CHAPTER 862: CHAPTER 864 SHOCK

"Oh, anyway, it’s impossible to explain this to you, this kind of subtle difference can only be felt by women. Anyway, I’m relieved to know that you have nothing to do with her." Tang Rong couldn’t be bothered to continue this topic.

She just didn’t get it, is the difference between men and women really that big! He didn’t notice such an obvious look just now; she wondered what they see with their eyes all day. It would have been nice if Shi Miaomiao was here too, so they could discuss the experience just now.

"There really isn’t anything between us. The person I’ve always loved is you," Xiao Yifei said.

"But our director is really nice and treats me particularly well. Actually, if I think about it carefully, if it weren’t for the director, I wouldn’t be doing so well in the hospital. Every time someone doubts my abilities, he’s the first to stand up for me. I’m really grateful to him for that."

"Do you know why the director is so good to you? Has he already started grooming you as his future son-in-law? Now that his wish has fallen through, maybe things won’t be so easy for you in the future." Tang Rong understood the connection as soon as Xiao Yifei brought it up.

"Impossible, Director Qian is really a good person. He’s not the type to mix personal and professional matters. If he were such a person, I wouldn’t respect him." Xiao Yifei immediately denied Tang Rong’s view.

"Besides, I had already clearly refused before. The director didn’t say anything about it." Xiao Yifei remembered his attitude had been very clear when the director brought up the matter a few times before.

Now that Xiao Yifei had a car, everything was much more convenient. He could also take Tang Rong to some farther places, like going on a weekend trip to a small village near the city to get close to nature.

So on Saturday, the two of them got up at six and drove to nearby Qingshan Town. This town has always been a great place for people to relax and unwind, with its blue skies and green hills.

As Tang Rong and Xiao Yifei entered this town, the distant hills were veiled in a layer of light gauze, sometimes hidden, sometimes revealed in the ethereal mist, as if strokes of light ink were brushed onto the blue horizon.

Green hills faced each other across the river, with trees dripping with green, towering peaks shrouding the sky, while clear streams babbled below, and strange rocks lay across the waves. The beauty of the mountains in the rain was entirely about being there yet not there. If they were there, they blended with the floating cloud shadows that seemed to turn into steaming mist; if not, they would reveal themselves between the clouds, feeling so familiar and dear.

Xiao Yifei and Tang Rong were awed by this scenery. They never expected to find such beauty in a town hundreds of kilometers away, feeling that they had wasted countless weekends staying at home.

"Let’s come here often if we have time. The air is so fresh. I can’t believe we never found this amazing place before," Tang Rong said excitedly.

The days passed like this, and in the blink of an eye, it has been almost two years since coming to this city. Reflecting on his desolation when he first arrived, his life now felt like living in Heaven.

No one knows what they will experience in life, just like Xiao Yifei never imagined that his grandfather would leave this world so early, nor did he expect that two years after deciding never to be a doctor, he would now be thriving in the medical field.

Tomorrow is his grandfather’s memorial day, so he asked for leave from the director in advance, unsure if it would be approved. The hospital is generally busy every day, and he is a key member of the team.

"Director, may I take a day off tomorrow, please?" Xiao Yifei asked in the director’s office.

"Why do you want to take a day off? Did something happen?" the director asked with concern.

"It’s like this; tomorrow is my grandfather’s memorial day, and I’d like to go back. I should go and take a look, even though I no longer have any family left in that city, it’s still the place where I grew up!" Xiao Yifei said, and talking about it made him a little sad.

"Ah, I see. Well, go ahead. How about I give you two days off to go back and take a good look at the city, see your friends and neighbors?" The director thought for a moment and agreed. Xiao Yifei had made such significant contributions to the hospital that this small request could be granted.

"Thank you so much, Director. I’ll work even harder when I return." Xiao Yifei didn’t expect the director to agree so readily, feeling a bit happy, feeling that the old director was indeed a good person.

Early the next morning, Xiao Yifei packed a few things and set off on the road back to his hometown. Originally, Tang Rong wanted to accompany him, but work was overwhelming; they had to endure a brief separation.

"Say hello to grandpa for me when you get there," Tang Rong said to Xiao Yifei.

The distance between the two cities wasn’t too far. By bus, it took a little over three hours, and if driving, as long as there wasn’t a traffic jam, it generally took about two hours. Xiao Yifei didn’t understand why he hadn’t thought to return to this city for the past two years. He also didn’t know why.

Perhaps it was fear of things no longer as they were; when he was in college, he always looked forward to the winter and summer breaks to come back to this city, knowing his grandfather was waiting for him here. But now, with nothing left, the city was just an empty shell to him, a city that saddened him.

Xiao Yifei drove on the highway, with his favorite singer’s songs playing in the car. He had listened to these songs hundreds of times. As a teenager, his favorite song was "Blue Lotus": "Nothing can stop you from longing for freedom, the unrestrained life, your heart without attachments, passing through the dark years, feeling lost at times, when you finally bow your head, you realize the road beneath your feet, the free world in your heart, so clear and distant, blooming eternally, Blue Lotus."

Every time Xu Wei’s song played, Xiao Yifei’s young heart felt an urge to walk to distant places, "Once dreamed of traveling the world with a sword, to see the world’s splendors." These were a young boy’s fantasies about distant places.

Xiao Yifei thought, perhaps my insistence on studying abroad was influenced by this song, the free world in the lyrics seemed so beautiful. When we were young, perhaps we all had the aspiration to explore distant places.

It wasn’t until going abroad that Xiao Yifei realized the imagined world and the real world were entirely different. The hardships of being an overseas student were experiences that brought tears to his eyes even now.

Much of what we see on TV or read in books can have huge discrepancies from reality.

Xiao Yifei recalled a TV show he watched in high school, whose name he couldn’t remember, but it was about four Chinese students in Canada. Although they experienced unhappy events, Xiao Yifei vividly remembered them celebrating Christmas with local families, the snow in Canada’s winter was extraordinarily thick. Yet, their joy at that time was palpable even through the TV screen.