Tao Ailian sensed that Dr. Jiao was thinking, and her smile grew even wider.
"Dr. Jiao, why have you been alone all this time?"
Dr. Jiao was a little embarrassed.
“I was so focused on school before that I never thought about it. Later, when I was admitted to the hospital, someone introduced me to a guy. He went abroad, and that's how things have turned out.”
Tao Ailian looked regretful. "How about I look for something suitable for you?"
"No need, I'm already this old."
"How old are you? You're already an attending physician in the hospital in your early thirties. You're also good-looking. Someone as good as you should be matched with someone as outstanding as Political Commissar Li," Tao Ailian said meaningfully.
Upon hearing Li Huai's words, Dr. Jiao lowered her head shyly and remained silent.
People who don't know the situation might think that Li Huai is a bachelor without a wife.
"I'm not that lucky," Dr. Jiao said with a self-deprecating laugh. She was truly envious of Political Commissar Li's wife, only regretting that she had met him too late.
Tao Ailian knew that Li Huai now had Zhao Qinglan as his wife. Even if she couldn't stand seeing Zhao Qinglan doing well, there were some things she couldn't say outright. She just comforted Dr. Jiao a few more times.
Dr. Jiao came after work, and the people in the military region were also gradually going home.
When Deputy Chief of Staff Xu returned home, he was somewhat surprised to find guests in his house.
He had seen Dr. Jiao at the military hospital, but he wasn't familiar with him and couldn't recall Dr. Jiao's name for the time being; he just felt that Dr. Jiao looked familiar.
"Old Xu, this is Dr. Jiao. I get along well with Dr. Jiao, so I invited her to have a meal at our house."
With his wife saying so, what could Lao Xu say? He just smiled and nodded.
Actually, Dr. Jiao felt embarrassed to have dinner at someone's house on her first visit, but she was so eager to see Li Huai that she reluctantly agreed.
As soon as Lao Xu returned, she went into the kitchen to help Tao Ailian, so as not to feel awkward sitting outside.
As soon as Li Huai entered the courtyard, he smelled the aroma of his own cooking wafting from his home, and a broad smile spread across his face.
"Xiao Chu, come in and have something to eat."
"No, sir, I'll eat at the canteen." Xiao Chu quickly said goodbye.
The food at the leader's house is delicious, but it's just too spicy. Every time he eats it, his backside suffers for days. He's really afraid of it.
Tao Ailian was cooking and kept the kitchen window open to listen for any sounds outside. She vaguely heard voices coming from the neighboring yard and knew that Li Huai had returned.
Beside her, Dr. Jiao also perked up his ears.
"Oh dear, look at my memory! Dr. Jiao, could you go to the yard and get me a scallion from the corner?"
"Okay." Dr. Jiao immediately walked out.
Li Huai watched as Xiao Chu hurriedly ran away, shook his head with a smile, and was about to go inside when someone next door spoke to him.
"Political Commissar Li, what a coincidence, we meet again."
When Li Huai turned his head and saw that it was Dr. Jiao, he was a little surprised, and his stomach felt uncomfortable.
"What a coincidence, well, I'm going home for dinner." He forced a smile and quickly went inside.
Zhao Qinglan and Ding Yu came out carrying plates and asked him questions when they saw him come in.
"Who are you talking to in the yard?"
"It's nothing, just a doctor from the same hospital, I don't know why he's next door."
"Doctor? You've been to the hospital?" Zhao Qinglan asked, looking at him.
"I went there before when the military region organized a group physical examination," Li Huai said with a laugh.
Zhao Qinglan didn't suspect anything and told him to wash his hands and eat quickly.
Seeing him go inside like that, Dr. Jiao felt a little disappointed.
After dinner, Ding Yu and Liu Dandan went to the kitchen to clean up and wash the dishes, while Zhao Qinglan nudged her husband.
"We just finished eating and sat down. Come on, let's go out for a walk to digest."
The couple left the house together, but instead of going outside, they strolled around in their own courtyard.
Deputy Chief of Staff Xu had just finished eating and was stretching in the yard when he saw Li Huai, and they started chatting across the yard.
Tao Ailian quickly pulled Dr. Jiao outside.
She naturally wouldn't greet or speak to Zhao Qinglan, since they disliked each other. She pretended to introduce the flowers she grew to Dr. Jiao, but in reality, she was deliberately creating an opportunity for Dr. Jiao.
As Dr. Jiao wished, she finally saw Political Commissar Li's wife.
Before coming here, she only knew from hearsay that Political Commissar Li's wife was a beautiful and capable woman.
Because of Li Huai's stomach problems and Tao Ailian's "words," the image of Zhao Qinglan in her mind was that of a very capable woman who didn't care much about her family.
But when she first saw the smiling woman standing next to Li Huai, she was momentarily stunned.
She thought that although she was over thirty, she had never been single, so she was younger and had an advantage over married women who had children.
Even if she didn't say it, she knew in her heart that she was definitely better than Zhao Qinglan.
The woman she saw now, even in loose loungewear, was still beautiful and elegant.
If you didn't know his exact age, you'd think he was under thirty.
The harmonious match between Zhao Qinglan and Li Huai was even more jarring to her.
Noticing that someone was staring at her, Zhao Qinglan looked over and saw that Dr. Jiao had quickly lowered his head.
Zhao Qinglan found it a bit strange, but she wasn't interested in people who could befriend Tao Ailian, so she simply continued talking to her husband about the progress of the vegetables they were growing.
"Ailian, is that Political Commissar Li's wife?" Dr. Jiao bit her lip. She wanted to hear a negative answer, but if she wasn't Political Commissar Li's wife, why would she be standing next to him?
"Yes." Although she disliked Zhao Qinglan very much, Tao Ailian couldn't lie about this kind of thing.
Dr. Jiao didn't look too good.
"Ailian, I just remembered I still have some things to do at the hospital, so I'll head back now." With that, she got up and left.
"Sigh." Tao Ailian felt a little helpless watching her leave in a hurry. She left just like that. She was too weak. She was hoping that this person and Political Commissar Li would develop something together, and that she would cause more trouble for Zhao Qinglan.
Dr. Jiao left in a hurry, and Zhao Qinglan and the others in the yard saw it too, because they had to pass by their house.
Zhao Qinglan suddenly blurted out, thinking about what had happened before dinner, "Is this the doctor you were talking about?"
Li Huai glanced outside. "Oh, right."
Seeing that her husband didn't seem to care at all, Zhao Qinglan didn't say anything more.
Next door, however, Deputy Chief of Staff Xu suddenly started muttering to his wife.
Are you overthinking something again?
He hadn't heard clearly the conversation between his wife and that Dr. Jiao, but he vaguely heard them mention the people next door.
"That's not true." Tao Ailian glared at her husband and went inside.
"There's no such thing as the best." He still wanted to have a few days of peace and quiet.
"Mom, my sister called," Sanwa shouted from inside the house.
"Okay, coming right now." Zhao Qinglan had just picked up the water ladle to water the vegetables when she quickly handed it to her husband.
Next door, Deputy Chief of Staff Xu couldn't help but feel envious. The other man had a son and a daughter, but he didn't have any. He wondered if he could discuss with his wife about adopting one.
While they are still young, they can still watch the child grow up. Otherwise, once they retire, the family will be even more lonely.
Inside the house, Zhao Qinglan was already chatting affectionately with her daughter.
Sanwa didn't leave either, just sat there listening, he wouldn't miss any opportunity to observe his mother.
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