“Okay, sure!” Zhou Jinglan nodded emphatically.

Qiao Xinruo's words just now warmed his heart and made him feel much more at ease.

As soon as Qiao Xinruo returned to the room, her two older brothers stared at her.

"Yawn—" She stretched, avoiding her brothers' interrogative gazes, and besides, they must have already been eavesdropping. "I'm sleepy, I'm going back to sleep."

The two older brothers exchanged a glance, both sensing that something was terribly wrong.

Isn't it obvious? The little cabbage has already been half-eaten, and that pig is about to succeed!

"Never mind, I'd better go to sleep."

After that, Qiao Xinruo and Zhou Jinglan met up several more times.

Sometimes, even on weekends, when the two of them are either at work or studying, they can't find time to go out on a proper date. In such cases, Zhou Jinglan will come to the family compound to find her during his break after dinner.

The two didn't go too far; they just strolled and chatted in the family compound.

This residential compound is full of people, and they're all acquaintances. The two of them had to walk for just a few minutes before they ran into several people who greeted Qiao Xinruo.

Qiao Xinruo is a well-known aloof beauty. She is beautiful, talented, and has a cold personality. Everyone is curious about what kind of partner such an aloof beauty will end up with. So when they see her walking with Zhou Jinglan, they all gossip about it.

The aunties were very informal; they didn't care whether they knew him or not, as long as they saw him, they would ask him a question.

"Oh my, Xinruo, is this your boyfriend? Are you taking a walk with him?"

"Hello, Aunt Wang!" Qiao Xinruo nodded and continued walking with Zhou Jinglan, without stopping, chatting, or giving a direct answer.

"Xinruo, long time no see! This... is this your boyfriend? Oh my, he's quite handsome, very good-looking! The young man seems quite nice!"

"Hello, Sister Zhang!" Qiao Xinruo said as usual, only offering a greeting and not saying anything else.

Zhou Jinglan went from being nervous at the beginning to secretly feeling pleased.

When the first person made that joke, Zhou Jinglan was afraid that Qiao Xinruo would get angry and might even start a fight on the spot. He didn't know what he should or could do.

But the truth is, Qiao Xinruo didn't argue with anyone. Although she didn't answer directly, she didn't deny it either!

The thought that Qiao Xinruo hadn't denied the rumors that they were dating filled Zhou Jinglan with immense joy!

If there's no denial, then that's the same as admitting it!

Never mind all that, let's just make him happy first!

Zhou Jinglan was particularly happy, which was reflected in his unconsciously more talkativeness, more cheerful steps, and his whole being radiating joy that he could not hide.

That was so wise!

His insistence on waiting until his face was fully healed before truly approaching the Little Goddess was absolutely the right thing to do.

If he rashly approached the Little Goddess with a face that hadn't fully healed, he would definitely be in a much more difficult situation than he is now—Zhou Jinglan wouldn't think it was the Little Goddess's fault; he would only reflect on his own actions.

Despite many people coming to greet and tease them in the compound, it didn't affect their original plans; they went for walks and separated as usual.

"Then, I'll head back to my unit first," Zhou Jinglan said, his reluctance at parting evident, even though they would see each other again the next day.

"Okay, go ahead," Qiao Xinruo waved to him with a smile, jokingly adding, "Hurry up, don't keep looking back!"

Although they haven't officially confirmed their relationship, he seems to be unable to leave it.

The following day, the medical department.

Hu Fangcheng called Su Yueya into his office.

"Minister Hu, is there anything I can help you with?" Su Yueya asked.

"Here's the thing, we have a mission that requires us to cooperate with the military. According to the order of our department's missions, it's your turn," Hu Fangcheng said slowly.

The medical department has no special privileges. Depending on the difficulty of the mission, the military doctors who can carry out the mission take turns to go on missions. There is no such thing as a certain military doctor always taking the lead.

When Su Yueya was pregnant, all the military doctors volunteered to help her. And it wasn't just Su Yueya; in the past, when other female military doctors had special circumstances, no one would stand idly by.

This time, it was indeed Su Yueya's turn to carry out the mission, but the problem was that the location of this mission was exceptionally far away.

"We need to go to Huadu. We don't know how long it will take yet. It will take at least two or three days just to get there."

"You have children at home, and your situation is..."

Hu Fangcheng had considered things carefully. First, Su Yueya had young children at home, and second, Su Yueya was widowed. This kind of long-distance mission would definitely be more troublesome for her than for others.

“But skipping you and having someone else do it would definitely not comply with our medical department’s regulations. So my idea is that you see if you can find someone to do it in your place. That way, the two of you can discuss it together, and there will be no violation of the regulations, so it won’t cause dissatisfaction among others,” Hu Fangcheng said.

In fact, he had already thought of a candidate, and the most suitable one was Qiao Xinruo.

Moreover, Hu Fangcheng guessed that Qiao Xinruo would definitely be willing to help her sister with the mission, after all, everyone could see how much the Qiao family cared for and looked after Su Yueya.

Su Yueya understood what the minister meant.

It seems she'll have to leave the capital for a while. As for how long, it's hard to say right now; it all depends on how smoothly the mission is completed. No one can guarantee that, which means she'll have to be separated from Lu Siyuan and Lu Si'an for a while for the first time...

To be honest, she was indeed reluctant to part with it, but this was a necessary step.

Does this mean she'll stop accepting long-distance missions from now on?

Does becoming a mother mean you have to be constantly tied to your child, and even your career has to take a backseat?

Su Yueya didn't think so.

She could hear Minister Hu's implication and understood that he wanted her to talk to her sister. She also knew that as long as she spoke up, her sister would definitely not refuse, but Su Yueya would not do that.

“Minister Hu, it’s alright. I will naturally do my duty to take on any task that is my responsibility. Besides, I can’t always ask someone else to do it for me when I encounter this kind of situation. I’ve decided that I will not ask anyone else for help and will do it myself,” Su Yueya said.

Hu Fangcheng looked at Su Yueya, nodded, and his eyes were full of admiration.

As expected of the people he chose, personally inviting the two sisters to the medical department from the Qiao family was an incredibly wise decision.

Su Yueya and Qiao Xinruo are both outstanding in terms of professional competence and personal character.

"Okay, I was just giving you some advice. Since you've made up your mind, I'll submit the list now. The departure date will probably be the day after tomorrow. There will be other people with you then, so get ready in advance," Hu Fangcheng reminded him.