Chapter 284: The New Nurse

Chapter 284 The New Nurse

"I’m about seven or eight thousand short."

"I’m aiming to save up ten thousand," Li Zhen admitted frankly.

At first glance, Li Zhen’s savings didn’t seem like much, but given the harsh conditions, managing to set aside several thousand yuan already placed her far ahead of many others.

Li Zhen said with a hint of embarrassment, "Actually, I haven’t saved much myself. Most of it was left to me by my parents and grandmother."

Her father had died in service, and the state had provided a compensation payment. Her family spent very little of it, and in the end, all of it was left to Li Zhen.

The rest would take her forever to save up.

Ye Xiaoxiao toyed with the idea of donating a well here under her company’s name. It wasn’t impossible.

If the desert was a no-go, they could choose a spot closer to town.

Ye Xiaoxiao didn’t just mull it over—she immediately wrote a letter back to the capital, asking Song Xiaoguang to handle the matter.

After New Year’s Day, Lu Hanchuan had a new assignment.

He gave Ye Xiaoxiao a heads-up that he’d be gone for a few days and told her not to worry.

Ye Xiaoxiao, upon hearing this, reminded him to stay safe.

Lu Hanchuan was gone for over ten days, and Ye Xiaoxiao had no idea when he’d return.

Just as she was growing concerned about him, a new nurse arrived at the medical clinic.

Li Zhen thought it was weird. "In previous years, we didn’t get a single one. This year, so many people are coming. Does our clinic even need more nurses? Why aren’t they assigned to the military side?"

Ye Xiaoxiao figured the military side was tougher to get into.

By being stationed at the clinic, they could still be pulled in by the military if needed.

The new trainee nurse was twenty-two, the same age as Ye Xiaoxiao, and a nursing student.

Her school was nearby, so the assignment made sense.

The real problem was the lack of housing.

During the winter, Ye Xiaoxiao and Li Zhen bunked together in one room, and while they could squeeze in one more person, the new girl wasn’t familiar with them.

The room was technically Li Zhen’s, so adding another person required discussing it with her first.

Li Zhen shrugged. "Whatever, just pay me."

Zhao Chunhua rolled his eyes at her greed.

"That room’s government property! You can’t charge for it."

"Crash at your place for now, and we’ll arrange proper housing in a couple of days."

And that settled it.

The new girl didn’t have much to her name anyway.

Just scoot over a little to make room for her on the kang.

"Hi, I’m Ceng Xiaochun. Nice to meet you all."

Ceng Xiaochun had two braids and wore a floral-patterned cotton-padded jacket. Tall and slim, she had delicate, pretty features.

"Hello."

Ye Xiaoxiao set her book aside and greeted her.

Ceng Xiaochun settled right in. As a professional nurse, she adapted to the work at the clinic in no time. She could handle IVs and shots with ease, taking a lot off Ye Xiaoxiao’s plate.

That left Li Zhen twiddling her thumbs.

"You think Ceng Xiaochun’s gonna bail soon?"

Before, Li Zhen thought no one stuck around long at the clinic, but after Ye Xiaoxiao’s example, she didn’t dare to speak so carelessly.

"I don’t know. Is she full-time or just interning here?"

Li Zhen: "Who knows? She’s so gung-ho she’s hogging all my jobs."

Ye Xiaoxiao, who had been reading a medical book, looked up at Li Zhen.

"Wanna read?"

Li Zhen: "Nope."

Ye Xiaoxiao got that she wasn’t the studying type.

"I mean, do you wanna learn medicine? I see you’ve picked up some nursing knowledge, but it’s not systematic. You could brush up on bandaging and IVs, or if you want to learn something else, I can teach you."

Better to learn something than stew in your thoughts, and improving her nursing skills would benefit Li Zhen herself.

"Can you show me how to stitch up wounds like you did before?"

Li Zhen wasn’t into reading, but she was somewhat eager to learn hands-on skills.

Ye Xiaoxiao nodded. "Sure, let me dig up some practice supplies."

In her downtime, Ye Xiaoxiao either read or showed Li Zhen the ropes on stitching.

Breaking it down step by step made it look easy, but in practice, the approach varied depending on the wound. Even knowing the steps didn’t make it easy—it took tons of practice.

Ye Xiaoxiao kept most of her books locked in her suitcase, only taking them out when she needed them. In Li Zhen’s room, she kept only the one she was currently reading.

At lunch break, when Ye Xiaoxiao came back, she found Ceng Xiaochun flipping through her book.

It wouldn’t have been a big deal, but Ceng Xiaochun quickly put it down when she saw Ye Xiaoxiao.

"I—I was just flipping through it."

Ye Xiaoxiao couldn’t figure out why she was so jumpy. Normally, Ceng Xiaochun was outgoing, chatting up patients like it was nothing.

But now she was panicked, as if she'd been caught in an awkward situation.

"It's fine."

Ye Xiaoxiao spoke calmly.

She'd been reading an ancient medical text, filled with dense, arcane content that few could grasp even upon skimming it.

Ceng Xiaochun gave a wistful smile. "I used to dream of becoming a doctor, but my test scores fell short, so I ended up studying nursing instead."

Ye Xiaoxiao offered genuinely, "Many places now offer night schools. If you really want to be a doctor, you could consider studying there."

Ceng Xiaochun replied, "I was posted here straight out of training. If I get the chance in the future, I’ll definitely go study."

After chatting briefly, the two returned to their respective duties.

Because of this incident, Ye Xiaoxiao kept a closer eye on Ceng Xiaochun.

She noticed that Ceng Xiaochun was skilled at drawing people out, able to discern someone’s situation clearly with just a few words.

Her work attitude was also overly eager—she volunteered for every task.

Because of her overbearing helpfulness, Li Zhen was already quite displeased.

After all, Ceng Xiaochun was usurping all her responsibilities.

Now, apart from sweeping and cleaning, Li Zhen was effectively sidelined.

"Do you think her behavior is normal?"

Li Zhen grumbled.

Ye Xiaoxiao considered it carefully. "Normal... but also not normal."

The Nalan Base was no ordinary facility. In its core area lived a large number of China's scientists and researchers.

The research projects here were all confidential.

Although the clinic was inside the base, entering the core area still required passing rigorous security screenings.

In the clinic’s ward, Ceng Xiaochun was checking a patient's vitals while chatting with them.

"Your blood pressure is a bit low. Do you usually feel tired at work? You should rest more and maintain a regular diet."

The patient brushed off the concern. "Is there any way to relieve dizziness and blurred vision? I haven’t had time to rest lately."

Ceng Xiaochun said, "However important your work, you still need to take care of your health. If you exhaust yourself, you'll burn out."

"You don’t understand, our—"

"Professor Lü, how about I prepare an herbal regimen for you? If you don’t have time to prepare it, I can do it for you. Just come by to drink it at the scheduled time."

Ye Xiaoxiao entered, interrupting Professor Lü before he could finish.