Lin Xiaoxiao believed that since the situation had already arisen, the priority was to solve it. There was no point in the two of them standing there arguing.

Li Guiling agreed with her. She immediately followed Lin Xiaoxiao out the door, speaking anxiously as they walked. "Do you think something's wrong? Where could she have gone with the baby?"

Lin Xiaoxiao also had no idea where An Xiuyu might have taken the child. "Let's go ask for leave first, then split up to look for her."

They went to inform their instructor, who, upon hearing that An Xiuyu and her baby were missing, assigned two male students to join the search to ensure her safety.

Dai Xueming volunteered to go with Lin Xiaoxiao, suggesting that if An Xiuyu was in some kind of trouble, he could lend a hand.

Lin Xiaoxiao didn't have time to ponder Dai Xueming's potential ulterior motives. She and Li Guiling left the school grounds separately.

She first went to the bus station to check for buses heading toward Hanjia Village. Confirming that An Xiuyu wasn't there, she hurried off to search elsewhere.

She completely forgot that Zhou Huaian would also be at the station around this time—and that his bus had just departed.

Zhou Huaian, seated on the bus as it pulled out of the station, saw Lin Xiaoxiao and the male student entering the station, talking as they walked.

He only caught a glimpse of Lin Xiaoxiao's profile and couldn't make out her expression, but it surprised him nonetheless.

Shouldn't she be in class at this hour? What was she doing here with a male classmate?

He pressed his lips together, still able to feel the softness of hers from the night before, and thought wryly to himself, She's a little liar.

A pang of discomfort struck him. For a fleeting moment, he even considered jumping off the bus to confront her. But he wasn't some impulsive twenty-year-old anymore.

He knew better than to act recklessly.

Zhou Huaian withdrew his gaze, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes......After finding no sign of An Xiuyu at the station, Lin Xiaoxiao and Dai Xueming headed toward the small river along the street. There, by the bank, they ran into An Xiuyu, her baby strapped to her back.

In one hand she carried a bucket of paste; in the other, she held a few sheets of yellow paper. She looked surprised to see Lin Xiaoxiao and Dai Xueming. "Lin, Dai, what are you two doing here?"

Lin Xiaoxiao breathed a sigh of relief, though she frowned. "Where did you go with the baby this morning? You had everyone worried. We took time off to come look for you."

An Xiuyu looked very embarrassed. "Looking for me? I'm so sorry, so sorry. It's just... my little Huozi cries all night and disturbs everyone's sleep. I heard there's a spirit medium around here who's pretty good, so I bought some yellow paper to paste on a utility pole."

Lin Xiaoxiao glanced at the writing on the yellow paper: Heaven, Earth, my home has a night-crying child; may passing gentlemen read this thrice, and sleep soundly till the sun is high.

She looked at An Xiuyu incredulously. "You're here to study medicine. Why didn't you ask the doctors at the hospital instead of coming out here believing in this?"

She remembered from her own studies that nighttime crying in infants could be physiological or pathological—babies just couldn't express themselves except by crying.

But An Xiuyu still seemed convinced. "Back in my village, when children cry, we always have someone take a look and then paste these. He's fine during the day and eats well."

How could it be an illness? If he were sick, she would have been able to tell.

Lin Xiaoxiao looked at the child sleeping peacefully on her back and still offered her advice. "Children don't only cry when they have a fever or a cold. There could be other reasons. It wouldn't hurt to have him checked—better to catch a small issue before it becomes a big one."

Seeing how serious Lin Xiaoxiao was, An Xiuyu quickly nodded. "Alright, I'll paste these up and then go see a doctor."

Lin Xiaoxiao had nothing more to say. "Be careful then. We're heading back to class."

Dai Xueming also said a few words to An Xiuyu before quickly catching up to Lin Xiaoxiao. "Lin, how were you so sure the child needed to see a doctor?"

Lin Xiaoxiao glanced at him. "I wasn't sure. It was just a suggestion. Is there a problem with suggesting she see a doctor about her crying baby?"

Dai Xueming quickly shook his head. "No, it's just... it seemed like you knew."

His attempts to get closer to Lin Xiaoxiao weren't because he found her pretty or wanted something from her—he simply noticed she knew a lot and hoped to learn more from her.

Lin Xiaoxiao simply said, "Oh. Well, you'll be disappointed. I don't know either."

After class, when she returned to the dorm, she found An Xiuyu holding her child and crying.

Li Guiling looked concerned. "Sister Xiuyu, what's wrong?"

An Xiuyu stroked her baby's head. "Doctor Li said the baby has rickets. How can it be rickets? He said the patch with no hair is a sign, but lots of kids in my village have that—isn't it just from sleeping?"

Li Guiling, who'd only just started studying medicine, was at a loss. "Rickets? Is it serious? What can be done?"

An Xiuyu wiped her tears. "He said we caught it early. More sunlight, better nutrition... Otherwise, he said the child could become deformed."

She still didn't quite believe it. It felt like the doctor was exaggerating. Weren't all village children raised like this? Some cried until they were over a year old and then turned out fine.

Li Guiling didn't know what to say either. "It should be fine. I've seen lots of village children like this—they all grew up safe and sound. It'll be okay."

Zhang Jing, standing to the side, smirked scornfully before taking her basin to go wash clothes.

Lin Xiaoxiao felt that Li Guiling's reassurance was misguided. "Doctor Li was just telling you the potential seriousness of rickets—not that Huozi will definitely have those problems. If you follow the doctor's advice and treat it proactively, nothing bad will happen."

An Xiuyus still looked heartbroken. "But I'm still scared."

Lin Xiaoxiao was getting frustrated. "If you're scared, how will you ever become a doctor? You'll have to tell patients the severity of their conditions—so they take it seriously."

It irritated her. With this kind of mindset, how could she ever practice medicine?

An Xiuyu fell silent, quietly holding her child and crying. Li Guiling comforted her for a bit before leaving with a thermos to fetch hot water.

Soon, whispers began circulating among the students: Lin Xiaoxiao was arrogant and looked down on those from the countryside....When Zhou Huaian returned to his unit, Lu Zhigang happened to stop by to say goodbye. "I'll be back by the end of the year. I'll be stationed in the provincial capital then. We'll see each other there."

Zhou Huaian gave a faint "mm" and sat down at his desk.

Lu Zhigang leaned in for a closer look. "What's wrong? Bad mood? Did you fight with your wife? Long distance is tough, I tell you."

Zhou Huaian shot him a cool glance. "Don't you have anything better to do? Hurry up and leave."Lu Zhigang pulled up a chair and sat across from him. "I'm just looking out for you. By the way, any news on that matter?"

Zhou Huaian was silent for a moment, then straightened up and looked at Lu Zhigang. "Zhou Xiaoming is the brother-in-law of Deputy Director Zhang here."