After being separated from my family, I became a darling of the military region thanks to my medical

Zhao Zheng did not return to the guesthouse.

Sun Jianjun squatted by the water tap outside the interns' dormitory, washing his white coat. He turned on the iron tap, and a thin stream of cool water poured into the enamel basin, creating murky foam.

There were several stubborn iodine stains on his cuffs and collar. He scrubbed them three times with soap, and the yellow stains faded a little, but they didn't completely disappear.

Footsteps came from behind.

Sun Jianjun didn't turn around, assuming it was Lin Yi or one of his roommates coming out to fetch water.

"Comrade Sun Jianjun."

The voice was unfamiliar, and the pronunciation carried a pretentious politeness.

Sun Jianjun turned off the tap, stood up, and turned around.

Zhao Zheng stood two meters away, having changed out of his navy blue Zhongshan suit and into a gray suit jacket. His hands were in his pockets, and the evening light shone on the lenses of his gold-rimmed glasses, reflecting a white light.

"You were looking for me?" Sun Jianjun draped his wet white coat over the washbasin stand and shook the water off his hands.

"Let's chat for a bit." Zhao Zheng pulled his right hand out of his pocket.

He was holding a folded envelope in his hand, the envelope was bulging and unsealed. He walked up and handed the envelope directly to Sun Jianjun.

"Five hundred yuan," Zhao Zheng said calmly.

Sun Jianjun didn't take it. He looked down at the envelope and saw a stack of brand-new ten-yuan notes peeking out from the rough kraft paper envelope.

Five hundred yuan.

He receives a monthly internship stipend of eight yuan and fifty cents, and it would take him almost five years of saving without eating or drinking to accumulate that amount.

"What do you mean?"

"The meaning is very clear." Zhao Zheng pushed the envelope forward. "Take this money, and don't ever show your face in front of Gu Yue again."

There was no one else in the open space behind the dormitory building. Several old military trousers, still dripping wet, hung on the clothesline, swaying gently in the wind.

Sun Jianjun poured out the dirty water from the basin, and the foam at the bottom of the basin flowed into the gaps between the floor tiles along the drain.

"don't want."

"Comrade Sun Jianjun, since I've come to see you, it's because I want to have a proper talk with you." Zhao Zheng wasn't in a hurry, he pushed up his glasses, "You're a smart man, you should be able to figure this out."

Sun Jianjun didn't reply, and turned the basin upside down on the cement table.

"Don't you know your own place?" Zhao Zheng took a step forward. "Your parents are farmers, and you finished your studies on scholarships, right?"

"What's it to you?"

"Of course it's related." Zhao Zheng placed the envelope on the crossbar of the washbasin stand, tapping the kraft paper lightly with his fingers. "Don't be so hard on yourself. Five hundred yuan is enough for you to go back to northern Shaanxi, build two brick houses, and marry a decent country wife to live a simple life. Why stay in the north of the city?"

"Lai?" Sun Jianjun turned around.

"I may sound harsh, but it's the truth." Zhao Zheng put his hands back in his pockets. "Even if you pass the assessment, what kind of position can a country bumpkin like you with no connections get?"

Sun Jianjun did not answer.

Seeing that he remained silent, Zhao Zheng assumed that his words had had an effect and softened his tone.

"I'm not here to make things difficult for you. I'm here for your own good. Let's take the money and leave before things get out of hand, so that everyone can have some dignity."

Sun Jianjun took the envelope off the bar and stuffed it back into Zhao Zheng's hand, untouched.

"I said no, you can leave."

Zhao Zheng's fingers tightened, gripping the returned envelope.

"Don't refuse a toast when offered one—"

"He doesn't want the money, so I'll keep it for him."

A hand reached out from the side and swiftly snatched the envelope from Zhao Zheng's hand.

Lin Yi appeared at the corner at some point, wearing an old, patched-up shirt, his hair a little messy, and carrying an aluminum lunchbox in his hand. He had probably just come back from getting food from the cafeteria.

Sun Jianjun was stunned.

"Lin Yi, what are you doing?"

Lin Yi stuffed the envelope into his inner pocket and patted it.

"Jianjun, don't be in such a hurry." Lin Yi waved his hand at Sun Jianjun, then turned to Zhao Zheng, his expression serious as if he were not joking. "Comrade Zhao, I'll take the money. I guarantee I can persuade him."

Zhao Zheng raised an eyebrow and looked the skinny guy who had suddenly appeared up and down.

"Who are you?"

"Sun Jianjun's roommate is also an intern at the main hospital." Lin Yi patted Sun Jianjun on the shoulder. "He's stubborn and single-minded. You can't reason with him no matter how much you talk. I'm his closest friend, so I can do more persuasion for him than you can say a thousand words."

Zhao Zheng looked at Lin Yi suspiciously, then at Sun Jianjun, whose face was full of astonishment.

"What if he doesn't listen to you after you've taken the money?"

"I have to listen to him, even if he doesn't want to." Lin Yi patted his chest seriously, lowered his voice and leaned closer to Zhao Zheng, "Comrade Zhao, to tell you the truth, which of us poor students doesn't want to climb the social ladder? But if we can't, we can't. I know that perfectly well. I'll have a good talk with him later and make sure he understands."

Zhao Zheng stared at Lin Yi for two seconds, and the smile on his lips relaxed slightly.

"Okay, I'll trust you this time."

"You can go without worry. Leave the rest to me."

Zhao Zheng straightened his suit collar, turned around, and quickly left.

His figure disappeared around the corner, and Sun Jianjun grabbed Lin Yi's arm.

"Are you crazy? What's the meaning of taking the money?!"

"Keep your voice down." Lin Yi slapped his hand away.

"What exactly do you want?"

Lin Yi placed the aluminum lunchbox on the washbasin stand, unscrewed the lid, and inside were two steamed buns and half a bowl of cabbage stew with vermicelli. He broke off half a steamed bun, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed, and mumbled something indistinctly.

"I won't touch a single penny of this five hundred yuan. Tomorrow, when Chief Gu leaves, I'll return it to that guy surnamed Zhao in front of everyone."

Sun Jianjun was stunned.

"You take the money so that..."

"To keep some evidence." Lin Yi swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and said, "He tried to bribe you to get lost today. Who would believe you if you told them? Words spoken on the spot are easily forgotten, but this five hundred yuan is real money. I'll take out the money and return it in front of Chief Gu, and then repeat exactly what he said. Guess what Chief Gu will think of him then?"

Sun Jianjun stood there, speechless for a long time.

"Think about what he just said?" Lin Yi held up his fingers, listing each point one by one, "He tried to buy you off, then complained that you were too poor to be good enough for the girl, and even used his father's official rank to intimidate you. If Chief Gu found out about this kind of son-in-law..."

Sun Jianjun clutched the half-eaten steamed bun, his palms still damp from the cold water he hadn't wiped off.

"When did you get to the corner?"

"I saw him sneaking over here when I came back from getting food." Lin Yi squatted down, picked up Sun Jianjun's white coat that was still wet from being wrung out on the rack, wrung it out a couple of times, and hung it back on the clothesline. "What good could he possibly do by coming to the interns' dormitory? I just squatted down by the wall and listened to the whole thing."

"You rejected him twice, and I heard everything he said. Tomorrow will be irrefutable evidence."

Sun Jianjun looked down at the half-crushed, deformed steamed bun in his hand, with a few specks of soap residue stuck to the skin between his fingers.

"Jianjun, eat." Lin Yi shoved the lunchbox into his hand. "You don't have to do anything tomorrow, just stand there."

The old military trousers on the clothesline swayed back and forth in the wind, and the rope made a creaking and groaning sound as it was pulled.

"Even after washing the white coat so many times, there are still iodine stains. Just soak it in hydrogen peroxide and they'll come off. There's a sterilizer at the back of the cafeteria."

After finishing speaking, Lin Yi picked up the envelope containing five hundred yuan and strode back to his dormitory.