At the beginning, he took his seven younger siblings to join Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhongding nodded, turned around and went out the door.

The corridor had fallen silent, with only a dim light shining from the nurses' station at the far end.

He walked quietly, afraid of disturbing the patients in other wards.

As he stepped out of the hospital building, the night wind blew in his face, carrying the chill of early winter. He couldn't help but shrink his neck and quicken his pace.

The office building is not far from the inpatient department; it's only a three- to five-minute walk away.

Yi Zhongding pushed open the office door and turned on the light. The room was exactly as he had left it.

Yi Zhongding took off his coat and hung it on the back of the chair, then sat down and flipped through the documents from the past few days.

Actually, there wasn't any urgent work to be done.

Dean Jin granted him leave, and his colleagues in the department also helped share the daily tasks. He came here mainly to calm down and sort out his thoughts.

A lot happened today.

Yi Zhongding sat in his office for about half an hour, going over the things he needed to do in the coming week in his mind, and then took out his notebook to jot down a few key points.

He then got up, turned off the lights, locked the door, and walked back.

When he returned to the ward door, he heard low voices coming from inside; it was Yi Zhongyao's voice.

"Sister-in-law, do you think my two nephews will grow up to be as tall as my brother?"

"They should be. Your brother isn't short, and I'm not short either. The kids will take after us, so they won't be short."

Bai Yushu's voice was tinged with laughter.

"That's good! Tall people look good! And you should be as tall as your brother, he's practically omnipotent. But you must not be as stubborn as your brother, or you won't be able to find a wife in the future."

Yi Zhongmiao continued.

"puff--"

"How dare you say that to your brother's face?"

Bai Yushu laughed out loud.

"I wouldn't dare."

Yi Zhongmiao honestly admitted it, which was met with a suppressed laugh from inside the room.

Yi Zhongding stood outside the door, a smile unconsciously creeping onto his lips.

He didn't push the door open immediately, but stood there for a while longer, listening to his wife and her two sisters chatting and laughing in hushed tones inside, and felt a warm glow in his heart.

After a while, the laughter inside the room gradually subsided.

Yi Zhongding raised his hand to knock on the door, then pushed it open and went inside.

"You're back?"

Bai Yushu's eyes lit up when she saw him.

"Yeah, I went to the office for a bit, nothing major happened. What are you guys talking about? It sounded quite lively from the doorway."

Yi Zhongding chuckled lightly.

"It's nothing, it's nothing!"

Yi Zhongmiao quickly waved his hand and turned his head away guiltily.

"We were talking about who our two little nephews look like. I said they look like the older brother, and my sister-in-law said they look like her. We're arguing about it now."

Yi Zhongyao reacted quickly and spoke up.

"What's there to argue about? If they both look alike, that's all that matters. Alright, it's getting late, you two should go to sleep. You'll have a lot to do tomorrow."

Yi Zhongding smiled and shook his head, not exposing their lies.

The two younger sisters responded and took the basins to the water room to fetch water for washing.

Only Yi Zhongding and Bai Yushu remained in the ward, along with the two little ones sleeping soundly in their cribs.

"Is something on your mind? I noticed you were frowning when you went out just now."

Bai Yushu looked at Yi Zhongding and asked softly.

Yi Zhongding was slightly taken aback, not expecting her to be so observant.

"I received a message from the State Council asking me to go to the sea soon to discuss the artemisinin project."

Yi Zhongding didn't hide anything and spoke the truth.

"This is important business, we should go. When are we leaving?"

Bai Yushu's eyes narrowed slightly. She remained silent for a moment, then spoke softly.

"It's not decided yet, we're waiting for notification. But I think it will be on the day of the leaders' collective physical examination. It's unlikely that Huai'an will take time out of his schedule to see me specifically for this."

Yi Zhongding shook his head and tried to calm him down.

"Business is important. Your sister-in-law and sisters are here to help, so you don't need to worry."

"When you receive the order, go ahead without worry. The children and I will be waiting for you at home."

Bai Yushu grasped his hand in return and said with a firm gaze.

Yi Zhongding looked into his wife's bright eyes and nodded with a smile.

Silent all night.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, soft footsteps echoed in the corridor of the 301 Hospital's inpatient department.

Yi Zhongding woke up before dawn, got out of bed quietly, and did not disturb his wife and three sisters who were still fast asleep.

He quickly washed up in the washroom, then went to the duty room to complete the discharge procedures. After everything was settled, he went to the cafeteria to buy breakfast before returning to his ward.

Pushing open the door, Bai Yushu was already awake, leaning against the headboard, breastfeeding Sijin in her arms.

The morning light slanted in through the window, falling on her profile and enveloping her in a soft golden halo.

"You're back? I knew you went to buy breakfast when I saw you weren't here."

Bai Yushu looked up and saw Yi Zhongding carrying breakfast in, and smiled slightly.

"Now that we've had a good sleep, let's get up and get all the paperwork done. We'll have breakfast and then be discharged so we can go home as soon as possible."

Yi Zhongding put down his breakfast.

Then he walked to the bedside, looked down at Erliang on the crib. The little guy was still asleep, his little fists loosely clenched, and a glistening drool hanging from the corner of his mouth.

"Erliang is sleeping soundly right now."

Yi Zhongding said with a light laugh.

"Usually when Sijin is fussy, Erliang won't wake up at all, sleeping like a little pig. But this child can eat a lot, just like you."

Bai Yushu looked down at the four catties in her arms, her eyes full of gentle smiles.

"Being able to eat is a blessing; these days, being able to have food to eat is a good thing."

Yi Zhongding smiled and turned to tidy up the odds and ends on the bedside table.

Not long after, Yaoyao and Miaomiao also woke up.

The two girls rubbed their eyes and got up from the cot. Seeing that Yi Zhongding had almost finished packing, they quickly jumped off the bed to help.

"Brother, why didn't you call us? We agreed to clean up together."

Yi Zhongyao said while folding the quilt.

"You all need to sleep more as you grow. I can handle this work by myself."

Yi Zhongding said without looking up.

"No, that won't do. My sister-in-law said we should be more diligent. You're already so tired from work, we can't let you suffer alone over such a small thing."

Yi Zhongmiao took over the conversation and quickly packed the toiletries into the mesh bag.

Yi Zhongding felt a warmth in his heart upon hearing this, and said nothing more, letting them continue with their work.

7:30.

The nurse came in, took Bai Yushu's temperature and blood pressure, and checked the two little ones' condition. Everything was normal.

"Director Yi, Dr. Bai, everything is fine. You can be discharged now. By the way, you can just go to the window on the first floor to pick up your nutritional supplements. You don't need to queue."

The nurse said with a smile.

"Thank you for your help."

Yi Zhongding took the discharge form and signed it.

After the nurse left, Yi Zhongding said to Bai Yushu, "You guys wait here, I'll go call a car and pick up the nutritional supplements while I'm at it."

"Go ahead, we'll wait for you here."

Bai Yushu nodded.

Yi Zhongding left the ward and strode towards the office building.