Chapter 37 Second Update

Chapter 37 Second Update

"Head Nurse Ge, this is the draft I wrote. Could you take a look and see if it's appropriate?" Before leaving work, Qin Yao called out to Head Nurse Ge and handed her the manuscript. She felt no anxiety at all. Having dealt with many clients in the modern world and written numerous papers during her studies, she was used to revising drafts again and again. She had the patience; at worst, she would revise it a few more times until the client was satisfied.

Head Nurse Ge was astonished. "You finished writing this so quickly? How many words is it?"

"I wrote about ten thousand words, maybe a little more, but I didn't count them carefully," Qin Yao said lightly. To her, ten thousand words was nothing. Before she transmigrated into this book, she was an editor and had communicated with many authors.

Future online authors who wrote three thousand words a day were considered slow. Many wrote six thousand, ten thousand, or even twenty thousand words a day.

Writing ten thousand words in a few days was nothing to her.

Not knowing what Head Nurse Ge preferred, Qin Yao wrote according to her own ideas. It was a character story, something like a short novel, with some emotional elements added at the end.

Having read too many gratifying articles in the modern world, Qin Yao subconsciously added plot twists and various gratifying elements to Head Nurse Ge's story, portraying her as the protagonist of an inspiring tale. The ten thousand words were filled with ups and downs.

After reading it, one would feel both gratified and moved!

"Let me see..." Head Nurse Ge picked up the manuscript without any expectations. But by the time she finished the first page, her anticipation was at its peak. Why was she so eager to know what happened next, even though it was a story about her own life?

Yes! This patient remembered her kindness and even came to apologize!

That's right, that's right! She was indeed so humble and eager to learn!

"Xiao Qin, you've written this so well!" Head Nurse Ge hugged the manuscript, wishing she could pass it down to her children as a family heirloom. No wonder people in ancient times wanted to "write books and establish legacies." This short piece of ten thousand words was the biography of Ge Yunxia's life.

Seeing this, Qin Yao smiled and said, "Head Nurse Ge, please let me know if there's anything that needs changing."

"No need for changes, this is perfect. I have to take it home and show it to my family." Head Nurse Ge was so excited she could hardly express herself. The article was so well-written, without any pretentiousness, and it left one feeling inspired and passionate, a true inspirational model.

"Xiao Qin, wait a moment." Head Nurse Ge hurriedly opened her drawer, took out an unopened pack of malt drink, and stuffed it into Qin Yao's arms. "Xiao Qin, thank you for your hard work. Take this drink home and have it. Look at how much weight you've lost recently, worrying about this for me."

Qin Yao was a bit embarrassed. "Alright, I'll take it then."

Why does everyone say I've lost weight? I'm not thin now; at most, I'm well-proportioned. There are plenty of girls in the unit who are as thin as monkeys.

"Head Nurse Ge, please take another look at it when you're home. If there's any issue, just let me know, and I'll revise it again."

"Alright." Head Nurse Ge beamed with joy. At this moment, she didn't care about anything else. She only hoped her rival could see this ten-thousand-word article and know about her heroic deeds. "I'll contact Reporter Sun later and include your name as a contributor when we publish your article. The unit will give some rewards, and I'll give them all to you."

Although there would be no payment from the newspaper for Head Nurse Ge's article, there would be a unit reward since it was published in the print media. It would be a few bucks in bonuses.

Qin Yao felt that the few bucks were not much considering the effort she put into writing it. Head Nurse Ge felt extremely guilty, thinking that this ten thousand words was "priceless," at least worth a hundred yuan!

In the end, she felt she owed Xiao Qin.

Holding a bag of malt drink, Qin Yao walked downstairs where Gu Cheng was waiting for her. He took her to a grocery store to buy meat, remembering what he had said a few days ago about cooking at Lao Gao's house to show off his "culinary skills."

Like most men in this world, Gu Cheng loved pork, especially the layered pork belly. He had already asked someone to keep two jin for him.

Qin Yao said, "Let's buy some crabs."

Comrade Xiao Qin had little hope for Comrade Gu's cooking skills. Buying crabs would be safer; whether steamed or boiled, it was hard to mess up.

She didn't believe steamed mud crabs could go wrong!

Gu Cheng said, "Crabs are cold in nature and not suitable for girls to eat too much of."

"I love eating crabs. Let's buy them."

After buying the crabs, they also got some grouper, oysters, and clams. The two of them carried the items to Lao Gao's house. Chen Baozhen had returned from school and was both happy and surprised to see them. "You've come, and with so many things!"

"We bought a chicken today. Lao Gao said he'd make chicken soup for you. You must try his cooking skills. I'll assist him."

Gu Cheng quickly said, "You don't need to assist. Today, I'll be the head chef. You ladies wait outside."

Gu Cheng took over, standing confidently in Lao Gao's kitchen.

Chen Baozhen was dumbfounded.

She pulled Qin Yao aside and whispered, "What's gotten into him?"

Qin Yao whispered back, "He wants you to praise him."

Chen Baozhen's eyes almost popped out. "Is he crazy? He wants me to praise him?"

"He said that when Doctor He cooked at your house before, you always praised him, but you never praised Gu. So next time, just praise him a bit more in front of him. You know, men's competitiveness."

Chen Baozhen was a bit dazed.

Gao Jianguo returned with a basket of ginger, garlic, and scallions. He had agreed with Chen Baozhen that they would run their couple's shop together. The two would be busy in the kitchen, with him as the head chef and her assisting. The couple would work harmoniously together, preparing a meal filled with love.

They would show Qin Yao and Gu Cheng what it meant to be a sweet, harmonious couple.

"Baozhen, I'm back. Xiao Qin is here too? You're both here at the right time. You and Captain Gu sit outside. Is the tea ready? Where's Captain Gu?" Gao Jianguo gave an honest smile to the two women.

Chen Baozhen twitched at the corner of her mouth. "Why is Captain Gu in the kitchen?"

"How come he's in the kitchen?"

As Gao Jianguo entered, Gu Cheng spotted him and immediately conscripted him. "You're back just in time. We're out of ginger, garlic, and scallions. Did you buy the garlic? Go chop it quickly."

Gu Cheng was busy directing Gao Jianguo with preparations.

Gao Jianguo stood at the kitchen door, almost thinking he had entered the wrong house. Who was this man with his sleeves rolled up, wearing an apron, and chopping decisively?

Gu Cheng sliced down, cutting the crab shell in half and revealing the orange crab roe. He cleaned out the innards and continued with the next one.

Frowning, Gu Cheng asked, "Your yard is so big? Did you ever think of planting some scallions, ginger, and garlic?"

Captain Gu was surprised to learn that in the residential compound, there was a household whose kitchen lacked scallions, ginger, and garlic. Not only that, but there wasn’t any in the yard either.

Jianguo, feeling wronged, said, "I planted them on the second-floor balcony, but they didn’t grow well." By now, they had all become pots.

His wife, Baozhen, was unreliable and never keen on watering. The ones planted in the ground were fine, but everything in pots was ruined.

Gu Cheng shook his head and mentally gave the couple a "failing grade."

"Hurry up and smash some garlic, lots of it. You’ll assist me in a bit," Gu Cheng said.

Jianguo instinctively reached for the kitchen knife to smash the garlic, but after smashing one clove, he felt something was off. Why was he following Gu Cheng’s orders?

Whose house was this, anyway?

Jianguo put down the knife and asked, "Captain Gu, why are you at my house?"

Gu Cheng replied, "To cook."

"Why?"

Gu Cheng paused, then said, "So that your wife can praise me in front of Yaoyao."

"A man's desire to get married—you understand, right?"

Jianguo picked up the knife, exasperated. "..."

He didn’t understand. Please, just get married already!

Qin Yao and Chen Baozhen sat in the yard. Chen Baozhen peeled a pineapple with a knife. It was a fragrant pineapple, a very sweet variety that didn’t need to be soaked in saltwater. Chen Baozhen loved eating it.

The fruit on the island was the most satisfying thing for her. No matter the fruit, they were all sweet enough to be deadly.

Some fruits were so sweet they tasted slightly fermented, like alcohol.

Qin Yao teased her, "Should I do it? You’re making it look like it was chewed by a dog."

"Your Captain Gu is busy in the kitchen, so let me take over for you outside," Chen Baozhen said, then continued, "Today, Lao Gao and I want to thank you for the advice. Wang Chunhua has repaid the money. She paid back every household."

After Chen Baozhen had spoken to the women’s director about Wang Chunhua, the woman came to her house a few days later and repaid the money, along with all the other debts.

"I heard from some of the sisters-in-law that Wang Chunhua had hidden quite a bit of money at home and hadn’t given any to her in-laws or her parents' family. The director sent someone to check her hometown, and that’s when she was exposed."

"She borrowed one or two thousand. I reckon she was planning to borrow more and leave with her child. If that happened, would the money have been repaid?"

They couldn’t travel long distances for just a few dozen or hundred dollars, especially to the homes of martyrs' widows.

One or two thousand was equivalent to three years of her salary. Chen Baozhen was impressed by Wang Chunhua, almost to the point of letting her get away with it.

"The money has been returned. The director advised us not to make a big deal out of it and to keep it private."

"She also said we lent out too much. Others only lent a few dozen yuan..."

Qin Yao chuckled, "She’s saying you two are foolish and rich."

"Nonsense. Lao Gao’s family doesn’t have much money."

As the two women chatted in the yard, a clump of mud suddenly flew in, followed by the noisy shouts of children, "Oh oh oh!!!"

"Teacher Chen, smiling! Teacher Chen, smiling!"

Chen Baozhen frowned, annoyed. "First the elders, now the children. They have no shame."

Qin Yao asked, "What’s going on?"

"The ringleader is the child of the widow. After the money was repaid, her child, along with others, has been causing a ruckus outside my yard, throwing mud and stones. They don’t do anything else, just make noise."

"Lao Gao told me to endure it, but I can’t take it anymore. What kind of mother raises such children?"

Seeing Chen Baozhen storming forward, Qin Yao quickly stopped her. "What do you think you’re doing?"

Chen Baozhen said angrily, "I’m going to scold them away."

Qin Yao chuckled, "And you call yourself an elementary school teacher. Children this young don’t respond to reason. The more you scold them, the more they’ll laugh at you."

After a three-second silence, Chen Baozhen tugged at Qin Yao’s sleeve. "Yaoyao, you’re right. I’ll go and call your Captain Gu from the kitchen."

"I don’t believe these kids aren’t afraid of him."

Qin Yao: "..."

"Yaoyao, you won’t have to worry about this in the future. Your Captain Gu’s cold demeanor scares not only children but adults too."

To be honest, Qin Yao didn’t really think Gu Cheng’s temper was fierce. She thought it was all Baozhen’s misunderstanding.

"Baozhen, should we try another approach?"