Chapter 25: Attentive!

“Old sir, if you trust me, I can try to treat you. There’s still some hope that your eyes might recover.”

“If you’re free tomorrow, you can come find me at the family compound.”

The blind old man was visibly emotional after hearing Ning Wanwan’s words. He reached out and groped around in the air, trying to touch Ning Wanwan’s hand, but couldn’t find it.

Then, he bent his knees, intending to kneel, but Ning Wanwan quickly reached out and stopped him.

“Old sir, don’t be in such a hurry to thank me. I’m not entirely confident that I can cure you. If I fail, I hope you won’t be too disappointed.”

The old man hurriedly waved his hand, his face full of gratitude. “Divine Doctor Ning, this old man has been blind for many years. If I can’t be cured, it’s my fate—nothing to do with your skill. Honestly, I had already given up hope…”

He let out a heavy sigh after speaking.

At that moment, Zhang Yun and the others gathered around with sympathetic looks on their faces.

Ning Wanwan gave the blind man a few more instructions, and in the end, Zhang Yun volunteered to escort the old man home.

After lunch, Ning Wanwan and the others threw themselves back into the free clinic work for the afternoon.

By 4 p.m., with the departure of the final patient, everyone let out a long sigh of relief.

Xu Cuihua helped pack up the stall and then went home.

Ning Wanwan rested her cheek on her hand, her eyes filled with exhaustion.

As the evening glow painted the sky, Zhang Yun and Li Ping quickly gathered their things, pushed Ning Wanwan’s wheelchair, and headed toward the family compound.

Just as they left the market, they heard the distant roar of a military vehicle approaching.

In no time, He Yunshen’s military vehicle came to a steady stop in front of the group.

Li Ping and Zhang Yun teased with smiles, “Wow, Captain He showed up right on time. Our Wanwan’s been worked to the bone today.”

He Yunshen gave a slightly awkward smile, his ears tinged red as he got out of the vehicle. Still, he tried to appear composed as he walked over.

Then he effortlessly scooped Ning Wanwan into his arms and placed her in the front passenger seat.

Ning Wanwan’s cheeks flushed a little. She thought to herself, This man has been unusually attentive lately. He’s getting way too comfortable carrying me around.

Back home, Ning Wanwan collapsed from exhaustion. She’d only meant to rest her head on the table for a moment, but ended up falling sound asleep.

He Yunshen stood at the doorway, quietly watching her sleeping face. Then, tiptoeing, he gently carried her to the bed.

He had never noticed before how charming Ning Wanwan looked when she was quiet and obedient.

He sat at the bedside for a while, silently watching. Then, brushing aside a strand of hair from her temple, he gently pulled a thin blanket over her before heading to the kitchen.

He Yunshen wasn’t much of a cook—being from a prominent family, he rarely had to prepare food himself.

At most, he could make some basic meals. Seeing a lonely handful of noodles in the kitchen, he boiled some water and decided to make simple egg noodles.

Ten minutes later, the noodles were done. But Ning Wanwan was still fast asleep. He couldn’t bear to wake her, so he set the noodles aside and quietly returned to his room.

By 8 p.m., Ning Wanwan finally woke up from hunger. With a soft groan, she sat up.

Hearing movement, He Yunshen quickly came to the door. “Need help?”

Ning Wanwan parted her lips slightly. “No need. It’s late—you should go rest.”

Then she ignored him, downed a bottle of spiritual spring water beside her, and waited.

A few minutes later, the fatigue had completely disappeared from her body.

While her exhaustion was gone, her stomach was now grumbling loudly.

That’s when she realized she’d forgotten something important—she hadn’t cooked dinner for He Yunshen!

Looks like I’ll have to kiss those two yuan goodbye tonight…

With a pout, she walked out of the bedroom. As soon as she opened the door, her eyes met He Yunshen’s.

They quickly looked away from each other.

Tilting her head in thought, Ning Wanwan finally broke the silence. “You haven’t eaten yet, right? I’ll go make something.”

He Yunshen shook his head and pointed at the lump of noodles on the table.
“I already made some noodles. They’re cold now, but if you don’t mind, you can have some…”

Ning Wanwan’s eyes finally landed on the sticky, clumped-together mess on the table.

The appearance of this dish… is really hard to describe…

That was the last bit of noodles in the kitchen. The rest she had stored in her space, which she absolutely couldn’t take out in front of him.

So, it looked like she had no choice but to eat this.

He Yunshen fetched bowls and chopsticks from the kitchen and served up a mound into each.

Ning Wanwan hesitated, holding her chopsticks. She’d always been picky with food—and this lump of noodles looked truly unappetizing.

Even He Yunshen seemed a little repulsed. But as a soldier, wasting food was unacceptable.

With that thought, he picked up his chopsticks and started eating in large bites.

Seeing him eat with such enthusiasm, Ning Wanwan reluctantly took a bite.

The moment she tasted it, her brows furrowed deeply.

While eating, He Yunshen kept sneaking guilty glances at her expression.

The noodles really were terrible. The same egg noodles Ning Wanwan made were always delicious, but somehow he had turned them into pig slop—way too salty, too.

Trying to lighten the mood, He Yunshen spoke up, “So why did you go to the market for a free clinic?”

“Zhou Hongchang got arrested. The market was short on a doctor, and I happened to be free, so I went.”

Ning Wanwan poked her noodles with disinterest, her tone flat.

“Didn’t your medical skills used to be pretty average? Are you sure you didn’t mess up?”

At his words, Ning Wanwan gave him a cold glance but said nothing.

He Yunshen hesitated, cautiously watching her face.

“Someone from Hegou Village called today. Said they’re starving and asked if you could send a hundred yuan.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the air in the room seemed to freeze. Ning Wanwan’s hand paused midair, and she set down her chopsticks.

He Yunshen’s eyes were filled with caution, afraid she’d explode again—he even subtly moved the bowls and plates aside.

But after a long pause, all she did was space out a little. There were no signs of her losing it.

Several minutes later, Ning Wanwan finally spoke.

“Call them back for me tomorrow and say I’m not giving anything. If they’re starving, then they can just starve to death.”

“…Okay.”

Ning Wanwan truly didn’t know how to handle the relationship with her biological parents.

Ever since the original Ning Wanwan was reclaimed by the Ning family, she had only gone back once for appearance’s sake.

The harsh conditions in the countryside made the original Ning Wanwan—used to a life of luxury—feel she couldn’t stay a single minute. Ning Qiang and his wife were greedy and shameless, practically leeches, and of course she couldn’t stand them.

Eventually, she had a major falling out with them, said many harsh things, and stormed back to the capital.

He Yunshen was well aware of the Ning couple’s meanness and greed. Since Ning Wanwan was taken back by them, they had found excuses to ask for money a dozen times.

That’s why he broached the subject so carefully—because the original Ning Wanwan would go into a rage the moment their names were mentioned.

So today, he only said it was someone from Hegou Village. He didn’t dare mention Ning Qiang and his wife by name—let alone call them her parents.

Ning Wanwan’s calm reaction was truly unexpected.