Five years later, Yuncheng.

At ten o'clock in the morning, Youbao's phone vibrated. It was a message from his high school classmates group:

Lin Yu: I'd like to remind everyone again that today is the school anniversary. We'll have a dinner at 12:00 noon in private room 108 of Yunding Restaurant. Everyone must be present at the event at 2:00 PM.

She stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar name for a few seconds, her fingers unconsciously stroking the edge of the phone.

There was a soft knock on the door.

"Youbao?" Su Niannian pushed the door open and came in, holding a moon-white silk cheongsam in her hand. "This is what I chose for you."

Youbao turned around, a little embarrassed, "Mom, I'm just going to attend a class reunion..."

"That's why you should wear this one." Su Niannian unfolded the cheongsam. "You wore this when you received the award last week. It suits you very well."

Youbao took the cheongsam and asked, "Is it too formal?"

"How could that be?" Su Niannian said with a smile.

…

Twelve noon, Yunding Restaurant.

When Youbao pushed open the door of the box, more than 20 classmates were already sitting inside, and everyone's eyes were focused on Lin Yu who was sitting in the main seat.

"Everyone!" Lin Yu stood up, holding a red wine glass, and his shiny watch was revealed on the cuff of his brand new suit.

"I have good news to announce today. Kangrui Hospital has hired me as a hepatobiliary surgeon."

"Wow!" Zhao Min, wearing a red dress, covered her mouth exaggeratedly. "That's one of the top three tertiary hospitals in the country! I heard the recruitment standards are very high."

Youbao walked to the corner, pulled out a chair, sat down, and poured himself a cup of chrysanthemum tea.

She noticed that the plate of steamed sea bass on the turntable was right in front of her, so she picked up a piece of fish belly with chopsticks.

"Nianyou!" Zhao Min suddenly nudged her with her elbow. "Do you regret not following the squad leader to Jingda? Now he's a full-time doctor at Kangrui Hospital."

She deliberately raised her voice and asked, "Where do you work now?"

Just as Youbao was about to answer, there was a gentle knock on the door of the box.

A uniformed waiter came in with a food cart. "Miss Shi, the angelica and red date cake you ordered is ready. Would you like it served now?"

The whole box suddenly became quiet.

Everyone's eyes were focused on the plate of exquisite medicinal pastries.

"Put it here." Youbao pointed to the empty space in front of him and turned to explain to his classmates, "I'm working on a new project recently and need..."

"Oh, you're still thinking about eating medicinal food for the school anniversary?" Zhao Min interrupted her with a pout, "You're just pretending."

"That's right," Wang Li, who had short hair next to her, echoed, "When we were in school, he loved to show off that his family had a clinic, and he's still the same now."

Lin Yu coughed lightly and raised his glass to smooth things over. "Everyone, don't be like this. Nianyou is also concerned about her own health."

Afterwards, everyone's attention returned to Lin Yu.

…

Two o'clock in the afternoon, in the auditorium of Yuncheng No. 1 Middle School.

The principal suddenly walked quickly to the back row, "Dean Shi! Why are you sitting here?"

The students' eyes quickly turned to the corner, where Youbao was sitting quietly.

They stared in amazement as the principal and Youbao walked up to the podium side by side.

"Dear students," the principal announced excitedly into the microphone, "today we have specially invited Ms. Shi Nianyou, a Ph.D. from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the president of Kangrui Chinese Medicine Research Institute!"

The big screen lit up, showing the International Medical Award ceremony a week ago:

Youbao holds the crystal trophy, and the subtitles scroll:

[Youngest Glenn Medal winner, developer of the liver cancer inhibitor "Fuzhengsan"]

The president continued, "Dr. Shi's modified ancient formula, 'Fuzheng Powder,' can increase the five-year survival rate of patients with mid-stage liver cancer from 32% to 72%, and can also significantly prolong the survival of patients in the late stage."

The large screen switched to displaying clinical trial data charts. "Just received FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation last week. The last Chinese scientist to receive this honor was..."

"It's my mother." Youbao took the microphone and said in a clear voice, "Dr. Su Niannian, she won the award at the age of 45."

The whole audience was in an uproar.

The mineral water bottle in Lin Yu's hand fell to the ground with a bang.

The principal smiled and asked, "Dr. Shi, there are so many junior students and senior students in the audience, as well as your former classmates. Everyone wants to know why you have achieved so much at such a young age. What is the secret to your success?"

"Actually, there's really no secret," Youbao smiled, his eyes sparkling. "Like Newton said, I'm standing on the shoulders of giants."

She glanced at the audience, her gaze landing on her parents in the front row, and softened a bit, "I have to thank my family first."

"My mom and grandpa taught me how to take pulses and identify medicinal herbs since I was little. The first time I gave someone an acupuncture needle, it was on my dad's hand. He was clearly afraid of the pain, but he lied and said, 'It feels sore and swollen, it works.'"

Someone in the audience couldn't help laughing, and the sense of distance in the air suddenly disappeared.

"My dad was even more interesting," Youbao said with nostalgia in his eyes. "When I was little, I didn't like to sleep and loved listening to stories. To appease me, he actually wrote himself into a fairy tale writer."

"He also wrote a book called 'The Dandelion Fairy's Silver Needle,' which hid the knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine in the story. From a young age, I felt that 'being a doctor' was a particularly romantic thing."

"Also," she changed the subject and spoke seriously, "When I was six years old, my father took me to visit Kangrui's laboratory."

"From then on, I worked there as an assistant every winter and summer vacation, washing test tubes and recording data until I graduated from high school. Looking back now, those days weren't just 'odd jobs', but a way to slowly build confidence."

"My parents never forced me to be someone. They always told me to just be whatever I want. So the reason I've gotten this far isn't because I'm smart, but because they let me live the way I'm most comfortable with."

"Doing what you love and having people you love around you, this is probably the best 'secret'."

As soon as he finished speaking, applause came like a tide.

Many younger students had gleams in their eyes, and even the teachers were secretly wiping their eyes.

My classmates at that time were completely unable to sit still.

Someone pulled out their phone and browsed the classmate chat: "No wonder she was so determined when filling out her application back then, it turns out she already had a plan in mind! Lin Yu just boasted to me about getting into Kangrui Pharmaceuticals, and he's now the president of the main hospital..."

Zhao Min also took out her phone and sent three messages in a row to the class group:

[Did you see the group message? Nianyou is the director of Kangrui Hospital!]

[It's Kang Rui, the new squad leader! ]

[We were just laughing at her eating medicinal food...]

Lin Yu lowered his head, feeling empty inside.

He suddenly remembered that evening five years ago when he stood at the school gate and vowed that Peking University was the best choice.

And now, the girl on the stage who was once despised by him has become the dean of the general hospital whom he needs to look up to.

Shi Heng held Su Niannian's hand tightly and looked at Youbao on the stage. In a trance, the 23-year-old Gu Youran seemed to be standing there.

The woman who once amazed the world is now continuing her legend through her daughter in another way.

(End of the book)