Li Chu did not answer his wife's question, but simply stood behind her and tied the rope for her.

Ding Qiunan touched it with her hand. It seemed to be an iron object, but why was it irregularly shaped? It wasn't round or square. It was a very strange thing.

She didn't ask any more questions. Instead, after he finished tying her up, she went to the bathroom to take a look. There was a large mirror inside.

At first glance, she didn't recognize what it was.

"Li Chu, what is this? It looks so strange and ugly!"

No one outside answered her question.

She leaned closer and took a closer look.

"Dongdong... Dongdong..." She saw it clearly and realized what it must be, but why was her heart beating so fast? The other person was standing outside perfectly fine, so why was she scared?

Unable to hold back any longer, she turned and ran out, hugging her man tightly, wishing she could meld him into her body.

"What's wrong?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he realized that his wife had recognized what it was, and that she must have also seen the scar on her body, but just hadn't asked about it.

Thinking of this, he turned around and hugged his wife tightly.

The two stood in the living room and hugged each other for a while before separating.

Ding Qiunan straightened her man's clothes.

"Put on your coat and hurry up. Come back early when you're done."

"Okay, I'll be back as soon as possible. You go and rest for a while. I'll cook dinner when I get back this afternoon."

When he went out, Xiao Tian had already driven his car over and was waiting for him at the entrance of the alley.

I went to headquarters first, submitted the performance review report that I had written in my spare time, and then came to the sanatorium.

Uncle Wu, who has been staying at the sanatorium, is in good health. The reason why the other traditional Chinese medicine doctors in the health care team dare not prescribe medicine casually is that they are worried that the cancer cells in the patient's body will spread again.

After years of treatment, a delicate balance has finally been restored. If they prescribe the wrong medication and cause any problems, no one can bear the responsibility.

"Xiao Chu, come and sit down. Oh, I'm so relieved to see you back! Come, come, tell me about the situation in the southwest."

Sitting on the sofa, Li Chu picked out some things that ordinary people could handle and talked to Uncle Wu about them.

"Alas, war is cruel!" How could Uncle Wu not know? Li Chu only told him the things that were easy to say, even though he had experienced war himself.

After a pause, Uncle Wu continued, "I heard that you even rushed to the front line by yourself, and ended up getting injured."

What, are you showing off your individual heroism, or do you not trust your comrades?

The old man looked at Li Chu with a half-smile.

"Uncle Wu, what are you saying? If I don't even trust my comrades, who can I trust?"

A hint of reminiscence crossed Li Chu's face as he slowly said, "I've already moved on. I can't just leave the most dangerous missions to my comrades while I stay in a safe place. They're all children of our parents; how can I just watch them charge forward? They're so young! Looking at those innocent faces, I just can't bear it!"

"Sigh," he sighed and continued, "Uncle Wu, I'm already considered a deserter. The real tough battles are yet to come!"

"In war, people always die. For the sake of peace in the southern border region, we must, and can only, fight hard and completely crush their arrogance."

Li Chu understood the principles, but understanding is one thing; only when you are actually in that situation can you truly comprehend that war is always cruel.

The vast majority of them were teenagers or young adults in their early twenties!

"Take a few more days to rest this time and spend some quality time with your wife. I heard that she hasn't smiled since you left. It must be hard for her to live in constant fear."

"I understand, Uncle Wu. I'll ask Qiu Nan for a few days off tomorrow too. I'll take advantage of the New Year to spend some quality time with her."

"Yes, that's right. Work needs to be done, but family can't be neglected either. Only when the family is harmonious can you do your job better."

I had Xiao Zhang pack all the New Year's goods. When you go back later, just pick them up from the duty room.

"Uncle Wu, I'll go get it in a bit."

"Alright, go back now. I don't have anything to do here. Next time you come to see me, bring the children with you. I heard you dote on your daughter. Your Uncle Wang tried to arrange a marriage for you, but you didn't agree. Maybe I can arrange a marriage for you next time?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chu said with a wry smile, "Uncle Wu, why are you making jokes like this?"

The old man chuckled and waved his hand, "I wasn't joking. I'll talk about it when I see him later."

This old man has really become like a child again; he's getting more and more childlike as he gets older.

After saying goodbye to Uncle Wu, I picked up the New Year's gifts he had prepared for me in the duty room on the first floor, and then got into the car to go home.

There were so many things, big and small; it was definitely the right trip we made.

Back home, Ding Qiunan looked at the things Tian Jun had helped her carry back, completely bewildered.

"I've almost finished preparing all the New Year's goods, where did you go to buy them this time?"

“These weren’t bought; Uncle Wu prepared them for us. If I hadn’t come back, he probably would have had someone deliver them to us.”

Reading at midnight

Rice, flour, oil, melon seeds, candy, peanuts, meat, eggs, chicken, fish, and even a duck! Nobody knows how to make this!

Please accept this kind gift from the old man.

After dinner that evening, Li Wenxuan, who was twenty years old (by Chinese reckoning), was beaten for the first time in his life.

After the meal, Li Chu took his son to the front yard to conduct an assessment in his family's small pharmacy.

Li Wenxuan was full of confidence, saying that he had been talking about it for so long that he could recite it by heart.

As a result, I got numb in less than ten minutes.

Have you tried these medicines?

"Dad, this is medicine! How can you just taste it like that?"

"If you don't even taste it yourself, how will you know what the medicine tastes like when you prescribe it to patients in the future?"

"Isn't it in the book?"

"So you don't care whether it's written correctly or not?"

Seeing the ambiguous smile on his father's face, Li Wenxuan couldn't sit still any longer.

He stood up honestly, bowed his head, and admitted his mistake.

Li Chu was even more decisive. He picked up a rattan cane from the table next to him and lashed out with it.

"Considering this is your first offense, and that you've been learning on your own while I was away, I'll only give you a slap this time. But next time it won't be so easy."

"I understand, Dad!"

The cane struck Li Wenxuan's buttocks. Although it was winter and he was wearing thick clothes, you could still see that his legs were trembling slightly.

The slap he gave just now was painful even for Li Chu himself, let alone him. But there was no other way; if you weren't a little ruthless, the child sometimes wouldn't remember.

That's how his master selected him back then.