Chapter 266: The Nalan Base

Chapter 266 The Nalan Base

After the meeting, the TCM students had no more classes for the day.

Zhang Kaining insisted on taking everyone out for a meal, as if it were their last meal together.

Ye Xiaoxiao had no choice but to go with them.

Zhang Kaining, being generous, thumped his chest and promised that anyone could come to him for help in the future, and he would see it through for them.

Everyone in class got along well with him and accepted his goodwill.

In September, internship assignments started coming in.

Yun Chengxiu had also arranged everything for Ye Xiaoxiao, notifying her in advance and sending her a care package.

Although Lu Hanchuan was in the northwest, it wasn’t a border area but a place called Nalan.

There was a national research base established there, and Lu Hanchuan was on a temporary assignment.

Though this "temporary" assignment had already lasted two years, with no end in sight.

Ye Xiaoxiao looked up the location. Although the environment wasn’t great, the research base had been established for over thirty years, so the facilities should be relatively complete—not exactly the middle of nowhere.

When Sun Zhengyao received Ye Xiaoxiao’s internship notice, he thought there must be some mistake.

We'd agreed she would intern at Beijing First Hospital!

The dean had just brought this up with him.

Yet, Student Ye Xiaoxiao was being sent to the northwest.

Sun Zhengyao even went to the dean over this matter, asking if it was a mistake.

Their Jinghua University didn't even have partner hospitals in the northwest, right?

Even if students couldn’t stay in Beijing, they'd at least get placed somewhere decent—why would anyone send her to the northwest?

But the dean said it was arranged by higher-ups and there was no mistake.

Sun Zhengyao had no choice but to summon Ye Xiaoxiao to his office to ask her directly.

Ye Xiaoxiao, however, had gotten advance notice and wasn’t surprised at all when she received the notice.

"Thank you, Professor."

Sun Zhengyao: "You knew you were going to the northwest? You should know the dean was hoping you’d intern at the hospital."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "With First Hospital's reputation, I'm sure there's no shortage of top students eager to go. I need to be in the northwest."

Sun Zhengyao thought it was rash, but he didn't press further.

"What about after your internship? Any plans for after graduation?"

"I plan to continue my studies and apply to grad school."

"..."

Sun Zhengyao's task was hopeless.

Fortunately, he had other outstanding students, like Chu Yunxiao and Zhang Lichuan, who were both standout students.

...

After receiving her internship offer, Ye Xiaoxiao got ready to leave.

The check-in date was before September 25th.

Ye Xiaoxiao decided to take a train to the city first, then find her way to Nalan County.

When others learned that Ye Xiaoxiao’s internship was actually in the northwest, they were stunned.

Ye Xiaoxiao was among the first batch to receive internship offers.

Logically, these students should have been assigned to top placements.

Even others from the Traditional Chinese Medicine class couldn’t understand.

Zhang Kaining: "Xiao Xiao, did you offend someone? How could you be sent so far away? Not a single person in our entire school is going there."

Ye Xiaoxiao calmly replied, "I requested it myself."

Zhang Kaining was stunned, "Are you crazy?"

"Class monitor, hurry up and brew her some medicinal tea to fix this."

Chu Yunxiao was also puzzled, "What’s so urgent that you have to go to the northwest?"

Ye Xiaoxiao: "The place I’m going isn’t even accessible to most people. I used connections to get in."

Zhang Kaining: "You must be sick. That place has constant sandstorms—what’s so great about it? You won’t last a month there."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "I'll tough it out."

Seeing her stubbornness, the classmates took turns trying to dissuade her.

Zhang Kaining even said, "When you come back, you might have two patches of windburn cheeks, or worse, get baked black by the sun."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "You should trust our products more. Don’t worry, even there, I won’t stop my research. I’ll send new recipes when I develop them—we'll keep in touch."

Zhang Kaining grumbled, "Keep in touch? You might end up totally isolated there."

Unable to change her mind, Zhang Kaining could only say, "When are you leaving? I’ll see you off at the station."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "I’ll leave after packing up. You focus on your work—no need to see me off."

Before Ye Xiaoxiao left, almost everyone who heard the news thought she'd lost it.

But for someone as stubborn as a mule, no one could persuade her otherwise.

Even Song Guangjing just gave some last-minute advice before letting Xiao Xiao go.

"Make sure to write home when you get there. If anyone bullies you, don’t hold it in—I'll come get you myself."

Ye Xiaoxiao hugged her mentor and told him to take care of himself.

"I'll just be gone for a few months. I'll be back before you know it."

"Is someone meeting you there?"

"Aunt Yun took care of everything. Someone will pick me up as soon as I leave the station."

Ye Xiaoxiao had originally planned to go to Nalan Base alone, but Yun Chengxiu wouldn’t hear of it and handled everything ahead of time.

Moreover, without contacting Lu Hanchuan beforehand, Ye Xiaoxiao felt certain her arrival would surprise him.

Song Guangjing: "Good. Go on, have Xiaoguang take you to the station."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Thanks for handling things at the company, Xiaoguang. I left the new product formula behind. If anything comes up, just drop me a letter."

Song Xiaoguang reminded her: "Look after yourself out there."

With that, Ye Xiaoxiao left as her family saw her off.

It was a long trip—over thirty hours on the train.

Luckily, Ye Xiaoxiao had a sleeper car.

She had a lot of luggage with her this time since she’d packed plenty of everyday items.

Not sure if getting around there would be easy or if she could easily go out to buy things, she had no choice but to bring more with her.

Only after arriving and learning the exact address could others mail her additional items.

More than thirty hours later, Ye Xiaoxiao disembarked at Luhai City’s train station.

By then, there were very few passengers left on the train.

Hardly anyone had business coming out this way.

At the station exit, only a few people were scattered around. Ye Xiaoxiao immediately spotted the person waiting for her.

He was in uniform—someone she didn’t know.

"Hello, I’m Ye Xiaoxiao."

"Hello, Aunt Yun sent me to get you. My name is Jin Yu."

He shook her hand politely and then took her luggage.

"You’re heading to Nalan Base, right? I’ll drive you there."

"Thank you."

As Ye Xiaoxiao stepped out of the station, the air outside was bone-dry.

"It’s a five-hour drive from here to Nalan Base. Want to stop at a guesthouse first?" Jin Yu asked.

Ye Xiaoxiao: "That long?"

Jin Yu: "That’s how it is here—big empty spaces out here."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "If it’s no trouble, let’s head straight there."

Jin Yu had no objections. "Alright."

It was 9 a.m. now, and by the time they reached Nalan Base, it was already 2 p.m.—longer than they’d said.

Despite the name, the base was huge, with the medical office located on the outskirts.

The guards checked her papers before letting her in.