"What are you muttering about?"
"Are you making fun of me?"
Tian Mengyao pouted, glaring at Lin Fan with a look of grievance.
Lin Fan walked out of the Cao family compound and turned back, surprised, "I didn't say anything!"
"Who's making fun of you?"
Tian Mengyao said unhappily, looking down, "Lin Fan, you're not allowed to talk about what happened today."
"I know, you don't need to remind me."
Lin Fan had no mood to tease her at all right now.
"Oh no, is my makeup ruined?"
Tian Mengyao covered her face with her hands after saying that.
Lin Fan smiled gently, "No, you weren't crying your eyes out."
"You're still laughing?"
Tian Mengyao was already unhappy.
She thought Lin Fan was gloating and making fun of her, and her anger flared up.
"I'll beat you to death!"
Tian Mengyao pounced on Lin Fan with flailing arms, like a kitten.
Lin Fan's foot flickered, and he swiftly dodged her small, pink fists. "Heh heh, you can't reach me."
"Don't run!"
They chased each other, playing around on the dirt road in the fields.
This playful chase made Lin Fan forget all about the matter of the Eight-headed Evil God.
Tian Mengyao also forgot everything that had just happened.
If any villagers had seen them, they would have thought the two were already in love.
And then the next day, or tonight, the whole village would know: "Lin Fan got together with the new beautiful secretary!"
Soon, they reached the village entrance.
Tian Mengyao said a word of thanks and returned to the village committee office.
Lin Fan headed back to the clinic.
"Sister-in-law, I'm back."
It was already nine in the morning when Lin Fan returned to the clinic.
Several patients had been waiting for him for more than half an hour.
Xia Xue saw Lin Fan return and smiled at the patients, "Xiao Fan is back. Sorry to keep you all waiting."
"Your Xiao Fan is quite accomplished now, working at the village committee."
An old lady with very few teeth said kindly with a smile.
"Just helping out a little."
Although Xia Xue was modest, she was very happy in her heart.
She turned her head, scanned Lin Fan, and asked, "Xiao Fan, why is your ear red?"
"Oh, maybe it was the wind."
Lin Fan hadn't expected his sister-in-law to be so observant, noticing such a small detail.
Tian Mengyao had been on his back, using his ear as a steering wheel, tugging and pulling. Of course, it would be red!
Seeing his sister-in-law frown doubtfully, Lin Fan explained again, "Sister-in-law, you don't know, the glass in the Cao family's Western-style building was smashed. The wind was whistling through it, and it made us both cold."
Xia Xue said, "Oh, so that's how it is."
She thought to herself, "What kind of status does Secretary Tian have? What kind of person is she? Even if Xiao Fan wanted to curry favor with her, she wouldn't look twice at him!"
"What could be wrong?"
Lin Fan waved to the patients, apologizing, "Sorry for delaying everyone's time."
He carefully scanned the patients. Seeing that none of them had serious illnesses, he asked, "Who's next?"
"I'm not in a hurry."
"She came first, let's see her first."
"Xiao Fan, your room is quite cool, we can sit for a while longer."
Regardless of age, they all respected Lin Fan greatly.
In this materialistic era, it was rare to find someone as skilled in medicine and kind-hearted as him.
He worked until noon before seeing the last patient.
He walked into the courtyard, stretched his arms towards the clear sky, and then looked at his sister-in-law, who was watering the flowers. He asked curiously, "Sister-in-law, why aren't you supervising the house construction today?"
Xia Xue paused, then stood up and replied, "Didn't I tell you?"
"There's been a lot of rain lately. The foreman told me they'd finish the rest next year."
"It's almost the New Year anyway, so I've already paid their wages."
Xia Xue finished and continued watering the flowers.
"Is that so? That makes sense, it's almost the New Year."
Lin Fan sighed with emotion, "Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, it's the end of the year."
"Sister-in-law, you should rest too. Leave this work to me and Sister Yueyue."
Lin Fan felt a little uneasy whenever he saw his sister-in-law doing manual labor.
"Watering flowers won't kill me!"
"Your Sister Yueyue is cooking. We'll go back together for lunch later."
Xia Xue waved her hand, "Alright, you clean up, and we'll go back."
"Okay."
Lin Fan went back into the room and took off his sun protection jacket.
The temperature was high at noon, and it was too hot to wear it.
Lin Fan also went upstairs to get his phone.
He tapped the screen and saw three missed calls, and immediately wondered, "Who called?"
He unlocked it and saw that they were all from Wang Ying!
"Sister Wang Ying!"
Lin Fan inwardly cursed. He really hadn't contacted her for the past two days.
One was in the city, and the other was in the village. They couldn't see or touch each other.
Plus, he was busy helping Tian Mengyao and treating villagers every day. He really couldn't spare time for anything else.
He opened the window and shouted to Xia Xue in the yard, "Sister-in-law, I'm going to take a call. Wait for me. A patient from the city is looking for me."
Xia Xue nodded, "Don't take too long, I'm waiting for you for lunch."
"Mm, got it."
Lin Fan replied, then dialed Wang Ying's number.
"Xiao Fan."
Wang Ying's voice was tinged with complaint, "Were you so busy this morning? I kept calling you, but no one answered!"
Lin Fan heard the wrong tone in her voice, both complaining and missing him, so he laughed, "Busy, extremely busy!"
"If you saw it, you'd know. There are so many patients at the clinic lately that there's no room to stand!"
Lin Fan smiled gently, "Sister Wang Ying, I miss you so much!"
"Oh, you!" Wang Ying said coyly, "What nonsense are you talking? Aren't you afraid someone will hear you!"
Her mood clearly improved several times over.
Lin Fan said a few more sweet words, and finally made her happy.
"Sister Wang Ying, what did you call me for?"
"Can't I call you if there's nothing?"
"Okay, of course, I can. If you need anything, I'll go through fire and water for you!"
"I never realized you were so good with words before!"
Wang Ying said coyly, then nervously, "Xiao Fan, I have time this weekend. I want to come to your village to see you."
As soon as she said this, it was like a bucket of cold water poured over Lin Fan's head.
Come see me?
He had no problem with it.
But what about his sister-in-law and Song Yue?
How to explain?
The house wasn't built yet. If he stayed at Song Yue's place, there would definitely be a lot of trouble.
"Xiao Fan, why aren't you talking?"
Wang Ying waited for a moment, and when she didn't hear Lin Fan's response, she felt something was wrong.
"Alright, you're most welcome!"
Lin Fan suppressed his anxiety and readily agreed.
Her heart finally settled, "Then how about the day after tomorrow?"
"Of course, I can. I'll pick you up at the town then."
Lin Fan thought for a moment and asked, "Sister Su, she's not coming, is she?"
"I... I didn't plan to invite her. Why, you still..."
Wang Ying stopped mid-sentence, but her meaning was clear.
She definitely didn't want to invite Su Yurou.
Lin Fan felt the same way.
He hadn't figured out how to deal with one yet. If another one came, he feared he would be finished.
He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "It's better if she doesn't come. It's best if it's just the two of us."
"Alright, then wait for my call. I'm still at work, so I'll hang up now."
Wang Ying said, then happily hung up the phone.
Lin Fan, on the other hand, was filled with worry.
He stood there thinking hard, and no matter how he thought about it, he felt uneasy.
"Xiao Fan, are you done?"
Xia Xue had been waiting impatiently and called out.
"Coming right up."
Lin Fan replied, then hurried downstairs.