"That’s good you know," Lan Li responded.
"Well, isn’t this how you guys spoiled me!" Gu En made a silly face at Lan Li, bobbing her head and acting coquettishly, "Brother, go handle the discharge procedures first. I’ll wait for you here with Captain He. If we go too late, who knows how long we’d have to queue!"
Lan Li was initially worried that Gu En’s impulsive personality and casual speech might offend others, but seeing that Gu En was quite polite when speaking with He Teng, he was relieved. He thought that perhaps he had been too overly concerned. While Gu En could be hot-tempered most of the time, she was still a daughter of the Gu Family after all. How could a Gu Family daughter not know how to behave in front of others? The daughters of the Gu Family would have undergone strict etiquette training from a young age.
"Then stay here and don’t run around. If I’m too slow and you are bored, go home first." Lan Li instructed.
Gu En’s eyes widened, "How could I go home first when I specifically took leave to pick you up today? You really underestimate my patience!"
Lan Li chuckled softly, patted Gu En on the head, "Okay, my fault. Then I’m off." Then he addressed He Teng, "If you find her annoying, just send her away. I’ll deal with the discharge procedures first and will return later."
Gu En was visibly upset by Lan Li’s last comment, puckering her lips towards him until he left the ward, only then did she return to her usual self.
"Captain He, did Zhilan mention me to you?" Gu En sat in the chair by the patient bed, her tone jovial, "Actually, we’ve met on the first day of school! You were talking to my brother Lan Li, and Lin Deng and I were in the car!"
He Teng was not sure whether Gu En was just trying to make conversation, so he simply nodded perfunctorily, "Zhilan doesn’t tell me much about school. She’s in college now, there’s no need for her to report everything to me. I’m busy with my military duties and don’t have the time to listen."
Gu En seemed to find this quite reasonable, nodding in agreement, "That makes sense. However, Zhilan is different from me. She can handle staying in the military. Didn’t she even visit the troops on National Day? I could never stand it, every overnight stay at the base felt like a torment—so boring. I really admire Zhilan. You wouldn’t know, but she came back so gloomy from the visit on National Day. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying. I didn’t expect the mature Zhilan to be more attached to her brother than me."
At this, Gu En stuck out her tongue mischievously, "When I was little, every time Brother Lan Li was about to leave for the base, I’d cry and cling to his leg, refusing to let him go. Whenever he came back, I’d make him absolutely crazy. My parents said I seemed to wish I could just stick Brother Lan Li in my pocket!"
"Young girls tend to be dependent on their siblings. It’s normal," He Teng said, his words not matching his thoughts. However, this inconsistency was due to his words conversing with Gu En while his mind was elsewhere.
His thoughts were on Zhilan.
It’s one thing to think about something, another to actually hear it from someone else. At the time of Zhilan’s departure, He Teng had speculated that she would cry. But upon hearing it from Gu En, He Teng couldn’t help but think, why didn’t he say some comforting words to Zhilan then? Had she cried all the way back to her dorm after they separated?