Chapter 38

Why did he have to show off like that?

That smug little look made you want to smack him in the back of the head with a brick.

The Forty-Third Day of Being Overheard

"Auntie, how are you feeling today?"

Yan Ren put the flowers he had brought into a vase. Yan Lan smiled. "Much better. You've already gone back to work, so why come all the way here? Work should come first."

Yan Ren smiled. "Auntie, the bureau wouldn't even be open if I went in at this hour. Besides, bringing you breakfast and flowers was on my way. It was no trouble."

He picked up the lunch box and opened it on the little tray table over her bed. Inside were steaming rice porridge, scrambled eggs with Chinese toon shoots, shredded pickles, and two small buns.

"Grandma made buns yesterday. She made these vegetable ones especially for you."

"Oh!"

Yan Lan took the spoon, her eyes lingering on her nephew.

Then she asked out of the blue, "Yan Ren, are you seeing someone?"

Yan Ren paused and looked up, his straight, sharply arched brows giving him a particularly dashing look. "You could tell?"

"So you really are!"

Yan Lan was delighted. "Whose daughter is she? What do her elders do?"

"Auntie, you know her too."

Yan Ren picked up the water flask and checked whether it had any hot water left. Seeing that it was full, he set it down.

Yan Lan grew impatient. "Stop keeping me in suspense. Who is she? Tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone else."

"Then you have to promise to hear me out first."

Yan Ren thought for a moment before speaking.

"Of course," Yan Lan said. "Go on, hurry up!"

She had thought her eldest nephew would spend another year single. Who would have guessed there would be good news so early in the year? If things went smoothly, they might even hold a wedding by year's end.

Yan Ren sat down. Thinking of how Gu Yinxing had looked yesterday, he could not help smiling. Yan Lan had never seen her nephew smile like that. He must really like this girl.

"She's a nurse at this hospital. I don't know if you've met her. Her name is Gu Yinxing."

Yan Lan froze for a moment. "Gu Yinxing?"

"Yes. You know her?" Yan Ren heard the surprise in his aunt's voice.

Yan Lan frowned inwardly, but she did not show it. Instead, she smiled. "Comrade Song mentioned her. She said the girl has a bit of a temper."

At the mention of Song Mei, Yan Ren gave a short laugh and began peeling an orange. "Auntie, I'm afraid that wasn't all Comrade Song said."

Yan Lan said nothing.

Of course it was not. Song Mei had been looking after her during her hospital stay and had said plenty of bad things about Gu Yinxing: that she was delicate, bad-tempered, and looked down on everyone; that she went from one boyfriend to the next, hoping to marry someone well-off.

Yan Lan disliked girls like that from the bottom of her heart.

One look at his aunt told Yan Ren enough. He ate a segment of orange and said, "Auntie, I don't know what Song Mei told you, but I can tell you with complete certainty that Gu Yinxing isn't that sort of person. And Song Mei isn't as honest as you think. Did you know she's been telling people she and I are seeing each other?"

"What?"

Yan Lan stared at him and put down her chopsticks. "How could Comrade Song make up something like that? It isn't true at all!"

"See? Even you think it's outrageous. That tells you something about the way she talks and acts."

Yan Ren continued, "Yinxing may have a bit of a young girl's temper, but she has a good heart and works hard to better herself. I intend to pursue her, and I hope you'll support me and wish me well."

Yan Ren knew marriage was not just a matter between two people; it brought two families together. He did not care about his father's side, but his grandparents and aunt were his closest family.

Yan Lan looked at the resolve in her nephew's eyes.

She did not know whether to be happy or worried. After a moment's thought, she decided that, when her nephew had finally found a girl he liked, there was no need for her to play the villain.

Besides, her nephew was a fair judge of character. The girl was probably not bad. "All right, you have my support. But when will you bring her to meet me?"

"There's no rush."

Yan Ren smiled, the corners of his mouth lifting to show his white teeth. "We can talk about that once she agrees to go out with me."

Yan Lan did not know whether to laugh or sigh. She picked up her spoon. "All right. Look how protective you are. What would your aunt do to her? I only wanted to meet her and give you my opinion."

"There'll be plenty of chances to meet her later, Auntie. Why rush it?"

Yan Ren's position was clear. He did not want to move too fast or make his family seem overbearing.

That little firecracker Gu Yinxing was not someone to push around.

After her nephew turned her down again and again, Yan Lan let the matter drop.

Still, she was in the hospital, so she had plenty of chances to ask about Gu Yinxing and meet her. Yan Lan had nearly recovered and would be discharged in a few days. No one stopped her from walking around the hospital.

She went to the Infusion Department for a look. Gu Yinxing might not seem especially dependable at first glance, but she was practiced at her work. She was gentle with a child getting an IV, and her hands were quick. Before the child could react, the needle was in.

"Wah..." The child spotted the IV tube attached to his hand, and tears immediately filled his eyes.

"Wow, you're so brave! You didn't cry out once just now." Gu Yinxing clapped with exaggerated enthusiasm. The child grew a little shy and looked at her through reddened eyes, sniffling and hiccupping.

Gu Yinxing took a hard candy from her pocket. "Here's some candy for a brave child. Will you sit nicely with your mommy while you get your IV?"

The child eyed the candy and swallowed. He hurriedly took it with his other hand, then nodded. "I'm brave. It doesn't hurt."

His mother looked embarrassed. "How can we take your candy? Let me pay you for it."

"Oh, don't. It hardly costs anything. It's just a little treat for him. Keep an eye on the IV bag, ma'am. When it's nearly empty, come tell me and I'll change it for him."

Gu Yinxing straightened up and spoke with a sweet smile.

The mother quickly agreed, relief showing on her face.

Children were often fussy, especially when they needed shots or IVs. Crying and tantrums were almost inevitable. She had brought her child alone today, so she was lucky to have met such a good-tempered nurse. It had saved her a great deal of trouble.

After watching for a while, Yan Lan quietly left.

She had barely returned to her ward when the head nurse came knocking with a smile. "Director Yan, you're here."

"Yes, I just went for a walk. Lying down all day makes me ache all over." Yan Lan was cordial. "Have a seat, Head Nurse Zhou."

"I won't stay. I just came to see how you're recovering." The head nurse asked a few questions and examined the healing surgical wound. Satisfied, she nodded. "Everything looks stable. You should be able to leave tomorrow or the day after."

"That's wonderful. I really must thank you all for taking care of me. I wouldn't have recovered so quickly otherwise."

Yan Lan smiled as she spoke.

"Thank you for saying so," the head nurse replied with a smile. "It's our job."

"Head Nurse Zhou, before I leave, there's something I'd like to ask you about." Yan Lan smiled. "If you don't mind."

"Go ahead," said the head nurse.

Her heart tightened. Had one of the young nurses made a mistake and been caught by the director?

"My nephew is called Yan Ren. He's seeing a young woman at your hospital named Gu Yinxing." Yan Lan looked concerned. "What's Comrade Gu like at work?"

The head nurse was startled, then quickly caught on. "Xiao Gu's work speaks for itself. She's very eager to improve, too. She'd been studying English for some time, and when a foreign visitor came to our hospital recently, she was the one who received him."

"It's good that she wants to improve. Our country has opened up, and more and more foreigners are bound to come here. Young people ought to keep learning and move with the times."

Yan Lan nodded, looking pleased. "But don't go too easy on them. Young people should take on more responsibility, don't you think?"

The head nurse understood at once.

"You're absolutely right. That's just what we think too."

She began weighing whether to give Gu Yinxing the professional training slot. The girl was capable and had a director looking out for her. If she did not get it, who should?

A hint was enough for a clever person.

The head nurse was quick on the uptake. After exchanging a few pleasantries with Yan Lan, she left the ward. Seeing Chen Deng Deng approaching, she called out, "Deng Deng, go get Song Mei and Yinxing. Tell them to come see me."

"Huh? Oh, all right!"

Chen Deng Deng nodded and hurried off.

She fetched Gu Yinxing first. Gu Yinxing finished giving a child his injection before following her out, hands in her pockets. "What's so urgent?"

"I don't know. Have you got any idea? If you've done something wrong, think through what you're going to say now, or you'll be lost for words in there."

Chen Deng Deng looked deeply worried.

Gu Yinxing gave her a light smack. "What's that supposed to mean? Do I make mistakes every day? Maybe it's good news."

"If it's good news, that'd be great," Chen Deng Deng said happily. "But why did she ask for Song Mei too?"

Gu Yinxing had a suspicion, but she could not be sure, so she said nothing.

They found Song Mei and went in.

The head nurse was about to speak when she noticed Chen Deng Deng was still there. "Why haven't you gone? Have you run out of work?"

"No, I'm leaving right now!" Chen Deng Deng hurriedly turned around and shot Gu Yinxing a look, telling her to explain what happened afterward.

Gu Yinxing gave a discreet nod.

Chen Deng Deng closed the door behind her as she left.

The head nurse looked at Gu Yinxing, then at Song Mei.

She picked up the enamel mug on her desk and took a sip. "Song Mei, there's something you need to clear up with everyone."

Song Mei's fingers trembled, and embarrassment flashed across her face. "Head Nurse Zhou, what do you mean?"

She was still trying to act as though nothing was wrong.

The head nurse glanced at her and understood. "I don't need to spell it out. I mean the rumor going around lately about you and that young man. Explain the truth to everyone yourself. Don't give people reason to say the nurses at our hospital love spreading gossip."

Song Mei went pale. She bit her lip and sniffed. "I wasn't the one spreading it!"

"Perhaps you didn't spread it, but you never denied it."

The head nurse looked at Song Mei helplessly. She had wanted to spare the young woman's pride by dropping a few hints and letting her take care of it herself.

But if Song Mei insisted on holding out, there was no point being discreet.

Had she not been the one to hint at it in the first place? And after everyone at the hospital had been talking about it for days, how hard would it have been to say it was not true if she had wanted to?

Gu Yinxing might be a little prickly, but Song Mei was no pushover either.

The head nurse did not believe for a moment that Song Mei had disliked how things had turned out.

Song Mei pressed her lips together and said nothing.

"All right. I've said what I need to say. Decide for yourself how to handle it, but don't let it become even more embarrassing. We work at the same hospital, so I can still look out for you. If someone from outside comes to settle this, you'll lose face entirely." The head nurse's tone turned pointed. "The person concerned isn't happy about it."

"I understand."

Song Mei forced the words out, her face burning red, then rushed through the door.

The door slammed shut with a bang, rattling in its frame.

"Oh, that girl..." The head nurse's eyes widened. She was thoroughly annoyed.

"Please don't be angry, Head Nurse Zhou. She isn't worth it," Gu Yinxing urged.

The head nurse drank some water and calmed herself.

She took out a form. "Enough about her. Now, you. Take this and fill it in. You've got a place in the training program starting early next month."

Gu Yinxing was overjoyed. She hurriedly took the form and bowed to the head nurse. "Thank you so much! You're such a good person, Head Nurse Zhou."

"Enough flattery. From now on, put more thought into your work. And all this dressing up of yours..." The head nurse could not help nagging again.

But to Gu Yinxing, even the nagging sounded heavenly.

At last, she had been given a chance to attend training. For nurses like them, it was not only a way to improve their skills; more importantly, it counted as a professional achievement.