Whenever Zhang Yun brought up her deceased son, tears would stream down her face, "Old Ning, when you’re less busy, let’s go find that family again. Every time I think of our son, I remember their help and how they took care of us."
"Yes. Yes, of course!" Ning Yibin muttered, "I remember that family had an eldest daughter named... named what was it... Li something Ping."
"Was it Yueping?" Ning Yibin vaguely remembered it was not.
"How could it not be? It’s Li Yueping! Later on, you should find someone to look her up, Li Yueping from Panshui Village in Yangshutai Town. I remember it very clearly. Even if the elderly folks at home are no longer around, at least that eldest daughter should still be alive, right? She should be around our age."
"Alright. We’ll do as you say," Ning Yibin put his arm around Zhang Yun’s shoulder as they walked home, "You can’t keep taking sleeping pills tonight, okay? When I’m less busy, I’ll take you out for a walk, to relax a bit!"
Zhang Yun leaned on Ning Yibin’s body, smiling slightly, "Okay. Then I will wait for you!"
Qin Jian dropped An Hao off at the school entrance, just as Liu Jun arrived to pick him up.
"You can go now. No need to take me back," An Hao said generously, but her eyes were filled with reluctance to part.
Qin Jian stepped forward to hug her and whispered in her ear, "We’re so close now, I’ll come visit you whenever I have a chance."
An Hao nodded obediently; she knew he was busy and that any time he could spare was hard-pressed.
"Hold on, there’s something I want to give you," Qin Jian said, turning to return to his car, from which he took a box and handed it to An Hao.
"What’s this?" An Hao asked.
Qin Jian smiled and gestured for her to open it.
An Hao opened the box and saw a Parker fountain pen lying quietly inside.
Upon seeing this, her eyes widened, "Why are you giving me a fountain pen? This thing is too expensive; I cannot accept it!"
After saying this, she handed the box back to Qin Jian, "Wherever you bought it from, go return it."
Without further discussion, Qin Jian pushed it back into her hands, "You were admitted to the Military Medical University with outstanding grades. This is my gift to you, in hopes you will make good use of it!"
"Isn’t this too expensive? You really are willing," An Hao said, both delighted and pained.
"There’s nothing I’m not willing to give you."
An Hao looked at the shining silver pen in her hand, at a loss for words, "Qin Jian, you always give me gifts, but I have nothing to give you."
Qin Jian lifted his hand and touched her head, "You’ve already given me something!"
"Huh?" An Hao was puzzled.
"Isn’t it you? Despite not minding my age, you resolutely got engaged to me!" Qin Jian said with a hooked corner of his mouth, looking at her.
As An Hao listened, she burst into a bright laugh, her voice ringing clear like a silver bell, "Actually, you’re not old. I’m just too young."
"Hmm. I’m happy to accept that explanation," Qin Jian said, then raised his wrist to glance at his watch, "All right, go back. I have to leave now."
"Goodbye." An Hao hugged him and then turned to leave.
When An Hao got to the door of her dormitory, about to push it open, she heard quiet voices coming from inside.
"Shuangshuang, be more careful with your words in the future. That Guan Kexin is the granddaughter of a provincial leader, and both our fathers work in formal positions. If you speak thoughtlessly and offend someone like that one day, and the leader hears his granddaughter’s complaints, what if he suppresses our fathers at work? What then?" Xu Yinuo said.