Living like a widow? My rough neighbor is coaxing me to have a baby every night.

Chapter 219 Reunion at the Hospital, Acquaintances Become Strangers

Since he had already said all that, Li Xianglian and Xiao Lan could no longer refuse.

After paying the fees and receiving their medication, the three walked out of the hospital.

The night breeze felt cool on my skin.

Wei Donghai was worried and insisted on personally escorting the two of them back to the gate of their family compound.

All the way, Xiao Lan continued to curse and swear, insulting the ancestors of those two thugs.

Li Xianglian followed quietly beside her, her arm wound still throbbing slightly, but she felt much more at ease.

"Don't go down that alley anymore, it's too dark," Wei Donghai said in a deep voice. "You two women, running a business isn't easy, safety should be your top priority. I'll have the joint defense team patrol that area more often."

"I understand, Brother Wei, thank you for your trouble," Li Xianglian said softly.

Upon arriving at the gate of the residential compound, Wei Donghai watched the two enter the compound, stood at the gate for a while to make sure there was no further movement, and then turned and disappeared into the night.

……

County hospital, emergency room.

After seeing off the last group of patients, Xu Man could finally catch her breath.

She took off her mask, revealing a hint of fatigue on her pretty face.

The curtain to the consultation room was suddenly flung open from the outside.

"Aman! Aman! Guess what I just saw in the hallway?"

A round-faced girl in a nurse's uniform rushed in; it was Han Yuzhu, who had gone to buy hair ties with Xu Man yesterday.

Han Yuzhu closed the door to the consultation room from the inside and approached Xu Man with a mysterious look on her face.

"I just went to the pharmacy to get my medicine and saw Wei Donghai, that big ice block, leave with those two women who sell hair ties! Hey, what's going on? Isn't he always so aloof from women? Why is he personally escorting them?"

Xu Man was tidying up the medical records on the table with her head down, and didn't even lift her eyelids when she heard this.

"He was ambushed on the road by two hooligans. One of them was injured, and he happened to be patrolling by, so he brought him over."

"A good-for-nothing?"

Han Yuzhu was startled and quickly asked, "Is she alright? Oh dear, that girl is so pretty, I hope she wasn't bullied."

"My arm is scraped, it's nothing serious."

Xu Man put the last medical record into the file folder before looking up at her loud and talkative best friend. "You're really well-informed."

"Of course!" Han Yuzhu proudly raised her chin, then lowered her voice and nudged Xu Man with her elbow, "Seriously, when you saw him just now, didn't you have any other thoughts in your mind?"

Xu Man paused for a moment as she tidied her things.

She turned around, leaned against the edge of the table, crossed her arms, and quietly looked at Han Yuzhu.

The lights in the consultation room were very bright, making her clear eyes look as if they were covered with a thin layer of frost.

"Yuzhu, what are you trying to say?"

"I……"

Han Yuzhu felt a little guilty under Aman's gaze, but still mustered up the courage to speak, "Aman, I know you're being stubborn. But back then... didn't you like Wei Bingkuai? Even though two years have passed, he suddenly appeared in front of you like this, don't you really feel anything at all?"

Han Yuzhu is Xu Man's best friend and the only one who knows about her past with Wei Donghai.

Xu Man's eyes were very calm, as calm as a lake in late autumn, without the slightest ripple.

Han Yuzhu felt uneasy under her gaze and chuckled dryly twice: "Aman, why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?"

"No." Xu Man lowered her head and continued looking at the medical records. "I was just thinking that if you could spend more of your brainpower on patients, our department could probably hang a couple more banners of appreciation."

"Oh dear, here you are again!"

Han Yuzhu plopped down on the chair next to her, swinging her legs. "Work is work, and gossip is gossip! Besides, this isn't gossip; it's a matter of your lifelong happiness!"

"Lifelong happiness?" Xu Man scoffed as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world.

"Yuzhu, do you remember why I applied to be transferred here from the provincial capital two years ago?"

Han Yuzhu's expression became somewhat complicated. She nodded, her voice softening, "Sigh, who hasn't been blind and fallen in love with one or two scumbags? Once you see them clearly, consider it as curing your own eyes."

At the time, Han Yuzhu thought that Xu Man had encountered some married scumbag boss, or had been deceived by some playboy.

She never imagined that the "scumbag" Xu Man was talking about was actually Wei Donghai, a well-known and promising young role model in the provincial public security system.

"Aman?"

Seeing her lost in thought, Han Yuzhu waved her hand in front of her eyes. "What are you thinking about? Your eyes are all red."

Xu Man snapped out of her daze, took a deep breath, and forced back the tears welling up in her eyes.

She turned around, her face regaining its usual cool and capable expression.

"So, you're asking me what my thoughts are now?"

Xu Man looked at Han Yuzhu, her tone eerily calm, "I have no thoughts. The Xu Man who chased after him two years ago was already dead the moment he said those words to me."

"Standing here now is Xu Man, a surgeon at the county hospital. And he," Xu Man paused, "is just an ordinary police officer who happened to be passing by and brought a patient to see a doctor. That's all."

……

Wei Donghai drove his beat-up jeep, bumping along the dirt roads of the county town.

The car headlights illuminated a small section of the road ahead, while the surrounding area was shrouded in darkness.

His mind was a jumbled mess, filled with images of what had just happened at the hospital.

The only thing that was clear was that aloof face in a white coat.

Xu Man.

Two years have passed, and she seems to have changed, yet she seems to have remained the same.

He had become a little thinner, but his eyes were still so bright and clear.

But the light and fervor in his eyes were gone; only calm and detachment remained.

Wei Donghai slammed on the gas pedal in frustration, and the jeep roared.

He recalled that night two years ago...

The jeep eventually stopped in the police station compound.

Wei Donghai sat in the car, took out a cigarette and lit it, but didn't smoke it. He just watched the scarlet flame flicker in the darkness.

"Captain, those two lads have confessed!"

A young team member ran over and knocked on the car window. "It's Zhao Guangming, the son of Director Zhao from the machinery factory. He paid them to put on a show, hoping to stage a hero rescuing a damsel in distress."

"Zhao Guangming?" Wei Donghai's eyes instantly turned cold.

It's that spoiled brat again!

……

Xiao Lan bid farewell to Li Xianglian and walked towards the transport team's family compound under the moonlight.

What happened tonight really disgusted her.

Xiao Lan had been on the streets for so many years, what hadn't she seen? But the way those two hooligans looked at her today was truly disgusting.

If Wei Donghai hadn't arrived in time, she and Xianglian would have suffered a great loss today.

Thinking of this, Xiao Lan spat angrily on the ground.

"Pah! Don't let me run into those two bastards again, or I'll chop off their manhood with scissors!"

She pushed open the iron gate of the transport team's compound while cursing.

The iron gate creaked loudly, its sound particularly jarring in the quiet night.

The courtyard was dark, with only a few houses letting out a dim yellow light from the cracks in their windows.

Xiao Lan had only taken two steps inside when suddenly someone darted out from the shadows at the base of the wall.

"who!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

【small theater】

Han Yuzhu: Ah Man, that handsome guy Wei Donghai has been standing downstairs all night again.

Xu Man: Oh, maybe they're waiting for a patient, or maybe they're on patrol. What does that have to do with me?

Wei Donghai: Aman, I was wrong. I must have been out of my mind to say that two years ago.

Xu Man: Comrade Wei, please call me Dr. Xu. Also, if you think you've been kicked in the head, I suggest you go to the neurosurgery department. Turn left when you leave; no need to see me off.

Wei Donghai: ...