Cheng Yuan stared in a daze until his mother nudged him with her elbow, snapping him out of it. As the beautiful girl approached, he instinctively straightened his back. It wasn’t until his mother greeted her with a “Comrade Shen” that he realized what was happening.

Initially, Cheng Yuan had been searching for older women, assuming the platoon leader his team leader mentioned must be a middle-aged man and his wife must be an old woman. It never crossed his mind that it could be such a striking young woman.

Shen Meng: “Have you been waiting long?”

Cheng Yuan’s Mother: “Not at all, not at all! We’ve just arrived. Let’s head inside. Yufen doesn’t have any patients right now, so we can sit and chat over some water.”

Cheng Yuan couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret. His fiancée was decent-looking, but compared to the woman before him, she didn’t hold a candle. Even though he knew it wasn’t appropriate, he seized the opportunity to strike up a conversation.

“Are you…Comrade Shen? I’m not sure how to address you.”

Shen Meng frowned slightly, finding his overly friendly smile a bit off-putting.

“Just call me Comrade Shen.”

Inside, Cheng Yufen tidied the table and poured warm water into several enamel cups. She had even brought extra cups from home to make sure there were enough.

Cheng Yuan’s Mother eagerly said, “Comrade Shen, I was in the wrong yesterday. I said things I shouldn’t have. Please don’t hold it against me. This is my son, Cheng Yuan. He insisted on coming along to apologize after hearing about my mistake. Oh, and these are some small gifts from our family—nothing valuable, just a token of our sincerity. Please accept them.”

She handed over a bundle containing eggs, canned yellow peaches, and some dried vegetables. While the items seemed humble aside from the canned peaches, Shen Meng sensed there was more to the gesture than met the eye.

“Oh, I really can’t accept these. Let’s keep this brief since I have other matters to attend to. Here’s the radio—brand new and unused. Pay for it, and we’ll consider everything settled. As long as things stay peaceful on Dr. Cheng’s side, I won’t have the time or energy to make a fuss.”

“Of course, of course! I promise I’ll keep an eye on my mother and make sure she doesn’t cause any more trouble. Oh, here’s the money for the radio. Please count it.”

Shen Meng gave the money a quick glance and nodded.

“Everything’s in order. If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave. You all take care.”

“Wait! Comrade Shen, please take these gifts. It’ll put our minds at ease. After all, my team leader served under your husband. It’s only right to show some respect.”

Shen Meng turned back and smiled.

“Oh, no, no. That would be inappropriate. I can’t take anything from the public. Is Comrade Cheng trying to bribe me?””

Cheng Yuan had simply wanted to smooth things over and hadn’t expected her to refuse the gifts outright. Instead of being annoyed, he found himself liking her even more.

“Not at all! That wasn’t my intention. These were prepared especially for you. But if you don’t want them, that’s fine too. Oh, by the way, I’m a militia member. If you ever need help, just let me know. We’re all from the same county, after all.”

Shen Meng: “Hmm.”

She nodded lightly and walked out of the hospital.

Back in the office, Cheng Yufen cleaned up the barely-touched enamel cups.

“Sister-in-law, you and Xiaoyuan should head home. I still have patients to see this afternoon.”

Cheng Yuan’s mother rolled her eyes as she packed up the rejected gifts.

“Fine, fine. It’s better this way. Do you know how long I’ve been saving these eggs? Now I can use them to nourish Xiaoyuan. That woman is so foolish—she really thought I brought nothing valuable. Ha! There’s two pounds of pork fat wrapped up in those dried vegetables, and it wasn’t cheap to get it.”

Cheng Yufen sighed and glanced at her smug sister-in-law.

“Sister-in-law, she probably knew there was something fishy about the gifts. If she had accepted them, that would’ve really given us a handle over her.”

“Fine, fine. You’re all smart, and I’m the dumb one. Whatever. Oh, it’s so late already. Yufen, you didn’t even offer us a meal. Honestly…”

“Mom, didn’t you just promise Comrade Shen? Let’s head home. Aunt, don’t mind my mom. And when I get married, you have to come, okay?”

With that, Cheng Yuan left the office. His eyes roamed the hallways, but he couldn’t catch another glimpse of Shen Meng. Thinking about his upcoming marriage, he felt an unexpected pang of disappointment, all his earlier anticipation faded.

“Come on, son. Let’s go. Don’t take Comrade Shen’s words too seriously. She won’t make things hard for us.”

She began planning in her head. When Cheng Yuan got married, she would make sure Cheng Yufen provided a generous gift. After all, it was only right for an aunt to help her nephew.

As Cheng Yufen watched their retreating figures, she couldn’t help but recall the cold atmosphere at home the previous night and Shen Meng’s words. Have I really been wrong all these years?

Outside the hospital gates, Shen Meng counted the money in her hand—every cent was there.

After riding a bicycle all day, she was utterly exhausted. She wished she could take out the Jeep from her storage space and drive back, but in an era where even bicycles were a luxury, driving a Jeep through the countryside would attract far too much attention.

She found a quiet spot, enjoyed a meal of sirloin steak and red wine from her space, and then set off on her bicycle.

By the time she arrived, it was already 2:30 in the afternoon. The entire Shen family was at home, even the children, who usually played outside, were waiting in the courtyard.

“Xiaomeng, you’re back! You must be starving. We saved some food for you—come eat.”

“No need, big brother. I ate on the way back. Why is everyone home?”

Shen Shoutian grinning, “We heard you came home and wanted to see you. If you had returned in the afternoon, I wouldn’t have been able to see you.”

Shen Shoutian’s wife, Lu Qinlan, also smiled warmly at her.

The Shen family’s eldest son and his wife were simple, honest folk with three children ranging from thirteen to six years old. The youngest boy, Shen Xiaohu, was the cousin that Lu Mingyang had referred to earlier.

Shen Yutian, the second son, sat holding a sleeping child. His wife, Su Xiaomei, was shy and avoided direct eye contact due to the limp in her right leg caused by childhood polio.

The youngest, Shen Xiaobin, was outside playing with the nephews and nieces.

Shen Meng: “I’m really not hungry. Let’s save the food for dinner. We’re leaving tomorrow.”