Head Nurse Ge hovered for a moment before picking a few tender cucumbers and returning home. She sat by the door shelling peas, doing it absentmindedly.

When her husband Zheng Yongli came back, the noise startled her, pulling her out of her thoughts. She suddenly slapped her thigh. “That rascal tricked me!”

Even though she wasn’t the sharpest, she could now guess the truth. What probation period? From the beginning when he went on a blind date with Qin Yao on behalf of Deputy Director Xiao, this brat named Gu had been planning something bad.

He clearly had his eyes on her but pretended to be indifferent in front of her.

“Who is it? Who can deceive your sharp eyes?” Zheng Yongli asked curiously.

“Who else could it be? It’s Commander Gu. He had me spinning in circles, and I never suspected a thing.”

Zheng Yongli grew even more curious. “What do you mean?”

“It was Xiao Qin who was observing him, not the other way around. This guy was so eager to pursue the girl, and even after getting muddy, he didn’t dare to get angry.” Head Nurse Ge said, feeling somewhat gloating.

But then, she regretted it, almost in tears.

If she had known that Commander Gu, who used to be so proud and indifferent toward girls, was now desperately pursuing Xiao Qin, she would have seized the opportunity to mock him back then. But now, it was too late. The couple was getting along so well.

Head Nurse Ge still wanted to see Commander Gu flustered, but there was no chance now.

Head Nurse Ge clenched her fists in frustration.

“Stop making things up. Do you really think I’ll believe you?” Zheng Yongli waved his hand from his lounge chair. “Commander Gu, letting a woman walk all over him?”

Head Nurse Ge snorted.

The truth is always known to only a few people.

Head Nurse Ge spent the whole night thinking it over but decided to keep it to herself and not share it.

Commander Gu had good conditions, and many young girls were interested in him. Even those who were already married might have once had feelings for him, though these were ancient stories, and no one knew whether they had been left behind or not.

Chen Baozhen came to the island for matchmaking, but many people spoke with envy and hidden jealousy.

Now that Qin Yao and Commander Gu were involved, it’s hard to say that no one felt envious or jealous, but due to the “probation period” and the fact that Commander Gu often had a cold expression, showing no affection toward Qin Yao, many people felt sympathy for her.

Being with someone so cold-faced wouldn’t be a good thing after marriage.

If everyone had known that it was Commander Gu who shamelessly pursued Qin Yao and that Qin Yao had set a trial period for him, public opinion would have been very different.

“Forget it, I’ll keep your secret,” Head Nurse Ge sighed after a night of tossing and turning. She woke up to the sound of the bell in the morning and decided to be a qualified matchmaker.

“Good-looking men are desirable before marriage, but after marriage, they often turn out to be a disappointment.”

Take Doctor Xie from their hospital, for example. When he first arrived, he was a young man who played around with many young girls. Even though he had a partner, he still flirted with them. Head Nurse Ge couldn’t stand him.

After Doctor Xie got married, all the young girls around him began to avoid him. Years later, he had gained ten pounds since his marriage, and while he wasn’t exactly ugly, he no longer looked as handsome as he did in his twenties.

The young girls who used to hang around him had become mothers, and whenever they met him, they would tease him, calling him “pig-headed” and saying his features had become distorted.

Head Nurse Ge enjoyed seeing him so disheveled after his earlier attempts to look cool.

“That’s what you get for flirting with young girls!” she thought.

Her husband, Zheng Yongli, raised an eyebrow. “Who are you cursing at?”

“I wasn’t cursing at you. You were always a disappointment from the start,” Head Nurse Ge said with a smirk.

Feeling pleased, Head Nurse Ge went to work and had a bowl of rice noodles in the canteen. She bumped into the gentle nurse Xu Yun in the office.

Xu Yun casually asked, “How are things between Comrade Xiao Qin and Commander Gu? She hasn’t come to consult me.”

The fact that Yuan Li was her niece had not been made public, and no one else knew about it. At this moment, Xu Yun hated Qin Yao and wanted to teach her a lesson.

Her niece, Yuan Li, had been sentenced to a few months in prison, and though it wasn’t a huge deal, she had lost her job and had to return home.

Now that Yuan Li had lost her job, Xu Yun wanted Qin Yao to lose her relationship. She still dreamed of marrying Commander Gu? Not a chance.

“Oh, just let them be. Xu Yun, you don’t need to worry about it. They’re doing just fine,” Head Nurse Ge smiled slightly, her expression mysterious.

As a seasoned matchmaker, she had already made up her mind. There was no need for Xu Yun’s help. Instead, she would focus on strengthening things on Commander Gu’s side.

She realized she had initially used the wrong approach.

She should have asked Commander Gu to seek advice from Xiao Wu, who was the real expert at handling women.

“Is that so?” Xu Yun paused, her face twisting into a fake smile. “That’s great! I’ll go find out more. Maybe I’ll even get some wedding candy.”

*

“Xiao Qin, wait. Let me handle this. You stay here and rest,” Zhang Yufei, after receiving some candy from Commander Gu, helped Qin Yao with some errands. She didn’t mind the workload.

Zhang Yufei felt happy for Qin Yao.

Although Commander Gu seemed fierce, he had a kind heart and didn’t put on airs. Many people knew that Commander Gu had been helping Qin Yao with the farming.

“Commander Gu is a good man, though not overly affectionate. He looks gentlemanly, and he doesn’t turn a blind eye when a woman is doing something.”

“Xiao Qin, you’re so striking, and Commander Gu looks good too. Your children will definitely be wonderful. When you have kids, bring them to the hospital, and we’ll take turns helping you look after them.”

Qin Yao’s mouth twitched. These people were thinking too far ahead, already talking about children.

One day, Gu Cheng came to find her, bringing a large bag with his spare military uniforms and a few handkerchiefs. He asked her to carefully embroider his name on them.

As an unmarried military officer, his clothes were washed at a communal laundry area. Even if the sizes were different, it was easy to mix up his clothes with others. So, everyone usually marked their clothes to avoid mistakes when picking them up.

“Here, embroider my name here. Just follow the example I gave you.”

Qin Yao flipped through his clothes and found that the two characters “Gu Cheng” had already been embroidered on them. But this guy still wanted to embroider his name somewhere else. He was truly looking for trouble.

“You still owe me nine handkerchiefs. The names on the handkerchiefs should be ours, but using full names is too blunt. Just embroider ‘Gu-Qin’ and add some flowers and plants around it,” he said.

Qin Yao replied, “I don’t know how to do that.”

“This is easy,” Gu Cheng said, pulling out a pink handkerchief. It was the one Qin Yao had given him, already embroidered with their last names, and next to them was a magnolia flower.

“Just copy this one,” he added.

Qin Yao picked up the pink handkerchief. It looked familiar, almost like the one she had given him. The originally plain handkerchief was now embroidered with their names and the vividly embroidered magnolia flower.

It was clear that the person who had embroidered this was skilled. Even Qin Yao liked it.

“Who did this? Their skills are impressive. There must be talent in your army,” Qin Yao curiously nudged Gu Cheng’s arm.

Gu Cheng, with a blank expression, said, “I guess so. He’s talented.”

“Who is it? Is he married?”

Gu Cheng frowned, “What are you trying to do?”

“I just want to ask if he’s married, because if he is, I don’t want to cause any misunderstandings.”

Gu Cheng pursed his thin lips, “No need to worry about that.”

“What?”

“Even if he’s married, there’s no need to avoid him,” Gu Cheng said, spreading out the handkerchief, speaking softly.

“Huh?” Qin Yao was stunned. Suddenly, a thought struck her, and she looked at him incredulously. “Commander Gu, you didn’t… embroider this yourself, did you?”

A man, with such fine embroidery skills, was truly astonishing.

Gu Cheng, his face darkened, nodded slightly, “…”

If he hadn’t been worried that Qin Yao might ruin the first handkerchief she embroidered, Gu Cheng wouldn’t have bothered doing it himself. Although he wasn’t particularly artistic, he had a good eye for drawing and was skilled with his hands, so embroidering a standard magnolia flower was easy for him.

“This is so simple that anyone with eyes can do it,” Gu Cheng said, lifting his chin in a dismissive tone.

Qin Yao was silent: “…”

As for Qin Yao herself, she was considering giving up, but the magnolia flower Gu Cheng embroidered was indeed beautiful. She also wanted to make one for herself and give one to her good friend Chen Baozhen.

She had never done much handicraft work, except when she was in school, where she raised silkworms, did cross-embroider, knitted sweaters, and made friendship bracelets. She was always happy to do anything in school, as long as it wasn’t studying.

It was the same at work.

The next day, after lunch and before her nap, Qin Yao sat on a wooden chair, took out the handkerchief and needle and thread, and decided to start.

Xu Yun saw this scene at the door, and a smile appeared on her face as she came up with an idea.

As a gentle and virtuous woman, needlework was her strong suit, and she decided to use it as a way to get closer to Qin Yao.

“Xiao Qin, what are you embroidering? Is it a handkerchief? Are you going to give it to Commander Gu?” Xu Yun walked up to her. “What design are you embroidering? I’m quite good at embroidery. Do you want me to teach you?”

Just as Xu Yun finished speaking, she saw the pink handkerchief in Qin Yao’s hands. The delicate, beautiful magnolia flower was embroidered on it, with perfect embroidering and a clean, polished finish on both sides.

Xu Yun froze. Her skills were even better than hers. She blurted out, “Did you embroider this?”

Qin Yao was embarrassed. “I guess so.”

Qin Yao was about to put the handkerchief and needle away when Xu Yun, in disbelief, reached out and grabbed the handkerchief. Their hands accidentally touched.

Qin Yao quickly checked her favorability.

[Her favorability toward you -30 (She dislikes you)]

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Ayalee: Happy New Year, guys! 🎉✨ Thank you for your support and love this past year. Wishing you joy, health, and success! 🌟🎊