think everyone’s skills are good. It’s better to have a fair competition.”

The nurse leader nodded in agreement.

Lin You noticed she seemed different lately, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what had changed. Was it her appearance? No. Her voice? Not really. Her posture? No. She seemed happier, inexplicably so.

The nurse leader felt uneasy under Lin You’s gaze.

“Doctor Lin, what’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Have you encountered some good news recently? You look so happy?”

The nurse leader didn’t respond.

But the nurses outside overheard their conversation and chimed in, “The nurse leader is in love with Shan Ye.”

Lin You immediately understood everything and smiled at the nurse leader’s slowly reddening face. Ignoring her embarrassment, she walked up to congratulate her, saying, “Congratulations, nurse leader! Your long time wish has been fulfilled.”

The little nurses outside echoed, “Congratulations to the nurse leader for achieving her dream.”

The usually assertive nurse leader covered her face and ran out, bumping into Captain Song, who was coming in.

He asked curiously, “What’s wrong with the nurse leader? Is she crying? Did someone bully her?”

Everyone burst into laughter at this.

Captain Song was even more puzzled and quietly asked Lin You, “Doctor Lin, what’s going on?”

Lin You shook her head, signaling she couldn’t say.

Captain Song didn’t press further but issued a new announcement to Lin You “Doctor Lin, it’s not just for nurses, we doctors also have a skills competition, and the team has decided that you will represent the doctors.”

“Ah?”

“What do you mean, ‘ah’? This is an honorable matter! Besides, you have the highest education level in the team, and your mentor is one of the best in the country. We believe in you.”

After hearing this, Lin You could only nod in agreement.

Then she asked her question “Where will the competition be held?”

“In Kyoto.”

“Kyoto?”

Lin You had long wished to visit Kyoto, but due to her mother’s circumstances, she hadn’t been willing to set foot in that city for years. She never expected she would go there for work one day.

Xiao Nan and Xiao Bei came in and encouraged her, “Doctor Lin, you will definitely bring honor to our sanitation team. We have faith in you!”

Captain Song joined in, mimicking them, “I believe in you too!”

Lin You smiled at their enthusiasm.

With that smile, Xiao Nan blurted out, “Doctor Lin, you’re so beautiful. I wonder if the squad leader will agree to it?”

Lin You, feeling embarrassed, rushed over to cover her mouth to stop her from speaking.

When Qin Lang came to pick up Lin You in the afternoon, he was surprisingly driving a military off road vehicle.

After helping her into the car, he set off, driving up into the mountains.

Lin You found it strange, “Why are we going up the mountain now? Aren’t we eating?”

“If we eat now, it’ll be too late, and we won’t see anything.”

On the way, she told him about what Captain Song had said that afternoon. “Actually, I don’t want to participate in this kind of competition. It would be nice if it were closer, Kyoto is too far away.”

Qin Lang understood her concerns and comforted her as he drove, “It’s okay, don’t be afraid. You haven’t been to Kyoto before, so you can take this chance to see it.”

“But”

Qin Lang took one hand off the wheel and gently patted her head, signaling her to relax. “This year, I have vacation time and can take time off to accompany you. After your competition, we’ll head straight back to City C for the New Year and return to the base afterward.”

Hearing him say that, Lin You couldn’t help but smile. She recalled how a few days ago, Qin Lang had brought back clothes, and Professor Song had treated her so well. Even when she wasn’t by her side, he still thought of getting her clothes and jewelry.

Thinking back to how she had quarreled with Qin Lang not long ago, she felt it was unnecessary. Even for Professor Song’s sake, she shouldn’t have treated Qin Lang that way.

Qin Lang had been busy these days, and she decided to express her feelings to him properly.

Qin Lang parked the car in an open area, draped a down jacket over Lin You, and took her hand as they walked toward a wide space. He stopped and pointed into the distance.

Following his gaze, Lin You was astonished to see a vast sea in the distance, something she had never known existed.

The distant ocean stretched endlessly, blending with the sky.

The afterglow of the setting sun bathed the sea, casting a golden glow that flickered with the rising waves, like countless stars dancing on the water.

At that moment, the sun had turned into a glowing red orb, slowly descending toward the horizon. Its light softened, tinting the surrounding clouds with brilliant colors. Some clouds were fluffy like cotton candy, some flowed like ribbons, and others burned like flames.

These clouds, illuminated by the sunset, created a beautiful picture that left one in awe of nature’s wonders.

Lin You was deeply moved by the breathtaking view before her.

That year, when Qin Lang took her hiking, she had climbed slowly and misjudged the time. By the time they reached the summit, they too had seen the distant sea under the setting sun.

When they returned home, it was already dawn.

On that day, Professor Song had rarely scolded both her and Qin Lang.

Since then, they hadn’t hiked in the afternoon nor witnessed such a beautiful sunset again.

She tightly held Qin Lang’s hand and exclaimed, “It’s beautiful, just as beautiful as the sunset we saw when we hiked before.”

Qin Lang was surprised that she remembered, and he embraced her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder as he revealed his reason for bringing her there.

“Life in the mountains is monotonous and lonely. The afterglow of the setting sun always reminds me of the past. Whenever I missed you, I would come here.”

Qin Lang slowly recounted his affection for her

over the years.