This doctor is already middle-aged, and he's only just started practicing medicine.

Chapter 254 Reunion and Separation
Lu Cheng has his own things to do, Wang Hua has been admitted to the ICU, and Lu Cheng has done what he should do. The rest can only be left to his colleagues.

Lu Cheng watched the woman's departing figure, feeling quite happy.

Seeing the woman and hearing her mention Wang Hua's child's parents made Lu Cheng realize that Wang Hua was just a name, a person, in his eyes.

But in a woman's world, he is the pillar of the family, the father of her children, the son of her parents, and the one she worries about deeply.

Lu Cheng doesn't understand Wang Hua at all; only they understand the meaning of Wang Hua's life.

……

Of course, Lu Cheng didn't get to meet Wang Hua's wife during his day shift. At 5:30 p.m., Lu Cheng immediately left work and drove home.

After a busy night, Lu Cheng rushed to the bathroom and took a hot shower.

Only then did I video call my parents.

"Dad, Mom, is it Chinese New Year yet?" Lu Cheng asked.

Lu Cheng is a member of the Tujia ethnic group. The Tujia people celebrate the New Year a day earlier, on the evening of the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Lu Nanjia was drinking slowly with Lu Nanyong, while Tian Hui was eating melon seeds with her aunt.

"Lu Cheng, you just got off work? So you're not getting any food for the New Year?" Aunt Yao Suqin asked.

Lu Cheng smiled and walked to the refrigerator door, opened it, and said, "Auntie, look, this is my meal for today."

"Although it is prefabricated, it has everything you need."

"There are cured pork trotters, chicken, duck, and crispy fried pork."

"Wash another cabbage, that'll be just as nice." Lu Cheng brought out three large yellow sealed porcelain basins and lined them up on the table.

Aunt Yao Suqin was stunned for a moment after seeing it, then smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, your family is so lucky to have such a hardworking daughter-in-law."

"Xiao Shu spoils your Xiao Lu too much."

Lu Cheng laughed and said, "Auntie, why do I feel like you're jealous? It's not like I'm not your son."

Lu Cheng's voice wasn't quiet, and Lu Nanyong, who was a little drunk, raised his voice: "Who said that? I have two sons!"

Yao Suqin was a little reserved: "What does it have to do with you, you drunkard? Just drink."

"Xiao Lu, I meant that you and Mu Nanshu are a good match. She's skillful and kind, and she cares about you. Your aunt is happy."

When Yao Suqin saw Lu Cheng grinning mischievously again, she realized she was being teased and scolded, "You little rascal, you're joking with your aunt, aren't you?"

"Auntie, isn't it because Xiao Tao hasn't come back yet? I'm trying to cheer you up on his behalf."

Lu Nanyong's son, Lu Tao, has been handed over to the state. He is currently serving in the army, but he took a few days' leave before the holiday and then returned to his unit.

"We called Xiao Tao at first, and their meals have improved. But today he has to stand guard, in the freezing cold."

"Speaking of which, your major is really good," Yao Suqin said with great heartache.

"It's all good, Auntie."

"Aren't you going to have a drink today? It's the New Year, a time for celebration. Auntie, you drink too," Lu Cheng asked while heating up the dishes.

“I drank some, but I didn’t dare drink too much,” Yao Suqin said.

Grandma came over at this moment, and after hearing Lu Cheng's voice, she took the phone and "claimed" it: "Xiao Cheng, come back early. I made you a pair of insoles. See if they fit."

“Grandma, I drove back on the first day of the Lunar New Year,” Lu Cheng said.

"Are you busy at work...?"

"..."

After hanging up with his parents and grandmother, Lu Cheng sent the message to Mu Nanshu.

Mu Nanshu is a member of the Miao ethnic group, and the Miao people celebrate the Lunar New Year on the morning of Lunar New Year's Eve, so she's not busy right now...

However, Lu Cheng discovered that Mu Nanshu was not in his hometown, but at the Chengxin Square in Long County, and Mu Nanshu's expression was not very good.

After a slight pause in her smile, she comforted him, "What's wrong? I haven't called you in so long, are you mad at me?"

"Stop messing around, this has nothing to do with you." Mu Nanshu glared at Lu Cheng.

Upon hearing Mu Nanshu's tone, Lu Cheng asked, "Has another misunderstanding occurred?"

"Oh, no misunderstanding. It's just that we couldn't agree on the money."

“My grandfather is such a biased person. We were kicked out of the house,” Mu Nanshu said.

Lu Cheng heard Mu Leng and Yan Sangyue's footsteps. Mu Nanshu continued, "We might be planning to go to Grandma's house for the New Year tonight."

When Lu Cheng heard Mu Nanshu say this, he also felt that Mu Leng had finally gotten away with it. She clearly had so much money, yet she still couldn't go back to her hometown...

Of course, it's only because Mu Leng doesn't want to hold a grudge; otherwise, he could have built a huge villa at home.

But it's meaningless.

Lu Cheng said, "We can go when we visit relatives for the New Year later. Or you could ask your uncle and aunt if you should just go back to Jilin City for the New Year?"

"That way I can also get a free meal."

“All these things are readily available at home.” Lu Cheng pointed to the pots and pans he had made.

Mu Nanshu and Mu Leng left Jishi yesterday afternoon and rushed back to their hometown overnight. They returned to Longxian today. If they hadn't had a fight, things wouldn't have turned out like this.

Lu Cheng's words gave Mu Leng a way out and a choice.

During the Lunar New Year, people generally choose to spend it at their maternal family home unless the family is very far away or there are special circumstances.

Mu Leng said, "Let's go back to Jilin City and celebrate the New Year on our own from now on."

"Sang Yue, let's go to Mom's place in a couple of days, otherwise it'll seem like we're homeless."

Yan Sangyue thought for a moment and said, "That's fine. I told Mom before that I would go later. If I suddenly call and say that I'm going over for the New Year, they will definitely overthink it."

"Sigh..." Yan Sangyue let out a long sigh.

Mu Nanshu took the phone and whispered, "We're going to pack our things."

And just like that, Lu Cheng's video call was immediately disconnected.

However, the good thing was that at eight o'clock in the evening, Lu Cheng saw the living Mu Nanshu.

Moreover, Mu Leng and Yan Sangyue also came along. When Lu Cheng went down to the underground parking garage, he started moving things from the trunk.

It has everything: alcohol, beverages, vegetables, meat, meat dishes, oil, salt, etc.

Mu Leng and Yan Sangyue had prepared everything for their trip home for the Chinese New Year. All they needed was a stove to cook, which was already considered a great act of humility and left no room for criticism.

Even so, Mu Leng and his group still returned the way they came.

After Lu Cheng finished moving his things, he learned that Mu Leng and the others were so angry that they hadn't even had time to eat dinner.

They ate lunch, but it was during lunch that the two brothers, Mu and Leng, had a fight.

Lu Cheng, being a junior, said after hearing what Mu Nanshu had said, "Uncle Mu, I am a junior, and I cannot judge the mistakes of Uncle and Aunt Xiaoshu, so I can only give a vague suggestion."

"If we encounter an idiot, we'll just go around him and avoid him."

Mu Nanshu said irritably, "Then you might as well just name names."

Lu Cheng said, "That won't do, lest my uncle and aunt say I have no manners."

Lu Cheng started drinking with Mu Leng again.

As Mu Leng drank, his eyes reddened: "During my most difficult time, my own brother betrayed me and demanded that I return the money he had invested in us. My father was the same way; it was as if he wouldn't be satisfied until he drove me to my death."

"what can I do?"

“At this time, it was my friend who helped me, not my brother.”

"Oh, so once I've built it up, you're saying it's a partnership? And you're starting to talk about brotherhood again?"

"My dad was the same way. All he ever thought about was that his two sons should live well. If I was doing well, I had to help him out, otherwise he would be disobedient."

"That's impossible."

“Back then, the whole village saw him forge the IOU, and we even witnessed it.”

“I accept it. I’ve always kept it. My signature may be fake, but his fingerprint is real.”

……

The Mu family definitely couldn't stay up late to cook on the morning of Lunar New Year's Eve; they had to prepare the food the night before.

After Mu Leng finished eating, the family started getting busy...

There were only two gas stoves, so Mu Leng went out and bought three induction cookers, mainly to show off his wealth.

That night, Mu Leng and Yan Sangyue naturally stayed in the house instead of leaving.

There's only one master bedroom and one guest room open in the house, and we don't have any extra winter blankets.

Mu Leng and Yan Sangyue didn't say anything else. After taking a shower, they went to their guest room to rest.

Mu Nanshu stood shyly in the living room, looking at her parents' bedroom, fiddling around on her phone, still feeling a little embarrassed.

But it was already late, so Lu Cheng said, "Let's go to sleep. We have to get up at five to celebrate the New Year."

My parents are here.

“We’re not doing anything bad, what’s there to be afraid of?” Lu Cheng said.

"Your aunt and uncle know that, don't they?" Mu Nanshu was suddenly pulled up and picked up by Lu Cheng...

Before four o'clock in the morning, Lu Cheng heard a clanging sound coming from the kitchen.

Lu Cheng was genuinely unaccustomed to celebrating the New Year in the morning, but the Mu Nan family custom dictated that meals should be eaten around dawn. Even if the food was prepared the day before, preparation still had to begin around four o'clock.

Since they weren't engaged yet, Lu Cheng couldn't be a lazy son-in-law, so he got up and started helping out.

Mu Nanshu was still asleep and hadn't been woken up...

When Mu Nanshu woke up, it was already five o'clock. After washing up, she joined in the battle, mainly cooking some stir-fried dishes.

The meal was very lavish, with twelve dishes of all sizes.

Four people and twelve dishes—that's incredibly extravagant.

However, the timing wasn't ideal; it was seven in the morning, and nobody had any appetite.

However, the atmosphere was still very lively.

Lu Cheng and Mu Leng drank their morning wine together, each cup containing two ounces of liquor, and it took them more than forty minutes to finish...

During the conversation, everyone talked about Lu Cheng and Mu Nanshu's wedding and other arrangements, and finally agreed that the engagement would be on the eighteenth day of the first lunar month.

After the meal, there were only three rice bowls to wash, but none of the twelve dishes were emptied.

Considering that I still need to eat lunch, I just put them all in the refrigerator.

"Are you two going out to have some fun?" Yan Sangyue asked.

Lu Cheng laughed and said, "Auntie, where else can we go for fun today? I mean, if we don't have anything else to do, how about we play mahjong together?"

"Five yuan a shot. Uncle, are you in?"

Yan Sangyue said, "Great! We used to be one player short, but now we're not short any players."

Mu Leng gave Lu Cheng a resentful look, but still agreed.

"..."

Lunar New Year's Eve, 8 PM.

The sound of a variety show was playing everywhere in the emergency room!

Lu Cheng did the same, hanging the window of the gala on the floating window, just listening to the sounds while chatting with his parents and Mu Nanshu.

I don't know when it started, but the New Year's Eve party has become something that nobody cares about anymore, and it lacks charm. But it seems like we can't miss it. Listening to the lively atmosphere inside makes it feel like we're finally experiencing a little bit of the New Year's spirit.

It's not that Chinese New Year was only fun when you were a child; it's that when you were a child, you had no pressure, so you could focus all your energy on experiencing happiness. As an adult, your energy and abilities aren't enough to give you enough happiness...

"How are your aunt and uncle feeling? Are they alright?" Lu Cheng asked.

"They're doing great, they've found some people to play mahjong with."

Mu Nanshu sent over two photos: "Three tables of people. Two tables of mahjong, one deck of cards."

Lu Cheng laughed after reading it: "I knew it. With Uncle Mu's status, there are plenty of people who would like to give him gifts during holidays. It's just that he's not well received when he goes back to his hometown."

"Aren't you going to sit at the table?" Lu Cheng asked.

“I’ll chat with you, then I’ll come over! My mom’s calling me to the table; she’s lost 1,500.” Mu Nanshu said.

"How big is this?" Lu Cheng asked.

“One hundred for a single shot. Two hundred for a self-draw, four birds, and one bird for each of the 1, 5, and 9,” Mu Nanshu said.

"I can't believe it. What we played at noon really wasn't mahjong." Lu Cheng's legs trembled slightly with fear.

With this kind of gameplay, winning or losing tens of thousands of dollars in one night is a small matter.

Lu Cheng was chatting when there was another knock on the office door.

"Dr. Lu, hello, I'm here again." The person who came was Wang Hua's wife, but this time she had two children with her, a son and a daughter, both of whom were quite pretty and dressed in high-end clothes.

"Ah, hello, hello." Lu Cheng put down his phone and covered it on the table to avoid being reported for using his phone.

Because Lu Cheng was genuinely using his phone.

"Dr. Lu, thank you so much. Wang Hua has woken up. He said he is very grateful to you. He was still slightly conscious in the emergency room. If it weren't for you, Dr. Lu, he would have lost his life." The woman bowed politely to Lu Cheng again.

After the woman finished speaking, her son handed Lu Cheng two fruit baskets. He must have been the older brother, around ten years old and in junior high or high school. "Dr. Lu, these are the fruits I bought for you with my allowance. Thank you for saving my father."

"Oh, thank you, thank you." Lu Cheng thought for a moment and then took it from her hand.

Lu Cheng then asked, "What will you do when you run out of pocket money?"

"Dad will give it to me. If Dad is gone, I'll definitely lose my allowance." The boy's voice cracked immediately.

"Don't cry, your dad will be alright," Lu Cheng quickly comforted him.

"Well, sister, you all go ahead with your work. If Brother Wang Hua is recovering well, you should take the children to get some rest. It's Chinese New Year today."

"I still have to work my shift."

The woman said, "Okay, thank you, Dr. Lu. I'm really grateful to you. If it weren't for you, Wang Hua..."

“These are things I should do,” Lu Cheng replied.

Lu Cheng personally escorted the mother and her two children out of the doctor's office. Just as they were at the door, Lu Cheng saw a man in firefighter's uniform grimacing as Cao Gui cleaned his wounds in the wound cleaning room.

The woman and her children walked away and left the emergency room area.

Cao Gui also closed the door to the debridement room, blocking Lu Cheng's view.

Although Lu Cheng could see that he was on duty on New Year's Eve, many people were having family reunions.

But at this moment, Lu Cheng was certain that for some to be reunited, others were destined not to be.

Where there is peace and prosperity and dazzling fireworks, there are people braving wind, snow and rain to make sacrifices for the "peace and prosperity".

Lu Cheng simply couldn't see it.

For example, the uninjured firefighters, or my cousin Lu Tao, might be standing guard in some godforsaken place right now, enduring wind and snow.

Lu Cheng turned back and looked at Wang Hua's guardianship record.

In an instant, his mind cleared, and he happily picked up his phone, closed the floating window of the gala, and started a video call with Mu Nanshu.

Seeing the smile on Lu Cheng's face, Mu Nanshu asked curiously, "What did you do to make you so happy?"

Lu Cheng held an apple in his left hand, rubbed it a few times, and then took a bite: "Eating apples, they're so sweet."

"It was bought with New Year's money from someone who is either in junior high or high school, I don't know."

"Oh? Really? Then bring one back for me, please?" Mu Nanshu said enviously.

"If you want to come and eat, you can come over now," Lu Cheng said.

"Stop fooling around. Your boss is coming to hand out red envelopes later. What would it look like if he found out I was doing this?"

"Remember to bring it to me tomorrow!" Mu Nanshu said with a smile.

"A red envelope has been sent in the group chat, I'm going to grab it," Mu Nanshu suddenly said.

"Grab more, all your uncles and aunts are landlords," Lu Cheng urged.

The groups Mu Nanshu belongs to were all created by Mu Leng and Yan Sangyue. They usually send red envelopes starting at 200 yuan, and during holidays they might send several thousand yuan.

Mu Leng and some of his business associates had an agreement not to give out actual New Year's money during holidays, but to send out red envelopes in a group chat for the children to grab, just for fun.

Whether you get a lot or a little depends on luck; this is truly giving benefits to the children, without any middlemen.

There will also be no exchange of equal amounts.

Mu Nanshu said that in her worst year, she only managed to snag 352 out of ten bags worth a total of 20,000 yuan, losing a lot of money.

……

After chatting for a while, the man in the firefighter's uniform came in with a hospital admission certificate.

"Hello, doctor, are you admitted to the hospital here?" he asked Lu Cheng.

"um, yes."

"Brother, what happened to you? Why are you in the hospital today?" Lu Cheng asked.

"Oh dear, a bunch of kids set off firecrackers and burned the house down. When we went to fight the fire, I was unlucky and got injured," the firefighter replied.

"Are the others alright?" Lu Cheng took the hospital admission certificate from him, found the name and patient number, and quickly asked.

"It's okay, I'm the only one on our team who got hurt."

The young man scratched the back of his head with his strong hand: "This fire was the simplest one. I'll probably get a scolding from my captain when I get back."

"Are you that competitive?" Lu Cheng asked.

"Well, I actually fell into a ditch when we were retreating..." The young man's expression was slightly restrained.

"So you knew I was bored during the New Year, and like the uncles, aunts, and younger brother over there, you were considerate of my situation and came to spend the New Year with me?" Lu Cheng asked rhetorically.

The young man was a little confused, but he found Lu Cheng's words interesting and laughed awkwardly: "Doctor, Happy New Year."

"Just kidding, wish you a speedy recovery." After taking his medical record, Lu Cheng began asking for some basic information as usual, and then wrote out medical orders and ordered basic examinations...

(End of this chapter)